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Chinese Flock to and from China as Borders Reopened After 2 Years

Chinese Flock to and from China

For the first time since imposing travel restrictions in March 2020, China has reopened its borders to international visitors. Incoming travelers will no longer be required to quarantine, marking a significant shift in the country’s Covid policy as the country battles an increase in cases.

They will still require proof of a negative PCR test performed within 48 hours of departure. Many people are relieved to be reunited with family.

In the coming weeks, 400,000 people are expected to travel to mainland China from Hong Kong, with long lines for flights to cities such as Beijing and Xiamen. On Sunday, double-decker buses full of tourists arrived at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to catch buses to Guangdong province, including college students returning home.

One man told the BBC that he hadn’t seen his extended family in three years and couldn’t contain his excitement after purchasing a plane ticket back to China. Another woman said she hadn’t seen her parents in years, despite one of them having colon cancer, and that she was “so, so happy” to see them.

Hundreds of thousands of people are also expected to depart China in the coming weeks, with many of them heading to Thailand.

The reopening of China coincides with the start of “Chunyun,” the first period of Lunar New Year travel. Prior to the pandemic, it was the world’s largest annual migration of people returning home to spend time with family. This Lunar New Year, two billion trips are expected, more than doubling the number that traveled last year.

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Chinese Returning to China

Li Hua, who traveled from the United Kingdom to China to attend the festival, said it was a memorable experience “”It’s been far too long” since she had returned, and she was overjoyed to be back and breathe Chinese air. So pleased, so pleased “.

After visiting Hong Kong, Mark Clayton returned to Zhuhai, Guandong, with his wife and baby. He told the BBC his trip home had been “nearly as smooth as it used to be pre-Covid”.

“We didn’t even show them the PCR; we just scanned a code and filled out a quick customs declaration… and then straight through,” he explained.

Some are concerned that opening the borders will result in more Covid-19 transmission. Unease from both travelers and nations that have long awaited the return of deep-pocketed Chinese tourists has dampened the festive mood.

As China quickly lifted Covid restrictions, a virulent outbreak has swept the country in recent weeks, causing havoc in hospitals and putting strain on health-care workers. Beijing’s decision to open its borders, announced less than two weeks ago, has surprised, confused, and alarmed many people.

Nations all over the world are excited to welcome back Chinese tourists like Zhao and her parents. Prior to the pandemic, Chinese tourists spent $250 billion annually abroad.

When China abruptly suspended tour groups and travel packages in early 2020, many tour guides and travel operators went bankrupt. Thailand, Japan, and South Korea were among the countries hardest hit.

However, some of those same countries are hesitant to attract Chinese tourists due to health experts’ concerns about the scope of China’s Covid outbreak, the potential for new coronavirus mutations, and the strain that sick tourists could have on health care systems.

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Covid-19 Testing on Chinese Travellers

Global health experts and the World Health Organization have warned that the outbreak in China, as well as the country’s lack of transparency in reporting cases, has made determining the severity of the situation difficult.

In recent days, dozens of countries around the world have begun to require Covid testing and health monitoring of Chinese travelers. Beijing has reacted angrily, claiming that the moves have no scientific basis.

On Wednesday, the European Union said it “strongly encouraged” its 27 members to implement testing and masking requirements as Chinese tourists return to popular European cities.

Even Hong Kong, which had many of the same border restrictions as China until recently, has taken a cautious approach to opening its border with the mainland, capping the number of visitors at 60,000 per day.

The rule will also apply to Hong Kong visitors traveling north. Anyone crossing the border must show proof of a negative PCR test.

Many businesses on Jeju Island, a South Korean destination once popular with Chinese tourists, are on hold. The government has suspended all direct flights from China to the island, redirecting visitors to the country’s main airport in Seoul, where they will be subjected to a PCR test upon arrival and quarantine if found to be sick.

“For the time being, we are focusing on alternative markets such as Japan and Southeast Asia,” said Kim Chang-hyo, an official with the Jeju Island Tourism Association. South Korea has also halted the processing of short-term visas for Chinese nationals, with the exception of diplomatic or business visits.

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Thailand Bows to China’s Demands

Thailand’s reaction has been more cordial. One government minister proposed providing booster vaccines to Chinese tourists. Another urged Thais not to “bully” Chinese visitors based on unfounded Covid fears.

However, the government is also taking precautions to prevent a sudden outbreak from overwhelming the hospital system now that China’s borders are open. All visitors to the country must receive two doses of the Covid vaccine, and the government recommends wearing a mask in public. Visitors must have medical insurance to cover Covid treatment if they become ill.

According to Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of Thailand’s Tourism Authority, the country expects around 300,000 Chinese visitors in the first three months of 2023. “There are only 15 flights per week compared to around 400 flights per week before Covid,” he said. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 1 million Chinese tourists visited the country each month.

Employees at the Maetaeng Elephant Park in the northern province of Chiang Mai expressed delight at the return of Chinese visitors. For the time being, they are preoccupied with South Koreans, who have largely replaced Chinese customers as their primary customers.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” said Thipsuda Poungmalee, the park’s sales and marketing manager.

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Japan remains strict on Covid-19

In Osaka, Japan, where Chinese tourists have occasionally made headlines for what the Japanese call “bakugai” — or explosive buying — the mood is also subdued. “Of course, the city has been much quieter without tourists from China,” said Makoto Tsuda, an official with the Osaka prefecture’s Tourism Promotion office. Prior to the pandemic, China accounted for nearly half of all foreign visitors to the city, he said.

Visitors from China are required to provide a negative PCR test prior to arrival and to take another test once they arrive. Tsuda stated that he anticipates more Chinese visitors, but not immediately.

“I do believe there is an additional barrier compared to visitors from other countries, so it may be a more gradual increase in incoming tourists from China,” Tsuda said.

Yan Yan, a 55-year-old garment wholesaler from South Carolina, was among those arriving at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday.

They waited patiently in a crowded departures hall to check their luggage on a Xiamen Airlines flight to Tianjin.

Every year, she would travel to Tianjin to see her parents. However, this will be her first visit home since the pandemic began in early 2020. Until now, she had been put off by limited flights and abrupt cancellations, not to mention onerous quarantines and PCR testing. One of her friends who had flown back to China had spent the entire flight hopping from quarantine facility to quarantine facility.

“It’s much better now that the restrictions have been relaxed,” she said, adding that she was relieved to see her relatives after they had recovered from difficult bouts of Covid a few weeks ago.

“It will be a wonderful new year spent with family.”

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

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Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

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Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

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Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

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Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

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Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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