4 . Bringing goods into the UK

You are allowed to bring some goods for personal use without paying tax or duty.

You can bring goods from EU countries without being charged tax or duty if they are:

● transported by yourself; ● a gift or for personal use; ● bought with tax and duty included.

You can bring alcohol and tobacco from EU countries without restriction but an inquiry(调查) might be required depending on the amount of your goods.

You will be free of duty or tax on certain amounts of goods brought from outside the EU, as long as they are for your own use. Any goods that are beyond your allowance should be declared.

Alcohol & tobacco allowance:

Allowance for other goods:

The maximum value of other goods you can bring is £390. Any single item that is worth more than the allowance will be charged duty or tax on its full value.

The rate of duty or tax on items above the allowance is:

● 2.5% for goods worth up to £630;

● decided by the type of goods worth above £630 — check by calling the VAT, Customs.

Goods banned include:

● illegal drugs; ● offensive weapons; ● endangered animal and plant species;

● meat and dairy(乳制的) products from most non-EU countries.

Food and plant products restricted include:

● products containing pests and diseases; ● products grown outside the EU;

● products not for your own use.

5 . New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed an order allowing online marriages, as many weddings are cancelled under lockdown restrictions.

From now on, people in the US state will be able to apply for marriage licences remotely and clerks allowed to conduct ceremonies online

Mr Cuomo joked that the decision meant there was now “no excuse” for couples not to tie the knot.

“You can do it by Zoom. Yes or no?” he said in his briefing on Saturday.

The decision comes after New York state extended lockdown measures until May 15. More than 13,000 people have died of coronavirus in New York city alone.

Social media reaction to the decision was mixed. Some questioned why couples would choose to hold weddings when their families and friends are unable to join them, or criticised the governor for not prioritising other decisions. But others pointed out that during a pandemic (流行病), marriage could offer practical benefits, such as allowing couples to share health insurance coverage.

New York isn’t the first place to turn to the internet to offer a legal solution. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently announced that citizens and residents would be allowed to get married online, after the justice ministry created a website for couples to submit required documents. A virtual ceremony, complete with a registrar and witnesses, can then take place. Similar measures have been introduced in the US state of Colorado, where couples are being allowed to apply for marriage licences online.

Meanwhile, one county in Ohio is allowing people to obtain marriage licences online in limited circumstances, such as when one of the partners is a health care worker, suffers from a serious illness or has health insurance issues.

6 . Over 2. 5 quintillion （10¹⁸） bytes of data are created each day. Many of them consist of information that would allow people to be personally identified.

At the same time that we share our personal information, there is a growing concern with how that information is being gathered, stored, used and shared. While many economies like Canada and the EU have privacy laws dating back to the mid-1990s, changes to data practices in the past five years have motivated governments to review or update existing laws.

Changes to privacy laws are being fuelled by growing public concerns with the idea of unrestricted data accumulation and use. For instance, earlier this year, the World Economic Forum found that 1/3 of global citizens have no idea about how their personal information is used and that trust is lacking.

Privacy laws are changing to deal with the real and noticed risks of harm which result from the under-regulated or unregulated data economy. The EU has introduced big reform to laws which are aimed at protecting privacy. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation （GDPR） introduced strict requirements for those that control or process the personal data of the people who live in the EU. The GDPR's stated goals focus on the protection and basic rights of personal information. Certain US states are also entering the ring in the fight for control over personal data. They have passed or are actively considering privacy laws. California is out front. The California Consumer Privacy Act （CCPA） provides greater control to individuals over their personal information. There is a sense that privacy laws are on the near horizon in the US.

These are two examples that are actively pursuing more progressive privacy laws. One important consideration is to harmonize global standards for best law practices. This will ease compliance （遵守）across border and provide a valuable signal to the public that governments are keeping pace with rapid change.

7 . New rules from the China National Tourism Administration prohibit guides from steering their clients to illegal or immoral activities, such as gambling or drugs.

Guides are also prohibited from forcing clients to shop at businesses during a tour, or to charge extra money against a client’s wishes, through intimidation, restricting a person’s freedom or using physical force. Those who violate the rules will have their licenses revoked(吊销), and income generated through such misbehavior will be confiscated. In addition, violators will be fined between 2,000 and 20,000 yuan($300 to $3,000).

The administration said the quality of tour guides and the services they provide are key to the way the industry is perceived in China and abroad. Through the rules, which will take effect on Jan. 1st, the administration hopes to ensure healthy development of the domestic tourism market.

Mr. Wang, a professor of tourism administration at Beijing International Studies University, said the new rules act as a supplement to existing tourism law. “They elaborate tour guides’ responsibilities and will be very helpful for the national tourism administration in strengthening its governance of this group of professionals,” Wang said.

The 2001 regulations listed some prohibited behaviors, and guides who were found in violation would have points taken away from their annual scores. In 2015 and 2016, many media reports appeared about misbehaving tour guides at popular destinations. Guide services start with 10 points each year. Points are required to maintain a license, so if all 10 are lost, the guide service is shut down.

The new rules describe situations beyond what were in the 2001 regulations, and cover circumstances in which a tour guide would be in violation and punishments are laid out in detail, noting that some of the examples reflect situations that have been reported domestically in recent years. Forced shopping, verbal abuse of clients and even abandoning clients half way through a tour were among the misdeeds.