10 things you need to know today: October 21, 2014

Pistorius led out of court
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, Pool))

1. Oscar Pistorius sentenced to five years for manslaughter

South African double-amputee track star Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day in 2013. Pistorius, who said he thought an intruder was in his bathroom when he fired through the door and killed Steenkamp, was acquitted of murder but convicted on Sept. 12 of the South African equivalent of manslaughter in the U.S. legal system. The judge said the sentence struck a "delicate balance" between mercy and justice.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.