JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP):

Nelson Mandela celebrated his 89th birthday yesterday with a star-studded soccer match and the launch of a humanitarian campaign, joined by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other elders of the global village.

The event kicked off with about 250 people taking to their feet to sing 'Happy Birthday' as a beaming Mandela took the stage, accompanied by an aide and leaning heavily on his cane. His wife and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter later helped him to the podium.

"How God must love South Africa to have given us such a priceless gift," Desmond Tutu, South Africa's former Anglican archbishop and chairman of the elders group, told Mandela. "You bowled us all over by your graciousness, magnanimity and generosity of spirit."