The speed of the Taliban advance - they have captured eight provincial capitals in less than a week and are threatening to take at least three more - has sparked widespread recriminations of US President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops and leave the Afghan government to fight alone.

Ardern said the government will move to a new individual risk-based model for quarantine-free travel from the first quarter of 2022 that will establish low-, medium- and high-risk pathways into the country.

The meeting between Sherman and Qin Gang will take place in the afternoon at the State Department in Washington, the department said on Wednesday in announcing its public schedule for the following day.

* The Swiss government plans to halt most free COVID-19 testing for people who are not vaccinated now that nearly half the population has got the jabs.

US President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday his administration does not intend to revisit the decision to withdraw troops from the war-torn country, telling reporters in Washington that Afghan government forces must fight for their own country.

The first "Summit for Democracy" will take place virtually for two days from Dec. 9, followed by a second, in-person summit in roughly a year's time, according to the US government. It was not immediately clear which countries will be invited to the meetings.

The United States and China are unlikely to undermine Hong Kong’s position as the world’s leading financial center in their high stakes jostling for power and influence in the region, according to leading academics from both countries.

Authorities blamed a surge in coronavirus cases in June and July on the more contagious Delta variant and the population's reluctance to get vaccinated despite shots being widely available.

Spavor was detained, along with Canada's former diplomat Michael Kovrig, shortly after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, a top official of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, in Vancouver in December 2018.

Melbourne had been due to exit the lockdown on Thursday, the sixth for its five million people in stop-start battles against the coronavirus also seen elsewhere across the country have triggered frustration and dischord.

The number of new cases reported on Tuesday fell to 23,510 from 25,161 on Monday - less than half the peak of 54,674 recorded on July 17, shortly before most social distancing measures were removed in England.

A Democrat who had served since 2011 as governor of the fourth most-populous state, Cuomo made the announcement a week after New York Attorney General Letitia James released the results of a five-month independent investigation that concluded he had engaged in conduct that violated US and state laws.

More than 13 months after the introduction of the National Security Law, which brought an end to street protests, Hongkongers have more than “soul-searching” to do as they ponder their future under the stern watch of China amid tightening rules.

State media has described the current outbreak -- which has sparked local lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions -- as the most severe since the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gave no details of the agenda for the CIA chief's talks in Israel.

"The decision to withdraw was made in full knowledge that what we are seeing happen now was likely to happen," said Laurel Miller, until 2017 the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Schellenberg was detained by Chinese authorities in December 2014, charged with drug smuggling in January 2015, and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in 2018.

Hours after a landmark UN climate report warned catastrophic global warming is occurring far more quickly than previously forecast, Prime Minister Scott Morrison signalled he would not adopt a net-zero target.

The South China Sea has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between China and the United States, with Washington rejecting what it calls unlawful territorial claims by Beijing in the resource-rich waters.

US presidential envoy on climate and former secretary of state John Kerry said the IPCC report, which warned the world is on course to reach 1.5C of warming around 2030, showed "the climate crisis is not only here, it is growing increasingly severe".

In their call, Biden also affirmed US support for Japan's hosting of the paralympics, it said.

The highly infectious Delta variant has been detected in more than a dozen cities since July 20, and officials have ordered local governments to keep close track of infections and close loopholes in control efforts.

Water levels at major rivers in the province were above warning levels following heavy rainfall from Friday to Sunday. One reservoir in the city of Dazhou exceeded its flood limit by 2.2 metres, according to the official China News Service.

After two weeks of virtual negotiations, 195 nations approved the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) comprehensive assessment of past and future warming on Friday in the form of a "summary for policymakers".

Olympic officials have been predictably bullish, saying the Games offered hope and uplifting moments, and went off without any major coronavirus outbreaks.

A Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper showed Morrison's public support dropped four points to 47 percent, the lowest level since he fielded criticism early last year over his government's response to devastating bushfires.

As of early Sunday it had destroyed 463,477 acres (187,562 hectares), up from the previous day's 447,723 acres. It now covers an area larger than Los Angeles and roughly the size of the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Blazes also raged in the Peloponnese region in the southwest, but fires in a northern suburb of Athens have subsided.

Authorities in the ministry responsible for coordinating foreign pilgrims will from Monday begin "gradually receiving Umrah requests from various countries of the world," the Saudi Press Agency reported.

No strikes were reported on Saturday, and no casualties have been reported thus far.