Latest news with #Tang
Edmonton Journal
2 hours ago
- Health
- Edmonton Journal
'Swallowing razor blades': What to know about the painful symptom linked to latest COVID strain
Article content 'That said, early signs suggest it doesn't seem to cause more serious illness, but of course, we're still learning more about it,' said Tang. The earliest sample of Nimbus was taken in January, said WHO. How are Canadians being affected by the Nimbus strain? In Canada, the federal government has been keeping track of COVID variants detected nationwide. Nimbus was detected in Canada in March, but it only accounted for a very low percentage of COVID strains in the country, at just 0.2 per cent . By the end of May, Nimbus made up roughly 20 per cent of all identified COVID cases. Using earlier trends to estimate the current situation, the government is predicting how variants will spread or diminish. This method is called nowcasting. For the week of June 1, the nowcasted estimates of Nimbus in Canada are predicted to be around 42 per cent. The nowcasted estimates for the week of June 15 jump to 53 per cent, meaning it would make up more than half of the cases in Canada if the prediction is accurate. Other than Canada, Nimbus has been detected around the world, with cases reported in India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States, according to the World Health Network. It has also made its way to Australia and the United Kingdom.
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Blood Message trailer: A reflection of Black Myth Wukong and Ghost of Tsushima, NetEase announces first single-player game
After the exciting PlayStation State of Play event, which announced upcoming games like Astro Bot, First Steps, Ghost of Yotei, 007 First Light, and Nioh 3, among others, another enticing development is taking place in the world of gaming. Developers NetEase Games and 24 Entertainment have just announced a single-player action game titled Blood Message and dropped a 5-minute trailer. This will be NetEase's first ever single-player game. The game is set in the final years of the legendary Tang dynasty of China and follows the story of a nameless protagonist during the 'Dunhuang uprising'. The trailer opens with a shot of our protagonist wading through the desert while a voice in the background talks about the demise of the Tang dynasty. The game most likely is making a reference to the time when the dynasty weakened and lost control of the region of Dunhuang, which was a focal point of communication between China and the rest of the world. The region was fought over many times, and the story of the game seems to be set during one of those rebellions. We see our protagonist trying to rescue his son from the city before the war destroys it. He soon discovers that his son has decided to travel to the Tang capital as part of another uprising. ALSO READ: Call of Duty Black Ops 7 teaser: David Mason will battle fear itself to save a world on the brink of chaos. Watch From here the main narrative of the game begins, as we see a glimpse of the fight sequences and the overall world the story is set in. Some movements of the main character seem a bit like Assassin's Creed and Ghost of Tsushima, while the underlying presence of spirituality and belief in a higher someone reminds the viewer of the game Black Myth: Wukong, another game with Buddhist and Taoist folklore rooted deep within its story. The developers have already revealed that even though the game will feature an expansive world, the story in itself is linear in nature. Linear essentially means that while the players will have certain choices which can affect certain outcomes, the overall structure of the game shall remain fixed. No announcements about the release date have been made yet, and NetEase has not informed the audience about the consoles the game will be available on.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Covid Nimbus variant cases double in one month as infections hit highest level
A new strain of coronavirus is on the rise across the UK - with eight per cent of Covid tests analysed showing positive for the new 'Nimbus' variant. The highly contagious Nimbus is now Britain's most dominant strain with official UKHSA data suggesting infections have doubled in the space of just one month. The variant has been flagged in the UK, US and Australia and is linked to spikes in cases in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand. Nimbus, known scientifically as N.B.1.8.1, is thought to be the most contagious variant of the virus yet with experts warning it could drive a wave of new cases this summer. In its weekly report UKHSA also said there had also been a slight increase in hospital admissions for Covid to just over 1.5 admissions per 100,000 people. It follows warnings from British scientists earlier this month that Nimbus could lead to a surge in Covid cases. They warned that many people's immunity to the virus, built up from previous infections and older jabs, has likely faded meaning they could be at higher risk of falling ill. Other data collected by the agency shows the total number of tests coming back positive for any type of Covid has increased to 6.8 per cent as of June 15, the latest available data. This is up from 5.6 per cent last month and represents the highest figure recorded so far this year. 'The NB.1.8.1 variant, also referred to as Nimbus, is a new strain of the Covid-19 virus that has emerged due to mutations in its genetic material,' says Dr Naveed Asif, GP at The London General Practice. 'Variants like this pop up when the virus mutates, which is normal for viruses, especially ones that spread widely,' explains Tang. 'NB.1.8.1 was first picked up in early 2025 and has since been detected in several countries, including the UK, China and US. It's got some new mutations that scientists are keeping a close eye on.'
The Star
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Feature: Chinese art scholar recreates literary classics with brushstrokes
by Xinhua writer Yang Shilong NEW YORK, June 16 (Xinhua) -- In a quiet gallery tucked along Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City, centuries whisper through pigment and mist. In the exhibition titled "Poetics of Chunyang: Transgression and Invocation of A Tradition," Chinese artist Li Chunyang, currently a visiting scholar at Harvard University, conjures the soul of classical poetry into contemporary form -- with brush, ink, and feeling. On view through June 27 at the 456 Gallery, the exhibition features nearly 30 recent works that reimagine Chinese literati traditions through a bold and lyrical visual language. Best known for her scholarship in Chinese intellectual history, Li brings to her art a deep engagement with poetry, aesthetics, and cultural memory. "My stance is rooted in cultural essentialism," she said at the exhibition's opening ceremony on Friday. "From Song and Yuan paintings I begin, but I use materials from China, Europe, America, and Japan to seek the classical realm of Chinese poetic imagery -- its taste and meaning." Holding a PhD in Art History and Theory from the Chinese National Academy of Arts, Li has engaged in academic exchange with institutions including Tama Art University, Goethe University, and Harvard. These experiences have enhanced her pursuit of visual abstraction layered with cultural and philosophical meaning. Her featured works bear titles drawn from Tang poetry and other classical sources. "Chutian River & Moon," for example, responds to Zhang Ruoxu's timeless meditation "Springtime Night at River with Moonlight and Flowers." Through delicate layering of acrylic and ink, Li traces a moonlit river drifting through flowering groves -- an attempt to visualize lines such as: "This moment we gaze at the same moon, yet hear not each other's voice. I wish I could follow the moonlight to reach you." The piece shimmers between clarity and haze, evoking both distance and desire. In "Waiting for That Moment," inspired by Li Shangyin's famously cryptic Jinse (The Brocade Zither), abstract columns dissolve into twilight blue. The painting suggests memory suspended in time -- "This feeling might have become a memory, only it had already bewildered me then" -- not illustrated, but distilled into tone and atmosphere. "It's not about painting the poem, it's about resonating with its mood," Li said. "Emotion is central to my work," she added. "What has touched me most along this artistic path is the sincerity of friends, the deep bonds of feeling. That human sentiment pushes me to enrich the emotional dimension of my painting." Li's dual identity as a scholar and artist has earned admiration in both spheres. "Among today's middle-generation Chinese intellectuals, Li Chunyang stands out for her rare breadth of achievement," said Lin Mu, a noted Chinese art historian. "She merges deep scholarship in classical texts with a unique visual vocabulary, synthesizing Chinese, Japanese, and European influences into an otherworldly landscape idiom." Li Geng, director of the Li Keran Academy of Painting, echoed that praise: "What many artists strive for all their lives, she has already accomplished. Her brushwork and ink lines are steeped in the literary tradition -- majestic and poetic. She doesn't simplify or cheapen poetic meaning like much of contemporary Chinese painting. She enriches it. Her connection to The Book of Songs (SHI JING), Songs of Chu (CHU CI), and Tang-Song poetry is so profound that only someone who has truly internalized the classics -- a true scholar -- could paint like this." Based at Harvard University this year, Li has delivered a series of lectures in Boston and New York on Chinese Aesthetic Consciousness and Linguistic Thought. This dual commitment -- to scholarship and to studio -- reflects her belief in the inseparability of artistic practice and cultural philosophy. "Contemporary Western art moves forward by subversion," she said. "Our culture, on the other hand, emphasizes continuity. The world may be a shared market, but in art, we must not always follow others. If we can modernize our tradition in an authentic way -- what would that look like? That is what I want to try." "In today's world," she said, "what's missing is Wenxin and Wenmai -- literary heart and cultural lineage. These have long been passed down through the Chinese scholar-official tradition. Our classical culture is our spiritual religion. The question is how to bring that spirit into the present."
RTHK
5 days ago
- Politics
- RTHK
Security laws 'don't mean public should drop guard'
Security laws 'don't mean public should drop guard' Chris Tang says there was an increase in applications to hold demonstrations in 2024 and the government had not rejected any of them. Photo: RTHK The security chief stressed that the public should remain vigilant even with the implementation of the National Security Law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in 2020 and last year respectively. Chris Tang told RTHK's NSL Chronicles III, aired on Monday, that even though Hong Kong has become much more stable with the passage of the laws, national security threats still exist. "You can see that everyday a lot of external forces keep smearing [Hong Kong] or using other ways to endanger national security," he said. "Moreover, a lot of their agents in Hong Kong still deploy a lot of soft resistance – making, for example, false claims to incite discontent with the government on every issue. "We have to be very careful with these kinds of soft resistance." He went on to say that those who have left Hong Kong have continued to smear the SAR and colluded with external forces to endanger national security, and there are domestic terrorism activities to incite discontent towards the administration. However, Tang noted that the public has become more aware of national security. For instance, more than 860,000 reports have been lodged with the national security hotline since it was set up in November 2020. Tang also said it is untrue to say that the two laws have restricted residents' freedom to hold demonstrations and assemblies. There were 392 protest applications in 2024, representing a rise of 15 percent compared with 2023, Tang said, and the government had not rejected any of them.
