10 things you need to know today: December 8, 2013

A parishioner holds a pamphlet with the image of Nelson Mandela during church service at Regina Mundi Catholic Church on December 8 in Soweto, South Africa.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. South Africa mourns Mandela

At the start of a week of commemorations, South Africans are embarking Sunday on what the authorities have called a day of prayer and reflection following the death of Nelson Mandela, gathering in places of worship, private homes, and even open fields to offer spiritual homage to the moral icon of the battle against apartheid. Mandela, South Africa's first democratically-elected leader, died Thursday at 95. [The New York Times]

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U.N. inspectors visited an Iranian plant on Sunday linked to a planned heavy-water reactor that could yield nuclear bomb fuel. The increased transparency is the result of a thaw in relations between Iran and the West that culminated in a deal struck last month under which Tehran is to curb its nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions. Tehran says its program is for peaceful purposes. [Reuters]

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) said Democratic attempts to extend unemployment benefits for 1.3 million workers were a "disservice" to the unemployed. "I support unemployment benefits for the 28 weeks they're paid for," he said on Fox News Sunday. Democrats are trying to include an extension of unemployment benefits in a year-end budget deal. Republicans have balked at the $25 billion cost. [Politico]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved on Friday a new treatment for hepatitis C that promises to cure more patients in a fraction of the time. The drug, Sovaldi, is the first pill approved to treat some types of hepatitis C without interferon, an injected drug that can cause flulike symptoms. More than three million Americans and about 170 million worldwide are infected with the disease, which if untreated can lead to liver damage and death. [Wall Street Journal]

Terri is a freelance writer at TheWeek.com. She's a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and has worked at TIME and Brides. You can follow her on Twitter.

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