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Hello everyone!


FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the Justice Department’s investigations and prosecutions of Chinese academics in America.
 

Wray spoke at the University of Michigan on Friday and said there is “no more serious, more persistent threat to our innovation, our ideas and our economic security than the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government.” His comments are in line with recent views on national security, but were spurred by a Chinese political science student who asked about the now defunct “China Initiative,” a series of cases from the Justice Department that lost in court. 
 

The Justice Department’s “China Initiative” was their effort to investigate and prosecute U.S.-based Chinese professors suspected of sharing research with their home country. Wray also said during his conversation, “We do not base our cases on race, ethnicity or national origin, and we haven’t.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray
Credit: 60 Minutes
Spotlight đź’ˇ
  • Ryan Agarwal, 19, a son of Indian immigrants, is representing Indian basketball fans across the country. The Stanford freshman guard has the potential to make it to the NBA someday. “I guess you could say I doubted myself. Just being Indian, I hadn’t seen anyone who looked like me being a big-time basketball player,” Agarwal says. 
Ryan Agarwal
Credit: Landon Flesher Films
Race in America 🌎
  • Brown University updates policy: Brown University has updated its nondiscrimination policy to prohibit discrimination on the basis of caste. It is the first Ivy League institution to add such protection to its campus. The caste system originates from ancient India and is a social hierarchy that can determine everything from societal rank, who can marry, what one eats, what occupations some can have and more.  

...

  • Farmers furious: A class-action lawsuit brought by a group of Black farmers alleges the federal government has illegally broken a promise to pay off their debt. The lawsuit frames a definition of socially disadvantaged farmers that could apply to more than 6,500 farmers who “traditionally suffered racial or ethnic prejudice” and have loans to deal with. Included in the lawsuit are Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Black or African Americans, Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic or Latino Americans.
In Other Asian News đź—ž
  • Affordable arms: The Biden administration has approved two substantial arm sales to Taiwan. Taiwan will be receiving more than $425 million in space aircraft parts and other U.S. supplied weapon systems. The parts will bolster Taiwan’s fleet of F-16 fighters and C-130 transport planes. 

...

  • China loosens COVID-19 measures: China has reversed some strict policies in their anti-COVID-19 plan. The rollback of certain policies included limiting harsh lockdowns and asking schools without infection to continue with classes. Lockdowns will also be scaled down from entire districts and neighborhoods to individual apartment floors and buildings. The announcements come amidst various protests across the country and internationally over their “zero COVID” policy.   
Entertainment đź“ş
  • KPOP ends: The Broadway musical “KPOP” announced an abrupt closing date after only 17 performances and 44 previews. The final show will come with a special panel discussion discussing and celebrating AAPI representation on Broadway. In related news, The New York Times has come out in defense of their theater critic Jesse Green’s allegedly racist review of “KPOP.”     

...

  • Daily Show Guest Hosts: As Trevor Noah transitions out from helming “The Daily Show,” the political comedy show will rotate through a series of guest hosts until a permanent one is found. Former Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj will be a guest host, as will comedian and former Obama administration staff member Kal Penn. 
Kal Penn (left) and Hasan Minhaj (right)
Credit: Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
What else is on our minds? 🧠
  • A San Francisco couple has been charged with several counts of human labor trafficking after an investigation of the exploitation and working conditions of a nanny from the Philippines. 
     
  • “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” and “Pachinko” have been nominated for Critics Choice Awards. Both series were nominated for the Best Foreign Language Series category. 
     
  • Priyanka Chopra recently said in an interview with BBC that she was paid 10% of the salary of her male co-stars in Bollywood. She also revealed that her forthcoming series “Citadel” will be the first time she is paid equally to her male co-star in her 22-year career. 
     
  • Mindy Kaling, in an interview with “Good Morning America,” reflected on her time on “The Office” and said, “The writers, who I’m still in touch with now, we always talk about how so much of that show we probably couldn’t make now.” 
     
  • A mother in China has sparked debate online after letting her 2-year-old daughter paint graffiti all over the family’s Porsche.

Did you or do you still watch “The Office”?

I have watched the series a couple of times. I don’t watch as much of it anymore because I don’t have time. 

Sincerely, 

Daniel Anderson

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