World roundup: December 15 2021

Stories from Iran, India, Ethiopia, and more

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

Syrian state media is reporting that an Israeli missile attack in the southern part of the country killed on Syrian soldier early Thursday. Details at this point are sparse but there may be more to say about this incident tomorrow.

IRAQ

A new report from the Norwegian Refugee Council finds that half of the families living in seven drought-hit Iraqi provinces are in need of some form of food assistance, and some 20 percent of them don’t have enough food to go around. Low rainfall and heavy upstream damming in Turkey and Iran have combined to lower water levels on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, reducing the water available for irrigation and thus the amount of food Iraqi farmers can produce.