MORE SHOPS DEFY ZIMBABWE STRIKE !

It was not the mass stay-away union leaders had wanted. More businesses have opened amid tight security on the second day of a strike called by Zimbabwe's trade unions in protest at the economic crisis.
Riot police have been deployed to the industrial areas of capital, where the strike has been most successful.
Correspondents say few people can afford to lose even a day's pay.
President Robert Mugabe, who condemned the stoppage as part of a plot by the opposition to oust him, has left the country on a trip to the Far East.
Tension has been high in the country since police broke up a prayer meeting last month organised by the main opposition party, detaining and beating several government opponents.
More than 80% of Zimbabweans living in poverty and inflation is running at more than 1,700% - the highest in the world.
The BBC's Peter Greste says with inflation so high and four out of five workers without a job, there is plenty to complain about, but opponents of President Mugabe are both broke and scared.
'Flop'
Local correspondents in Harare say that 75% of shops and offices were open in the capital's central business district on the second day of the strike - more than on Tuesday.
Today was supposed to be a stay-away but it has not turned out that way -DzombaZimbabwean worker

Views: Strike decisions

In the industrial areas where about half of businesses have shut, riot police with water cannon have been deployed.
"How can we not go to work when we know that is where our salaries for food come from?" one worker told Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper.
Zimbabwe's main trade union, the Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), said that given the level of intimidation the stoppage had been a success.
However, the government described the first day of the general strike as a flop.
"It was a dismal failure, not just a failure but a dismal failure," said Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu.
Angry crowd
In neighbouring South Africa, hundreds of people holding placards reading "Robert Mugabe is like Idi Amin" brought traffic to a standstill on Tuesday as they marched to the Zimbabwean embassy in Johannesburg.
The Congress of South African Trade Union handed a memorandum to a representative of the Zimbabwe's embassy.
Tensions ran high as a representative of the embassy refused to address the crowd.
Dozens of heavily armed police officers who were closely monitoring the demonstration had to intervene to protect the official from the angry people.
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki says he wants to promote a compromise between rival factions in Zimbabwe but would not push for regime change.
Southern African leaders last week appointed Mr Mbeki to mediate between Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Zimbabwe has urged its citizens to avoid any large gatherings, including political rallies, and to choose with care the bars and nightclubs they visit.
The embassy said that police in Zimbabwe were increasingly using excessive force in closing bars and beer halls in the suburbs of the main cities.
BBC NEWS REPORT.