France on Friday condemned the arrest of the head of the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights and called for his immediate release.

"The arrest of Mr. Abdel Karim Rihawi... constitutes another unacceptable decision by the authorities in Damascus and goes directly against the expectations of the international community," the foreign ministry said.

A French soldier was killed and four were wounded Thursday in Afghanistan during a military operation in Kapisa province, north of Kabul, the French presidency said.

Their armored vehicle, in a convoy of four vehicles, was blown up by an improvised explosive device in the Tagab region, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday called a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid market turmoil to find solutions to the Eurozone debt crisis.

Merkel will travel next Tuesday to Paris for the meeting which is aimed at producing "joint proposals" on the governance of the Eurozone before the end of the summer, Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

France on Thursday said it had summoned the Ukrainian ambassador in Paris to express its "serious concern" over the arrest of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The envoy was told that France would continue to follow very closely the developments in the case that saw Tymoshenko's arrest on Friday for contempt of court in her abuse of power trial, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a private U.S. study released Tuesday.

"Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent)," said the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life study.

Tests that measure DNA in a pregnant woman's blood work well for telling the sex of a baby after seven weeks' gestation without posing danger to the fetus, a U.S. study said Tuesday.

The meta-analysis of previous studies on the topic suggests that using cell-free fetal DNA from the mother's blood is more accurate than a urine test or sonogram and is safer than amniocentesis.

A debate has erupted in France between sides supporting the withdrawal of French troops from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and others who advocate maintaining them.

Diplomatic sources told the Central News Agency on Tuesday that the former are questioning the purpose of retaining the troops in light of the repeated attacks against it by terrorist groups whose identity and goals remain unknown.

France is the home of the baguette, that savory, crisp staple of a fabled gastronomy. But just try getting a fresh one in the evening, or on a holiday, or even in August, when many of the country's 33,000 bakeries are closed.

Jean-Louis Hecht thinks he has the answer.

Informed sources have denied that Syria has sent to Lebanon for the second time arrest warrants against 33 Lebanese personalities in the lawsuit filed by former head of Lebanon’s General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed.

The sources told al-Mustaqbal daily published Tuesday that Syria only sent a detailed document on the identities of the 33 figures. They include judges, security officers, politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials and individuals.

France has "total confidence" in the solidity of the U.S. economy, Economy Minister Francois Baroin told Agence France Presse on Saturday, the first European minister to react to the U.S. rating downgrade.

"France has total confidence in the solidity and the fundamentals of the U.S. economy, and the American government's determination to implement the plan (to reduce the deficit) approved by Congress this week," he said.