Evacuation

The weather station on Observatory Hill in the CBD has recorded 822mm of rain so far this year.

That's about 70 percent of the amount that would normally fall in a year, or what would have accumulated by August.

The wet start has broken the previous record of 783mm up to 8 March, which was set in 1956.

The third wettest start to the year was recorded in 1990, when 754mm of rain fell.

Reprieve from the weather is forecast for Thursday as the east coast low moves offshore.

Most people trapped in the port city are sleeping in bomb shelters to escape more than six days of near-constant shelling by encircling Russian forces that has cut off food, water, power and heating supplies, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

The civilian death toll from hostilities across Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion on 24 February stood at 364, including more than 20 children, according to the United Nations on Sunday, with hundreds more injured.

Eighteen aircraft will transfer people to third countries from safe sites outside Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

Many thousands of Afghans are crowded outside Kabul airport, desperate to flee the country after the Taliban swept to power on 15 August.

President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the US had evacuated nearly 28,000 people in the past week.

"There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and the heart-breaking images you see," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House, adding: "We have a long way to go and a lot can still go wrong."

Players are said to fear for their lives following the Taliban's takeover of the Afghan capital Kabul.

Players' organisation Fifpro is also calling for help.

The union said it was working with governments to establish an evacuation plan, adding: "The ambition is to bring as many people to safety as possible."

Fifa said the situation in Afghanistan "remains unstable and very worrying".

New Zealand imposed a two-week travel ban on arrivals from and through China on Monday and also warns its citizens to leave China fast.

Australia, the United States and seven other countries including Fiji, Russia, Japan and Indonesia, have also imposed entry restrictions on people from China, in an effort to limit contagion of the coronavirus from its source in Wuhan.

New Zealand's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said preparations for the evacuation were well under way.

The state of emergency on Ambae was lifted on Monday but the Manaro volcano remains at alert level two on the five stage scale.

A government press release said people should not go back to the island and that chiefs of Ambae would be held responsible for members of their communities that returned.

Ambaeans should concentrate their efforts on building a second home on a neighbouring island, it said.

Government workers will not be sent back to Ambae because their safety cannot be guaranteed.

Most of the 10,000 residents of Ambae have relocated to the islands of Maewo and Santo.

The NGO said that included about 2000 children but there were not enough schools available to accommodate them.

Its Vanuatu country director, Georgia Tacey, said so far the group had set up seven tents to provide child friendly spaces on the island of Maewo, where there were about 800 displaced children.

"We have a focus on keeping children safe and away from adult conversations so it's there to support their psychosocial recovery - not so much focusing on structured learning."

The volcano at the centre of Ambae Island continues to erupt, smothering the island in ash that is killing crops and making breathing difficult.

In a repeat of last year's mass evacuation, people are now being herded onto ships to flee to other islands but this time it seems they will not return.

The government ordered the mandatory evacuation last month and declared a state of emergency after the ash fall intensified.

Canberra said its assistance will help pay for evacuating the 10,000-strong population on commercial vessels.

The money will also be used to support the government and charities provide shelter, water, health and education to the evacuees and host communities on neighbouring Maewo.

The government said it was also providing further expertise to bolster the Vanuatu government's efforts to resettle people from Ambae.

A government minister, Ralph Regenvanu, said the decision was made by cabinet this morning.

The volcano at the island's centre, which has been erupting in fits and bursts since September, has increased its activity in recent days.

On Thursday, reports from the island indicated that ash fall was so severe the sun was blocked.

Hundreds of Ambaeans have already opted to leave voluntarily, most of them to Vanuatu's large, north island of Espiritu Santo.