Benedict's funeral will be "solemn but simple", the Vatican has said, after which he will be buried in the papal tombs under St Peter's Basilica.

Many were ready to set aside pinched budgets and a virus that is increasingly forgotten but not gone, and embrace a party atmosphere on New Year's Eve after a few pandemic-dampened years.

Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday officially apologised for the Dutch state's involvement in slavery in its former colonies, calling it a "crime against humanity".

Ukrainians generally celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7 in common with Russians, but the country's Orthodox church has gradually shifted from Moscow's orbit in recent years.

Two people were killed and four injured in a shooting in central Paris on Friday, police and prosecutors said, adding that the shooter, in his 60s, had been arrested.

The UN Security Council called for Myanmar's junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday as it adopted its first ever resolution on the situation in the turmoil-ridden Southeast Asian country.

Dutch involvement with slavery went hand-in-hand with the expansion of its colonial and trading interests across the globe in the 17th century, referred to in the Netherlands as the "Golden Age".

Prime Minister Mark Rutte is giving a speech on slavery in The Hague in what he has called a "meaningful moment" while Dutch ministers are travelling to seven former colonies in South America and the Caribbean for the event.

Macron watched France's semi-final victory over Morocco before flying to Brussels overnight to attend an EU summit.

President Jokowi is likely to leverage Indonesia's position as ASEAN chair during the upcoming ASEAN-EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday, experts say, amid disagreements on trade policies.

The incident comes amid worries that power blackouts could cripple infrastructure in France as the first cold snap of the winter tests the resilience of the power network. 

Putin has rarely spoken about the duration of a war that he began more than nine months ago but told loyalists in a televised meeting on Wednesday it could go on for some time yet.

"The chancellor urged the Russian president to come as quickly as possible to a diplomatic solution including the withdrawal of Russian troops," according to the German leader's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.

The US president and first lady Jill Biden held a sumptuous, star-studded White House state dinner, featuring music from Jon Batiste and Chardonnay from the Napa Valley, in honor of President Macron and his wife, Brigitte. 

In its annual report, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said democratic institutions were being undermined by issues ranging from restrictions on freedom of expression to increasing distrust in the legitimacy of elections.

US and allied military inventories are shrinking, and Ukraine faces an increasing need for more sophisticated weapons as the war drags on. Boeing's proposed system, dubbed Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), is one of about a half-dozen plans for getting new munitions into production for Ukraine and America's Eastern European allies, industry sources said.

The riots took place in several places across the Belgian capital where dozens of soccer fans, some draped in Moroccan flags, clashed with riot police with water cannons and tear gas.

He added that contacts with Washington happen over the phone but that they take place through diplomatic channels and not at a presidential level.

Russia unleashed a missile barrage across Ukraine on Wednesday, killing 10 people, forcing shutdowns of nuclear power plants and cutting water and electricity supply in many places.

Nevertheless, NATO's chief said that Russia, not Ukraine, was still to blame for starting the war in the first place with its February invasion and launching scores of missiles on Tuesday that triggered Ukrainian defences. 

Speaking by video link, Zelensky called the strike "a true statement brought by Russia for the G20 summit", according to a copy of his speech seen by AFP. 

Biden spoke after global leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, held an emergency meeting on Wednesday after deadly explosions in Poland that Ukraine and Polish authorities said were caused by Russian-made missiles.

Leaders from the United States, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom were taking part in the meeting.

Warsaw put its military on heightened alert after an emergency national security council meeting.

The European Council president said an agreement regarding the Group of 20 statement had been reached at a preliminary meeting.

Briefing reporters ahead of President Joe Biden's participation in the summit, the official said most nations in the group had come together during talks in recent days and agreed that Russia's war in Ukraine should be "condemned in the strongest possible terms."

Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said he welcomed statements from the United States and China at meetings in Asia on the inadmissibility of threats to use nuclear weapons.

The Kremlin said that Putin would not even address the summit by video link.

Asked why Putin was not going to attend the G20 summit in Bali, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was related to Putin's schedule and the need to stay in Russia.