Africa's top health official says the continent has seen a 20% decrease in new cases over the past week. Africa has reported more than 1.2 million new cases, half of which were found in South Africa.

Vaccine rows are putting the focus on global supply chains. So is a stranded supertanker in the Suez Canal, holding up traffic for now more than 150 vessels. Also, are vacationers really still planning an Easter escape to Mallorca? As virulent new strains of Coronavirus tear through Europe, the lives versus livelihoods debate goes to the beach.

A growing cohort of farmers in Moldova are fuelling an ambitious resurgence of lavender oil, whose cultivation had collapsed along with the Soviet Union.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting massive production disruptions in Southeast Asia will lead to greater diversification and a major reshaping of global supply chains, according to experts.

The global population of California Sea Lions has declined dramatically in recent years, mainly due to an increase in water temperatures, but at one sanctuary in northwestern Mexico, the species is bucking the trend.

Officials are scrambling to help clear supply chain backlogs, with two of the US's largest ports operating 24 hours per day as traffic jams of container ships wait offshore. Also, the IMF unveils a new mechanism for rich countries to lend or donate to poor nations, and Hollywood braces for the biggest crew strike since the 1940s.

In a special edition, we're focusing on a significant global trend; the ongoing decline in birth rates. In 2017, research by the University of Washington found an ongoing decrease in fertility rates globally meant almost every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century and that 23 nations – including Spain and Japan – could see their populations halve by the year 2100.

As myriad supply chain and logistics problems pose fresh challenges to the global recovery, the IMF has trimmed its 2021 growth outlook. Evan Quasney, Global Vice President Supply Chain Solutions, told DW the problem cannot be fixed quickly.

Shipments of Russian natural gas through the Yamal Pipeline have sharply declined, a week after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Gazprom insists it's fulfilling all of its European contracts, but the data has underscored the EU's dependence on Russian energy imports. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says ending that reliance is now a priority. Also in the show: the Russian rouble falls to a new record low, and Western companies continue to cut ties with Moscow.

Quickly cutting off energy revenues with oil and gas embargoes would hit Moscow where it hurts. But European leaders have argued for a phased approach, openly admitting their dependency on Russian energy supplies.

The US will stop importing oil and natural gas from Russia, US President Joe Biden has said as the West escalates sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion.

Europe's first full-scale invasion of a sovereign state since World War II, a refugee crisis to match and an endgame sure to upend more than just the West's resolve: as the EU turns up the heat on Vladimir Putin, it's already asking citizens to turn down their thermostats. How will citizens react if on the one hand, Russia conquers Ukraine and on the other, the price of crude oil shoots past $200 a barrel? How to make do without Russian oil and gas?