Newsline - 31 July 2010: South Africa faces the biggest public strike in three years. Italy's Berlusconi weathers his latest political crisis. And a comic take on Dutch troops in Afghanistan.

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South Africa paralysed by massive strike
Just three weeks since the end of the World Cup in South Africa, the country's facing the biggest public sector strike since 2007. With unions demanding wage rises of up to nine percent, President Jacob Zuma's in a tricky situation.

Berlusconi insists he can bounce back from split
Italy's flamboyant leader Silvio Berlusconi says he can survive a split with his party's co-founder. Correspondent Nancy Greenleese explains how he plans to weather the latest crisis.

A comic take on Dutch troops in Afghanistan
They're battling the Taliban and face a violent insurgency but are Dutch troops in Afghanistan less macho than we've been led to believe? Cartoonist David Axe visited Camp Holland in 2007 and paints a picture of the soldiers as coffee-drinking cowards.