Anger and sadness mixed as South Africans react FW De Klerk’s death

While it took just over a year for the global COVID death toll to hit 2.5 million, the next 2.5 million deaths were recorded over the past eight months as the highly contagious delta variant spread around the world.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Friday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday. ⁣

Zhang Zhan traveled to Wuhan in February last year to report on the chaos at the epicenter of the first coronavirus outbreak. She is on hunger strike after receiving a 4-year jail sentence for "provoking trouble."

Protesters gathered at the Agareb landfill to protest its reopening on Wednesday, a day after a demonstrator died from allegedly inhaling tear gas fired by police at a similar rally. "It is not reasonable for the army to protect a place of waste and to fire tear gas and attack the protesters," said a protester. Tunisia’s General Trade Union (UGTT) called for a general strike and a day of mourning in Agareb following the death of the 35-year-old protester.  

Former president FW de Klerk, the man who freed Nelson Mandela, has died. The last apartheid president passed away at the age of 85 after a battle with cancer.

Initial reactions to the death of South Africa's last white president Frederik Willem (FW) de Klerk were mixed on Thursday.

Anger in Poland after a woman died from complications in her pregnancy. A termination had been delayed because doctors feared breaking Poland's near-total ban on abortion. Also we meet those in Iraq who are challenging the norms of highly traditional society that encourages women to stay at home. Plus providing a much needed social media platform for women in midlife; Annette Young talks to the chief creative officer of hellorevel.com, Nina Lorez Collins.

Nigerian journalist, Tordue Henry Salem, was last seen alive on 13 October 2021. Days later, he was declared missing. Almost a month after he was declared missing, police authorities in Abuja, on Friday, paraded 29-year-old Itoro Clement, who confessed to knocking down the missing reporter.⁣ ⁣

In France, around 2,000 babies are born every single day, helped along by an army of some 25,000 registered midwives. But it's a profession in crisis. From difficult working conditions and low pay, to complaints about inadequate training, French midwives are sounding the alarm and are increasingly getting organised. We meet Chantal Birman, who was a midwife for five decades. She's the protagonist of a new documentary about her long career working with mothers and babies.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.⁣⁣

Belarus has signaled its intention to talk with the EU over the humanitarian situation at the Polish-Belarusian border. But the deadlock has proven fatal for some of the thousands stranded while trying to reach the EU.

The world is worried about the new COVID-19 omicron variant, first detected in South Africa. Many countries have imposed travel bans. In South Africa itself, people fear the restrictions more than the virus.