Jacinda Ardern

The meeting has taken on greater importance as New Zealand in recent weeks has raised concerns about China’s presence in the region following news that Beijing had signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands. China has made a concerted push to grow its influence and the country’s foreign minister is currently in Tonga as part of a region-wide tour.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received a standing ovation as she spoke about gun reform at Harvard University

Ardern made the announcement to reporters after delivering the commencement address at Harvard University during a visit to the United States. The U.S. and New Zealand are close allies, but the meeting with Biden had been uncertain after Ardern tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

The end-July opening of the border is two months earlier than the government's previous time frame and will mean visitors who need visas will now be able to come to New Zealand.

Jacinda Ardern's warning came as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament building in the capital Wellington, demanding an end to coronavirus restrictions and vaccine mandates.

New Zealand had been among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant, but Ardern acknowledged last week that an outbreak was inevitable given the high transmissibility of the variant.

Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron launched a global initiative to end online hate in 2019 after a white supremacist killed 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch while live-streaming his rampage on Facebook.

The most populous city of Auckland, which reported 200 of the new cases, has lived under COVID-19 curbs for nearly three months as it battles an outbreak of the infectious Delta variant, although restrictions are expected to ease on Monday.

There will be no changes in the social restrictions that have already been in place for over two months in Auckland under alert level 3, Ardern said at a news conference.

New Zealand had been largely virus-free, barring a small number of cases in February, but that changed last week after an outbreak of the Delta coronavirus variant erupted, prompting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to order a nationwide lockdown.

New Zealand's pandemic-inspired policies have translated into cheaper mortgages, allowing affluent "kiwis" to upsize their homes and build up portfolios of rental investment properties, fuelling a further surge in house prices.

The Pacific island nation, which has been among the most successful in the world in containing the spread of COVID-19, has so far fully vaccinated about 250,000 of its 5 million population.

In an interview Wednesday on the Coast radio breakfast show, Ardern said she and Clarke Gayford have finally set a date for their wedding after announcing they were engaged two years ago.

She arrived in Parliament at the age of 26 with a master’s degree in social anthropology after working as a researcher for her Tainui tribe in the lead-up to its historic treaty with the government that settled land claims from colonization.

A medical practitioner by profession, Dr Sharma is originally from Galod in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh. He immigrated to New Zealand with his family in 2000 at age nine.

Jacinda Ardern has drawn praise and international recognition for her response to crises such as the Christchurch terrorist attack in March 2019, the deadly volcanic eruption at Whakaari, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jacinda Ardern's globally lauded responses to the country's worst mass shooting and the coronavirus pandemic were also well received at home, although questions have been asked of Labour's credentials to tackle the looming economic crisis.

The Labour party, which is campaigning on its record of bringing the coronavirus pandemic under control within New Zealand's borders, would have 60 seats in parliament, one short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.

The virus was believed to have been eradicated in late May after a strict national lockdown led to New Zealanders enjoying 102 days without community transmission. But a new cluster emerged in Auckland in August, forcing the city of 1.5 million into lockdown for almost three weeks.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Auckland's restrictions would be reviewed next Monday. She also said the government would immediately ease all physical distancing requirements on planes, a boost for Air New Zealand, which has had to limit passengers on its planes for months.