Pope Francis urged an "elderly" Europe to overcome economic crises and rising nationalism to reclaim a global leadership role as he paid a lightning visit to European institutions in Strasbourg Tuesday.

In a speech to the European Parliament, the Argentinian pontiff also called on the EU to help migrants fleeing the Middle East and Africa, saying it must not allow the Mediterranean to become a "vast cemetery."

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia on Thursday over the mass deportation of Georgian citizens in 2006, saying it violated a string of rights conventions.

Russia's arrest, detention and collective expulsions of several thousand Georgians sharply raised tensions between the two countries, which fought a brief war in 2008.

A French minister denounced a text adopted by the European Parliament on Wednesday and seen by Paris as a step to moving the legislature permanently to Brussels as having "no legal weight".

Helene Conway-Mouret, a junior foreign minister, said it was "astonishing" the European Parliament "thought it useful to devote energy" to a vote on a text that backs changing the European Union treaty to allow the parliament itself, rather than member states, to decide on where it sits.

French police have uncovered bomb-making material during a probe into a group of Islamic extremists detained at the weekend for allegedly targeting Jews, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Describing the group as a serious threat, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the detention of the 12 suspects pending charges would be extended beyond the usual four-day maximum to at least a fifth day.

A man was shot and fatally wounded Saturday in Strasbourg while being arrested by French police in connection with a nationwide anti-terrorist operation, judicial and police sources said.

According to initial reports, when police entered the suspect's home, the man shot at police who returned fire and fatally wounded him, a source close to the inquiry said without giving further details.