Russia and Ukraine are fighting on several fronts, the situation in Pokrovsk remains tense

Heavy fighting has continued on several fronts between Russia and Ukraine over the past 24 hours. Russia said on Sunday that it had attacked Ukrainian military personnel and equipment from several directions, and Ukraine said the situation in Pokrovsk, the strategic logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, remained tense.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Russian army destroyed a temporary base of foreign mercenaries. In addition, the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down eight American HIMARS missiles and 41 drones, the report said.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces issued a situation report on the same day, according to which 68 battles took place in the frontline areas that day. The situation in the direction of Pokrovsk remains tense, and fighting continues in several areas, the situation report says.

The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that its forces continue to push back Ukrainian troops in the Kursk direction. The Russian military is also conducting reconnaissance and search operations to identify and eliminate Ukrainian sabotage groups attempting to infiltrate into Russian territory.

Also on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had advanced one to three kilometers in the Kursk region and taken control of two settlements.

Russia and Ukraine are fighting on several fronts, the situation in Pokrovsk remains tense

China has experienced a steady increase in inbound tourism this year, with repeat visitors proving to be a key driver of this boom trend.

The country's thriving inbound tourism is largely due to its relaxed visa policy and other enabling measures, especially the 144-hour visa-free period, which allows visitors from 54 countries to enter and stay in China for up to 144 hours without a visa for short-term activities.

“I think there is so much to discover in China. Whenever you go to another city in China, the people there are completely different,” says a tourist from Poland who is currently enjoying a cruise in Shanghai.

A French tourist enjoying his stay in Yangshuo County in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said that when he visited China with his wife a year ago, it was quite a hassle to get a visa, but this time the experience was completely different.

“My son [and] my daughter is visiting us for a fortnight. It's as simple as that. They just tell us we're tourists. Take the passport and everything, fill out the form and you get the stamp. It's really simple,” he said.

Another tourist from Italy expressed the hope that the visa-free period could be extended even further in the future, as six days are simply too short to explore the huge and beautiful country.

“I decided to come for three weeks because China is very, very big and in three weeks you can only see this small [bit],” she said.

According to statistics, the resort town of Yangshuo County alone welcomed 149,900 foreign visitors from January to June this year, an astonishing increase of 709.69 percent over the previous year.

In the first seven months of the year, 17.25 million foreign visitors entered China through various ports nationwide, an increase of 129.9 percent compared to the same period last year. In addition, a total of 846,000 port visas were issued, an increase of 182.9 percent year-on-year.

China is experiencing a continuous increase in inbound tourism due to relaxed visa regulations