t."
As part of the plan, military manpower will be cut to 47,000 from 2015, with 200,000-strong Marine Corps losing 15,000 to 20,000 and the army
accounting for
the rest.
President Barack Obama has chosen a new chief of staff at the White House. He's Bill Daley, who comes from a powerful political family in Chicago, Mr Obama's political base. Bill Daley served as commerce secretary under President Clinton and is currently a top bank executive with JP Morgan Chase. His father Richard Daley ran Chicago in the 1960s and 70s. The BBC Washington correspondent says his appointment will please financiers and big business, with whom Mr Obama needs to
mend fences
. Our correspondent says the choice suggests that President Obama is moving to the centre politically.
The medical charity MSF says it's extremely concerned about the town of Fizi in eastern Congo, where most people have fled into the surrounding area following an attack on New Year's Day. Thirty-three women were raped, and MSF has treated the women for their wounds and provided them with drugs to reduce the risk of infection from HIV. The MSF operations manager in Congo is Katrien Coppens.
"Our team in South Kivu, Baraka, heard rumours that there was major rape happening in the town an hour down the road in Fizi. What they told the team is that they had been restrained with ropes or beaten often in front of their kids, and they made a reference to armed men in uniform."