Anti-vaccine protesters rallied in cities across France on Saturday, denouncing President Emmanuel Macron's intent to "piss off" people refusing COVID-19 shots by tightening curbs on their civil liberties.

A Berlin court on Friday found a former teacher guilty of murdering a man and cutting up his body as part of a cannibal fantasy after meeting him online, sentencing him to life in prison.

Hospitals across the United States are postponing elective surgeries to free up staff and beds due to a surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus. 

Security forces appeared to have reclaimed the streets of Kazakhstan's main city on Friday after days of violence, and the Russian-backed president said he had ordered his troops to shoot to kill to put down a countrywide uprising.

Casualties among Kazakh security officers Thursday rose to 18 dead and 748 wounded as authorities sought to quell unrest in the ex-Soviet country, Russian news agencies reported, citing the interior ministry.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he wanted to "piss off" the non-vaccinated, in a slangy, cutting remark that prompted howls of condemnation from opposition rivals less than 4 months before the next presidential election.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have tested positive for Covid-19, the palace said in a statement on Tuesday, amid rising infections in the Nordic nation driven by the new Omicron variant of the virus.

The centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron was left red-faced yesterday after opposition parties joined forces to hold up a bill tightening measures against Covid-19.

Europe has recorded over 100 million coronavirus cases, more than a third of all infections worldwide, since the start of the pandemic, as governments face tough choices between controlling the virus and keeping economies open.

France will relax Covid isolation rules from Monday, the government announced, in a bid to ease their impact on society and the economy.

A ban on the use of plastic to package a range of fruit and vegetables came into force in France on Saturday, to the dismay of the sector’s packaging industry.

Queen Elizabeth II on Friday announced a knighthood for former prime minister Tony Blair, while the traditional New Year’s Honours also decorated officials who  spearheaded Britain’s fight against Covid-19.

Ukraine yesterday said one of its soldiers was killed in fighting with pro-Moscow separatists, as the US again warned Russia against any attacks on the country.

A total of 45 journalists were killed worldwide in 2021, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said on Friday -- “one of the lowest death tolls” it has recorded for any year.

Pope Francis yesterday used his New Year’s message to issue a clarion call for an end to violence against women, saying it was insulting to God.

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have exchanged warnings over Ukraine but conveyed some optimism that diplomatic talks in January could ease spiraling tensions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday told US counterpart Joe Biden he is “convinced” that “effective dialogue” between Moscow and Washington is possible, hours ahead of telephone talks as tensions rise over Ukraine.

Germany will pull the plug on three of its last six nuclear power stations on Friday, another step towards completing its withdrawal from nuclear power as it turns its focus to renewables.

Across a quarter century of UN climate conferences tasked with saving humanity from itself, one was deemed a chaotic failure (Copenhagen/2009), another a stunning success (Paris/2015), and the rest landed somewhere in between. 

The United States said Tuesday it had seen possible progress in talks with Iran but joined European negotiators in pressing for urgency in rolling back Tehran’s nuclear programme.