China has seen a surge in passenger traffic on New Year's Day, the first day of its three-day New Year holiday, with significant increases in short- and medium-distance travel and strong year-on-year growth in flight bookings.
Data showed that during the holiday period, short- and medium-distance travel is the main mode of travel in China's Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Chengdu-Chongqing regions, with trips crossing the New Year becoming a major highlight.
Domestic flight bookings for the holiday increased by 28 percent year on year, and international flight bookings increased by approximately 14 percent year on year, according to data from Umetrip, a popular Chinese flight travel application.
"During the New Year holiday, the popularity of winter escape trips to the south increased significantly compared to previous years. On the other hand, new destinations in the south are rapidly emerging. Flight bookings to cities such as Nanning, Jieyang, Quanzhou, and Huizhou all increased by more than 70 percent year on year, becoming highlights of holiday travel growth," said Zhao Nan, general manager of the industry development department at Umetrip.
In China's coastal province of Fujian, the province's maritime administration anticipates that 143 passenger ships will be in operation during the holiday, carrying over 380,000 passengers.
The Mini Three Links, which refers to small-scale trade, shipping and postal services between Fujian province, Kinmen Island and the Matsu Island group, are expected to carry over 20,000 passengers, an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year.
China sees travel surge on New Year's Day
The Israeli government is set to prohibit 37 international aid organizations from operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank effective Jan 1, 2026, after authorities stated the groups failed to comply with stricter registration requirements, according to an Israeli media report on Tuesday.
The report from The Times of Israel cited the statement from Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, saying that the new regulations are based on security concerns aimed at removing non-government organizations' staff allegedly linked to so-called "terrorist organizations."
The report came after the Israeli government announced the same day that it would suspend the activities of several international aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, in the Gaza Strip starting January 1, 2026, citing the organizations' failure to submit information on their Palestinian staff as required.
Last year, Israel rolled out new regulations on registration requiring international aid groups to provide detailed information of their staff's names, funding sources, and operation status.
On Wednesday, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that the registration mandates were necessary to prevent humanitarian supplies from being exploited by Hamas.
In an online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday, Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam, a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, said the impact of the ban will be "devastating."
"It is devastating. We've seen the numbers from the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) a few weeks ago. We saw them in the summer. There's been a slight improvement, but that's not good enough for the time of a ceasefire. And six months after the famine was declared, we should have seen much more improvement in Gaza," said Khalidi.
"It's winter here in Palestine. It was raining. It rained a record (amount) of rain per millimeter yesterday in Palestine since 1992. So, the impact is devastating. But the fact that shelter materials, for example, cannot enter. For families, this will mean slower repairs. It will mean fewer supplies. It will mean a longer wait for basic services. It will directly affect the access to clean water, to sanitation, to shelter materials, to public health interventions. Aid that should be moving predictably will remain delayed, it will remain restricted and it will remain stranded," she added.
She also emphasized that the operating environment became nearly impossible for organizations to navigate long before the new ban was announced.
"We have been obstructed and blocked from operating freely and unobstructedly for the last two years by Israel. Israel has killed a record number of humanitarian workers in the last two years. It has bombed our premises, it has bombed our convoys, it has blocked our items. It has driven famine like conditions in Gaza because of blocking humanitarian access. So, I think it's really important to set that scene, is that what is happening now is nothing new. It only continues within the kind of campaign that Israel has orchestrated to drive basically the population of Gazans' survival. So, we are, we have not been able to enter any materials in since March, in fact, us and many other organizations. And of course that has severely restricted our ability to scale up our operations," said Khalidi.
Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, said on Wednesday that Israel's move is no different from cutting off lifesaving supplies for the local population, adding that the European Union has made clear that all obstacles to humanitarian access must be lifted.
Israel bans operations of 37 int'l aid groups in Gaza Strip, West Bank
