CNN – Europe/Mideast/Africa

By Duarte Mendonça, CNN South Africa’s Covid-19 cases have nearly quadrupled in the last four days, underscoring concerns around how contagious the new coronavirus Omicron variant might be as the country enters its fourth wave of the pandemic. On Friday, South Africa reported on 16,055 new Covid-19 cases, up from 4,373 new cases on Tuesday.

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent United States special operations forces in northeastern Syria have been quietly visiting local villages to help provide medical care to communities which have seen little health care in the wake of years of war. The visits are done in partnership with the Syrian Defense Forces, (SDF) which operate in

Story by Reuters At least 13 people in Oslo have been infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus following a corporate Christmas party described as a “superspreader event,” and their numbers could rise to over 60 cases, authorities said on Friday. The outbreak took place at a Christmas party on November 26 organized by

By Livia Borghese, CNN A 50-year-old man tried to pass off a silicone arm as his own at a Covid-19 vaccination clinic in northern Italy, in an attempt to get a vaccine certificate without actually getting inoculated. The deception was spotted by a nurse, Filippa Bua, as she was about to administer the vaccine in

CNN Editorial Research Syria is a Middle Eastern country sharing a border with Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. About Syria (from the CIA World Factbook)Area: 187,437 sq km Population: 21,563,800 (2022 est.) Median age: 23.5 years old Capital: Damascus Ethnic Groups: Arab 50%, Alawite 15%, Kurd 10%, Levantine 10%, other 15% (includes Druze, Ismaili,

By Nadine Schmidt, CNN Germany’s military honored Chancellor Angela Merkel with their highest ceremony for a civilian on Thursday, complete with an eclectic mix of music personally selected by the outgoing leader and punctuated by an emotional speech. During the “Großer Zapfenstreich,” or the Grand Tattoo ceremony — which was pared back due to the

By Delia Gallagher, CNN and Reuters Pope Francis arrived in Cyprus Thursday, where he called on residents to “welcome and integrate one another,” referencing the divisions that the migrant crisis has sowed on the island nation. The country has said that it is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants, many of whom travel

By Nadine Schmidt and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN Germany on Thursday announced a nationwide lockdown for the unvaccinated, as its leaders backed plans for mandatory vaccinations in the coming months. Unvaccinated people will be banned from accessing all but the most essential businesses, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, to curb the spread of coronavirus, outgoing Chancellor

By Angela Dewan, CNN The UN’s World Food Programme and multiple media organizations have been warning that the African island nation of Madagascar is on the brink of the world’s first climate-change-induced famine. But a new study says the human-made climate crisis has had little to do with the current food scarcity in the country.

By Mick Krever, Eleanor Pickston and Kara Fox, CNN The Covid-19 Omicron variant was present in the Netherlands a week before two flights arrived from South Africa carrying the virus, Dutch health officials said Tuesday, throwing the timeline of the variant’s spread in Europe into question. The Omicron variant was confirmed in two test samples