AKCAKALE - Rebels tore down a Syrian flag at a border gate on the Turkish frontier as they fought for control of the crossing. Television footage showed Syrian rebels taking down the flag on top of a government building at the Tel Abyad border gate. The fighting looked to be the first attempt by insurgents to assert their grip over a border zone in Syria's al-Raqqa province. Rebels hold two other crossings on the northern border with Turkey and a third border point would strengthen their control in the north. Reuters
MARIKANA - South African police fired tear gas to disperse protesters near a mine run by platinum producer Anglo American, the first sign of unrest spreading after strikers at smaller rival Lonmin won big pay rises. Within hours of Lonmin agreeing to a pay increase of 11 to 22 per cent, workers at neighbouring mines were calling for similar rises, suggesting more trouble in store after six weeks of industrial action that has claimed 45 lives. Police clashed with an angry crowd in a township at a nearby Anglo American mine outside the city of Rustenburg. Reuters
BOGOTA - One of Colombia's most wanted drug traffickers was captured in neighbouring Venezuela with the help of Caracas as well as British and US intelligence agencies, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said. Authorities in Colombia had been closing in on Daniel Barrera - known as "Crazy Barrera" - in recent weeks, arresting 36 gang members. Barrera had a US$5 million bounty on his head from the US and US$2.7 million from Colombia. Reuters