Headlines from December 6, 2013

Nelson Mandela, dead at 95 from a lung infection, “was, quite simply, a wonderful man.”
Zakes Mda: Mandela was a man of contradictions, and his followers are trampling on his legacy.
The legacy of so many years of forced separation is not easily undone. Past and present Africa correspondents from the New York Times reflect on Mandela. #video
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge heard the news of Mandela’s death while watching a premiere of a movie memorializing his life.
When two black holes collide, the results are ribbon-like formations that ripple space and time.
From April: Liev Schreiber reads “The Distance of the Moon” by Italo Calvino. #audio
Only nine fluent speakers of the Mullukmulluk language were found in northern Australia in 1988. Eleven languages spoken by 11 people or fewer.
In 1980, there were 1,500 to 2,000 elephants in Vietnam; today they may number as few as 70.
After six years of development, the U.S. Navy can now launch drones from submerged submarines.
America’s 25 most dangerous neighborhoods are largely located in the Midwest.
Thieves in Mexico open a stolen box of radioactive material and may die as a result from exposure.
Students tweet remembrances of an American teacher killed in Benghazi, gunned down while jogging.
Second-grader invents “buddy bench,” where lonely children can sit and attract new friends during recess.
Saudi Arabia repatriated over 100,000 Ethiopians in the last month, with 50,000 more expecting to return to Africa.
Round-up of various lists featuring the “best photographs of 2013.”
Seattle’s board-game expert Matthew Baldwin picks the best board games of 2013 to give as gifts. #tmn
See also: Archive of Baldwin’s annual game recommendations, dating all the way back to 2004.
The internet has run out of four-letter dot-com domain names—all 456,976 of them.
Sex burns as many calories as doubles tennis or uphill walking: four calories per minute for men and three per minute for women.