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More Chinese cities including Urumqi in the far west announced an easing of coronavirus curbs on Sunday as China tries to make its zero-COVID policy more targeted and less onerous after unprecedented protests against restrictions last weekend.

Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region and where the protests first erupted, will reopen malls, markets, restaurants and other venues from Monday, authorities said, ending strict lockdowns after months.

There was no sign of any significant unrest this weekend, although police were out in force in the Liangmaqiao area of Beijing and in Shanghai around Wulumuqi Road, which is named after Urumqi. Both sites saw protests a week ago.

A deadly fire last month in Urumqi sparked dozens of protests against COVID curbs in over 20 cities after some social media users said victims had been unable to escape the blaze because their apartment building was locked down. Authorities denied that.

The protests were an unprecedented show of civil disobedience in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

In the days since, numerous cities have announced the easing of lockdowns, testing requirements, and quarantine rules.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees COVID efforts, said last week the ability of the virus to cause disease was weakening - a change in messaging that aligns with what many health authorities around the world have said for more than a year.

China is set to further announce a nationwide easing of testing requirements as well as allowing positive cases and close contacts to isolate at home under certain conditions, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.

RULES LIFTED

For the time being, steps to ease restrictions have varied across the country.

People in Zhengzhou, the central city home to the world's largest iPhone plant which was last month rocked by violent unrest, will no longer have to show COVID test results to take public transport, taxis and to visit "public areas", authorities said on Sunday.

Karaoke bars, beauty salons, internet cafes and other indoor venues can reopen but must check for a negative 48-hour COVID test result.

In Shanghai from Monday a negative COVID test will no longer be required to take public transport and visit parks, authorities announced on Sunday.

Elsewhere both Nanning, capital of the southern region of Guangxi and Wuhan, the central city where the pandemic began in 2019, on Sunday cancelled a requirement for a negative COVID test to take the subway.

Guangzhou's Haizhu district, which experienced violent clashes last month, said Sunday that henceforth it advises people with no COVID symptoms not to get tested for the virus unless they belong to certain special groups such as frontline workers, or those with a red or yellow code.

On Saturday in Beijing, authorities said the purchase of fever, cough and sore throat medicines no longer required registration. The restriction had been imposed because authorities believed people were using the medication to hide COVID infections.

Authorities in various districts in the capital have in recent days announced that people who test positive for the virus can quarantine at home.

Some inconsistencies as the restrictions are eased have angered people, including a requirement in some places for a negative COVID test even though mass testing centres were closing.

In Beijing and Wuhan that caused lengthy queues at the few remaining testing booths.

"Are they stupid or just plain mean?" one social media user asked. "We shouldn't shut down COVID testing stations until we get rid of the COVID test pass."

New daily case numbers dropped nationwide to 31,824, authorities said on Sunday, which may be due in part to fewer people being tested. Authorities also reported two new COVID deaths.

'PREPARING TO EXIT ZERO-COVID'

Xi's zero-COVID policy has had a devastating impact on the world's second-largest economy and roiled global supply chains.

China argues the policy, which has all-but-shut its borders to travel, is necessary to save lives and prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed.

Despite the easing of restrictions, many experts said China was unlikely to begin significant reopening before March at the earliest, given the need to ramp up vaccinations, especially among its vast elderly population.

"Although there have been quite a few local changes to COVID policies lately, we do not interpret them as China abandoning zero-COVID policy just yet," Goldman Sachs said in a note on Sunday.

"Rather, we see them as clear evidence of the Chinese government preparing for an exit, and trying to minimize the economic and social cost of COVID control in the meantime. The preparations may last a few months and there are likely to be challenges along the way."

Estimates for how many deaths China could see if it pivots to a full reopening have ranged from 1.3 million to more than 2 million, though some researchers said the death toll could be reduced sharply if there was a focus on vaccination.

Authorities recently announced they would speed up COVID vaccinations for elderly people but many remain reluctant to get the jab.

"Some people have doubts about the safety and effectiveness of the country's new coronavirus vaccine," an article in the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily said on Sunday.

"Experts say this perception is wrong," it said, adding that domestically made vaccines were safe.

Foreign COVID vaccines are not approved in China and Xi is unwilling to change that, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Saturday. (Reuters)

OPEC+ agreed to stick to its oil output targets at a meeting on Sunday as the oil markets struggle to assess the impact of a slowing Chinese economy on demand and a G7 price cap on Russian oil on supply.

The decision comes two days after the Group of Seven (G7) nations agreed a price cap on Russian oil.

OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, angered the United States and other Western nations in October when it agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2% of world demand, from November until the end of 2023.

Washington accused the group and one of its leaders, Saudi Arabia, of siding with Russia despite Moscow's war in Ukraine.

OPEC+ argued it had cut output because of a weaker economic outlook. Oil prices have declined since October due to slower Chinese and global growth and higher interest rates, prompting market speculation the group could cut output again.

But on Sunday the group of oil producers decided to keep the policy unchanged. Its key ministers will next meet on Feb. 1 for a monitoring committee while a full meeting is scheduled for June 3-4.

On Friday, G7 nations and Australia agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil in a move to deprive President Vladimir Putin of revenue while keeping Russian oil flowing to global markets.

Moscow said it would not sell its oil under the cap and was analysing how to respond.

Many analysts and OPEC ministers have said the price cap is confusing and probably inefficient as Moscow has been selling most of its oil to countries like China and India, which have refused to condemn the war in Ukraine.

Neither an OPEC meeting on Saturday nor the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday discussed the Russian price cap, sources said.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday Russia would rather cut production than supply oil under the price cap and said the cap may affect other producers.

Sources have told Reuters several OPEC+ members have expressed frustration at the cap saying the anti-market measure could ultimately be used by the West against any producer.

The United States said the measure was not aimed at OPEC.

JP Morgan said on Friday that OPEC+ could review production in the new year based on fresh data on Chinese demand trends and consumer compliance with price caps on Russia crude output and tanker flow. (Reuters)

Australia's parliament passed legislation on Friday to reform industrial relations laws, boosting the ability of unions to negotiate with multiple employers and scrapping a construction industry watchdog.

The law changes in a traditionally polarised area mark a significant win for Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who came to power in May after nine years of conservative rule.

Labor said the reforms would lift wages at a time when households are facing high food and energy costs and steadily rising interest rates.

"This is a victory for the working people of Australia but it is also a victory for the businesses of Australia because we want to get productivity moving, but we also want to get wages moving," Albanese told parliament on Friday.

The Opposition Liberal party said it would lead to more strikes.

Independent lawmaker Zali Steggall said she supported the legislation after the government had shifted on some terms to protect small businesses.

"Businesses don't want the ideology," she said, referring to the traditional battlelines drawn between Labor, with its trade union power base, and the Liberal party, over industrial relations.

The legislation passed the upper house with the support of the Greens, who said they won amendments from the government to improve parental leave that would benefit women.

Political analysts said the passage of the contentious legislation on the last parliamentary sitting day of the year cleared the way for Albanese to tackle a bigger political challenge in 2023 - enshrining recognition of First Nations people in the constitution, which must be done by national referendum. Of 44 referendums held since 1901 only eight have succeeded.

Albanese said it will be put to the Australian people in the second half of next year.

"He is taking quite a risk here, he is all in on this," said political analyst Mark Kenny of the Australia National University.

LESS DIVISIVE APPROACH

A record number of independent and Green party lawmakers were voted into parliament in May, and Albanese said he would work with them to deliver a less divisive style of politics than his predecessor.

"It is as productive a first six months as any government in living memory," said Kenny. "It has set about changing politics and doing things in a more orderly and respectful manner."

Political historian Judith Brett said Albanese, who has been in parliament for 26 years, is the most experienced parliamentarian to become prime minister since Liberal leader John Howard in 2007.

"I think that is one of the reasons we are seeing such steady competence. The steadiness is a standout. He is not reactive, he sets particular goals and then works systematically towards them," said Brett, emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University.

It could put an end to an era of "revolving door Prime Ministers" too inexperienced for the job, she added.

Australia had seven prime ministers in 15 years after Howard, who served for 11 years.

Legislation for a national Anti-Corruption Commission, a measure to re-establish public trust in politics, passed on Wednesday.

Another test will be how Labor balances addressing spiralling energy costs to bring relief for households - Albanese has pledged action before Christmas - with energy export demands.

Internationally, Albanese's government said it has shifted the tone but not the substance of Australia's China policy, and will watch to see if Beijing eases trade sanctions that have hurt farmers, after the first leaders' meeting since 2016 with China's President Xi Jinping at the G20. (Reuters)

One person was killed on Friday in a suicide bomb attack near the Kabul office of the Hezb-e-Islami party, former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said, the same day as an apparent failed assassination attempt at the Pakistan Embassy.

Multiple attackers were killed and several guards injured in the suicide bomb attack, according to three Hezb-e-Islami sources and one source with the ruling Taliban.

Party leader Hekmatyar said in a video statement that one person had been killed and two injured.

"I assure my countrymen, a failed attempt happened here by those who have done it many times but have failed," Hekmatyar said, adding it was not yet clear who was behind the attack.

"It cannot lower our morale or our resistance... we will stand with our nation," he said.

Kabul police and the interior ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pakistan's foreign office said its embassy in Kabul had come under attack targeting the head of mission, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, who escaped unscathed while a guard was critically injured. Taliban authorities did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Nizamani arrived in Kabul last month to take up the role at one of the few embassies that had remained operational throughout the period after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021.

The attack on the Hezb-e-Islami party office occurred near a mosque where senior party leaders present were unhurt, according to the party statement.

One Taliban and one party source said a vehicle belonging to the attackers and packed with explosives had detonated near the office. Firing took place and two attackers were killed while trying to enter the mosque, they said.

Hekmatyar said the attackers were wearing suicide explosive vests and that one was wearing a woman's burqa.

Several bombing and shooting attacks have taken place in Afghanistan in recent months, some of which have been claimed by Islamic State militants. A blast at a madrassa on Wednesday in northern Afghanistan killed at least 15 people.

The hardline Islamist Taliban, who seized power after U.S.-led foreign forces withdrew in August 2021, have said they are focused on securing the country.

Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e-Islami in the mid-1970s as one of the main mujahideen groups fighting the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from its base in Pakistan. He held the office of prime minister twice during the 1990s. (Reuters)