- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
New Zealand to ease domestic virus restrictions
New Zealand will relax its strict Covid-19 rules this week because case numbers have peaked and the population has high levels of immunity, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday.
Ardern said limits on outdoor crowd numbers would be scrapped late Friday, allowing sporting events and concerts to take place with unrestricted crowds.
She said vaccine passes and scanning codes would no longer be compulsory from April 4 and most vaccine mandates -- requiring employees to be immunised or face the sack -- would be dropped.
"This is not the end, but in some ways it is also a new beginning," Ardern told reporters, saying the changes acknowledged that "Covid is here to stay".
"To date, we've had more than 500,000 reported cases of Covid-19 and expert modellers say there have probably been 1.7 million actual infections," she said.
"That figure, coupled with 95 percent of New Zealanders being fully vaccinated, means we now have a high level of collective immunity."
The announcement comes a week after Ardern outlined plans to open New Zealand's borders earlier than originally scheduled.
New Zealand was widely praised for keeping Covid-19 out of the community for extended periods during the pandemic but it is currently experiencing a wave of Omicron-variant infections, with almost 21,000 new cases recorded on Tuesday.
However, the population is highly vaccinated and there have been just 177 coronavirus-related deaths in a population of five million.
"While we've been successful, it's also been bloody hard," Ardern said.
"I want to start by thanking New Zealanders for the enormous sacrifices they've made over the past two years."
Ardern said vaccine mandates for the police, military and education sector would be dropped, although they would remain for healthcare and border workers.
She denied the move was linked to protests in Wellington which ended in rioting early this month as police removed a camp of anti-vaccine demonstrators that occupied the grounds outside parliament for three weeks.
"(We're acting) because it's safe to do so, not because anyone arrived on the front lawn of parliament," she said.
L.Harper--AMWN