Germany hosts France, Britain for talks on Iran nuclear deal

A quarter of couples experience infertility despite regular sex, according to the French national research institute INSERM. The reasons include exposure to pollutants, endocrine disruptors, trying for a child later on in life, smoking and obesity. But in more than 15 percent of cases, the cause of the infertility remains unconfirmed. France's health minister has decided to take action by putting together a working group to better understand the issue and suggest changes by the end of the year. FRANCE 24's Eléonore Vanel and Camille Nedelec report.

Germany is Europe's economic powerhouse, with fantastic medical facilities and highly qualified professionals. But the fourth wave of the pandemic is threatening to bring the health care sector to its knees.

Pfizer's anti-COVID treatment has already received emergency approval in the US. Now, Germany is hoping the drug will reduce the burden on intensive care units.

The total number of omicron cases detected in Germany rose sharply with the latest figures, which were the first to provide testing results and data from a working day after the Christmas break.

German police are running "at full capacity all the time" and struggling to cope with stress as they deal with violent and aggressive protesters, the police union has said.

Although Germany isn't logging record cases like its neighbors, Health Minister Lauterbach said current figures don't show the whole picture. Data reporting has slowed over the holidays — but the omicron variant has not.

A resolution is imminent in the dispute over more than 1,000 bronzes stolen from the former Kingdom of Benin. Germany wants to return all the objects to Nigeria.

Germany shuts down half of its six remaining nuclear power plants. The nuclear power plant in Gundremmingen, southern Germany — one of six still in operation in the country — is set to be shuttered Friday. ... The other two plants are Grohnde, about 25 miles south of Hannover, and Grundremmingen, 50 miles west of Munich.

Germany takes over the G7 presidency for 2022. In a new year's message, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who replaces Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the role, said Germany must help "drive the global economic recovery."

Top virologist concerned about omicron exposure in Germany

France became the sixth country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to official data published on Saturday.

Officials took down a temporary European Union flag at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris after it drew fury from conservatives and the far right. The flag was intended to mark the start of France's six-month EU presidency.