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Relations between Washington and Beijing have been at their lowest point in decades and it was only the second call between the leaders since Biden took office in January.

A US NGO in Afghanistan says some 600 to 1,300 people have been waiting near the Mazar-i-Sharif airport for as long as a week.

Meanwhile, more than 8,000 Afghans who helped Nato forces made it out of Afghanistan and the British government said they would be given indefinite leave to remain.

Diplomatic efforts are intensifying to stem the bloodshed.

As the outbreak spread across the country, the pace of deaths increased, with the toll jumping from 400,000 in just over a month amid a spike fuelled in part by holiday gatherings.

Biden's administration is reviewing whether to stick to a looming deadline to withdraw the remaining 2,500 US troops or risk a bloody backlash from the insurgents by staying.

The rally took place after the arrest Win Htein, a key aide to de facto leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, who was detained along with President Win Myint early Monday.

The US has an extensive history of welcoming refugees and is one of the world's largest resettlement nations.

The executive order is one of Biden's first moves to unravel Trump's legacy in the military and elsewhere.

The US caseload remains by far the world's highest in absolute terms.

Increased numbers of Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan airspace over the weekend, prompting warnings from Washington.

The new Hanoi leadership will have to contend with increased scrutiny from the US and a largely unknown new leadership in the White House.