In Kabul's main children's hospital, the crumbling of Afghanistan's health system can be seen in the eyes of the exhausted staff who have remained in the city, ekeing out their fast-diminishing stocks of medicines. As crowds of mothers and sick and malnourished children fill the waiting rooms of the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, medical staff are squeezing three babies into a single incubator and doubling up in infant warmer beds. Nurses who once took care of three or four babies each, are now having to look after 20 or more to make up for the absence of staff who fled the country when the Taliban seized power in August.

Local traders and residents reacted to the Taliban ban of foreign currencies for trade, at the Sarai Shahzada market in Kabul on Wednesday after the Taliban made the announcement on Tuesday. The US dollar has been used widely in Afghanistan’s markets before the ban.

A long line people form at the New York airport on the day the United States eased restrictions.

Surging numbers of coronavirus infections in Europe have prompted US officials to advise citizens against traveling to Germany or Denmark.

Kabul residents on Tuesday said the first 100 days after the Taliban takeover had been difficult, expressing ongoing concerns about security and girls' education.

In Afghanistan, women have now been waiting for three months for their fate to be decided by the Taliban government. One key question is whether older schoolgirls will be able to return to high school. With winter school holidays coming up, women in Kabul fear that the Taliban will simply play for time and postpone any decision on the issue. In the meantime, some Afghan provinces have been able to reopen their schools, but not others. Our team on the ground reports from Kabul.

At least one person has been killed in an explosion in Kabul. The largely Shiite neighborhood has previously been targeted by attacks by the Islamic State-Khorasan group.

The European Union wants member states to halt air travel with South Africa and several surrounding countries over a new coronavirus variant. Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic were all quick to react.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday (November 28) he was "deeply disappointed" after rich Western countries for their knee-jerk imposition of travel bans after hearing about the new variant. Ramaphosa also said the country faced a fourth wave of COVID-19 within weeks, as the new omicron variant was driving a rise in infections in the most populated province of Gauteng. He said authorities would not be considering economic lockdown restrictions for the time being, due to the availability of vaccines for those aged 12 and over.

As Covid-19 infections rise around the EU and some member states impose new restrictions, FRANCE 24 speaks to Greece’s Tourism Minister about the continent’s next steps. We also discuss irregular migration on the European Union's external borders - including those of France and of Greece.

South African papers vent their frustation over travel bans imposed after the country detected a new coronavirus variant. For l'Humanité, the Omicron variant is proof that "vaccine access for all is a global emergency". Other French papers examine the crisis in Guadeloupe and Martinique, puzzled by a proposal to give the territories more autonomy. Plus, a snow storm strands 61 people in a UK pub - a reminder that some lockdowns can be fun!

The Omicron variant was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November. The WHO has listed it as a ‘variant of concern’ and said it could take several weeks to know if there are significant changes in transmissibility, severity, or implications for Covid vaccines, tests, and treatments. Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Israel, Hong Kong, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada are countries where the new COVID-19 variant has also been detected.