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Is banned C-drama actress Zheng Shuang making a return? Popular star teases comeback

Is banned C-drama actress Zheng Shuang making a return? Popular star teases comeback

Time of India5 days ago
Fallen star Zheng Shuang, who was once banished from China's entertainment scene, has sent shockwaves through social media by teasing a possible comeback. On the eve of her birthday, her official account posted a sentimental video from her glory days, along with a mystery message about "new beginnings." The post sparked a whirlwind of speculation: is Zheng Shuang ready to return to the spotlight?
Zheng Shuang's career collapse and legal battles
The actress's downfall began when she was charged by her ex-partner of surrogacy, abandonment of twins, and tax evasion. These actions resulted in her being blacklisted in China and forced to relocate abroad. She even lost custody of her children.
Zheng Shuang's life abroad: From struggles to luxury
Since moving to the United States in early 2025, Zheng Shuang has presented a very different lifestyle online. She seemed to have removed herself from the struggles she suffered in China, displaying lavish residences, luxurious vehicles, and philanthropic activities. Her new self-funded book exemplifies her efforts to improve her public image.
Is Zheng Shuang receiving support from a controversial businessman?
Reports link Zheng Shuang's current lifestyle to a relationship with Ye Dianwei, a Chinese businessman wanted for economic crimes. Following financial troubles and difficulties selling her expensive property, Zheng is said to have entered an arrangement involving financial backing from Ye, who reportedly supports multiple women in similar setups.
Ye Dianwei's family drama on social media
Ye Dianwei's son publicly accused Zheng Shuang of being his father's mistress and living off illegal income. This revelation surprised many people and heightened scrutiny on Zheng's personal life. Despite her denial of some charges, her limited response has fueled the dispute.
Zheng Shuang's
mounting debt
Zheng Shuang's condition remains precarious, with over 200 million RMB of debt. Online comments to her rumored comeback and personal life have been divided, with some denouncing her decisions and others hoping for a new start. Despite the excitement, it is unclear whether Zheng Shuang will successfully return to China's entertainment sector or regain popular favor. The next chapters of her life and career are still to unfold.
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US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China
US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China

By Fanny Potkin, Karen Freifeld and Jun Yuan Yong SINGAPORE/NEW YORK: U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk of illegal diversion to China , according to two people with direct knowledge of the previously unreported law enforcement tactic. The measures aim to detect AI chips being diverted to destinations which are under U.S. export restrictions, and apply only to select shipments under investigation, the people said. They show the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to enforce its chip export restrictions on China, even as the Trump administration has sought to relax some curbs on Chinese access to advanced American semiconductors. The trackers can help build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls, said the people who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Location trackers are a decades-old investigative tool used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to track products subject to export restrictions, such as airplane parts. They have been used to combat the illegal diversion of semiconductors in recent years, one source said. Five other people actively involved in the AI server supply chain say they are aware of the use of the trackers in shipments of servers from manufacturers such as Dell and Super Micro , which include chips from Nvidia and AMD . Those people said the trackers are typically hidden in the packaging of the server shipments. They did not know which parties were involved in installing them and where along the shipping route they were put in. Reuters was not able to determine how often the trackers have been used in chip related investigations or when U.S. authorities started using them to investigate chip smuggling. The U.S. started restricting the sale of advanced chips by Nvidia, AMD and other manufacturers to China in 2022. In one 2024 case described by two of the people involved in the server supply chain, a shipment of Dell servers with Nvidia chips included both large trackers on the shipping boxes and smaller, more discreet devices hidden inside the packaging - and even within the servers themselves. A third person said they had seen images and videos of trackers being removed by other chip resellers from Dell and Super Micro servers. The person said some of the larger trackers were roughly the size of a smartphone. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved, and Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may take part too, said the sources. The HSI and FBI both declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not have immediate comment. Super Micro said in a statement that it does not disclose its "security practices and policies in place to protect our worldwide operations, partners, and customers." It declined to comment on any tracking actions by U.S. authorities. Dell said it is "not aware of a U.S. Government initiative to place trackers in its product shipments." Nvidia declined to comment, while AMD did not answer a request for comment. CHIP RESTRICTIONS The United States, which dominates the global AI chip supply chain, has sought to limit exports of chips and other technology to China in recent years to restrain its military modernization. It has also put restrictions on the sale of chips to Russia to undercut war efforts against Ukraine. The White House and both houses of Congress have proposed requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export regulations restrict sales. China has slammed the U.S. exports curbs as part of a campaign to suppress its rise and criticized the location tracking proposal. Last month, the country's powerful cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia to a meeting to express its concerns over the risks of its chips containing "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control, which the company has strongly denied. In January, Reuters reported the U.S. had traced organized AI chip smuggling to China via countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE - but it is unclear if tracking devices were involved. The use of trackers by U.S. law enforcement goes back decades. In 1985, Hughes Aircraft shipped equipment subject to U.S. export controls, according to a court decision reviewed by Reuters. Executing a search warrant, the U.S. Customs Service intercepted the crate at a Houston airport and installed a tracking device, the decision noted. U.S. export enforcement agents sometimes install trackers after getting administrative approval. Other times they get a judge to issue a warrant authorizing use of the device, one source said. With a warrant, it is easier to use the information as evidence in a criminal case. A company may be told about the tracker, if they are not a subject of the investigation, and may consent to the government's installation of the trackers, the source added. But the devices can also be installed without their knowledge. People involved in diverting export-controlled chip and server shipments to China said they were aware of the devices. Two of the supply chain sources, who are China-based resellers of export-controlled chips, said they regularly took care to inspect diverted shipments of AI chip servers for the trackers due to the risks of the devices being embedded. An affidavit filed with a U.S Department of Justice complaint regarding the arrests of two Chinese nationals charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China earlier this month describes one co-conspirator instructing another to check for trackers on Quanta H200 servers, which contain Nvidia chips. It said the English language text was sent by a co-conspirator, whose name was redacted, to one of the defendants, Yang Shiwei. "Pay attention to see if there is a tracker on it, you must look for it carefully," said the person, who went on to call the Trump administration by an obscenity. "Who knows what they will do."

'Saiyaara' actor Varun Badola opens up on his financial struggles, he had Rs 250 which he spent on Chinese and cheap booze: 'Didn't have money for three days after that'
'Saiyaara' actor Varun Badola opens up on his financial struggles, he had Rs 250 which he spent on Chinese and cheap booze: 'Didn't have money for three days after that'

Time of India

time2 hours ago

  • Time of India

'Saiyaara' actor Varun Badola opens up on his financial struggles, he had Rs 250 which he spent on Chinese and cheap booze: 'Didn't have money for three days after that'

'Saiyaara' has not only revived the Hindi film industry's momentum but also reshaped the careers of everyone involved. It turned and Aneet Padda into stars overnight, as this directorial grossed over ₹500 crore worldwide in just a month, breaking multiple records. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Apart from the lead pair, the film's ensemble cast also got a lot of love and they came into limelight after a while. For instance, veteran television actors like and (known for Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai). In a recent interview, Varun has opened up on his financial struggles in his career and how he didn't have money for food. Varun admitted he never expected Saiyaara to become such a hit. Looking back at his early years, he said during a chat with Nayandeep Rakshit, 'I've never asked for work. And I've never spent lavishly. I had no need for multiple cars or a large house. I lived in Goregaon, I didn't have extra cars, and I lived within my means. To this day, it's not like I have to go out for dinner thrice a week. I have kept my expenses down to the lowest minimum possible. ' Even with his careful spending, Varun said he hit rock bottom more than once, as life brought unforeseen hurdles. He also refused to take on work purely for the paycheck. 'It's not that I wear those days as a medal on my chest. I don't. But it happened. Many times, I wouldn't know what would happen after two months. I was an assistant director back then,' he recalled. Sharing one memory from those days, Varun said, 'A friend and I were living together. We only had Rs 250 left, and we had absolutely nothing else. We decided to go out and splurge on Chinese food. After that, we went to a quarter bar and shared a drink. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now We didn't have money for three days after that. We got work after that, and got through another month with that Rs 3000 or Rs 4000. But these things happen.' While he admits to indulging in passions like a pricey motorbike and a sound system, he says that's about as far as his extravagance goes. In an earlier conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Varun revealed just how close he came to running out of funds. 'I was actually down to one and a half or two months of savings. I would've had no more than Rs 2 lakh in my bank account. This was in around 2015. It was me, my wife, our four-year-old child, my parents, and two dogs. It was a family of seven, and most people don't realise this, but when you have a young child at home, your expenses goes through the roof. And then you add the dogs; it's very expensive to take care of them. I was almost down to my last penny,' he said. Meanwhile, Rajesh Kumar also opened up about facing severe financial trouble after investing his savings in farming. In a post-Saiyaara chat with Meri Saheli, he shared, 'Bankruptcy, yes. The incoming and outgoing flow had gone for a toss. There was no incoming, and I had exhausted all my reserves because of the outgoing. I went under debt of Rs 2 crore. (Bankruptcy) is a big word, but definitely, I had that feeling with me for a long time. I was not able to generate money for survival also. This was definitely a phase.'

Several protests grip Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan
Several protests grip Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan

Hans India

time2 hours ago

  • Hans India

Several protests grip Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan

Islamabad: Several protests gripped various parts of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) even as the sit-in by the police personnel outside the local leader's house entered its fourth day on Thursday, local media reported. The policemen has been holding protest to demand increase in their allowance as per the 2025-26 budget. Police personnel from other districts, including those deployed for the security of Chinese nationals in Chilas, were also part of the the sit-in in Gilgit, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported. PoGB police's daily allowance had been increased from Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 440 to PKR 880 in the budget. However, the authorities have not issued any notification in this regard. The protesting police personnel said that they have been raising this demand for months. They further stated that a protest held two weeks back was called off following the assurance give by the authorities that their issues would be resolved in 14 days. Instead of addressing the issue, PoGB police on Monday began departmental proceedings against personnel accused of "misconduct". As per the official order, 63 officials have been dismissed from service in the initial phase. The decisions were reportedly made during disciplinary committee's meeting. Meanwhile, the lawyers' bodies in PoGB also held a major protest and boycotted the court proceedings in Gilgit, Skardu, Ghizer and other districts. The lawyers have been staging protests over their demands for the past 10 months. As per the statement, Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association GB, High Court Bar Association GB and District Bar Association Gilgit held a joint meeting. During the meeting, the lawyers bodies decided to observe strike and not attend the court proceedings until their demands were met. The demands raised by lawyer bodies, included appointment of judges on vacant positions in the PoGB Supreme Appellate Court. According to the statement, the lawyers expressed reservations regarding authorities failure in not fulfilling their demands despite repeated protests and termed the failure to implement demands "a conspiracy against GB people". Lawyers have also demanded extension of the Lawyers Protection Act to PoGB by the federal government, describing the decision important for ensuring their safety and professional rights, as per the report. The lawyers demanded advertisement of vacant civil judge positions and called for separating judicial magistrate posts from civil judge posts. The lawyers stated that the GB Supreme Appellate Court has been functioning with only one judge for the past seven years. According to rules, a single judge cannot hear all cases, leading to thousands of important cases remaining pending. Meanwhile, protests were held over electricity shortage at Sikandarabad, Nagar, with the protesters blocking the Diamer section of Karakoram Highway (KKH). Residents held similar protests in Nagar Khas and other regions.

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