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China is holding naval drills involving an aircraft carrier battlegroup near Taiwan it says are aimed at safeguarding Chinese sovereignty, an apparent reference to Beijing's claim to the self-governed island.

The navy said the exercises involving the Liaoning, one of its two aircraft carriers, are routine and assigned under an annual schedule.

China has been steadily increasing its threat to take control of the island militarily with exercises and incursions into the island’s air defence identification zone by Chinese warplanes.

READ MORE: 'Do not get involved': China cautions Japan ahead of US-Japan summit

In a statement issued late on Monday, the navy did not say when the exercises began or how long they would last, but said more such drills will be held in the future.

It said the exercises aim to “assist in improving the ability to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests,” terms often interpreted as being directed at Taiwan’s democratically elected government, which has refused to give in to Beijing’s demands that it recognise the island as part of Chinese territory.

China operates two aircraft carriers, of which the Liaoning, originally purchased as a hulk from Ukraine, is the first, having been operating in a combat role since at least 2019.

US military officials and observers have recently warned of increased Chinese threats toward Taiwan, which split from the mainland during a civil war in 1949.

The US has recently agreed to sell upgraded warplanes, missiles and other defensive hardware to Taiwan and the island is also revitalising its own defence industries, particularly by starting a submarine development program.

In a move certain to anger Beijing, the US Navy said the carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group had re-entered the South China Sea on Saturday to “conduct routine operations."

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It is the second time the strike group has entered the waterway this year as part of its 2021 deployment to the US 7th Fleet area of operations.

While in the area, the strike group will “conduct fixed and rotary-wing flight operations, maritime strike exercises, anti-submarine operations, coordinated tactical training, and more," the 7th Fleet said in a statement.

China claims virtually all of the South China Sea and routinely objects to the presence of foreign militaries in the area, especially the US Navy.

The US Navy says it has a right to operate in international waters, emphasising the point by sending destroyers to sail close by Chinese-held features in the area in what it calls freedom of navigation operations. Beijing considers them highly provocative.

The US presence in the area also underscores its strong alliances and other partnerships with countries from Japan to Australia.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday Japan will cooperate with the United States to calm rising tensions between China and Taiwan, saying Taiwan’s peace and stability are key to the region.

Mr Suga is to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington in coming days in the US leader’s first in-person summit since taking office in January.

Dutch police have arrested a suspect over the theft last year of two valuable paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Frans Hals from different museums, a spokeswoman confirmed.

The paintings, however, remain missing.

In a statement posted on Twitter, police spokeswoman Maren Wonder said a 58-year-old man was arrested at his home in the Dutch town of Baarn, 40 kilometres south-east of Amsterdam, on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Crew evacuated as Dutch cargo ship risks sinking off Norway

His identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines.

"Unfortunately, we haven't yet recovered the paintings and the investigation is continuing," Ms Wonder said.

She called the arrest "a really important step in the investigation."

Van Gogh's "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884" was snatched from the Singer Laren museum, east of Amsterdam, in the early hours of March 30 this year.

The museum was closed at the time due to a coronavirus lockdown.

The 25-by-57-centimetre oil-on-paper painting shows a person standing in a garden surrounded by trees, with a church tower in the background.

The Hals work, "Two Laughing Boys", was stolen some five months later from Museum Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden in Leerdam, 60 kilometres south of Amsterdam.

The Van Gogh painting was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands when a burglar smashed through reinforced glass doors to get into the Singer Laren, which is less than 10 kilometres from the town where the suspect was arrested.

READ MORE: Australia to push ahead with vaccine rollout despite blood clot concerns

Singer Laren spokeswoman Esther Driessen welcomed the arrest and said she hopes it leads detectives to the painting.

"The most important thing is that the painting returns as quickly as possible to the Groninger Museum, where it belongs," she said.

The Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden had no comment on the arrest.

Police said last year that the same Hals painting was stolen in 1988 together with a work by Jacob van Ruisdael. Both were recovered three years later.

In 2011, the two paintings were again stolen and recovered six months later.

Actors in long-running soap Neighbours are coming forward with allegations of racism on the set of the iconic Australian show.

Aboriginal actor Shareena Clanton was the first actor to make detailed allegations of racism on the Channel 10 series yesterday in an explosive Instagram post.

Clanton said the set was a "lonely, triggering and traumatising place to work".

Within hours, another Aboriginal actor and Neighbours cast member, Meyne Wyatt, took to Twitter to say he had also experienced racism while working on the show. Wyatt added that homophobia on the set was also "rampant".

A third actor, Sharon Johal, who played Dipi Rebecchi on the soap, expressed her support for Clanton, commenting with three heart emojis in response to her Instagram post.

In February, Johal told the Daily Telegraph appearing on Neighbours made her a target for racist trolls.

https://twitter.com/meynewyatt/status/1379334253599629312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

In Clanton's Instagram post, she claimed she "n-word" was openly used twice, she also said she witnessed a white actor calling another actor of colour a "lil monkey."

Clanton says when she confronted the actor she was told to go somewhere else as she was "making others uncomfortable".

A spokesperson for Fremantle said the production company would "continue to work with all cast and crew to ensure Neighbours continues to be a fully inclusive environment".

Many other actors have expressed their support for Clanton and Wyatt.

Zoe Terakes, who co-starred with Clanton in the Foxtel drama Wentworth, wrote on Instagram: "Standing with you @shareenaclanton. Remarkable, powerful, courageous you. This industry is so f—ing lucky to have you. I love you."

Actor Belinda Bromilow, who has appeared on Doctor Doctor and Packed To The Rafters, said on Wyatt's Instagram page: "I'm so sorry and angry this continues. It shouldn't be this way. I am committed to doing better."

An unmanned Dutch cargo ship may be in danger of capsizing in heavy seas off the coast of Norway after its crew was evacuated following a distress call from the vessel.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration said today they have dispatched a coast guard ship to inspect the situation with the Eemslift Hendrika, which is listing and afloat without engine power on the Norwegian Sea 130 kilometres off the city of Alesund.

Video from the scene showed how the Norwegian Rescue Coordination Center evacuated some of the ship's 12 crew members by helicopters after they had jumped into the sea. The ship issued a distress call late Monday (local time).

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Maritime authorities said their focus now was to figure out how to stabilise the vessel so it wouldn't sink while trying make sure the ship doesn't crash into the shore.

Surveillance aircraft were patrolling the area.

"We are optimistic but at the same time there are 15-metre high waves and strong winds. The weather conditions are extreme and the safety of personnel will always come first," emergency director Hannes-Petter Mortensholm at the Norwegian Coastal Administration told the VG newspaper.

READ MORE: Scientists solve mystery of giant hovering blobs off coast of Norway

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the ship lost power in its main engine late Monday night.

If the vessel sinks, Norwegian authorities are concerned that diesel and fuel oil could spill from its tanks.

Registered in the Netherlands, the Eemslift Hendrika was built in 2015.

Its cargo was not immediately known.

With AP

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden says the country has "absolutely missed" Australia after the coronavirus pandemic led to borders being shut for more than a year.

Ms Ardern appeared on Today this morning and said she was looking forward to welcoming back Aussies from April 19.

The quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble, between Australian and New Zealand, is slated to start from 11.59pm on Sunday, April 18.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we have absolutely missed you," she said.

LIVE UPDATES: New Zealand PM wanted to get the travel bubble 'right'

"We want you to come and see us again. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, that's definitely the case for us here."

When asked why the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble took so long to implement, Ms Ardern said she wanted to "get it right".

She believed the country could now manage COVID-19 outbreaks safely, meaning the two-way bubble could be more flexible than first planned.

"If you think about when we first started talking about having a trans-Tasman arrangement, we were talking about the test being 28 days free of any case outside of a managed isolation facility and the time that we have taken to establish this protocol and this arrangement, we have learnt so much," she said.

"We now believe and know that we can safely manage outbreaks without necessarily having that prolonged month-long period in the aftermath of a case.

"Time has been of benefit to us. I think we now have a regime that will be flexible, but pretty sophisticated, and ultimately it means now we are in a position to welcome you here and to do it safely, which is what we are all so excited about."

The travel bubble would work similarly to how Australian states and territories implement border closure measures when COVID-19 outbreaks flare up in certain areas.

Ms Ardern said Australia and New Zealand viewed each other as "another state" in a way.

"Anyone in Australia who is travelling between states is prepared for outbreaks and there possibly being disruption, and again can't believe I am saying this, view New Zealand as another state in that way," she said.

READ MORE: EU agency to confirm AstraZeneca vaccine blood clot link

"If there is a hot spot in one of the states of Australia, we may just act in the same way that another state would, with just limitation of people to come in and out of our borders until that issue is resolved.

"We are trying to make it as simple for travellers as possible. Just prepare that there may be disruptions."

Australians will not be required to be vaccinated in order to travel to New Zealand, Ms Ardern said.

Ms Ardern pointed out that is why the travel bubble had been able to be implemented so "quickly".

"New Zealand and Australia are in a very lucky position," she said.

"With the strategy that we have had, it has meant that the vaccine for us hasn't been a question of life and death in the same way it has in other parts of the world.

"Those countries that are working very hard to roll out those vaccines, it's in order to get the freedoms we already have."

READ MORE: What's gone wrong with Australia's vaccination rollout?

However, travellers will be required to provide their contact details, use New Zealand's COVID-19 contact tracing app and wear a mask on the plane.

Ms Ardern said they were still awaiting evidence that demonstrated people travelling from high-risk countries would not pose a threat, before establishing a vaccine passport system.

New Zealanders were most looking forward to being reunited with loved ones from Australia, the prime minister said.

"The most important thing you'll hear from Kiwis is just that reunification," she said.

"While I was standing on the podium behind me yesterday making this announcement, I wouldn't have been off the podium for more than five minutes and a friend sent me a screenshot of her flights to come to New Zealand.

"You won't find a Kiwi that won't have a story of someone in Australia that they have missed and they really want to welcome back."

The travel bubble would also boost tourism in the country, Australia making up about 40 per cent of the industry, worth about $2.7 billion.

"It is an added bonus," she said.

"But nothing like the human-to-human contact for us that is so important."

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