Paris  - Police arrested 33 people overnight Thursday as scattered unrest flared in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, France-Info radio reported.

However, there was no repeat of the previous night's violence that saw one man shot dead and six police officers injured by gunfire.

In several communities in the Caribbean island group youths again targeted police and firefighters with gunfire, but no one was reported injured.

Paris  - French insurance giant Axa said Thursday its profits plunged by 83 per cent, to 923 million euros (1.163 billion dollars), in 2008.

The earnings slump was primarily due to the effects of the financial crisis, such as "negative market-to-market impacts related to corporate bonds and balance sheet hedging items," Axa said in a press statement.

Turnover for the year retreated by a more modest 2 per cent, to 91.22 billion euros, compared to 2007.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was set to meet with trade union leaders and entrepreneurs' representatives later on Wednesday to draw up measures to help low-paid workers, the young and the unemployed struggle through the economic crisis.

Sarkozy called the meeting after a general strike on January 29 and widespread street protests demonstrations that same day to demand aid for small and medium-sized companies and measures to increase purchasing power.

Paris  - Three policemen were injured by gunfire early Wednesday in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe as protests against the high cost of living intensified on the Caribbean island group, France-Info radio reported.

The gunfire erupted as youths armed with shotguns went on a rampage in a shopping centre near the capital, Pointe-a-Pitre. Three youths were arrested.

ComScore, a global leader in measuring the digital world, has released a report on the top social networking sites in Europe, with a particular focus on France, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.

According to study, around 22 million French Internet users visited at least one social networking site during December 2008, reaching 64% of the whole French Internet viewers.

Paris - John Mensah is one of the most feared defenders in French football. But his voice trembled when he told the French daily L'Equipe about the racist taunts directed at him during a Ligue 1 match on Sunday at his home stadium in Lyon.

"I heard those things in the first half. It came from my side. It's the first time that's ever happened to me. I don't know why he did that. It's only a football match," the 26-year-old Ghana international said in an interview published Tuesday.