Paris squatters 'face off' with President Sarkozy

Police were keeping visitors out of the squat

French riot police have sealed off an office building opposite the Elysee Palace where squatters are taunting President Nicolas Sarkozy over housing.

A 30-strong group of students and other activists moved into the empty insurance building on the prestigious avenue Matignon late last month.

They are calling for more state housing to be built and rents to be capped.

The group joke that Mr Sarkozy cannot take a shave now without being reminded by the presence of housing problems.

They call themselves Black Thursday (Jeudi Noir) after the day of the week when young French people in need of rented accommodation tend to scan the newspaper small adds.

They are occupying 22 avenue Matignon, a former office of Saint Honore Assurance which now belongs to a company related to Axa, which is said to have been standing empty since 2006.

In October, riot police ejected members of the same group from an equally prime location, the city's place des Vosges.

Rents for students in Paris rose by 4.4% last year, a survey by French student rental website location-etudiant.fr found.

France's property market has been enjoying recent strong growth in contrast to other Western countries.

'Government under surveillance'

The squatters had declared Friday an "open-doors day", inviting people to visit them and promising a news conference at 1000 local time (0900 GMT).

Members of Black Thursday posed on a balcony for journalists

But just before 1000, about 15 riot police officers cordoned off the avenue Matignon site, preventing a number of Green and other politicians from entering.

The building is eight storeys high, each of them with floorspace pf 527 sq m (sq yds), according to Le Parisien newspaper.

Mattresses and sleeping bags have been brought in, and the building is still connected to electricity and water.

Le Figaro newspaper notes that the top floor looks directly on to the Elysee Palace and the Ferris wheel on the place de la Concorde.

"Black Thursday are placing the government under surveillance," the group quips on its website.

The group's aim, it says, is to "denounce the government's indifference to a housing crisis which is sharpening as the property bubble swells".

The previous stand-off, at a private mansion on place des Vosges, dragged on for about a year.

Gates cutting Pentagon budget by $78bn over five years

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Robert Gates said it was imperative to make "every defence dollar count"

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has announced a $78bn (£50.3bn) military budget cut, to be achieved in part by scrapping a $14bn amphibious vehicle.

The cuts over the next five years come in addition to $100bn in internal savings already announced.

The cuts are the largest since the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The defence budget was more than $700bn last year - representing the largest portion of the US federal government's discretionary budget.

While troop levels will shrink by 6% and some of the most expensive military hardware will be cancelled, funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - at a price tag of one trillion dollars and rising - will not be cut.

Cuts to weapons programmes are certain to encounter fierce opposition from members of Congress.

Senior positions cut

Much of the roughly $178bn in defence cuts will come through reduced administrative costs, new organisational efficiencies, and slashed personnel costs, which the defence department called a "vigorous scrub of bureaucratic structures".

Analysis

Nick Childs, BBC defence and security correspondent

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This is the latest Pentagon acknowledgement that it can't be exempt from the need to make savings to cut the US government deficit.

American defence spending has ballooned with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the details of the proposed savings are sure to prove controversial - with some bound to argue they don't go far enough, while others will say they are too deep.

Even with these planned cuts, the US Army and Marine Corps will still be larger than when Mr Gates became defence secretary four years ago.

And the US will continue to spend a significantly bigger proportion of its national income on defence than any of its major allies.

The reduction in commitments in Iraq and the anticipated ones in Afghanistan in the next few years will help ease the strain.

But there will still be major upheavals for the US armed forces after the years of massive spending increases, and they come at a time when Washington feels its relative military strength is being challenged by emerging powers like China.

The Pentagon's budget is expected to be $553bn in 2012, reflecting roughly 3% growth. After that, growth would slow and would be essentially flat in 2015 and 2016, the Pentagon said.

Mr Gates said much of the savings would be achieved by eliminating more than 100 general and flag officer positions, more than 200 top civilian defence positions, by cancelling redundant programmes and through reduced administrative costs.

As much as $100bn in savings would not be sliced from the overall budget, Mr Gates said, but would be reinvested in shipbuilding, missile defence, intelligence, reconnaissance, healthcare for wounded soldiers, and other programmes.

Among the major weapons systems set for the scrap heap is the amphibious Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), made by General Dynamics Corporation. In addition, the Pentagon will end an army surface-to-air missile programme.

Mr Gates has been sceptical about whether large military vehicles, like tanks and EFVs, will continue to be crucial military instruments as engagement in modern warfare changes.

Programmes marked for new investment

• Repair and refurbishment of Marine Corps equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan
• New unmanned aircraft
• New ships, including a destroyer, a littoral combat ship and an ocean surveillance ship
• Updating the army's tank fleet

He has previously said the enemy has developed sophisticated weapons capable of attacking ships waiting close to shore.

Other cost-cutting measures announced by Mr Gates include plans to cut orders for the F-35 joint strike fighter over the next three to five years to compensate for repeated delays in development and testing.

He said he wanted to end the post-9/11 Pentagon's "culture of endless money where cost was rarely a consideration".

The major weapons programmes cuts are likely to encounter opposition from US congressmen and senators in whose constituencies the arms are manufactured.

"I'm not happy," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard McKeon told reporters. He said the cuts were greater than defence companies had been expecting.

Ghana president questions Ivory Coast military option

Ecowas has previously send troops to Liberia and Sierra Leone

Ghana's president has said he does not think military force will solve the post-election deadlock in Ivory Coast.

John Atta Mills also said Ghana would not take sides in the stand-off between incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo and his rival, Alassane Ouattara.

The international community has recognised Mr Ouattara as the winner of November's presidential election and urged Mr Gbagbo to quit.

West African regional grouping Ecowas has threatened to force Mr Gbagbo out.

Mr Ouattara called this week for a special forces operation to remove Mr Gbagbo.

But President Mills appeared to reject such an idea in a speech on Friday. "I personally do not think the military option will solve the problem in Ivory Coast," he was quoted as saying.

"Ghana is not taking sides and Ghana will support any government."

Ghana is one of three countries, along with Nigeria and Senegal, that would normally be expected to play a leading role in any military intervention by Ecowas.

Ambassadors expelled

Mr Ouattara remains behind a blockade at a hotel in the main city Abidjan, protected by UN peacekeepers and New Forces former rebels who control the north of the country.

• Deadly clashes in Ivory Coast

There are an estimated 10,000 UN troops in Ivory Coast - and the mission has sent a request to the UN Security Council for an extra 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers.

Ecowas has already started drawing up plans for a regional intervention force, though there are questions about how ready or well-equipped member countries are.

Mr Gbagbo has come under increasing pressure from the international community.

In response, he said on Thursday he was expelling the ambassadors of the UK and Canada.

Both countries have expelled ambassadors appointed by Mr Gbagbo in order to replace them with diplomats chosen by Mr Ouattara.

The US has frozen the assets of Mr Gbagbo, his wife and three aides, and has announced that it is barring US citizens from financial dealings with Mr Gbagbo.

November's election was intended to reunify the country, which has been divided since a 2002 conflict.

Mr Ouattara was initially proclaimed the winner by the country's election commission - a verdict backed by the UN, which helped organise the poll.

But the country's Constitutional Council, headed by an ally of Mr Gbagbo, later ruled that he had won, citing voting irregularities in the north.

Afghan suicide bomber kills 17 in bath house

At least 17 people have been killed in a suicide attack in a crowded public bath house in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, officials say.

They say 23 others were injured in the attack, which took place in the town of Spin Boldak, on the Pakistan border.

Officials said the bomber killed his target - a police commander who was inside the building at the time.

Meanwhile, Nato says three of its troops have been killed in two separate bombings in the south and east.

One soldier died in the south while two others were killed in the east, the alliance said.

'Inhumane attack'

The blast in Spin Boldak came as the bath house was packed with people getting ready for Friday prayers.

Border police official Gen Abdul Raziq told the BBC: "Today, around 1150 (0720 GMT), there was a suicide attack in Spin Boldak targeting a local public bath. The target of the attack was a border police officer, Ramazan. He has been killed, along with 17 others, and 23 others have been injured."

The Taliban said they carried out the attack.

The town is situated some 70 miles (110km) east of Kandahar, capital of a province that has long been a Taliban stronghold.

A local Afghan intelligence source in Spin Boldak told the BBC that Ramazan always used the bath house, on the town's main road, ahead of Friday prayers.

Most of the other dead and wounded are believed to be civilians.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary, in Kabul, says that Afghanistan's security institutions have been targeted in recent weeks in a wave of attacks on the country's army and police who will eventually take over security responsibilities from international forces.

A statement from the governor of Kandahar's office called the attack un-Islamic.

"This brutal and inhumane act was the work of the enemies of Islam and humanity," said Zalmai Ayoubi.

Militants have attacked in Spin Boldak many times in the past. Friday's bombing is the bloodiest in many months.

It has also been condemned by President Hamid Karzai, a source close to the president told the BBC.

West Bank civilian dies in Israeli army raid in Hebron

The scene of the killing of Amr Qawasme

Israeli troops have shot dead a 67-year-old Palestinian man by mistake in an operation to arrest members of the Islamist militant organisation, Hamas.

The pre-dawn raid happened in Hebron, in the West Bank, a day after six supporters of Hamas had been released from jail by the Palestinian Authority.

The man who died was a neighbour of one of the Hamas men.

Hamas has said it holds the Palestinian Authority and Israel responsible.

Reports from the scene of the shooting said it took place in a bedroom on the building's first floor.

The Reuters news agency has reported that the man, Amr Qawasme, was shot and killed in his bed when soldiers broke into his home before dawn.

His wife, Sobheye, said she heard several shots fired and later saw her husband lying in a pool of blood.

"I was praying when they entered. I do not know how they opened the door. They put their hand to my mouth and a rifle to my head," she told Reuters.

"I was shocked. They did not allow me to talk. I asked them, "What did you do?" They asked me to shut up."

The IDF said in a statement: "A Palestinian man who was present in one of the terrorist's homes was killed. The IDF regrets the outcome of the incident." The army has ordered an investigation.

Reports say Israeli forces carried out a number of raids across the city, rounding up five men.

On Thursday Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas ordered the release of six Hamas prisoners who had been on hunger strike. Five were being held in a Hebron jail, while the sixth was imprisoned in Bethlehem.

The Palestinian Authority exercises limited control over parts of the West Bank. The territory is under overall Israeli security control.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements. There are about 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.

US unemployment rate drops in December

Stubbornly high unemployment has hindered the US economic recovery

The US unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in December from 9.8% in November, the biggest one-month drop since April 1998, official figures show.

Some 103,000 jobs were created last month, the Labor Department said, although this was fewer than the 145,000-175,000 that had been forecast.

The lower jobless rate was because more people found jobs, but also because some had given up on their searches.

If people stop looking for work, they are no longer counted as unemployed.

Overall employment for October and November was revised to show 70,000 more job gains than earlier reported.

Stubbornly high unemployment has hindered the US economic recovery.

Headline miss

The unemployment rate is now at its lowest since May 2009.

Private hiring increased in December by 113,000, while government employment fell by 10,000.

Employment rose by 47,000 in the leisure and hospitality sector and by 36,000 in healthcare, but was little changed in other major industries, the Labor Department said in its monthly report.

In volatile trading, the euro rose into positive territory against the dollar after the report but then relinquished those gains.

"The headline miss [on jobs created] is pretty bad, but the drop in the unemployment rate is the one reason why the dollar has not collapsed completely," said Brian Dolan, chief strategist from Forex.com.

"Overall, a very disappointing number that reinforces the idea that we're in for a long, slow jobless recovery."

Piracy concerns over Apple's new Mac download store

The Mac App Store offers programs for computers including the Macbook Air

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Pirates have targeted Apple's new software download service just one day after it launched.

Several groups claim to have found security flaws in the company's new Mac App Store, which launched on Thursday.

The new service allows people to find and download approved applications to their Apple computers.

However pirates suggest that the loopholes mean many pieces of paid-for software are vulnerable to unauthorised copying.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had hailed the launch as "innovative", but the company has yet to respond to the claims.

While Mac users have been able to purchase and install programs on their computers for many years, the Californian technology giant hopes the new system can emulate the success of its music and mobile download services.

The store has more than 1,000 programs for download, including best sellers such as Angry Birds and Twitter.

Apple scrutiny

Unlike ordinary software downloads, however, every program in the store is scrutinised by Apple and must pass a series of tests before gaining approval.

Almost immediately after the launch, however, pirates and Apple experts outlined a series of loopholes that could allow software to be copied or shared illegally.

One flaw, which only affects some applications including the popular Angry Birds game, involves simply copying and pasting the purchase code to allow paid-for programs to be used for free.

At the same time, a group known as Hackulous says it has developed a program called Kickback which can break the protection on any piece of App Store software.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We don't want to devalue applications and frustrate developers.”

End Quote "Dissident" Representative of Hackulous

However the organisation, which has previously broken the copy protection systems used by the iPhone and iPad, says it will not release its work until next month.

"We're not going to release Kickback until well after the store's been established," said "Dissident", a spokesman for the group. "We don't want to devalue applications and frustrate developers."

Google battle

Although Apple's approval process is intended to boost security, prominent blogger John Gruber - who writes extensively about the company - said the loopholes showed gaps in the system.

"Apple should test for this in the review process, and reject paid apps that are susceptible to this simple technique," he wrote.

In the past the company has come under fire for the opaque nature of its approval scheme, which has sometimes resulted in applications being blocked without an obvious reason.

Most notably Google complained after its Voice application for the iPhone was turned down. It was eventually given approval, but only after a protracted battle between the two companies.

The news also comes after it emerged that as many as 50,000 fraudulently-obtained iTunes accounts were for sale on Chinese auction site TaoBao.