SAfrican police fire gas, force people into shacks

MARIKANA, South Africa (AP) — In a crackdown on striking miners condemned by the South African Council of Churches, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas that sent men, women and children scattering as officers herded them into their shacks.

Saturday’s show of force follows a government vow to halt illegal protests and disarm strikers who have stopped work at one gold and six platinum mines, destabilizing the country’s critical mining sector.