World Unites to Mourn Mandela

Crowds sing all night in Soweto
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2013 2:00 AM CST
World Unites to Mourn Mandela
A wreath of flowers is placed near a banner depicting pictures of former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the South African Embassy in Beijing Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said Mandela has died at age 95.   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Flags are at half-mast around the world today to mark the death of one of the most universally respected statesmen who ever lived. Leaders from dozens of countries have paid heartfelt tributes to Nelson Mandela, who has died at the age of 95, and newspapers worldwide have turned their front pages into full-page tributes to the South African leader, reports the Washington Post. Books of condolences have been opened at South African embassies around the world, where flowers and other tributes piled up overnight.

After South African President Jacob Zuma announced Mandela's death late last night, crowds gathered within minutes to sing and dance in front of his former home in Soweto. At daybreak, many more people poured into city streets to mourn the man Zuma called his country's greatest son, the BBC reports. The country now has a long period of national mourning ahead—as well as the challenge of hosting one of the biggest state funerals in history, which will be held in Qunu, the remote village where he grew up. Days before the funeral, a ceremony will be held at a 95,000-seater stadium outside Johannesburg. (More Nelson Mandela stories.)

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