(Euronews: 0143 PST, March 30, 2011) Dummies substituted for politicians in Belgium on the day the country ties Iraq for the record time without a new government: 289 days. Many of them throwing shoes at the dummies, some 10,000 Belgians were protesting a failure by their federal government and the regional government of Flanders to agree on rights for health care workers.

One protester said: "It's high time they do something about this. We want a salary increase and more staff, otherwise we can't work properly."