According to French officials, the resolution will ask the West African bloc ECOWAS to present a plan within 30 days for deploying forces to Mali. The Council would then have to approve the plan in a second resolution. The west African nation plunged into crisis in March when soldiers overthrew the government, allowing Islamist militant groups to take control of the north.

An avalanche near the French Alpine ski resort of Chamonix has left six people dead and eight injured. Police say the alarm was sounded shortly before 05:30 local time by one of the injured on the slopes of Mont Maudit. Foreigners are thought to be among the victims. Emergency services have begun an operation to help the injured. 

The mountain is known as a popular route for summer tourists heading for the summit of Mont Blanc. The climbers are believed to have been roped together in several groups when the avalanche struck.

France's new left-wing government under Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has won the vote of confidence.In a brief speech, Ayrault thanked MPs for trusting his government. He expressed confidence that he along with MPs will succeed in following the roadmap. 

French voters began voting on Sunday in the second round of general elections expected to hand President Francois Hollande's Socialist party a clear Parliamentary majority. Voters are to choose 541 deputies, with 36 already having been elected in the first round vote on June 10.

Opinion polls released before the end of campaigning at midnight yesterday, showed Mr Hollande's Socialists and their Parliamentary allies on track to take control of France's lower house National Assembly.

Mr Hollande, who defeated right winger Nicolas Sarkozy in May's Presidential election, has urged voters to give him a majority as he seeks to steer France through Europe's debt crisis, rising unemployment and a faltering economy.

The first round of parliamentary elections began in France on Sunday, where polls show that leftist parties could gain a slim majority of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. But, it is not clear whether the Socialists and their allies will win the necessary majority in the first round against the conservative UMP party, led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Socialist President Francois Hollande unseated Sarkozy in a May 6 runoff election. He needs lawmakers' support to persuade European Union leaders, especially German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to focus on spurring economic growth rather than enforcing austerity in struggling European economies.

Early returns are expected after polling stations close Sunday evening. A second and final round of voting is scheduled for June 17.

France has about 45 million eligible voters. Those living in remote overseas territories, such as French Guyana, French Polynesia and the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, began voting on Saturday.

Hollande is a veteran politician who headed the Socialist Party for several years but he has never held a top government post. During the campaign, Hollande blamed Mr. Sarkozy for France's unemployment rate of nearly 10 per cent and called for sweeping changes to improve France's public finances.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that Australian troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan earlier than planned. In a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra Ms Gillard said troops would begin pulling out this year and the drawdown process would be completed by the end of 2013. Most international troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is in the process of handing over security responsibility to Afghan troops. Some strategically important areas of the south and east have already been transferred to Afghan forces. There are currently about 130,000 NATO troops from 50 contributing nations in Afghanistan.

Australia has some 1,550 troops serving in Afghanistan, mainly in the Uruzgan province. 32 Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan Since 2001. Australia is the second country who has announced early withdrawal of its troops from strife torn Afghanistan. France has already announced withdrawal of its forces in by the 2013.