An unemployed Frenchman died Wednesday after setting himself on fire outside the state employment agency in the western city of Nantes, police said.

The man had sent messages to journalists warning he would self-immolate this week after being declared ineligible for unemployment benefits.

A French international footballer is being investigated in connection with the soliciting of a minor for prostitution, judicial sources told Agence France Presse on Wednesday.

The player's name appeared in the mobile phone of an under-age girl who has been arrested on shop-lifting charges and whose profile was sufficient to justify the opening of a preliminary investigation, the sources said.

French President Francois Hollande came under fire on Tuesday after cracking a joke about Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign because of his failing health.

At a press conference with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, Hollande initially observed somberly that the Catholic church should be left in peace to organize Benoit's succession.

Fifteen Kurds have been arrested in southwestern France in an anti-terror probe into extortion rackets used to raise funds for the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), legal sources said Tuesday.

The people arrested in the cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse are suspected of being senior figures within the regional structure of the organization, the sources said.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon condemned Tuesday North Korea's nuclear test as "deeply destabilizing" and U.S. President Barack Obama called for swift and credible international action.

Ban condemned the nuclear weapons test as a "deeply destabilizing" provocation, his spokesman said Tuesday.

French President Francois Hollande's visit to India this week is dominated by trade issues, including a $12-billion deal for Rafale fighter jets, nuclear energy and potential tie-ups for new metro lines.

Hollande will be accompanied by five ministers including Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The chiefs of more than 60 top French companies will also join him for the two-day trip starting Thursday.

Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has called for jihad, or holy war, to thwart France's military intervention in Mali against Islamist rebels, SITE Intelligence agency reported on Tuesday.

"Supporting the Muslims in Mali is a duty for every capable Muslim with life and money, everyone according to their ability," the Sharia Committee of the extremist group said in a statement reported by U.S.-based SITE, which monitors extremist Internet forums.

"A good roast or a really nice steak - fabulous! Burgers are good too but the way I really like it is raw, minced and served with a garlicky vinaigrette!"

Luc Friedrich is a member of France's dwindling but dedicated band of horsemeat lovers, and it seems the current food fraud scandal engulfing much of Europe is not going to change a habit they see as a gastronomic, not a guilty, secret.

France, Germany and Briton expressed on Monday respect for Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign due to old age.

A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said the German-born pope deserved "respect" and "gratitude" for his nearly eight years as pontiff after he announced he was to step down.

The rebels France is battling in northern Mali are some of the very same fighters it helped arm in Libya, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.

"In Mali, France is fighting against those it armed in Libya against (Moammar) Gadhafi's regime in violation of the U.N. Security Council (arms) embargo," Lavrov said in extracts of a television interview published by Russian news agencies.