COVID-19 surge hits Asia; Tokyo, Thailand, Malaysia post record infections
(Reuters) -The Olympics host city Tokyo, as well as Thailand and Malaysia, announced record COVID-19 infections on Saturday, mostly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the disease. The government of New South Wales reported 210 new infections in Sydney and surrounding areas from the Delta variant outbreak. Olympics organisers reported 21 new COVID-19 cases related to the Games, bringing the total to 241 since July 1. Thailand also reported a daily record high of 18,912 new coronavirus infections, bringing its total cases to 597,287. COVID-19 infections have increased by 80% over the past four weeks in most regions of the world, WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.
Source:MetroXpress
July 31, 2021 14:15 UTC
Sudbury's StoryWalk project brings reading outdoors, recognizes playgrounds
SUDBURY — If you're taking a walk through the playgrounds at Sudbury's elementary schools, keep an eye out for StoryWalk. Each of the town's four elementary school playgrounds is hosting a StoryWalk. First up was the Haynes Elementary School, where walkers could read "Ricky, the Rock Who Couldn't Roll," by Jason I. Miletsky, through Friday, July 30. Next is the Noyes Elementary School, followed by Nixon Elementary School and Loring Elementary School. StoryWalk was first created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed with help from Rachel Senechal, formerly of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Source:MetroXpress
July 31, 2021 09:22 UTC
Olympics-Shooting-Spain wins its first Tokyo gold in new trap mixed event
TOKYO (Reuters) – Fatima Galvez and Alberto Fernandez won Spain’s first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday with victory in the final of the new trap mixed team event at the Asaka Shooting Range. Switzerland’s Nina Christen won the gold in the women’s rifle three-position event with an Olympic record score, just ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee’s Yulia Zykova in silver. Galvez missed five of her first eight targets in the gold medal match, including the first three in a row, and needed a timeout. Americans Madelynn Bernau and Brian Burrows won the bronze in a shoot-off victory over women’s trap champion Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova and fellow Slovak Erik Varga after both pairs had shot 42. A second U.S. team, which included women’s trap silver medallist Kayle Browning, failed to reach the medal rounds.
Source:MetroXpress
July 31, 2021 05:48 UTC
China’s factory activity in July grows at slowest pace since Feb 2020
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s factory activity expanded in July at the slowest pace in 17 months as higher raw material costs, equipment maintenance and extreme weather weighed on business activity, adding to concerns about a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy. An NBS official said in a statement the PMI’s sub-index for production slipped to 51.0 from 51.9 in June, pointing to equipment maintenance and extreme weather. A sub-index for raw material costs stood at 62.9 in July, compared with June’s 61.2, pointing to an increase in costs. High raw material prices have eaten into the profitability of industrial firms and deterred some Chinese exporters from taking on orders. However, manufacturers are grappling with new challenges including higher raw material prices, surging logistics costs and global supply chain bottlenecks, and the pace of gross domestic product growth is expected to moderate.
Source:MetroXpress
July 31, 2021 02:26 UTC
DePalo: Vast majority of city's new COVID-19 cases related to delta variant
FRAMINGHAM — The vast majority of recent COVID-19 infections in Framingham are related to the delta coronavirus variant, said Alexandra DePalo, the city’s interim director of public health. Roughly 80% to 100% of COVID-19 infections in Framingham over the past two weeks are connected to the delta variant, DePalo said Thursday. But if "something unusual" occurs in regards to COVID-19 infections, DePalo said the city would consider implementing local mandates. Framingham COVID-19 reportIn Framingham, a key measurement of COVID-19 has more than doubled in the past week. The average daily number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the most recent two-week period is 4.98.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 18:45 UTC
'Jocko,' Hudson's new police dog, is gifted with new protective gear
HUDSON — Jocko, the Hudson police dog, will soon have new protection. The vest, which will be embroidered with “In memory of Daniel and Catherine Pope Sr.,” is expected to arrive within 10 weeks. A typical police dog vest costs between $1,744 and $2,283, police said in a press release. Vested Interest in K9s Inc., which was established in 2009, has donated more than 4,300 vests to police dogs nationwide. Box 9, East Taunton, MA 02718.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 17:37 UTC
Delhi-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project to have 14 stations including Gurugram
AdvertisementNEW DELHI,(Metro Rail News): Delhi-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor will have a total of 14 stations including Gurugram for which a Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared. For this purpose, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) organised an environmental and social consultation meeting on Friday. “Under this project, a total of 14 stations are proposed from Delhi to Ahmedabad, of which Manesar is one. The total length of this project in the state of Haryana will be 78.22 km,” Sharma said. Meena said that although this project is in its initial stages, the high-speed rail corridor will get full cooperation from the district administration.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 17:37 UTC
Ashland out of regional jail diversion program; Hopkinton, Holliston and Sherborn remain
ASHLAND — The Police Department is leaving a regional jail diversion program it had formed with three nearby communities. The Holliston, Hopkinton and Sherborn police departments remain in the program, which is run in conjunction with Advocates Inc. of Framingham. "As our officers worked beside the Jail Diversion Program clinicians, we saw a paradigm shift in the way our department perceived and handled mental health crisis calls," Bennett said. As a direct result, we have had fewer mental health calls result in arrests and more specialized care administered to our community members." Although the town benefited from the Jail Diversion Program, Briggs said Ashland residents should not be worried about mental health services.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 16:18 UTC
There are more transgender elected officials than LGBTQ Republican officials, says report
The report found that between June 2020 and June 2021, LGBTQ elected officials of color increased by 51% with Black LGBTQ elected officials growing at the fastest pace, up 75% from a year ago. By comparison, only 26 out Republican officials are currently serving, constituting 3% of all LGBTQ elected officials. That means that there are more out transgender elected officials than out LGBTQ Republican officials or out LGBTQ independent officials. In the time since then, LGBTQ elected officials increased by 121%, to 986, and LGBTQ elected officials of color increased by 201%, to 277. Black LGBTQ elected officials have increased 296% to 91 overall, while LGBTQ Latinx elected officials have increased 135%, to 120 in total.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 16:07 UTC
Casino blames poker's absence on dealer shortage
Krum said Encore "simply cannot find enough dealers" or other workers and has been running dealer schools "almost non-stop." "Because of this labor crunch, reopening poker right now would necessitate the closure of other table games. "We know that table games provide more jobs than slot machines." Poker rooms are closed in Rhode Island and Maine but open in Connecticut and New Hampshire, he said. Three of seven poker rooms in New York are open, three of 10 in New Jersey are open, one of two in Delaware is open, seven of Pennsylvania's 11 poker rooms are operating, all four poker rooms in Maryland are operational, Florida has 25 of 27 poker rooms open, there are 37 open poker rooms out of 48 total in California, and Nevada has 28 of its 43 poker rooms open, Band said.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 13:41 UTC
'I Am Here': Art installation comes to Natick to end stigma of drug abuse, start conversation
Instead, Adams is focused on sending the message that there’s no stigma tied to mental health challenges associated with drug addiction. “I want to highlight mental health, initiate conversation and have people interact with (the installation),” Adams said. If those taking a seat are struggling with addiction, Adams hopes they will be inspired to seek treatment. Latest numbers of opioid-related overdose deathsOpioid-related overdose deaths are on the rise in Massachusetts, according to the latest numbers from the state Department of Public Health. Additional numbers from the DPH include:Middlesex County - 299 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2020, compared to 303 in 2019.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 10:41 UTC
Westborough veterans group invests in enhanced memorial for fallen local Marine
Andy Toorock, a member of the Westborough Veterans Advisory Board, was attending a dedication ceremony in November 2019 at Framingham State University for Marine Capt. A Westborough High grad and Framingham State alum, Haskell was killed at age 32 in Beirut, Lebanon on Oct. 23, 1983. Haskell was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, and Framingham State dedicated its veterans center for him. He left the service in 1973, attended drill instructor school and studied at Framingham State, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1976. “It was a pleasure to have a fellow Marine memorial placed where it should be.”
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 09:22 UTC
Trial run of Pune Metro held today
The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MahaMetro) on Friday conducted the first trial run of the Pune Metro on the Vanaz-Ramwadi route. Maharashtra Metro Rail ( Maha-Metro), which is executing this project, held the trial on the Vanaz to Ideal Colony route in the presence of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. MahaMetro’s managing director Brijesh Dixit said, “We are planning Metro operations between Vanaz and Garware College by October or November.”Also Read | Noida: Now, fast trains to stop at Sector 81 Metro station from August 2Pawar said, “There is lot of enthusiasm about the Metro. To avoid crowds, considering Covid restrictions, we flagged off the Metro early Friday at 7am.”The MahaMetro is executing the Pune Metro rail project, which has two corridors - one from Vanaz to Ramwadi, which is an elevated line, and the other from Pimpri Chinchwad to Swargate, which is elevated till the Agriculture College in Shivajinagar and underground after that. With inputs from agencies
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 07:07 UTC
Apple supplier TSMC reports gas contamination at key chip plant
(Reuters) -Apple Inc’s chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said on Friday that some of its production lines in southern Taiwan were hit by a contamination of gases used in the chipmaking process. TSMC does not expect the incident to have significant impact on operations, it said in an emailed statement to Reuters. Nikkei, which first reported the news, said the company’s most advanced chipmaking facility, Fab 18, was hit. (https://s.nikkei.com/3iebmQw)“To ensure that there will be no issues with production quality, TSMC is currently carrying out stringent follow-up operations,” the company added. (Reporting by Shubham Kalia and Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Amy Caren Daniel)
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 04:12 UTC
U.S. voices concern over harassment of media covering China floods
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is “deeply concerned with the increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of U.S. and other foreign journalists” covering recent floods in China’s Henan province, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday. China’s harsh rhetoric toward news it perceives as critical “has provoked negative public sentiment leading to tense, in-person confrontations and harassment” of journalists, Price said in a statement. The two countries have exchanged several tit-for-tat actions involving media organisations, with China expelling several U.S. journalists and the United States slashing the number of Chinese nationals allowed to work at the U.S. offices of major Chinese state-owned media. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said on Tuesday that journalists from several media outlets covering recent floods in China were harassed online and by local residents, with staff from the BBC and Los Angeles Times receiving death threats. “We call on the PRC to act as a responsible nation hoping to welcome foreign media and the world for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Price said.
Source:MetroXpress
July 30, 2021 03:59 UTC