Travelers walk with their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport, on Dec. 27TINGSHU WANG/Reuters

China’s relaxation of COVID-19 rules for international arrivals has raised hopes that its multi-billion dollar travel business will soon flourish again but countries longing for the return of Chinese tourists will likely face more of a wait.

China’s National Health Commission announced on Monday that inbound travelers would no longer have to go into quarantine from Jan. 8. There are no official restrictions on Chinese people going abroad but the new rule will make it much easier for them to return home.

China was the world’s largest outbound tourism market before COVID shut down global travel, with its overseas visitors spending $127.5 billion on travel in 2019.

Airlines are drawing up plans to expand their services but ordinary Chinese and travel agencies suggest that a return to anything like normal will take some time.

“It’s great they announced it so I can seriously make my plans,” said Beijing exporter Tom Guo, 43.

But he said he would likely wait until the late spring or even the summer before venturing abroad again, most likely to the United States to visit a sister.

US carrier United Airlines Holdings Inc said it was evaluating the market demand and operating environment to determine when to resume additional flights to mainland China.

The airline currently operates four times a week between San Francisco and Shanghai.

German airline Lufthansa was examining whether to change its flight schedule to China following the changes.

“This will contribute to the recovery of international air traffic between Mainland China and Europe,” a spokesperson said.

TUI expects a positive impact on its currently limited flights to China, a spokesperson said.

Duty free retailer Dufry expects the changes to have a “positive effect at the airports that the Chinese use and where we have a presence,” a spokesperson said.

Guo said he definitely would not be going anywhere before the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

Many others have taken heart from this week’s news about an imminent relaxation of the rules to begin making plans.

Data from travel platform Ctrip showed that within half an hour of the announcement, searches for popular cross-border destinations had increased 10-fold. The Qunar platform said it saw a seven-fold increase in international flight searches within 15 minutes.

Japan, Thailand and South Korea were among the top destinations searched on both platforms.

But an immediate surge in international travel is not widely expected.

The government, which has since 2020 discouraged international travel given the dangers of COVID, said in its Monday announcement about borders reopening that outbound travel would be restored “in an orderly manner.” It did not elaborate.

Flight tracking app VariFlight said its expected a robust rebound in flights to and from mainland China by the Labor Day holiday in May, but not before.

According to VariFlight data, international flights to and from China are at 8% of pre-pandemic levels.

Liu Simin, an official with the tourism arm of the China Society for Futures Studies, a research institute based in Beijing, said international travel won’t recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

Weighing on many people’s travel plans is the wave of COVID-19 infections now sweeping China, Liu said.

Some countries, including Japan and India have announced travelers from China will have to show a negative COVID test on arrival.

Another problem for many people is money.

“It takes time for people to gain confidence after so many of them lost jobs or made less money during the pandemic,” Liu said.

In a consumer study released this month, before the announcement of the easing of travel restrictions, consultancy Oliver Wyman found more than half of Chinese people surveyed would wait from several months to a year before resuming international travel once borders re-open.

Some airlines were making plans even before Monday’s announcement. Korean Air said it would increase flights between South Korea and China from nine a week to 15 in January.

But for now, foreign visitor arrivals will be limited to resident, work, business, student and family reunification visas. No plan for the resumption of tourist visas has been announced.

One of the fastest bouncebacks is expected to be in international business travel.

“The recent announcement … clears the way for resumption of normal business travel, a top advocacy priority for the American business community in China over the past two years,” said AmCham China Chairman Colm Rafferty.

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MLB’s most sought-after free agent, Aaron Judge, has touched down in San Francisco.

A video captured Judge upon arrival, where he gave an interesting remark about what he’s doing in town.

“Visiting some family and friends, that’s about it. That’s about it,” he said winking to the camera.

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Bronx, NY: New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo and New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge in the dugout in the 3rd inning in game 4 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York on Oct 23, 2022.
(Photo by Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Judge is from Linden Calif., which is about 90 minutes away from San Francisco where the Giants, a team connected to the 2022 AL MVP in free agency, plays. Judge also grew up a Giants fan during his days of terrorizing baseball teams while playing for Linden High School and Fresno State, eventually being selected by the New York Yankees in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft.

So what exactly does Judge’s “friends and family” have planned?

“We got something,” he said smiling.

AFTER YANKEES’ ANTHONY RIZZO OPTS TO STAY IN BRONX, HE LOBBIES FOR AARON JUDGE TO RETURN

Looking to best the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, the Giants are looking to make a splash, and there would be none better than a homegrown product like Judge. And while there are many other suitors, including the Yankees, San Fran do have money to spend.

According to Spotrac, the Giants have the 14th-highest payroll in MLB at $95.95 million right now.

On the other hand, teams like the Yankees and New York Mets are at the top of the bunch and still willing to open their check books for Judge’s services.

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge runs to the dugout during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in New York.
(AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Anthony Rizzo, who recently re-signed with the Yankees on a two-year deal, lobbied for his clubhouse buddy in Judge to head back to the Bronx.

“I hope Judge stays just for the sake of the game,” Rizzo said Wednesday, “because you see a lot of franchise icons not getting what they deserve for the team that they have done so much for.”

Rizzo has even said Judge deserves to be the next Yankees captain if he re-signs.

ROB MANFRED ‘ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT’ YANKEES, METS DID NOT COLLUDE IN AARON JUDGE SWEEPSTAKES

But the offers will be steep following his MVP campaign, and it may come down to who outbids the rest of the field. Will the Giants step up? Will the Yankees, Mets or maybe even the Dodgers flex their financial muscles?

Judge and his team will find out just how far each team is willing to expand their payroll in the coming weeks.

The 6-foot-7 slugger was named the AL MVP this past Thursday, receiving all but two first-place votes after a season where he set the American League record for most home runs in a single season with 62.

Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees in the first inning in game two of a double header at Globe Life Field on October 4, 2022 in Arlington, Texas.
(Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)

Other than home runs, he also led the majors in RBI (131), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686), runs (133), OPS+ (211) and total bases (391).

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His 111 walks were tops in the American League, and his .311 batting average ranked second in the AL, putting him in the Triple Crown conversation until the last couple of days of the season.

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Smoke from forest fires burning in the northwestern corner of California is expected to enter the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday and Friday before dissolving over the weekend, the National Weather Service said.

The sooty air will mostly be higher in the atmosphere, and while the sky may be cloudy, air quality is not expected to reach unhealthy levels or exceed federal health standards for long periods of time.

Smoke can intermittently mix to the surface during the day and occasionally cause increased levels of pollution, said the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

The district has an air quality warning in place on Thursday and Friday. An air quality warning is less serious than a spare the air alarm, which signals unhealthy air quality and prohibits wood burning.

It is expected that the air quality in the air quality index, which is on a scale from 0 to 500, ranges from “good” to “moderate” in the range 101 to 150 and “unhealthy” 151 to 200.

A shift in the wind overnight and through Thursday morning will cause smoke from fires like the Monument Fire in Trinity County to drift south.

“We have an upper trough inland overnight,” said David King, a meteorologist with the Meteorological Service. “We have mostly south-westerly winds, but when this basin passes the winds will turn north-west. It will bring a good cloud of smoke further south.”

The highest concentrations are expected in North Bay, King said.

As the depression moves inland, high pressure will build up over the weekend, triggering the return of the southwest winds, driving the smoke out of the area.

“There will be a gradual clearing up so there might be some smoke left on Saturday,” said King. “It all depends on how much the high pressure increases and when these winds change to the southwest.”

That prediction could change too, as wildfire smoke is difficult to predict and the slightest wind can move a mass of sooty air from one place to another in minutes.

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San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell is expected to play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, less than two weeks after surgery for a broken finger, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Mitchell, officially classified as questionable for Sunday with a finger and rib injury, had finger surgery on November 16. He suffered a rib injury against the Chicago Bears on October 31, but did not miss any time before injuring his finger.

Mitchell was limited in training this week, but Niners trainer Kyle Shanahan said Friday the rookie was moving in the right direction.

Mitchell, a Louisiana pick in the sixth round of this year’s draft, has established himself as the 49ers’ top running back. In his seven games, Mitchell leads the 49ers in carry (116) and rushing yards (560), and he’s 12th in the NFL in yards per carry (4.8).

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San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell is expected to play the Minnesota Vikings on the street on Sunday, less than two weeks after surgery for a broken finger, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Mitchell, officially classified as questionable for Sunday with a finger and rib injury, had finger surgery on November 16. He sustained a rib injury against the Bears on October 31, but did not miss any time before injuring his finger.

Mitchell was limited in training this week, but coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday the rookie was moving in the right direction.

Mitchell, a Louisiana pick in the sixth round of this year’s draft, has established himself as the 49ers’ top running back. In his seven games, Mitchell leads the 49ers in carry (116) and rushing yards (560) and is 12th in the NFL in yards per carry (4.8).

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San Francisco will pay $ 2.5 million to the mother of a man who was shot dead by a San Francisco police officer in 2017.

The payment, pending board approval, would settle a federal civil lawsuit that Judy O’Neil filed in December 2017, about two weeks after the death of her son, Keita O’Neil.

Police officer Christopher Samayoa had just graduated from police academy and started field training when he shot and killed O’Neil on December 1, 2017. O’Neil allegedly pushed a state lottery worker and stole the keys to her white minivan. Police accused him of stealing the van and leading her on a chase on Highway 101 that ended at a public housing complex on Bayview.

O’Neil opened the door to his van and jumped out of the moving vehicle as the police followed him. Samayoa, in the passenger seat of a patrol car driven by Edric Talusan, a training supervisor, pulled out his service pistol and fired through the window as O’Neil sped by. Footage of samayoa’s body-worn camera and surveillance video nearby revealed that O’Neil was unarmed and only yards away at the time of the shooting. He died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Three years later, in November 2020, Samayoa was charged with manslaughter, along with three other criminal charges: assault with a gun, reckless firing of a gun, and unlawful attack by a police officer. It was the first time in recent history that the city’s chief prosecutor has charged a police officer with murder in a case of use of force, and the third time in the region.

Since then, Boudin has charged five other officers who he believed used excessive force, including another for murder, which the prosecutor announced earlier this week. He has five criminal cases pending against police officers, including the one against Samayoa.

“This is one of the more ruthless shootings I’ve ever seen, mainly because the person was unarmed, the officer was in a safe position, and O’Neil ran past,” said John Burris, the O’Civic attorney. Neil’s family. “According to the principles of ‘reasonable’ and ‘necessary’ he was wrong in both cases.”

Julia Fox, an attorney who represents Samayoa in criminal proceedings, said her client “has full confidence in the legal process and he trusts a jury of his colleagues should this become relevant”.

“We are confident that Officer Samayoa’s actions at the end of his case, after a thorough review of all the circumstances presented, were reasonable,” said Fox.

Burris added that O’Neil’s mother, Judy, was traumatized and that the court had hired her younger sister to look after her. He called the case heartbreaking.

Rachel Swan is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan

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Published: 08/24/2021 4:58:44 PM

NORTHAMPTON – The Hampshire County Courthouse is expected to reopen on Wednesday, nearly a week after a power outage that affected the air conditioning.

The Main Street building, which houses the Northampton District Court and Hampshire Superior Court, was closed for the first time on Thursday “due to air conditioning problems caused by a power outage,” said Jennifer Donahue, a spokeswoman of the state judicial system.

“The facilities department ran stand-alone cooling units in the building over the weekend and the court tried to open the courthouse on Monday morning,” Donahue said. “The temperatures were too high when people reported for work and the decision was made to close the building.”

On Tuesday, workers repaired the cooling system and planned to run it overnight in preparation for the building to reopen on Wednesday morning.

Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.

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The weather service says rain is needed as winter is drier than normal

The mountains of La Plata and San Juan are bare on the southern slopes on Saturday, but Monday through Wednesday the mountains should be covered in snow as a weather system moves through the area. (Jerry McBride / Durango Herald)

A large amount of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, known as the “atmospheric river,” flows into southwest Colorado.

“Basically, it’s this heavy cloud of moisture that comes in from the Pacific,” said Erin Walter, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “It’s like this continuous stream, almost like a jet, but in the form of moisture.”

Over the weekend, the atmospheric river dumped over 5 inches of rain in the San Francisco area, Walter said.

Most of the moisture from the storm system in California is drained over the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin, with southwest Colorado receiving the last bit of rainfall on Tuesday.

“We’re not going to see snowflakes like we did in the Sierra Nevada, but we’re going to see some precipitation,” said Walter.

Southwest Colorado has warm conditions that will be a big factor in how much rainfall the area falls, Walter said.

“We see higher amounts of snow on Tuesday morning, and then, when the system goes through, a little colder air will come in behind it,” said Walter.

A cloud of moisture known as the atmospheric river is moving across the states and will bring rain to southwest Colorado on Tuesday. (Jerry McBride / Durango Herald file)

Cities along US Highway 160 should expect about a quarter of an inch of rain on Tuesday, with some areas potentially seeing higher, localized rainfall of about half an inch.

“For Durango, Cortez, and Pagosa Springs, I would expect at least a quarter of an inch,” said Walter.

As for snow, Silverton is expected to get about an inch of powder in town, with about 5 to 20 inches in the higher elevations of the San Juan Mountains.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its winter outlook for temperature, precipitation and drought on Thursday. This is the second year in a row La Niña, according to NOAA. The seasons of La Niña are caused by above-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific.

“The southwest is sure to remain a region of concern as we anticipate below-average rainfall with the drought continuing in most areas,” said Jon Gottschalck of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

In southwest Colorado, temperatures are expected to be 40 to 50% higher than normal, rainfall 33 to 40% lower than normal, and drought conditions expected to worsen.

“Any moisture is definitely welcome,” said Walter.

njohnson@durangoherald.com

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San Francisco is expected to move from the red tier to the milder orange tier as early as March 24th, and infection rates are falling.

“I understand the reopening we planned for the orange tier is more than we have ever reopened since that time,” said Breed. “So this is great news and I hope we can continue with it. I’m excited to see the momentum we have around us and how much we will reopen next week.”

With the move to Orange, the city is starting its first efforts to bring back festivals and entertainment. Just three weeks after jumping into orange, the city could jump into the even less strict yellow class. Breed hinted that more openings would come this summer.

“I hope we will have more in this area soon because I am dying to go to a concert to see a concert,” she said.

In the orange tier, California allows for the reopening of new business areas and the expansion of some indoor activities such as restaurants, museums, cinemas and fitness with restrictions.

With a few exceptions, the reopening of the city is based on what is allowed by the state.

Here’s what allows SF to reopen when it turns orange Wednesday. Get the full picture by watching the city’s webinar.

-Bars, breweries, wineries, and distilleries may be opened for outdoor table service without serving food. No more than six people per table. Two table reservations are allowed, but guests cannot mingle between the tables.

-All retail stores including grocery stores can increase capacity to 50%. Indoor food courts can also be opened with a capacity of 50%.

-Laundries, dry cleaners, banks, car repairs and equipment rentals can expand capacity to 50%.

-Indoor dining can be expanded to 50% or 200 people, whichever is less. Tables with up to six people from up to three households are permitted, businesses can stay open until 11 p.m. The two-hour seating is canceled.

– For al fresco dining, the limit on the number of households at one table for al fresco dining is removed, but the tables are limited to a total of six people.

– Outdoor arts and music festivals with no assigned seating are allowed, but attendance must be limited to 50 people and social distancing rules must be observed between people from different households.

-Indoor gyms can be expanded to 25% capacity and showers and changing rooms can be reopened. Cardio, aerobic group and hot yoga classes are allowed with a capacity of 25%. Indoor pools can be operated with reduced capacity.

– Youth sports, dance and movement can be done indoors with a capacity of 25%.

-Hotels can open restaurants and fitness facilities. Indoor saunas, steam baths and whirlpools must remain closed.

– Indoor personal services such as hairdressing salons may be expanded to 50% of capacity.

-In indoor cinemas, the capacity can be increased to 50% or 200 people, whichever is lower. Guests from up to three households, up to six people, can buy tickets to sit together and eat or drink.

-Indoor museums, zoos and aquariums can expand the capacity to 50%; Indoor food and beverage service permitted with capacity restrictions. External capacity restrictions will be lifted.

-Non-essential offices can be reopened with a capacity of 25%; The capacity in conference rooms is limited to 25%.

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