The tourism-reliant Southeast Asian country, known for its white-sand beaches and lush rainforests, shut its borders in March 2020 but will now require only a negative Covid test to enter.

Xi, speaking at a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said the three countries should jointly support peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Her visit would include a stop in the Xinjiang region where activists say some 1 million Uyghurs are held in mass detention, she told the Human Rights Council in Geneva by video message.

Police said the pair were believed to be a missing mother and son whose car was abandoned in a stormwater canal.

"We will work together with the relevant ministries and agencies so that we can proactively and swiftly accept" evacuees from Ukraine, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said at a parliament session.

Australia's eastern rivers were already near capacity following record downpours in several parts of Queensland and New South Wales states over recent weeks, cutting off towns, and sweeping away farms, livestock and roads.

Public records show the Marcos administration from 1965 to 1986 embezzled as much as $10 billion and committed thousands of rights abuses including torture and killings.

The government has said it will file a complaint against what it has called an “unprofessional, ill-intentioned and one-sided” report by three United Nations human rights experts on its handling of conflicts in Papua.

The Catholic-majority nation had one of the lowest ages of consent in the world, allowing adults to have sex with children as young as 12 if they agreed.

Beijing has walked a tight diplomatic tightrope throughout the crisis, refusing to condemn its close ally Moscow after only last month touting a "no limits" strategic partnership between the two countries.

"We are leaving and we will come back to empty our house whenever that is possible," she told AFP, declining to give her surname and nationality. "All our close friends are leaving." 

New Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia, Lu Kang, has begun his tenure in Jakarta after submitting his letter of credence to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last Wednesday.

When passed, it will be the first time New Zealand would have levied sanctions individually on a country.

"Establishing a second submarine base on our east coast will enhance our strategic deterrent capability with significant advantages in operational, training, personnel and industrial terms," Morrison said in a speech to Australian think tank the Lowy Institute.

The United States has been without an ambassador in Beijing since Terry Branstad stepped down in October 2020.

The city-state, an international shipping hub, rarely imposes sanctions of its own but said it would not allow export of items that could inflict harm on or subjugate Ukrainians, or help Russia launch cyber attacks.

Thousands were forced to flee their homes after torrential rains since late last month brought widespread destruction, cutting off towns, and sweeping away farms, livestock and roads. Eighteen people have been killed since the deluge began.

Indonesia and Malaysia have imposed some of the strictest entry procedures in Asia to try to contain COVID-19 outbreaks and keep new variants at bay, but the restrictions have battered their tourism sectors.

With international outrage and sanctions mounting against Russia, Beijing is scrambling to avoid being tainted by association with Moscow while also maintaining their increasingly close ties.

Some 1.45 trillion yuan ($230 billion) has been set aside for national defence, according to a government budget report.

The government issued a natural disaster alert after a wildfire broke out in the county of Uljin on Friday, where the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. operates six nuclear pressurised water reactors.

The four major Indo-Pacific democracies also agreed to launch a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will "provide a channel for communication" as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine, according to a joint statement.

A media note by Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, however, did not refer to details such as who Prak Sokhonn, who doubles as the country's foreign minister, will meet with and what he will do during the planned travel.

Beijing has taken a cautious line over the actions of its close ally and President Xi Jinping held a meeting last month with his Russian counterpart where the pair agreed to a "no limits" partnership.

The blackouts occurred after 9 am (0100 GMT) across the island, from the capital Taipei to central Taichung city and southern Pingtung county, reports said. 

Authorities issued severe rain and wind warnings for a 400-kilometre (250-mile) stretch of coast as water levels rose rapidly -- including in suburbs around Sydney, Australia's largest city and home to five million people.

The vessels' arrival in the archipelago off the coast of Sri Lanka follows the imposition of severe Western sanctions on Russia in reprisal for its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

When US global health researcher Christopher Murray wrote "COVID-19 will continue but the end of the pandemic is near", in The Lancet medical journal in late January, he summed up the hopes of many national health authorities around the world.

Japan typically accepts just a few dozen refugees a year out of thousands of applicants, and its borders are currently closed to virtually all foreign visitors to prevent COVID-19 infections.

The White House summit, part of US efforts to step up engagement with a region Washington sees as critical to its efforts to push back against China's growing power, had been expected earlier in the year, but scheduling was delayed by COVID-19 concerns.