Taxi drivers broker safety deal after blocking city

MELBOURNE, April 30: Hundreds of taxi drivers ended a 20-hour blockade of the centre of Australia’s second-largest city on Wednesday after the government agreed to improve safety measures.The protest began with some 100 cab drivers blocking central Melbourne on Tuesday evening in protest at the near fatal stabbing of a young driver, reportedly an Indian student, earlier in the day, police said.Hundreds more cabbies, including scores of drivers from Pakistan India and the Middle East, braved the bitter cold to join the demonstration.During the blockade, which severely disrupted traffic, drivers chanted “we want justice” and “Shame, shame, Victoria police.” By the time the protest broke up on Wednesday afternoon, after the government agreed to help install safety screens in up to 4,000 taxis, numbers had swelled to 600, police said.