World reacts to Nelson Mandela's death

Lasers beam an image of former South African president Nelson Mandela, projected onto Cape Town's Table Mountain, on Dec. 9, to honor Mandela on the eve of a memorial service to be held in Johannesburg.

A mourner signs the book of condolences at the iconic Regina Mundi church, one of the focal points of the anti-apartheid struggle, in Soweto, Johannesburg, on Saturday, Dec. 7.

Children walk past a mural depicting former South African President Nelson Mandela during different stages of his life on in Soweto, Johannesburg, on Dec. 7.

Gracie Taylor participates in a candlelight vigil to mark Mandela's death on Dec. 6 in Los Angeles.

Well-wishers from the South African community brave the evening rain to lift their voices and say prayers in memory of former president Nelson Mandela outside of the South African Consulate in New York on Dec. 6.

A mourner places flowers near a mural of Mandela painted on the wall of a building in Loures on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal, on Dec. 6

A man walks past a case containing British newspapers with headlines about the death of Mandela outside of a news agent in London on Dec. 6.

Portraits of Mandela hang on barbed wire as Israeli soldiers arrive to disperse a weekly protest by Palestinian actvists against Israeli occupation in the West Bank village of Bilin on Dec. 6. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take inspiration from Mandela in peace talks, as he wrapped up another visit to the region.

People read a newspaper report about Nelson Mandela's death on Vilakazi Street in Soweto, where the former South African president resided when he lived in the township, on Friday, Dec. 6. Mandela died peacefully at home in Johannesburg at the age of 95 on Thursday after months fighting a lung infection, leaving his nation and the world in mourning for a man revered as a moral giant.

People gather to mourn the loss of Nelson Mandela at a statue of him in London's Parliament Square.

Mourners react outside the home of Nelson Mandela in Houghton, Johannesburg.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama speaks to members of the press about the passing of Nelson Mandela.

People comfort each other outside Nelson Mandela's home in Johannesburg.

Children hold candles and portraits of Mandela during a prayer ceremony at a school in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu shakes hands with a young man during a mass at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town. "Do we want to set up a memorial for him?" Tutu asked the congregation. "I think he wouldn't want something in stone. Ultimately he would want us, South Africans to be his memorial."

A Chinese security officer holds flowers as he walks past images of Nelson Mandela at the Embassy of South Africa in Beijing.

A man comforts a woman as they mourn the death of Nelson Mandela outside the South African Embassy in London.

Joanna Vignola lays flowers at the foot of the Nelson Mandela statue in Parliament Square in London.

Sowetans mourn the death of former President Nelson Mandela outside his former home, now a museum.

Mourners sing songs outside Mandela's house in Johannesburg.

A woman releases a paper lantern outside Madiba, a restaurant named in honor of Nelson Mandela, in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Dec. 5.

"Mandela has given me the opportunity to live life as I do now....free," said Themba Bogi, left, outside Mandela's home in Johannesburg.
"He was always there for our nation, he was the constant we don't have in our government now," said Robyn Rajab, center.
Phokeng Mohatlane, right, said of Mandela: "He means the world to us. Through his humility he has inscribed self-respect and greatness in each one of us. He improved our destiny. People will go back to what he stood for and not take things for granted."

Victoria Johnson, right, attends a public meeting at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit along with her daughter Dawn Stephens, left, and granddaughters Anaya, second right, and Alyssa Stephens. A moment of silence was held in memory of Nelson Mandela.

Keaton Anderson, 10, poses for a photograph for his father Dijon Anderson, of Bowie, Md., as they visit the statue of Nelson Mandela at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.

An artist who goes by the name "Franco the Great" stands in front of a mural of Nelson Mandela that he painted in 1995, on 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. U.S. President Barack Obama was added to the mural at a later date.

People chant slogans outside Nelson Mandela's house in Houghton, Johannesburg. Mandela was hailed as a "hero of our time" as tributes poured in from world leaders on the death of the man who led the triumphant fight against apartheid in South Africa and became that country's first black president.

Michille Andrews, right, from Cape Town, South Africa, hugs a friend outside the South African restaurant Madiba in New York City. "You don't expect it to affect you like that," she said about the death of Nelson Mandela. "What stood out for me is that he forgave the prison guards and moved forward."

People photograph the marquee at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, announcing the death of Nelson Mandela.

A family in Cape Town watches on television as South African President Jabob Zuma announces that Nelson Mandela had died.

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