The far-right party lost a district vote despite its candidate having a large lead two weeks ago. AfD has been the target of massive protests of late after a damning expose was published about its plans for governing.

A string of countries, including Germany, have paused funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza following allegations some of its employees were involved in the Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

The UN Security Council will meet next week over the decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) calling for Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, the council's presidency announced on Friday.

The administration of French President Emmanuel Macron published the formal text of a new immigration law in its Official Journal on Saturday, with the first instructions on applying the legislation already presented to officials.