Graffitied wall off Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt, February 11, 2011. Egyptians celebrated minutes after former President Mubarak resigned from his presidential duties in the early evening on February 11 in Cairo, Egypt. Kim Badawi Images/Getty Images hide caption
Here's a computer-generated image of the omicron variant of the coronavirus — also known as B.1.1.529. Reported in South Africa on Nov. 24, this variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Uma Shankar Sharma/Getty Images hide caption
A tranquilized rhino is guided into crates at the andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa. Martin Meyer & African Parks hide caption
Dutch health authorities say they've identified early cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus — including one from a sample taken the week before South Africa raised the alarm about the mutated variant. Other cases were found through tests at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in August. He called on Western nations on Sunday to scrap travel restrictions placed on southern Africa to stem the spread of the omicron variant. "The prohibition of travel is not informed by science nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant," he said. Tobias Schwarz/Reuters hide caption
A man receives a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Soweto, South Africa. The omicron variant of the coronavirus, first identified in South Africa, has now spread to at least a dozen other countries. On Friday, scientists presented evidence that the variant spreads twice as fast as the delta variant. Denis Farrell/AP hide caption
People line up to get on the Air France flight to Paris at OR Tambo's airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday. The United States, Israel and other European nations have already imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and other nations in the region. Jerome Delay/AP hide caption
Travelers wearing protective face masks arrive to Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday. Israel on Sunday approved barring entry to foreign nationals as part of its efforts to clamp down on a new coronavirus variant. Ariel Schalit/AP hide caption
People line up to get on an Air France flight to Paris at OR Tambo's airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday as several countries announced travel bans in response to the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Jerome Delay/AP hide caption
Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Black Friday. Stocks dropped after a coronavirus variant appears to be spreading across the globe. Richard Drew/AP hide caption
Sudanese anti-coup protesters wave the national flag during a demonstration in the Khartoum-Bahri neighbourhood of the capital, on November 25, 2021. AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Thanksgiving is a day at the beach — quite literally — for young Liberians. Above, the beach in West Point is a sandy playing field for soccer lovers. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption
Sudanese protest against the military coup that ousted government last month, in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. Marwan Ali/AP hide caption
Nyayua Thang, 62, left, stands waist-deep in the floodwaters in front of an abandoned primary school in South Sudan. Members of her village, displaced by extreme flooding as a result of heavy rainfall, are using the building as a refuge. Only small mud dikes at the entrance of the door are keeping the water out. (November 2020) Peter Caton for Action Against Hunger hide caption
A scorpion is pictured at the Scorpion Kingdom laboratory and farm in Egypt's Western Desert, near the city of Dakhla in the New Valley, in February 2021. Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
South African President Nelson Mandela, left, and Deputy President F.W. de Klerk chat on May 8, 1996, outside Parliament after the approval of South Africa's new constitution. F.W. de Klerk, who oversaw the end of South Africa's country's white minority rule, has died at 85 it was announced Thursday. Mike Hutchings/AP hide caption
Vanessa Nakate speaks during the climate strike march on October 1, 2021 in Milan, Italy. Stefano Guidi/Getty Images hide caption
Winifred Muisyo, right, and her 5-year-old daughter, Patience Kativa, watch Stanlas Kisilu, left, as he installs a TV tuner on the roof of her home. The TV is connected to a solar panel provided by d.light, a company partially funded by climate financing from wealthier nations. Khadija Farah for NPR hide caption
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his wife Zinash Tayachew take part in a memorial service for the victims of the Tigray conflict organized by the city administration, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Wednesday. Ethiopian Prime Ministry Office Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
In this photograph issued Saturday by Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency, people gather around the charred oil tanker that exploded after being struck by a truck in the Wellington suburb of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown on Saturday. NDMA via AP hide caption
Sudanese protesters lift national flags as they rally on 60th Street in the capital Khartoum, to denounce overnight detentions by the army of government members, on Oct. 25, 2021. AFP/Getty Images hide caption
USAID Administrator Samantha Power delivered a speech on her "new vision" for the agency on Nov. 4 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Ethiopian army units patrol the streets of Mekele in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region in March after the city was captured during an operation against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption