Daily Staff Writer

Africa

* More than 800,000 public workers in South Africa Tuesday went on strike, the largest ever in the country, according to reports from the Johannesburg Star.

About 300,000 teachers and 230,000 nurses made up the bulk of the striking South Africans, who were demonstrating to oppose the nation’s salary policy.

* In the Democratic Republic of Congo, rival rebel leaders have agreed to sign a peace accord intended to end the civil war that has raged through the country for past year, according to reports from the French press agency AFP.

Leaders of the two factions of the Congolese Rally for Democracy have resolved a dispute over which of them would be the representative of the group.

The accord is expected to be signed by the end of the week.

Asia

* In the Indonesian province of East Timor, the BBC reported more than 430,000 East Timorese are preparing for a U.N.-run referendum in which voters will choose between full independence or a form of autonomy with Indonesia.

However, increased violence in the region the last few days is threatening to postpone the vote.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded by Indonesia in 1975, and has been an area of unrest since then.

Bishop Carlos Belo and Jose Ramos Horta, who together have been the most prominent protesters of Indonesian rule, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.

* For 20 years, dancing has been illegal in Iran.

However, the minister of culture, Ataollah Mohajerani, has suggested that dancing is an art form and should not be considered a sin, according to the Iranian press agency, IRNA.

Both modern and traditional dances were popular in the country before the Islamic revolution in 1979. Since then, they have almost been erased from the Iranian social and cultural life.

South America

* In Argentina, the BBC said the centenary of the country’s foremost writer, Jorge Louis Borges, is being celebrated by the opening of a museum in Buenos Aires dedicated to his memory.

Borges is considered one of the greatest influences on world literature this century, but he has never won a Nobel Prize in literature. Borges claimed this oversight was a result of his support of the military dictatorship of General Pinochet in Chile.

Europe

* For the first time in 15 years, the leading Russian business paper, Kommersant, was not published Tuesday, after the Moscow fire department closed its offices, saying it lacked the necessary safety measures.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that Kommersant recently was purchased by Russian entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky. Many Russians suspected the shutdown was politically motivated, with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov possibly behind the closing. Luzhkov has denied the allegations.

* In Sweden, a woman charged with killing her husband and cutting him up in to pieces in her bathtub has baffled psychiatrists, Swedish paper Aftonbladet reported.

She is the first woman in Swedish history to be charged with a murder this violent, but she is still composed and is showing no remorse.

The 46-year-old woman, originally from Romania, has not admitted to killing her husband, and will now have to go through another psychological evaluation.

* A Norwegian-owned cruise ship, Norwegian Dream, carrying 2,600 passengers sustained major injuries when it collided with the container ship Ever Decent in the English Channel Tuesday morning, according to Norwegian newspaper Nettavisen.

Norwegian Dream continued to Dover, England, for repairs, but 26 people were injured.

The container ship caught fire before rescue personnel arrived at the scene.

The British Coast Guard has not yet released any details surrounding the cause of the accident.