FRANCE is deploying hundreds of extra police at busy public places in its main cities after dynamite was planted in a Paris department store, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said yesterday.

France is to cut tens of thousands of defence jobs as part of a new strategy aimed at adapting the country’s forces to new threats.

Chad's president insisted today that his government had total control of the country, even as he said three-quarters of his officials had disappeared during weekend battles with rebels which left hundreds dead and prompted thousands to flee the capital.

Chad rebels said today they withdrew voluntarily from Chad’s capital overnight, but it was unclear if they succumbed to the force of helicopter gunships and tanks deployed by government forces.

THE man convicted of the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando was refused bail yesterday pending a second appeal in November.