As French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to "piss off" the unvaccinated people in his country to push them into getting Covid-19 vaccines, the head of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Committee tells FRANCE 24 that while she is unconvinced by the phrasing, "it's really important to have a higher rate of vaccination in Europe and elsewhere, to guarantee that we don't go back to lockdowns".

Ivory Coast soccer fans watching the African Cup of Nations are being greeted with rapid tests, masks and COVID-19 vaccines at dedicated fan zones, an initiative of the health ministry to spur vaccination. Officials say dozens of young people have been vaccinated at the Cup of Nations villages.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has hit Berlin hard, yet despite rising numbers of new infections, businesses and markets remain open. DW visits some markets to ask vendors and customers what impact the danger has had on them.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said COVID cases were falling in some states as more and more people get jabs. Meanwhile, China sealed off more neighborhoods in Beijing. DW has the latest.

It's Europe's most accessible, edgy and – often – political film festival. The Berlinale has kicked off in the German capital with François Ozon's "Peter von Kant", a gender-swapped reimagining of German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1972 feature "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant".

The mandate requires all employees in care homes, hospitals, doctors' offices and outpatient clinics to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19. An emergency motion had attempted to delay its enforcement.

French filmmaker Claire Denis has won best director at the Berlin Film Festival for a film partly filmed in FRANCE 24's buildings. "Both Sides of the Blade" stars Juliette Binoche as a woman torn between two lovers in pandemic-era Paris. She plays Sara, a journalist who works at FRANCE 24's sister radio station RFI. Film critic Emma Jones speaks to Eve Jackson from Berlin about all the action from this year's festival.

Germany has urged Russia to come back to the negotiating table as Russian media reported "no concrete plans" were in place for Putin to meet Biden.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was the latest international leader in Moscow to sound out Russia's Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine. Some see Bennett as a potential mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.

Moderna has announced that its first mRNA vaccine facility in Africa will be located in Kenya with an aim of producing 500 million doses a year.

The refugee exodus is seeing thousands of Ukrainians arrive in Berlin every day. It's caught the German capital off guard and is pushing resources to the limit. Berlin says it can't cope alone and has appealed for help from other parts of the country.

Tens of thousands of people spilled into the streets of Berlin to demand peace in Ukraine. Many waved Ukrainian flags or held banners with slogans opposing the Russian invasion.