Top news: In one of the bloodiest police operations since the end of apartheid, heavily armed South African police officers shot and killed 34 miners at a wildcat strike about 62 miles north of Johannesburg. At least 78 people were killed in the confrontation, which was sparked after nearly 3,000 workers -- some armed with clubs and machetes -- walked off the job at a platinum mine owned by Britain's Lonmin to demand an increase in pay.

South African President Jacob Zuma has cut short a trip to a regional summit in Mozambique to rush to the site of the incident. South Africa's police chief defended the officers response, much of which was caught on video, saying they only fired after they were charged by machete wielding protesters. 

Tension has been growing for some time between the country's largest mining union -- the National Union of Mineworkers -- which is closely allied with the ruling African National Congress and seen by many workers as too cozy with business, and the more radical splinter union, the Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union.

Before Thursday, 10 people, including two police officers, had already been killed in violence associated with the strike, which began on Aug. 10.

Russia: Three members of the band Pussy Riot were found guilty of hooliganism for their "punk prayer" at a Moscow cathedral. They will be sentenced later today and face a maximum seven years in prison.