The African Union's COVID-19 envoy says vaccine doses produced by a plant in South Africa will no longer be exported to Europe after the intervention of South Africa's government.

Strive Masiyiwa told reporters Thursday that South African drug manufacturer Aspen, which has a contract with Johnson & Johnson to assemble the ingredients of its COVID-19 vaccine, will no longer ship vaccine doses out of the continent and that millions of doses warehoused in Europe will be returned to the continent.

Twelve million children in France went back to school Thursday for the new academic year, wearing face masks as part of rules aimed at slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

President Emmanuel Macron visited a primary school in the southern city of Marseille. He was greeted with a fist bump by children and teachers, all wearing masks, which are mandatory indoors starting from age 6.

The United Nations said its humanitarian funds have allocated Lebanon $10 million to help the cash-strapped nation buy vital fuel to power hospitals and water stations.

"Lebanon faces profound uncertainty. The humanitarian community, though, is resolved to assist all vulnerable populations, whether Lebanese, refugees or migrants," U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths tweeted Wednesday during a visit to Beirut.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases confirmed in Egypt has grown steadily in recent weeks amid relaxed precautionary measures and the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

The Health Ministry reported late Tuesday 279 cases in 24 hours and nine deaths, compared to 194 cases and seven deaths on the same day last week.

Palestinian health authorities are launching a vaccination drive for students in the Gaza Strip ages 16-18 as the territory contends with a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Health officials began giving the Pfizer vaccine in Gaza Strip schools on Wednesday and aim to inoculate more than 100,000 students in the coming weeks. Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank began a similar drive on Tuesday.

North Korea has proposed a U.N.-backed immunization program send its allotment of almost 3 million doses of a Chinese-made vaccine to countries with severe COVID-19 outbreaks while it continues to claim a perfect record in keeping out the coronavirus.

UNICEF, which procures and delivers vaccines on behalf of the COVAX program, said Tuesday that North Korea's Ministry of Public Health has communicated that the 2.97 million Sinovac shots COVAX planned to deliver to the North may be sent elsewhere.

The Italian government vowed to crack down on demonstrators threatening to block train tracks throughout the country on Wednesday as a rule requiring COVID-19 tests or vaccines takes effect for long-distance domestic public transport.

In a bid to rein in transmission of infections now that many have returned from summer holidays, domestic travelers in Italy must now show a so-called "Green Pass." This certifies that they have received at least one dose of the vaccine more than 15 days ago, have tested negative in the past 48 hours or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past six months.

The European Union on Monday removed six territories including Lebanon and the United States from its list of countries exempted from restrictions on non-essential travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and the United States of America were removed from the list," a statement from the European Council said.

France will be providing 10 million doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines for Africa over the next three months, President Emmanuel Macron's office announced on Monday.

Amid slowing demand for the shot, authorities in Berlin offered a special train service Monday for anyone interested in getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The service operated on a circular commuter line that runs around the center of the German capital for two hours.