The move is the latest by China to revive tourism and boost the world's second-largest economy following a slump during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourist visa applicants in the U.S. will no longer need to submit air ticket bookings, hotel reservations or an invitation letter, the embassy's notice said. Visa-free treatment will run for 12 months, during which tourists from those six countries can visit China for up to 15 days. The number of inbound tourists to the country plummeted during the pandemic due to the country's strict COVID control policies. International flights to China have picked up since Beijing dropped COVID restrictions a year ago but are still only at 60% of 2019 levels.

WHEN I looked at the calendar last week and found that my last column of the year would fall on the last day of the year, I flipped a coin to decide whether I would write a review of 2023 or a preview of 2024. "Review" was actually the call, so I flipped the coin a few more times. So, let's look ahead instead. There are five predictions for the coming year, but they are not presented in any meaningful order; I consider them all equally likely to happen. Spoiler alert: If you are looking for reasons to be optimistic about the near future, you're in the wrong place.

They told me that it will be a good choice since I can use it daily as it is not covered by the number coding scheme. Is there a law that exempts electric vehicles from the number coding scheme? Non-Fiscal Incentives. This would mean that EV owners can now use their vehicles for the whole week.Aside from the exemption from the number coding scheme, the law provides other incentives to EV users as provided for under Chapter IV, Section 25 thereof, viz. Non-Fiscal Incentives.

Lee’s representatives in a statement begged the public to refrain from spreading false information based on speculation or assumption. In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries chose “post-truth” as the word of the year and defined it as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. Misinformation is false or inaccurate information, meaning getting the facts wrong, while disinformation, which is a subset of misinformation, is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead or intentionally misstating the facts. Pause for a moment, think and contemplate the next time we want to post and share something. Maybe, by pausing a millisecond before we post and share, we can contribute to making this digital world a better place to exist in.

Next Attraction: Movies, series showing in January 2024Clockwise: "Anyone but You," "Echo," "Argylle," and "The Boy and the Heron"MANILA, Philippines — Three, two, one... 2024 is here, and it's time for a fresh year full of surprises and excitement. With so much hope to look forward to, the same could be said for a brand new bunch of movies and shows that will kick off the year. "Anyone but You" (Jan. 17)Directed by Will GluckStarring Sydney Sweeney and Glen PowellSynopsis: Two individuals who previously went on a date together unexpectedly find themselves at a destination wedding in Australia and pretend to be the perfect couple to keep up appearances. "The Color Purple" (Jan. 24)Directed by Blitz BazawuleStarring Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, and H.E.R.

Woman loses hearing ability after ‘kwitis’ exposureFireworks light up the sky over Rizal Park in Manila to celebrate during New Year celebrations on January 1, 2023. According to the health department, a 23-year-old woman from Central Luzon experienced hearing loss after a “passive exposure” to sky rockets, popularly known as kwitis. Kwitis, known for its distinctive whistle sound when launched into the air, is a firecracker that looks like a thin rocket. “If you cannot avoid exposure to fireworks and their loud sounds, use hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs,” it said in a statement. Among the eight newly-logged cases of FWRI, the DOH said that the victims are in the age range of 5 to 49 years old.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Executive Order (EO) 49 designating as his economic czar or "super secretary," Frederick Go of the Gokongwei conglomerate, tasked to supervise all economic departments was unprecedented, a first for any president. I suspect that a year and half in office, Marcos has realized how enormous the tasks of the Philippine presidency are, that he's decided to turn over all work on the economic front to a special assistant, with a secretary rank.

BEIJING – China’s defense ministry lashed out at the United States on Thursday, a week after their top military officials resumed high-level talks, criticizing its continued meddling in the Asia Pacific region and saying it maintained a “Cold War” mindset. ADVERTISEMENTBut a Chinese defense ministry spokesperson took a more hawkish tone at the year’s last regular press conference. “We firmly oppose any country having official and military contact with Taiwan in any form. Taiwan’s defense ministry said this week it was not seeing any signs of large-scale Chinese military activity before the elections but was keeping close watch on China. This week a Philippine military spokesperson rebutted China’s accusation that his country was provoking conflict in the region.

NEW DELHI: India's government has recently targeted high-profile journalists with Pegasus spyware, Amnesty International and The Washington Post said in a joint investigation published on Thursday. Created by Israeli firm NSO Group and sold to governments around the world, Pegasus software can be used to access a phone's messages and emails, peruse photos, eavesdrop on calls, track locations, and even film the owner with the camera.

MOST Filipinos support the policies and programs of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to address the territorial disputes between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea, a survey conducted by OCTA Research said. Results of the September 30 to October 4 survey released on December 28 showed that 58 percent of the respondents now agree with the Marcos administration's policies and programs to handle conflicts related to the West Philippine Sea.

The intrigues of Western countries whose dominance is ebbing away are largely responsible for pitching the world into turmoil, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Thursday. There is a growing understanding of this.”Moscow has come to blame the West for much of the turmoil and conflict in widely separated regions. In his comments to Tass, Lavrov called for de-escalation of the Middle East conflict, denouncing as “unacceptable” both acts of terror and “collective punishment”. “I must note an absence of any will for peace on the part of the regime of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky,” Lavrov told Tass. There is no consideration of holding peace talks … Draw your own conclusions.”Your subscription could not be saved.

LRT-2 to offer free rides on Rizal DayIn a Facebook post, the Light Rail Transit Authority said free rides will be offered from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to commemorate the heroism of Rizal, whose martyrdom sparked the 1896 revolution against Spanish rule. MANILA , Philippines — The LRT-2 will provide commuters with free rides during rush hours in the morning and late afternoon on Saturday (December 30) to commemorate this year's Rizal Day. The Light Rail Transit Authority said that free rides will be offered from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to commemorate the 127th anniversary of Jose Rizal's martyrdom. The railways management said that the first trip for trains in Recto and Antipolo stations will start at 5 a.m. The last trip, meanwhile, will leave at 9 p.m. for Antipolo station and 9:30 p.m. for Recto station.

China's industrial profits soared last month, helped by favorable year-ago comparisons and a raft of stimulus measures aimed at reinvigorating an economy that has struggled with deflationary concerns. Profits jumped 29.5 percent, sharply accelerating from October, according to official data published yesterday. Companies also recorded large investment returns in November, further boosting their bottom line, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Despite initial expectations that lifting the curbs would see the economy roar back to life, profits for China's big industrial companies from January-November were still down 4.4 percent, although that's eased from a 7.8 percent decline through the first 10 months. The profit data adds to mixed signals on the economy.

PTTC, ITC launch training for export-oriented MSMEsMANILA, Philippines — The training arm of the Department of Trade and Industry has partnered with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to launch an innovative training program aimed at helping Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in international trade understand and apply the export rules and procedures. The ITC, along with the Philippine Trade and Training Center (PTCC) , said the program, which is accessible through the PTTC-Arise Plus Training Platform, offers Filipino MSMEs practical resources for navigating the complex regulations and processes to sell their products on foreign markets. The programs will be conducted by PTTC’s trainers, who have received training from ITC, following ITC’s Digital Workshop methodology. “This approach harnesses innovative teaching techniques, digital tools, and detailed trainer instructions to ensure participatory, consistently high-quality, and easily replicable training experiences,” the ITC said. Through a partnership with ITC, the PTTC will further strengthen its capacity to sustain both online and in-person training, integrating them into their core training offerings for Filipino MSMEs.

NEW YORK CITY: Preliminary shopping data indicated that US holiday sales increased 3.1 percent compared with the year-ago period, a solid but unspectacular increase reflecting mixed sentiment on the economy. The figures, supplied by Mastercard SpendingPulse and released on Tuesday, pointed to apparel and restaurants among stronger areas of spending in the period between November 1 and December 24, while electronics and jewelry experienced declines.