European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is ill with “severe pneumonia” and has canceled her appointments for the next two weeks.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has cancelled all travel plans for the next two weeks as she is suffering from a severe case of pneumonia, dpa has learnt. "The president has cancelled her external appointments for the first two weeks of January,

The 66-year-old only recently started her second five-year stint at the top of the EU’s powerful executive office.

The foreign ministers of Germany and France said they wanted to forge a new relationship with Syria and urged a peaceful transition as they met its de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday on behalf of the European Union.

Top diplomats from Germany and France went to Damascus on behalf of the European Union. It’s the first such trip in years, part of a flurry of Western outreach.