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Boston man jailed for acting as Chinese government informant

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Boston man jailed for acting as Chinese government informant


  • Litang Liang, 63, of Boston, is accused of informing the Chinese government of dissidents’ activity in the U.S., including reporting the whereabouts of democracy activists and pro-Hong Kong demonstrators.
  • Liang is charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice to the U.S. attorney general.
  • Liang’s goal was to “covertly advance the PRC government’s goals and agenda within the United States,” according to prosecutors.

A Boston man worked with Chinese government officials over roughly a four-year period to keep tabs on Chinese activists and dissidents in the area who were calling for pro-democracy reforms in the communist nation, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Litang Liang, 63, a U.S. citizen who lives in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood, was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice to the U.S. attorney general, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said.

Liang, who was arrested Tuesday, was released Thursday on $25,000 bond with electronic monitoring after pleading not guilty, according to court documents. He also surrendered his passport and was ordered not to leave Massachusetts or have any contact with Chinese government officials.

2 NY RESIDENTS ALLEGEDLY RAN SECRET CHINESE POLICE STATION: ‘SIGNIFICANT NATIONAL SECURITY MATTER’

An email seeking comment was left with his attorney.

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Liang is accused of “providing the PRC government with information on Boston-area individuals and organizations; organizing a counterprotest in the United States against pro-democracy dissidents; providing photographs of and information about U.S.-based dissidents to PRC government officials; and providing the names of potential recruits to the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security,” according to court documents.

PRC is the People’s Republic of China.

The goal was to “covertly advance the PRC government’s goals and agenda within the United States,” according to the indictment.

China has been accused in other cases of trying to interfere with activists in the U.S. critical of Beijing.

A Chinese flag hangs between American flags in Chinatown on February 17, 2021 in New York City. A Boston man has been accused of providing the Chinese government with information on activists based in the U.S. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

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Last month, two men were accused by U.S. authorities of helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with China’s national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States.

Liang’s cooperation with the Chinese government started in 2018 and lasted until at least last year, prosecutors said.

In one case, according to prosecutors, Liang sent a Chinese government official photos and videos of a student activist he believed was responsible for destroying Chinese flags during a 2018 protest in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Liang organized an event in Boston in 2018 that was attended by at least two Chinese government officials, one of whom asked Liang for the name of a person who attended and worked for an elected Boston official. Liang provided the name as requested, authorities said. Court documents did not name the elected official.

WHAT ARE CHINA’S OVERSEAS POLICE STATIONS?

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Liang also provided video of a dissident attending the “Boston Stands with Hong Kong” march in August 2019 and the following month sent photographs of dissidents in front of the Boston Public Library to a Chinese government official, calling them a “bunch of clowns trying to cause trouble,” prosecutors said.

Liang had contacts with high-ranking Chinese diplomats in the United States, the Ministry of Public Security, and the United Front Work Department, which reports directly to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to further party goals, prosecutors said. He also visited China in September, where he attended events to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the modern Chinese state.

The Boston man is also accused of providing Chinese government officials with the names and professional affiliations of two people in the Boston area for possible recruitment by China’s Ministry of Public Security, prosecutors said.

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Liang is due back in court on July 6.

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Boston, MA

Boston doctor Derrick Todd accused of sexually assaulting 200 patients charged with rape

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Boston doctor Derrick Todd accused of sexually assaulting 200 patients charged with rape


A prominent Boston-area doctor accused in several lawsuits of sexually assaulting more than 200 former patients was indicted by a grand jury on rape charges.

Dr. Derrick Todd allegedly assaulted two women during examinations in December 2022 and June 2023 at the Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham, Mass., the Middlesex County District Attorney announced Thursday.

Todd, a rheumatologist, appeared in Middlesex Superior Court Friday after he handed himself over to police the previous night.

Dr. Derrick Todd is arraigned in Middlesex County Superior Court after he was indicted on rape charges on Jan. 17, 2025. AP

The two women had either a pelvic exam or pap smear with the doctor when the alleged assault occurred, NBC Boston reported.

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The patients alleged the exams went beyond “normal.”

One of the women endured enough pain for her to scream at Todd to stop but the doctor didn’t listen and continued the exam.

The second patient alleged she didn’t give Todd consent to perform the specific examination but the doctor went ahead despite the rejection, the outlet reported.

Todd pleaded not guilty to the two rape charges.

He was held on a $10,000 bail.

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Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston, where Todd worked for 14 years. Google Maps

A judge ordered Todd to surrender his passport, not have any contact with his alleged victims, and give up all medical licenses.

Claims of abuse from Todd date back to 2010 but only surfaced in 2023 after Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital received anonymous complaints.

Todd is the former chief of clinical rheumatology at the Boston hospital but resigned after 14 years in 2023 when two other physicians questioned the appropriateness of pelvis exams for his rheumatology patients, the Boston Globe reported.

Over 200 of Todd’s former patients accused him of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast examinations, testicular examinations, and rectal examinations.

The accusers include over 200 women and several men between teenagers and 60-year-olds.

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Attorneys for 180 of the former patients say the two rape charges are just the start of the doctor’s legal battle.

“It’s just the beginning of the criminal case against Dr. Todd, but it does help validate the civil claims that Lubin & Meyer is pursuing on behalf of so many of his former patients,” Attorney William Thompson said. “Fundamentally, it’s about a doctor abusing his position. And taking advantage of patients who put their trust in him for his own personal sexual gratification.”

Over 200 of Todd’s former patients accused him of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast examinations, testicular examinations, and rectal examinations. LinkedIn

Todd voluntarily ceased his medical practice in Massachusetts in September 2023.

The announcement was made in a letter to the Board of Registration in Medicine.

The class-action lawsuit against Todd also listed the hospital as a defendant for allegedly knowing about the abuse and failing to stop it.

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Todd was fired from the hospital in July 2024.

With Post wires



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O’shae Brissett, part of Boston Celtics championship, reportedly signs with Long Island Nets

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O’shae Brissett, part of Boston Celtics championship, reportedly signs with Long Island Nets


O’shae Brissett, who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in June but hasn’t played professionally since, has reportedly signed an NBA G-League level contract with the Brooklyn Nets G League team, the Long Island Nets.

Bobby Manning was first with the news Friday morning…

The 6’7” 26-year-old Brissett, a defensive specialist, will join Long Island having last played for the Boston Celtics as a part of the NBA Championship squad last year.

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In his defining moment of the title run, Brissett was inserted as a small ball center by Boston coach Joe Mazzulla in Game 2 of the Celtics-Pacers conference title series. It was his first playoff minutes, but he played a critical role defensively, picking up three steals and finishing a +15 in his 12 minutes on the court.

“Just his presence, his energy, his athleticism,” Mazzulla said after that game. “Just gave us, I think he had a dunk, got a steal, got us out in transition with a couple [of] rebounds. So just, he plays with such a high level of intensity and energy. It’s big for us.”

In his 55 games with the Celtics in the 2023-24 season, Brissett started just one and played roughly 11.5 minutes per game. He averaged 3.7 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. He shot 44.4% from the field, 27.3% from beyond the arc. He adds yet another NBA veteran presence to the young Long Island Nets team with .

Brissett played three years with the Indiana Pacers, his best year coming in 2021-22 when he played 67 games, 25 starts, averaging 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

However, he hasn’t played since the NBA Finals. Brissett, who turned 26 years old in June, declined a $2.5 million dollar player option with Boston at the end of June. He hoped that he could get more by testing the free-agent market. Similarly, the Toronto native dropped out of the Canadian national team, coached by Jordi Fernandez, to focus his free agency. However, offers or at least offers he liked never materialized and he remained a free agent until Friday.

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Brissett’s rebounding and size will give Long Island some added depth, and in Long Island’s case, a potential starter. Brissett always intended to pursue a return to the NBA, and his signing with the Long Island Nets is a first step to getting back to that dream.

Brissett also re-unites with Kendall Brown who had been his Indiana Pacers teammate two years ago.





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Magic Look to Bounce Back With More Energy at Celtics

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Magic Look to Bounce Back With More Energy at Celtics


BOSTON – Over two weeks ago, after the Orlando Magic’s latest rally fell short in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, fourth-year guard Jalen Suggs called out a worrying trend among his team in hopes of nipping it in the bud.

“We’re putting ourselves in these holes and spotting teams leads, then having to fight, scratch, claw just to get back in the game and give ourselves a chance,” Suggs said on New Year’s Day.

The Magic had developed a resilience that meant they were never out of games, no matter the score. Complimentary, energy-filled basketball helped Orlando do the fighting, scratching and clawing to get back into those games.

Did it always result in a victory? Not quite. But the relentless attitude and constant effort – especially for a team so handicapped by its shrinking list of healthy players – was commendable, and has been embedded in the Magic’s DNA.

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In the rare occasions when it doesn’t show face, though, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley says it’s “glaring.” That was the case when the Milwaukee Bucks delivered a 29-point shellacking to Orlando, marking the most lopsided loss for the Magic this year.

“There was an energy and effort issue,” said Mosley postgame.

Wendell Carter Jr. would later say his team was “out-physicaled” and made life too easy for their opponent.

Then, in the locker room, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope told reporters Orlando got its “a– whooped,” and Paolo Banchero told reporters, “[A]s a group top to bottom, we’ve got to be more ready to play. We’re down a lot of bodies, but we can’t make excuses and we’ve just got to come out and play for each other.”

To Banchero’s point, the Magic’s 124 missed games from players due to injury or illness haven’t been a catch-all, safety-net excuse when the team is struggling. Instead, their aforementioned resilience built an identity that helped them generate results throughout the entire first half of the season, regardless of available contributors.

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It justifies Mosley’s claims that the lackluster performance vs. the Bucks “wasn’t Orlando Magic basketball. Not even close.” Because although that was the case in Game 42, through the first 41 games, it wasn’t.

“It’s something that you can learn from, and you have to be able to bounce back, which this group has always done,” Mosley said.

With a national audience watching along, Orlando (0-4 in national TV games this season) pays its only visit to TD Garden Friday evening, squaring off with the defending champion Boston Celtics for the second of three matchups this season. The Magic host the 18-time champs once more in April to close the Kia Center’s regular season slate.

Boston has dropped three of their last five outings, including an uncharacteristic loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Scotiabank Arena. The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum due to a last-minute spat with an illness in the Magic’s Dec. 23 home win, but Orlando was shorthanded as well. Of their top four scorers, only Suggs was available.

“We beat them last time at home, so I’m sure they haven’t forgot that,” Paolo Banchero said in Orlando’s locker room Wednesday. “They have a hell of a home atmosphere [and] home crowd, so they’ll be ready to play in front of their fans.”

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Heading into Friday’s tilt, where both teams are eager to wipe the slate clean from their mid-week malaise, Boston reports a clean bill of health. Now, only Banchero is available of the Magic’s top scorers, and other key reserves are unavailable as well.

MORE: Magic-Celtics Injury Report

Those who are available, however, say they shouldn’t have any issue getting back to their standard.

“Playing against teams like this is what hoopers get up for,” Anthony Black said. “Definitely getting up for this game. It’s always fun playing against some good hoopers, so I think we’re up and I think we’ll be ready to bring energy come game time.”

“You don’t like losing games, especially when you get your butt kicked,” Mosley said, “but you also have to know you have to bounce back, can’t hang your head, be ready to go and move on the next game.”

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