The leaders of Germany and France called on Saturday for all sides in the Ukraine conflict to "face their responsibilities" after a rise in ceasefire violations in the east of the country.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told of his "deep distress" at the killing of two Indians by French troops guarding the Central African Republic's main airport following a coup.
Mali's sovereignty over almost all of its territory will be restored within "a few days", French President Francois Hollande promised as French troops prepare to pull out.
A French corporal was killed tracking down jihadist fighters in their northern Mali mountain bastions, bringing to five the number of French deaths since Paris launched a military offensive in the country two months ago.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has visited French troops in northern Mali, where the military says they have killed 150 Islamist rebels over the past month.
A French-Malian citizen arrested in November for allegedly seeking to join Islamist militants in Mali has been expelled to France where he will be held for questioning, a French judicial source said on Thursday.
Paris has officially resumed development aid to Mali after suspending it in the wake of a March 2012 coup that triggered a rebellion in the north and French military intervention, according to France's development minister.
Islamist gunmen attacked the largest city in northern Mali on Sunday following two straight days of suicide bombings, intensifying their insurgency on territory reclaimed by French-led forces.
France said on Thursday its warplanes had hit Islamist command posts near the last militant stronghold in northern Mali, as the UN mulled a peacekeeping force to take over the fast-moving French-led operation.
French-backed Malian troops wrested two key central towns from Islamist rebels as hostage-takers in neighbouring Algeria said they wanted to negotiate an end to France's military intervention.
France on Friday instructed its citizens to leave Mali following the launch of a government offensive against Islamist forces in the north of the country.
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">French parents and teachers are calling for a boycott of all homework in schools for a fortnight. They say homework is useless, tiring and increases inequalities between pupils. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A 24-year-old French soldier was killed in action in Afghanistan, France's presidential office said Saturday, marking the 63rd French soldier to be killed there since 2001.</p>
