France to announce measures to end job protests

The French government is due to announce 1000G a series of measures aimed at ending four weeks of protests by unemployed people.

The announcement follows talks between the government, employers, trades unions and protestors.

The protestors are demanding higher unemployment payments and reforms to the benefit system.

The French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, has warned protestors to end their occupations of welfare offices across the country; police have already started evicting some of them.

The BBC Paris correspondent says the protestors have succeeded in forcing unemployment to the head of the political agenda and established themselves as negotiating partners.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service