France and Britain called Friday for Europe to send a strong message on the escalating crisis in Egypt, urging the EU to review its relations with Cairo.

The French presidency said in a statement that after talks by telephone, President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister David Cameron agreed "on the seriousness of the violence of recent days and on the need for a strong European message."

France “firmly” condemned Thursday's explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, calling for uncovering “the entire truth” behind the incident.

"We strongly condemn Dahieh's blast,” the deputy spokesperson of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vincent Floréani said on Friday.

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Friday for urgent European consultations on the escalating crisis in Egypt.

The two leaders discussed the crisis by telephone and "called for an immediate end to the violence" and for the foreign ministers of the EU to meet quickly next week over the deteriorating situation in Egypt, the French presidency said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel plan to discuss the Egypt crisis in a telephone call at 1200 GMT Friday, a diplomatic source said.

Hollande warned Thursday of the threat of "civil war" in Egypt, after a crackdown by security forces on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi left nearly 600 people dead.

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Egypt at 2130 GMT on Thursday, following a request from France, Britain and Australia, diplomats said.

The meeting comes a day after a crackdown by Egyptian security forces on protesters backing the deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, which left more than 500 people dead.

President Francois Hollande on Tuesday hailed Mali's presidential election as a victory for democracy and vowed France would "stand by" the west African country.

Hollande, who sent French troops to Mali this year to oust Islamist rebels in the north, will also travel to the country to attend the inauguration of president-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a source in Hollande's office said.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Sunday that there has been "no change" in the country's 2013 growth forecast, after it appeared the figure had been revised downward.

"There was no change in the growth forecast as I have read it," the minister told journalists in Paris.

A 6.3-magnitude quake struck off eastern Indonesia on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake struck at a depth of 92 kilometers (57 miles), 189 kilometers west-northwest of Saumlaki in the Maluku chain of islands, said the USGS.

Beijing city health and corruption officials have launched an investigation into allegations staff at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi bribed more than 500 Chinese doctors a total of about $280,000, state media reported Saturday.

The joint investigation will probe claims in China's 21st Century Business Herald newspaper purporting to show that company staff paid 503 doctors in 79 hospitals bribes totaling 1.69 million yuan in a bid to increase sales.

Spanish and French police said Saturday they have dismantled a human trafficking ring that smuggled Chinese migrants into Europe and the United States, arresting 75 suspects including "main operatives" based in Barcelona.

Fifty-one suspects were arrested in Spain and 24 in France after a two-year joint investigation, a police statement said.