An Ethiopian court has convicted ten people of having links to al-Qaida, but did not issue life sentences as the prosecution requested. The accused say they will appeal.

Prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years were handed to nine Ethiopians and one Kenyan on Tuesday after they were found guilty of having links with the terrorist organization al-Qaida. One Ethiopian was set free.

Lawyer Temam Ababulga defended one of the Ethiopians who was convicted on charges of terrorism recruiting. He says his client, like all the others convicted, will appeal the sentence.

French forces are preparing for a possible ground assault in Mali against al-Qaida-linked rebels who have continued to push south despite five days of French aerial bombardments.

Paris has put 800 soldiers on the ground in Mali since it began its rapid deployment Friday at the request of the Malian government. The plan is to deploy 1,600 French soldiers in the short term and bring that number up to 2,500 in coming weeks.

U.S. and French defense leaders are hammering out details of intelligence, logistics and airlift assistance the United States will provide to French forces in Mali, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said.

Speaking to reporters on the flight to the Portuguese capital, the secretary said such planned assistance demonstrates U.S. leaders’ resolve that “we have a responsibility to go after al-Qaida wherever they are.”

Somali rebel group al-Shabab says it has reached a decision on the fate of French hostage Dennis Allex, who French forces tried to free in an unsuccessful operation.

The group said in a statement Monday that it has reached a "unanimous verdict" on Allex's fate, and that details on the decision will be published in the "coming hours."

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday that one French soldier was killed in the rescue attempt late Friday and another is missing and presumed dead. He also said officials believe Allex has already been killed by his captors.

France attacked Islamists targets in Mali for the third straight day on Sunday, bombing an key northern town held by the extremists.

French fighter jets bombed the northern Malian town of Gao, even as West African troops were due to arrive to help Bamako beat back an Islamist insurgency.

In a television interview, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the air raids would continue Monday.

Burma's Kachin Independence Army says three civilian have been killed in artillery strikes, as fighting between ethnic rebels and government forces continued Monday.

Some 15,000 displaced people have found shelter in the Laiza settlement in northern Burma since the conflict started 18 months ago. In recent weeks, Laiza itself has become a war zone, as Burmese troops use air power and artillery to strike at the rebel stronghold.

Officials in Pakistan's Baluchistan province Friday declared a three-day mourning period, following deadly bomb blasts in the province capital.

Authorities said security forces have been deployed around Quetta where political and religious groups say they will hold protests against the bombings.

The victims' funerals are set to begin Friday.

Police say two suicide bomb blasts Thursday in Quetta in a billiards hall frequented by Shi'ite Muslims killed 82 people.

The billiards hall attack came just hours after another deadly bomb blast in the Quetta market.

The rebel coalition that has seized one-third of the Central African Republic (CAR) during its month-long rebellion has agreed to a temporary, one-week ceasefire. The agreement was reached during peace talks with the government that are underway in Gabon. Residents of CAR's capital, Bangui, say they want peace at any cost.

President Francois Bozize is offering to form a unity government with the rebel coalition that has come dangerously close to the capital and headed into talks Wednesday calling for his resignation.

The execution-style killings of three female Kurdish activists in Paris early Thursday comes just days after Turkish media reported significant progress in talks between a jailed rebel leader and senior Turkish intelligence officials.

News reports identified one of the women as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged an armed campaign for self-rule against the Turkish state since 1984. The conflict has claimed 40,000 lives.