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Ten plays that illuminate the South Asian diaspora will be staged in various languages, including Hindi, Marathi and Bengali, in Watertown during the South Asian-American Theater Festival. Now in its ...

Officials are reportedly taking their time on US president’s long-promised chips plan to avoid a rupture with China
US officials are privately saying that they might not levy long-promised semiconductor tariffs soon, potentially delaying a centerpiece of Donald Trump’s economic agenda.
Officials relayed these messages over the last several days to stakeholders in the government and private industry, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter and a third person briefed on the conversations. A fourth person following the matter also said the administration was taking a more cautious approach to avoid provoking China. The discussions have not been previously reported.

Government wants social media platforms to be less attractive for foreign agents after recent intelligence warnings
The government is holding talks with LinkedIn on how it can clamp down on prolific Chinese espionage activity after a .
The National Protective Security Authority, which is part of the UK’s security services, is speaking to social media platforms about making them , a government official told the Guardian.

Alert says Beijing trying to recruit British sources in parliament, even if potential gains may be unclear
An unexpected connection on LinkedIn. An offer of work from a headhunter, most likely a young woman, based in China. The chance to earn perhaps £20,000 part-time writing a handful of geopolitical reports for a Chinese company peppered with “non-public” or “insider” insights. Payment in cryptocurrency or cash preferred.
It may seem obvious, on this telling, that something about this approach would be amiss. Nevertheless, China’s powerful ministry of state security (MSS) still considers it worthwhile to deploy recruitment consultants to try it – leading MI5 to warn repeatedly about their activity online.

Health secretary still maintains that forced removals are ‘right thing to do for the country’
Healey is now taking questions.
Q: How close are are we to war?
It is Labour that is the party of defence.

Dutch government’s move pauses dispute that threatened car production around the world


The Netherlands has suspended its seizure of the Chinese-owned chipmaker at the heart of a six-week dispute between the EU and China that threatened to halt car production at sites around the world.
The Dutch minister of economic affairs, Vincent Karremans, said that the government would suspend its decision to take supervisory control of Nexperia as a gesture of “goodwill” to Beijing.

Toronto-Dominion Bank was sued by a group of former employees who claim they were improperly fired from their jobs amid disclosure of widespread criminal money laundering through bank branches.

Exclusive: A top official in Beijing’s Cop delegation says China is committed to clean energy – but US’s absence is a problem
China is committed to the energy transition needed to avert climate breakdown – but does not want to take the lead alone in the absence of the US, one of the country’s senior advisers has told the Guardian.
Wang Yi said China would provide more money to vulnerable countries, but the EU’s climate commissioner has warned Beijing is not doing enough to cut emissions.

Washington County Circuit Court Judge Brandon Thompson found Jacob Michael Anderson guilty of bias crime and reckless driving. He sentenced Anderson to 120 days in jail and suspended his driver’s ...

After MI5 issues China espionage alert to parliament, Luke Pollard says message should be heeded by all citizens

Ordinary UK citizens need to watch out for online contact with Chinese spies, the defence minister has said, after MI5 issued an espionage alert to parliament.
Luke Pollard said a warning given to parliamentarians on Tuesday that China was attempting to recruit individuals with access to sensitive information should also be heeded by the public at large.

Beijing reimposes 2023 ban, citing Japan PM’s comment that military would respond to Chinese attack on island
China has suspended imports of Japanese seafood again, as the fallout over the Japanese prime minister’s comments about Taiwan continues to escalate in one of worst bilateral disputes in years.
The ban was first reported on Wednesday by the Japanese outlets Kyodo News and NHK, and appeared to be confirmed by China’s foreign ministry, which said there was “no market for Japanese seafood in the current climate”.

The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are still global favorites. But Chinese electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids dominate the rest of the list.