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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Helene weakens to tropical depression

A storm tracker map shows the location of Tropical Storm Helene. Helene weakens to a tropical depressionIt pours rain on an area recovering from a recent hurricaneMexico discontinues all tropical storm warnings

(CNN) -- Helene weakened into a tropical depression Saturday after making landfall in Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm brought more rain on an area that was recovering from Hurricane Ernesto, but it is forecast to dissipate by Monday.

The tropical depression was about 15 miles (25 km) south-southwest of Tampico, Mexico.

Helene packed winds of 35 mph and was moving toward the northwest at about 9 mph, the center said.

Mexico discontinued all tropical storm warnings.

As many as 6 inches of rain will fall across northeast Mexico, from northern Veracruz to southern Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosi states, the center said.

It comes after Ernesto hit the area last week as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening.

Affected by the storm? Share your photos and video with CNN iReport, but please stay safe.

NOAA now predicts 12 to 17 named storms, up from the nine to 15 it predicted shortly before the June 1 start of hurricane season. Six named storms have been produced so far.

People need to plan now for possible evacuations, power outages and other challenges as a new hurricane season approaches, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

On the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters at Colorado State University have increased their predictions for the number of named storms for the year but are still predicting a below-average number of storms.updated 12:42 PM EST, Sat January 28, 2012

At least 669 people died in 2011's 14 weather and climate disasters and thousands were injured. Although no two years are alike, it's important for Americans to be prepared for the worst.

After Hurricane Katrina's devestation in 2005, erosion has become a way of life for people in parts of Louisiana.

If severe weather is happening near you, let us know on CNN iReport. Send your photos and videos, but stay safe. Most popular stories right now

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Ryan: There is time to turn America around by electing Romney

NEW: Paul Ryan says Medicare will be a winning issue for RepublicansPresident Obama's team keeps the focus on Mitt Romney's tax returns A new Obama ad rebuts Romney attacks on MedicareAnalyst: Too soon to say if Ryan's stance on Medicare will hurt Romney

Washington (CNN) -- Paul Ryan assured Republicans on Friday that they had the chance to turn America around from the failed policies of President Barack Obama if they elect Mitt Romney to the White House in November.

In two campaign speeches in the battleground state of Virginia, the House Budget Committee Chairman chosen last week as Romney's running mate offered a conservative blueprint for progress, promising leadership that tackles tough challenges such as the rising federal deficit and debt.

"This is our generation's defining moment," Ryan told a boisterous crowd in Glen Allen, near Richmond.

"This is the most important election in your lifetime, no matter what generation you come from," he shouted to conclude his remarks. "We can do this. We can turn this around. We can get this right. We can get our economy growing. We can get people back to work. We can look back on this moment as the moment we secured the future for our children and our grandchildren."

Earlier, Obama's team grabbed the attention on a relatively quiet campaign day with moves that spotlighted the tax returns and Medicare proposal of certain Republican challenger Romney.

With neither presidential candidate making any public appearances, their advisers and surrogates kept up attacks in the contentious battle to frame the major issues in their side's favor less than three months before the election.

Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, fired the first shot by making public a letter to his counterpart in the Romney camp that offered a "deal" in which the former Massachusetts governor would release five more years of past tax filings in return for Democrats agreeing to drop the issue.

"If the governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more -- neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign," Messina's letter to Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said.

His offer did not include a promise to avoid attacking Romney on the contents of the released returns, or make any commitments for independent third party groups.

Rhoades rejected the offer.

"It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney's tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending," Rhoades wrote in response to Messina.

Romney has released his return for 2010 and an estimate for 2011. He has pledged to release the full 2011 return once it is completed by his accountant, which must occur by October 15 under the extension he filed with the Internal Revenue Service in April.

Democrats criticize Romney for not releasing more tax details, arguing that voters are entitled to a greater amount of disclosure from candidates running for president.

At the White House on Friday, Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded to repeated questions on the issue by noting previous presidential candidates released as many as 12 years of tax returns under a precedent set by Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, in his unsuccessful presidential bid.

"All the questions you are asking could be answered before the end of the day today, but that will require Governor Romney to live up to a standard that's been met by every other major-party presidential candidate since his father ran for president in 1968," Earnest said.

Some Republicans also have called on Romney to release more of his returns, saying the political headache could be easily ended by simply putting out additional information.

Romney and his campaign have consistently rebuffed such calls, saying the two years released so far go beyond the legal requirement and offer voters a good perspective into the candidate's financial background. They also say Democrats will launch unfair attacks on any further tax information released by Romney, who is a multimillionaire.

Questioned again Thursday about his tax returns, Romney revealed more details than he had previously, telling reporters that he paid no less that 13% of his income in taxes for the past decade while reiterating his refusal to make those returns public.

That did not satisfy Obama's senior campaign adviser, David Axelrod.

"I don't accept his word on what his taxes say," Axelrod told CNN on Thursday night. "Let the public see it. Let them understand what's in those tax returns. They say, 'well, we don't want to do it because the opposition may make issues about it.' Well, that doesn't give me much confidence about what's in those tax returns."

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, a Romney surrogate, told CNN on Friday that the tax return issue was "a sidebar attempt to distract from the real issues that are out there."

"They did two years required by law and they did four years that was done as the governor of Massachusetts, so I think it's kind of a side issue that's just crazy," Chaffetz said.

A CNN/ORC Poll taken August 7-8 showed 63% of voters thought Romney should release additional years of tax returns. Among independents, 67% said the Republican candidate should release more years of returns.

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign released a new television advertisement on Medicare intended to rebut the Romney campaign's attacks on the issue this week, particularly a claim discounted by independent sources that Obama's health care reform cuts $716 billion from the government health care program for senior citizens.

In the ad titled "Facts," the Obama campaign quotes AARP, an advocacy group for senior citizens, as saying Obama's health care reforms passed in 2010 crack down on Medicare fraud, waste and abuse while strengthening guaranteed benefits.

It also challenges the proposal by Ryan to partially privatize Medicare for people currently younger than 55, saying that could result in higher costs for retirees.

At his second Virginia event in Springfield near Washington, Ryan welcomed the debate on the politically sensitive entitlement program. He described Obama's cuts as treating Medicare "like a piggy bank" to pay for his health care reform bill that Republicans want to repeal.

"We want this debate on Medicare," Ryan said, calling it a winning issue for Republicans.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul earlier said the president's Medicare cuts included money for enhanced coverage called Medicare Advantage, and that the program will run out of money in 2024 under Obama's reforms.

At the White House, Earnest noted that the Obama reforms in the 2010 Affordable Care Act extended the solvency of Medicare for eight years, while the pledge by Romney to repeal the law known by critics as "Obamacare" would leave the program to go broke by 2016.

The Medicare issue became a major campaign topic last week when Romney chose Ryan as his running mate. Knowing the Obama team would raise the politically sensitive Medicare issue, Romney's campaign attacked first in an attempt to blunt a perceived advantage for Democrats.

It was unclear how the debate would impact the election, especially in states like Florida that have large populations of senior citizens, said CNN senior political analyst David Gergen.

"That's what gives suspense to this campaign," Gergen said Thursday night.

Any candidate who calls for Medicare reforms that could take away existing benefits is "going to pay a price, and there are some polls coming out of Florida now suggesting Obama has been helped by the Ryan selection," he added.

The issue might be causing a divide between different age groups, according to Gergen.

"What I also found interesting in the CNN poll in Wisconsin is that among 65 and older, Romney has a substantial lead over President Obama," he said. "But with the crowd from 50 to 64, it's Obama who has a substantial lead. There's a 14-point swing from the 65-year-old types. And it's the 50 to 64-year-old folks who could be affected by Medicare reform."

In his speeches on Friday, Ryan accused Obama of hindering small business growth through what Republicans contend are excessive regulations and high taxes.

"We should not have a government that stands in the way, that erects barriers to small business," Ryan said, calling the opportunity to build an idea into a successful business the essence of "what it is to be an American."

"You see, when another American succeeds that's not a bad thing," Ryan added. "It's a good thing. We take pride in their success. We don't resent success."

The Romney campaign said Friday it received more than $10 million in online donations since the August 11 announcement of Ryan as running mate.

CNN's Shawna Shepherd, Rachel Streitfeld, Adam Aigner-Treworgy, Peter Hamby, Gregory Wallace and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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Both sides using Rove's campaign strategy this year

The "Swift Boat" campaign against Sen. John Kerry raised enough questions about his war record to negate a major strength.NEW: A GOP strategist says the Romney campaign "jujitsued" Obama on MedicareThe tactic seeks to undermine the other guy's strongest advantagesMitt Romney touts his business background, so President Obama attacks itRomney is vulnerable on Medicare reforms, so he criticizes Obama on the issue

Washington (CNN) -- In 2004, Sen. John Kerry entered the campaign against incumbent President George W. Bush with a seemingly unassailable advantage on a sensitive issue -- the liberal Kerry served in the Vietnam War, and the conservative Bush didn't.

Rather than avoid the topic, Bush supporters came up with the notorious "Swift Boat" campaign that raised enough questions about Kerry's war record to negate a major strength.

Such "attack the strength" tactics have been a staple of this year's presidential race, with both sides trying to undermine perceived advantages of the other. The latest example is a new Web video that accuses President Barack Obama of engineering classified leaks and claiming undue credit on his signature foreign policy achievement: the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The premise is simple: In a political environment where perception often trumps policy, mount early challenges to your opponent's strongest attributes to raise questions and create an alternative image in the minds of voters.

For example, the Obama campaign has attacked certain Republican nominee Mitt Romney's successful business career, portraying the venture capitalist company he founded as a pioneer in outsourcing American jobs. The purpose was to blunt Romney's persistent claim that his business background made him better qualified than Obama to manage the slow-recovering economy, the most important issue to voters.

Meanwhile, Romney's team is challenging Obama on the volatile issue of reforming Medicare, the popular health care program for senior citizens. By naming House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan as his running mate last week, Romney and his team knew the Obama campaign would attack Ryan's proposal to partially privatize Medicare, so they have tried to turn the tables by accusing the president this week of cutting more than $700 billion out of the government-run system.

Both of the attacks are misleading or untrue, according to independent assessments.

Websites such as PolitiFact.com and Fact.Check.org ruled that outsourcing by Romney's company, Bain Capital, occurred after he gave up daily management responsibilities in 1999.

On Medicare, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that reforms to the program under Obama's 2010 health care law resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in savings, rather than spending cuts that reduced benefits, as alleged by the Romney campaign. PolitiFact rated the Romney campaign's claim as "mostly false."

To Republican strategist Ron Bonjean , the Romney camp's maneuver on Medicare was "a brilliant move."

"They are going to be attacked on it anyway. They have 'jujitsued' this," Bonjean told CNN on Friday, adding: "It's a good idea to try to neutralize this issue right now, which I think they are being very effective at."

Outside groups supporting the candidates also are taking part. A video spot by Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC backing Obama, sought to link Romney to the death of the wife of a steel worker who lost his job at a plant closed down by Bain Capital. The ad, which has yet to be scheduled for broadcast, was rated "false" by PolitiFact.

Now, a little-known group of former special forces members called the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund has released the 22-minute Web video that criticizes Obama on the bin Laden takedown. A spokeswoman says the group has raised about $1 million toward an advertising campaign in some key swing states, but refused to discuss donors.

Over a picture of Obama, the video's narrator says that the group's mission is to stop politicians from using sensitive intelligence about the bin Laden raid and other clandestine programs for political benefit.

The organization, which describes itself as nonpartisan, shares an office with two Republican political consulting firms in Alexandria, Virginia. Its spokesman, Chad Kolton, worked for the Bush administration as a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, and its president ran for Congress as a Republican.

To Darrell West of the Brookings Institution, the video evokes memories of the Swift Boat campaign that mounted a barrage of negative attacks against Kerry's war record.

"Obama's strong suit actually is on national security," said West, the vice president and director of governance studies at Brookings. "He's the guy who got bin Laden, and that's been a central claim of his campaign. So there's always a risk of the opposition coming in with this type of ad to try to undermine the president's credibility and take away what is really his strong suit."

The president has regularly cited the killing of bin Laden as a campaign promise he fulfilled, and the head of special operations, Adm. William McRaven, recently told CNN that Obama deserved credit.

"Make no mistake about it: It was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions," McRaven said.

Like other top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, McRaven also has been highly critical of recent leaks about clandestine operations.

The White House has denied leaking classified information, and two federal prosecutors have been assigned to investigate recent leaks about the Stuxnet virus and drone strike operations.

Republicans blame Obama for the leaks that occurred on his watch, and they call for an independent investigation.

The "attack the strength" tactic is nothing new, but gained prominence last decade when utilized by Republican strategist Karl Rove, who guided Bush's two presidential campaigns

"Karl Rove did something that many other political operatives don't do, and it's really an element of why he's a unique figure in American political life," journalist Wayne Slater said in a PBS Frontline documentary titled "Karl Rove: The Architect." "He understands that while other people look for the weakness in an opponent and exploit that, Rove has long looked at the strength of an opponent."

That was particularly true of the Swift Boat attacks on Kerry, said Slater, co-author of the book "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential."

"The No. 1 thing that John Kerry offered was his heroic service in Vietnam," Slater said in the PBS documentary, "and so what Rove did was attack the strength of Kerry, not his weakness."

Others clearly took notice. In attacking Romney's background at Bain Capital, the Obama campaign is following the example of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich from the Republican primary campaign.

Gingrich's criticism that Romney's business record included shutting down companies and outsourcing jobs got panned by many fellow Republicans. In response, Gingrich said his attacks were only the initial salvos of an all-out assault on the issue that Romney would face from the Obama campaign if he became the nominee.

CNN's Brian Todd and Dugald McConnell contributed to this report.

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President Obama, come to Oak Creek

Community members pay respects to the six shooting victims during the memorial at Oak Creek High School last week.Valarie Kaur: Politicians, others came to Oak Creek after Sikh shooting, not ObamaShe invites Obama, says his presence will send message of support, affirmationKaur: Shootings in Aurora drew Obama; not coming to Wisconsin hurts SikhsKaur: Sikhs' values reflect American values too; Obama must help demonstrate thisEditor's note: Valarie Kaur is the founding director of Groundswell, an initiative at Auburn Seminary that combines storytelling and advocacy to mobilize faith communities in social action. Her documentary "Divided We Fall" examines hate crimes against Sikh Americans after 9/11. Kaur studied religion and law at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School and Yale Law School, where she now directs the Yale Visual Law Project. Follow her on Twitter: @valariekaur.

(CNN) -- Last Saturday morning, when media crews outside the Sikh gurdwara (house of worship) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, packed up their trucks to chase the news of Mitt Romney's choice for vice president, Sikh Americans were left reflecting on six days of unprecedented national attention. After the shooting of six people in a Sikh gurdwara, a stream of national leaders, from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to Gov. Scott Walker, came to offer condolences and support. But there was one person missing.

It was you, Mr. President.

Let me be clear: Your administration's response to the massacre has been strong and swift. Attorney General Eric Holder addressed mourners with compassion and resolve at the Friday memorial.: "In the recent past, too many Sikhs have been targeted and victimized simply because of who they are, how they look, and what they believe," he said.. "This is wrong. It is unacceptable. And it will not be tolerated." Joshua Dubois from the White House expressed his full commitment to helping us with sustained interfaith and education outreach.

The FBI and Department of Justice were at the top of their game, investigating the attacks as both an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime.

But we need more than government cooperation. Our community needs the deeper spiritual and emotional assurance that we are welcome to live, work and worship as fellow Americans. The gunman, Wade Michael Page, was a member of a white supremacist group that wishes to destroy our very claim to call this country home. After the attack we endured, Sikh Americans, and all brown and black people in America for that matter, need our president to directly show the nation that we belong here.

Watch: Volunteers help temple mourners cope

President Obama, you flew to Aurora, Colorado, to mourn publicly with the families before the dead were buried. You hugged your daughters closer that night, imagining them in that theater. In response to the massacre of Sikhs in Oak Creek, you and Mitt Romney issued statements of support, but did not suspend campaigning in Wisconsin, as you did in Colorado.

I believe you can help the nation feel our pain. You can show this tragedy is an American tragedy, because none of us should have to fear gunfire in their own churches, synagogues and mosques. If Trayvon Martin could have been your son, and the kids in the Aurora theater your daughters, then the aunts and uncles shot while praying on that Sunday could have also been your own.

We wish you were there on Thursday morning when community members entered their gurdwara for the first time since the massacre. You would have witnessed the spirit of chardi kala in the Sikh faith -- even in darkness, a rising resilience -- and shared this spirit, which is also part of the American character. Sikh women and men walked into a crime scene: blood on the carpets, there were bullet holes in the walls, and shattered windows. They flew into action, ripping out carpets, painting over bullet holes, scrubbing floors, and within hours, they served the first langar (open meal), breaking bread beneath portraits of those who have died for our faith.

Opinion: Why American Sikhs will survive

We wish you were there later that night for the town hall meeting organized by your Justice Department. Nearly every Sikh American told officials that the attack on Sunday was not isolated or "senseless," but one in a long pattern of intentional acts of hate and discrimination in the last decade and long before.

Our children are bullied in schools, our men and women are profiled at airports and barred from military service unless they give up their turbans, and our people endure racial slurs and hate crimes that are not specifically tracked by the FBI. You would have heard the community's cry for help and publicly called upon all Americans to recommit to curbing the alarming rise of hate and fear in this country.

News: Holder calls Sikh temple shooting a hate crime

We wish you were there on Friday morning for the memorial for the dead. Three thousand people filled the Oak Creek High School gymnasium, a sea of people sitting in reverence and sorrow before six open caskets.

We are deeply moved that you ordered the flags lowered to half-mast, an expression of respect and honor. But for Sikhs, and for Muslims who watched eight mosques attacked in eleven days, the threat is not over.

"All politics aside, a personal visit, even with the victims' families, the temple, the people, for [the president] to take pictures with people who have turbans and beards does so much for our safety," said Amardeep Kaleka, whose father was killed bravely fighting the gunman.

I returned to New York this week. One cab driver pointed to his brown skin and said to me: "This is not just about Sikh people. This is an attack on me too."

Belief: Sikh iReports speak to long-held fears in their community

President Obama, I believe you can help our nation find lasting lessons in Oak Creek. Now that we've had time to grieve, people who care are turning to one another and asking: What do we do now?

"It is that fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper, [and] I am my sister's keeper, that makes this country work," Attorney General Holder said, repeating your words at the memorial service. President Obama, I believe that your wisdom, compassion, and voice can help Sikhs and all Americans chart the way forward.

You may find the starting point when you visit the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek -- a single bullet hole remains and below it a sign: "We Are One."

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Valarie Kaur.

updated 10:25 AM EDT, Fri August 17, 2012

Peter Bergen says many charges in the video accusing Obama of taking too much credit for the bin Laden raid and of leaking secret information don't hold upupdated 10:39 AM EDT, Fri August 17, 2012

Ruben Navarrette says the objective of the two campaigns is to terrify one American in particular: John of Ohio.updated 9:43 AM EDT, Fri August 17, 2012

Tim Stanley says that the vice presidential candidates reflect an important divide among American Catholics. Biden and social justice? Or Ryan and conservative theology?updated 3:29 PM EDT, Fri August 17, 2012

Valarie Kaur says a visit from the president to the site of the Sikh shooting would set the tone of acceptance in a country where Sikh's continue to face discrimination and hateful actsupdated 1:11 PM EDT, Fri August 17, 2012

Micah Sifry says Assange's asylum in a country that stifles the press is an irony on top of the personal troubles that he's inflicted on his seminal whistleblowing site

Get the latest opinion and analysis from CNN's columnists and contributors.updated 9:00 AM EDT, Thu August 16, 2012

Susan Antilla says prosecutors declined to charge Goldman Sachs but they have been quick to bring cases when the investment bank is a victimupdated 5:00 PM EDT, Thu August 16, 2012

David Rothkopf says ignore the Twitter news cycle and consider: Paul Ryan as Romney's VP pick could mark the arrival of a true Republican national viewpoint updated 9:34 AM EDT, Thu August 16, 2012

Donald Clarke says Gu Kailai's one-day trial was high profile, but few doubt that her sentence has been predetermined by the Communist Partyupdated 8:43 AM EDT, Thu August 16, 2012

Lawrence Jacobs says using Paul Ryan to ignite the Republican base is probably Mitt Romney's most plausible path to prevailingupdated 11:12 AM EDT, Thu August 16, 2012

Targeted U.S. drone killings in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan may violate international law, says Mary Ellen O'Connellupdated 7:42 AM EDT, Wed August 15, 2012

Ali Noorani says young immigrants brought here by their parents and willing to work hard or defend their country get a shot at the American Dream with the start of a "deferred action" policyupdated 7:46 AM EDT, Wed August 15, 2012

Negotiating with Syria's allies is the only way to end the bloodshed and avoid the mistakes made in Iraq, say Asli Bali and Aziz Rana.updated 6:49 PM EDT, Tue August 14, 2012

It has consequences, says Aaron Carroll: Medicare vouchers could cost seniors and affect quality of care; block grants to states for Medicaid could cut aid to poor, elderly.

South Africa shocked by police shootings at mine

President Jacob Zuma announces a government inquiry of the incidentSome South Africans compare incident to apartheid-era Sharpeville massacrePolice say they fired at the striking workers in self-defense44 people were killed this week in violence at the mine -- 34 on ThursdayAre you affected by the violence? Send photos and stories to CNN iReport.

Marikana, South Africa (CNN) -- The headlines Friday in South Africa spoke of a bloodbath, of war.

The morning after carnage at a platinum mine, South Africans grappled with shock, memories of an ugly era resurrected in their minds. The word apartheid surfaced again as people debated the need for such police force.

The police, meanwhile, explained themselves at a news conference, giving reporters the grim toll: 34 mine workers killed, 78 others wounded, 259 arrested on various charges, including malicious damage to property, armed robbery, illegal gathering and possession of weapons. That according to Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega.

She said police "were forced to utilize maximum force to defend themselves."

South African President Jacob Zuma cut short a trip to Mozambique to visit the scene of the shootings Friday afternoon. He announced the government will open an inquiry of the incident.

He told South Africans that they must come together to overcome national challenges as they had done before.

"This is not a day to apportion blame," Zuma said. "It is a day for us to mourn together as a nation. It is also a day to start healing."

Mourn, yes, but also a time to think about what had been done, some cried.

Rising tensions explode into grisly violence at South African mine

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It editorialized that South Africa's economic woes do require a war. "But a different kind of war -- a war of ideas. Not a war that dispenses with human life in as cheaply a manner as we have seen in Marikana."

The tragedy began unfolding a week ago when miners went on strike demanding pay hikes at the mine near Rustenburg, about two hours northwest of Johannesburg.

They were rock drillers who worked at the dangerous depths of the mine, their bodies vibrating for the duration of their eight-hour shifts.

"When there is a rock fall, it is generally the drillers who are the victims," wrote journalist Greg Marinovich in the Daily Maverick newspaper. "It is the most dangerous job in the business."

The miners, who earned $300 to $500 a month, wanted their salaries raised to $1,500.

It came as no surprise that their multi-national employer, Lonmin, said no to the whopping increase. The world's third-largest producer of platinum said the strike was illegal.

The larger problem, however, went beyond a wage dispute.

It had to do with a vicious rivalry between two unions -- the dominant and established National Union of Mineworkers and the splinter Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union which has been encroaching on the former's role.

The National Union of Mineworkers is a close ally of the country's ruling African National Congress. The miners, according to several South African media outlets, feel they are not adequately represented by the battling unions. They say politics gets in the way and that each union vies for miners' support and yet they don't always seek their best interests.

In January, at least three people were killed during a strike at the world's second-largest platinum mine, Impala Platinum. The violence there, too, was blamed on union rivalry.

The two unions, accused of trying to outdo each other in negotiating wages, denied instigating the clashes.

Tensions at Marikana had mounted throughout the week.

The striking miners carried traditional panga machetes and gathered Thursday around a small hill. Police carried anti-riot equipment and encircled the protesting workers.

By then, at least 10 other people were dead from incidents that had occurred in the days before. Among them were two police officers who were hacked to death.

Journalists who were at Marikana said police seemed fed up with the miners and determined to resolve the issue.

"Yesterday the police were clear that today we are going to disarm them and remove them from the hill because the gathering is illegal," said Xolile Mngambi, a reporter for CNN affiliate ETV.

By Thursday afternoon, another round of negotiations among the striking miners, the unions and Lonmin had failed.

The miners chanted war songs, witnesses said.

A heavily armed police Tactical Response Team moved in to disperse the miners.

What happened next is unclear.

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To hear Phiyega, the police commissioner, describe it, the police weighed all their options and decided to fence in the miners with barbed wire -- to compartmentalize them into more manageable groups. She defended police actions, saying it was a desperate last measure against dangerous protesters.

"The armed protesters moved toward the police," she said. "They were driven back with tear gas and rubber bullets. But when they fired, police used maximum force."

But journalists at the scene could not say whether the protesters fired first.

"We cannot say to you the police were provoked," Mngambi said.

Then, the police unleashed a barrage of gunfire. One witness said it went on for three minutes.

Men dropped to the ground. Some lay motionless; others were still moving. Blood spilled onto the parched earth.

The images spread fast on the news, on the Internet. Marikana was one of the bloodiest incidents since apartheid ended in 1994.

South Africans were taken back to that time of mandated racial separation and horrific incidents of police brutality against black people. Some likened Marikana to Sharpeville, where in 1960, police fired on a crowd of black demonstrators, killing 69.

There was clear evidence, the South African Institute for Race Relations said, that policemen randomly shot into the crowd with rifles and handguns.

"There is also evidence of their continuing to shoot after a number of bodies can be seen dropping and others turning to run. This is reminiscent of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960.

"In our view," the institute said, "what happened at Lonmin is completely unacceptable. We hold no brief for the use of violence in labor or any other disputes. But even if the police were provoked or shot at during yesterday's incident, or were angry at the killing of two police officers in the days before, no disciplined and properly trained policeman would shoot into a crowd. Yesterday's incident was a disaster waiting to happen."

Marikana, said some, exposed deep-rooted problems that have been bubbling in South Africa.

"I think this us a sign of underlying structural issues which you have seen in South Africa for a long time," said Mark Rosenberg, an Africa analyst with the risk research firm Eurasia Group.

"There has been an increase in violent protests both by miners and also by citizens living in townships who are upset with the level and pace of service delivery," he said.

People are no longer willing to sit and wait around for the African National Congress to deliver.

"They are becoming more and more impatient and they're becoming more and more violent as a result," Rosenberg said.

Lonmin's chief financial officer, Simon Scott, called the situation "tragic" and expressed condolences to the family and friends of the workers and police officers who died this week. He said the company would assist with funerals and grief counseling.

Scott said Lonmin has worked for years to achieve good labor relations and said the "illegal strike we've seen is so disappointing and damaging."

"If the industry continues to be damaged by illegal actions it is not just the economy which suffers, but all our employees, their families and dependents," Scott said about South Africa's vital mining sector. "We need our employees to come back to work and we need to get mining again."

But Friday at Marikana, all was quiet. The Lonmin mine remained shut.

On the dry, dusty surrounding streets, a heavy police presence remained. And women searched desperately for husbands, fathers and brothers who did not come home.

A 9-year-old boy said he saw his father shot on television.

One of the miners, who did not want to be identified, told CNN that none of the mine workers fired at police. But regardless of whether their actions were legal or illegal, he said, none of this should have happened.

"They should not have died," he said. "All they want is a wage increase."

He said he thought South Africa was a democracy, a nation of free people. But it didn't feel that way this week at Marikana.

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CNN's Nkepile Mabuse and Diane McCarthy contributed from South Africa, and Moni Basu and Faith Karimi, from Atlanta.

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Mother of 'Moors murder' victim dies as police probe new lead

Winnie Johnson, the mother of moors murder victim Keith Bennett, has died, August 18, 2012 after a long-term illness.NEW: Mother's death before she could find her son's body is "heartbreaking," lawyer saysWinnie Johnson died the day after a new lead in her son's case was revealed12-year-old Keith Bennett was a victim of notorious killer Ian Brady in 1964Brady admitted Keith's murder in 1987 but has not revealed the location of the body

London (CNN) -- The mother of a victim of one of Britain's most notorious killers died Saturday, a day after police said they were investigating a possible clue to where her child was buried nearly 50 years ago.

Winnie Johnson, whose 12-year-old son Keith Bennett went missing in 1964 in northern England, had spent the long decades since seeking first to find, and then to give a proper burial to, her murdered child.

But her death after serious illness has come before that hope could be realized.

Ian Brady, who was jailed for life in 1966 for three other child murders committed with the help of his partner Myra Hindley, admitted killing the boy in 1987 but has never disclosed the whereabouts of his body.

The other four victims were buried on Saddleworth Moor, a lonely upland expanse in the Pennine hills, near Manchester, but repeated searches have never uncovered Keith's remains.

Brady, known as the "Moors Murderer," remains in a secure psychiatric unit.

A statement on the family's website, Searching for Keith, confirmed that Johnson, a "much-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother," had died at age 78.

"Winnie fought tirelessly for decades to find Keith and give him a Christian burial," it said.

"Although this was not possible during her lifetime, we, her family, intend to continue this fight now for her and for Keith. We hope that the authorities and the public will support us in this."

Police revealed Friday that they were investigating claims that Brady may recently have given details of the burial spot to one of his longtime visitors, in a sealed letter to be passed to Johnson after Brady's death.

The information came to light when a documentary filmmaker interviewed a woman who has been acting as Brady's mental health adviser, the Press Association news agency reported.

Martin Bottomley, head of Greater Manchester Police's cold case review team, cautioned Friday against leaping to conclusions but said police were taking the possibility Brady had written such a letter seriously.

"We do not know if this is true or simply a ruse, but we clearly have a duty to investigate such information on behalf of Keith's family," he said in a statement.

"Since Keith was so cruelly taken away all those years ago, our thoughts have always been with his family as they try to come to terms with what happened. All they want is to finally be able to lay Keith to rest."

A 49-year-old woman was arrested in South Wales on Thursday on suspicion of preventing the burial of a body without lawful exercise, and has been released on bail pending further inquiries, the police statement said.

Documents have also been seized from the address and are being examined, police said.

Brady and Hindley were taken by police to Saddleworth Moor to look for the bodies of Bennett and another victim, 16-year-old Pauline Reade, after they admitted those killings in 1987, the Press Association said. However, only Reade's remains were found.

The lawyer who represented Johnson, John Ainley, said it was a "heartbreaking situation" that she had died without ever learning where her son was buried.

"Over the years and in all our personal meetings, Winnie has insisted Brady is the only person who could put her mind at rest and give her the chance to give Keith a decent burial before she passed on," he said, according to a statement from the law firm.

"She was convinced Brady knew where her son was buried and she told me she wanted the search to continue to find Keith."

Johnson is quoted on the Searching for Keith website as saying: "My greatest hope in this life from the day he left is to have him home, I now accept he is not alive but I still believe I have the right as his mother to give him a Christian burial."

CNN's Susannah Palk contributed to this report.