Pramod Thomas is a senior correspondent with Asian Media Group since 2020, bringing 19 years of journalism experience across business, politics, sports, communities, and international relations. His career spans both traditional and digital media platforms, with eight years specifically focused on digital journalism. This blend of experience positions him well to navigate the evolving media landscape and deliver content across various formats. He has worked with national and international media organisations, giving him a broad perspective on global news trends and reporting standards.
THERANOS founder Elizabeth Holmes testified that she was abused by her former romantic partner and Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani and that the relationship had a pervasive impact on her life during the time when she is accused of committing fraud.
During her fourth day on the stand, Holmes, 37, occasionally choked up as she spoke about her decade-long relationship with Balwani, Theranos' chief operating officer, whom she met when she was 18 and he was 38.
Throughout the relationship, Holmes said, Balwani forced her to have sex when she did not want to, and was verbally abusive.
Balwani has "categorically" denied the allegations in court filings, calling them "false and inflammatory." An attorney for Balwani did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Both Holmes and Balwani have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges for allegedly lying about the now-defunct startup's technology that supposedly could run diagnostic tests more quickly and accurately than traditional lab testing.
Prosecutors say Holmes turned to fraud after pharmaceutical companies lost interest in the Theranos technology. Her attorneys portray Holmes as a young, hardworking entrepreneur whose company failed, and, they suggested on Monday, who relied on Balwani to her detriment.
Holmes had previously testified that she left Stanford University at 19 to focus on building Theranos. On Monday, she explained that she left in part because she had been raped while at Stanford.
At that point, she decided to focus on building her company, and at the same time grew closer with Balwani, who she looked up to as a successful businessman who had worked with Bill Gates.
"He said that I was safe, now that I had met him," she said.
But, at the home they shared and in texts, Balwani told her she would never succeed if she did not "kill the old Elizabeth" by following an intense regime including waking at 4 am, eating certain foods and remaining laser-focused on her goals, she said.
Once valued at $9 billion, Theranos vaulted Holmes to Silicon Valley stardom. Theranos collapsed after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles starting in 2015 that suggested its devices were flawed and inaccurate. She was indicted in 2018.
Holmes testified last week that Balwani prepared financial projections that were shared with investors. On Monday, Holmes spoke for around an hour about their personal relationship.
Holmes said she is not claiming that Balwani controlled her statements to investors, journalists or business partners. But she said she didn't question him as she should have, because he had taught her "everything I thought I knew about business."
"He impacted everything about who I was. And I don't fully understand that," she said.
A healthcare regulator's negative report in 2016 shook her positive view of Theranos, and prompted her to make changes that Balwani did not like, Holmes testified. They broke up that year, she said.
Since the trial began in September, jurors in San Jose have heard evidence that prosecutors say proves Holmes defrauded investors between 2010 and 2015 and deceived patients once Theranos began making its tests commercially available, including through a partnership with Walgreens.
At the end of her direct testimony, Holmes' lawyer, Kevin Downey, asked why she never sold any of her 50 per cent stake in Theranos, which was worth $4.5bn, despite opportunities to do so.
"I believed in the company and I wanted to put everything I had into it," she said.
Holmes is scheduled to face cross-examination by a prosecutor on Tuesday (30) when the trial resumes.
INDIAN-AMERICAN entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of the commission-free trading platform Robinhood, has been named among the 10 youngest billionaires in the United States in the 2025 Forbes 400 list.
At 40, Bhatt is the only person of Indian origin in this group, which includes figures such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. Forbes estimates his net worth at around USD 6–7 billion (£4.4–5.1 billion), primarily from his roughly 6 per cent ownership in Robinhood.
Bhatt was born in 1984 in Poquoson, Virginia, to immigrant parents from Gujarat, India. His father, an aerospace engineer, worked at NASA. He grew up in a household where English was a second language and money was limited. He later attended Stanford University, where he studied physics and earned a master’s degree in mathematics.
In 2013, Bhatt co-founded Robinhood with Vlad Tenev, a fellow Stanford graduate. The platform introduced commission-free stock trading to retail investors in the United States and later expanded into retirement accounts and high-yield savings products. The company gained widespread attention during the Covid-19 pandemic, when trading activity surged around so-called meme stocks.
Robinhood went public in 2021 at the height of the retail investing boom. Bhatt served as co-CEO with Tenev until 2020, when he moved into the role of chief creative officer. In 2024, he stepped down from his executive position but continues to serve on Robinhood’s board of directors while retaining his 6 per cent stake.
Robinhood’s stock has seen significant gains over the past year, rising by about 400 per cent. The increase has been linked to a boost in cryptocurrency-related sales, new products such as individual retirement accounts and high-yield savings, and a strong performance in 2024, when the company reported USD 3 billion (£2.2 billion) in revenue.
Bhatt’s recognition in the Forbes 400 list underscores the continuing influence of technology entrepreneurs in the American financial sector. His career reflects the trajectory of several Indian-origin leaders in the United States, who have made a mark in technology and finance in recent years.
Forbes’ annual ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans is based on estimates of net worth, which include publicly disclosed stakes in companies, real estate holdings, and other assets. Bhatt joins the ranks of young billionaires who have built fortunes through technology-driven ventures.
In addition to his role with Robinhood, Bhatt has been noted for his early life influences. Growing up in Virginia, he was exposed to science and technology through his father’s aerospace career. His academic path at Stanford provided the foundation to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in financial technology.
Robinhood, under the leadership of Bhatt and Tenev, has changed how millions of Americans approach investing by lowering barriers to entry. While Bhatt is no longer in an executive role, his continued stake in the company keeps him closely tied to its growth and future direction.
Bhatt’s inclusion in the 2025 Forbes 400 as one of the youngest billionaires highlights his role in shaping retail investing and signals the growing presence of Indian-origin entrepreneurs in the US technology and finance industries.
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Starmer dismissed Mandelson on Thursday after reading emails published by Bloomberg in which Mandelson defended Jeffrey Epstein following his 2008 conviction. (Photo: Getty Images)
A CABINET minister has said Peter Mandelson should not have been made UK ambassador to the US, as criticism mounted over prime minister Keir Starmer’s judgment in appointing him.
Douglas Alexander, the Scotland secretary, told the BBC that Mandelson’s appointment was seen as “high-risk, high-reward” but that newly revealed emails changed the situation.
“If Keir knew then what we know now, he would not have made that appointment,” he later told LBC.
Starmer dismissed Mandelson on Thursday after reading emails published by Bloomberg in which Mandelson defended Jeffrey Epstein following his 2008 conviction. Mandelson wrote to Epstein: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened … Your friends stay with you and love you.”
Stephen Doughty, the Foreign Office minister, told MPs the messages showed Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
Mandelson, who admitted during vetting that he had maintained links with Epstein and regretted doing so, is said to feel ill-treated.
Labour MPs criticised the handling of the affair. Paula Barker said the delay in removing Mandelson had “eroded trust,” Charlotte Nichols said he should “never have been appointed,” and Sadik Al-Hassan questioned the vetting process.
The episode has drawn wider scrutiny of Starmer’s decision-making. It comes after deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigned last week over unpaid stamp duty. Some MPs turned attention to Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff, who played a role in Mandelson’s appointment.
In a letter to staff, Mandelson said being ambassador was “the privilege of my life” and he regretted the circumstances of his departure. James Roscoe, his deputy, will serve as acting ambassador.
The Financial Times reported that Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Mandelson, is preparing to cut ties with him.
Finding romance today feels like trying to align stars in a night sky that refuses to stay still
When was the last time you stumbled into a conversation that made your heart skip? Or exchanged a sweet beginning to a love story - organically, without the buffer of screens, swipes, or curated profiles? In 2025, those moments feel rarer, swallowed up by the quickening pace of life.
We are living faster than ever before. Cities hum with noise and neon, people race between commitments, and ambition seems to be the rhythm we all march to. In the process, the simple art of connection - eye contact, lingering conversations, the gentle patience of getting to know someone - feels like it is slipping through our fingers.
Whether you’re single, searching, or settled, the landscape is shifting. Some turn to apps for convenience; others look for love in cafés, gyms, workplaces or community spaces. But the challenge remains the same: how do we connect deeply in a world designed to move at lightning speed?
We’ve become fluent in productivity, in chasing careers, in cultivating polished identities. Yet are we forgetting how to be fluent in intimacy? When was the last time you sat across from someone and truly listened - without checking your phone, without planning the next step, without treating time like a currency to be spent?
It’s a strange paradox: we have more access to people than ever before, yet many feel more isolated. Fun is always available - dinners, drinks, nights out, fleeting encounters - but fulfilment is harder to grasp. Are we mistaking access for intimacy? Are we human, or are we slowly adapting into versions of ourselves stripped of those raw, humanistic qualities - vulnerability, patience, tenderness - that once defined love?
Perhaps we’ve grown comfortable with the fast exit. It’s easier to ghost than to explain. Easier to keep moving than to pause. But what does that cost us? What do we lose when romance becomes a checkbox on an already overstuffed to-do list?
The truth is - the heart doesn’t move at the pace of technology or ambition. It moves slowly, awkwardly, with a rhythm that resists acceleration. Maybe that’s the point. Love has always lived in the messy spaces - hesitant pauses, nervous laughter, words spoken without rehearsal.
So the real question for 2025 is not “Have we gone too far?” but “Can we afford to slow down?” Can we still allow ourselves the sweetness of beginnings - the chance encounters, the unplanned moments, the quiet courage to be open?
Because in the end, connection is not about speed or access—it’s about presence. In a world that won’t stop moving, choosing to be present might be the bravest act of love we have left.
Instagram & TikTok: @Bombae.mix
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Shabana Mahmood, US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, Canada’s public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke and New Zealand’s attorney general Judith Collins at the Five Eyes security alliance summit on Monday (8)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer’s government is not working. That is the public verdict, one year in. So, he used his deputy Angela Rayner’s resignation to hit the reset button.
It signals a shift in his own theory of change. Starmer wanted his mission-led government to avoid frequent shuffles of his pack, so that ministers knew their briefs. Such a dramatic reshuffle shows that the prime minister has had enough of subject expertise for now, gambling instead that fresh eyes may bring bold new energy to intractable challenges on welfare and asylum.
“Can Shabana Mahmood save Keir Starmer?” is the question being asked in Westminster. Small boats are increasingly talked about as an existential risk to the government. It will not be the only issue at the next general election – the economy and public services will matter, too – but Labour fear being unable to get heard on anything else without visible progress in the Channel.
The new home secretary has been asked to “think the unthinkable”. Ministers and MPs should be eager to try anything that might work – but might heed the lessons of six years of failure to stop the boats as they do. It is hardly as if former Conservative home secretaries Priti Patel and Suella Braverman were unwilling to brainstorm the unthinkable, nor indeed to legislate the unworkable. If performative gestures – asylum seekers on barges – could stop the boats, it would have been all quiet in the Channel long ago.
As justice secretary, Mahmood’s voice was tough on crime, reflecting her communitarianism. Yet her policy involved a liberalism of necessity. With the prisons overflowing, shortening sentences and seeking public consent for alternative forms of punishment was unavoidable. Number 10 media briefings about being willing to make Labour MPs ‘queasy’ on asylum could – ironically – be a form of comfort zone politics; a distraction from tougher choices that might actually work. Hotel use for asylum could end in 2026 – not 2029 – if ministers both streamlined appeals and gave asylum seekers from high-risk countries limited leave to remain – with the right to work and the responsibility to house themselves. It could save billions, if the government can navigate the political risks. Labour’s challenge is to show how it can deliver an orderly and humane system by cooperating with allies, not ripping up treaties.
Migrants in a dinghy crossing the English Channel
As Mahmood becomes the most prominent British Asian and British Muslim in public life, others project contradictory ideas of what they imagine her politics, faith and personality mean. It is curious that Maurice Glasman could declare her the new leader of his Blue Labour faction (though Mahmood does not share the baron’s misplaced enthusiasm for US president Donald Trump) while Reform donor Aaron Banks declared that a Muslim lawyer as home secretary would immediately ‘open the floodgates’ to refugees from Gaza, exemplifying more about his presumptions and prejudices, than her politics.
There is no novelty in a British Asian home secretary now. Sajid Javid broke that ceiling in the Conservative government of 2018, yet Mahmood is already the fifth visible minority politician to hold that office. However, overt racism towards her goes unchecked on X/Twitter – where radicalised site owner and US businessman Elon Musk is infinitely more likely to retweet than to suspend racist voices who say no Muslim should ever be home secretary. That is Tommy Robinson’s view – yet Musk champions his London march on Saturday (13), where ex-soldier and minor TV celebrity Ant Middleton will pitch a London mayoral campaign founded on the absurdly racist proposition that Sadiq Khan, Mahmood and Conservatives opposition leader Kemi Badenoch should be barred from high office if their grandparents were not British-born.
This is the curious paradox of multi-ethnic Britain today: British Asian faces in high places have never been more common. Yet a vocal minority challenges the equal status of ethnic and faith minorities more aggressively than for a generation. It is not just the government that must show more leadership by speaking up to defend our multi-ethnic society. Every civic institution can contribute to how we respect differences and strengthen our common ground.
Knowing our history better is one vital foundation. Everyone is aware of this country’s pride in defeating fascism matters – but fewer know that the armies that won the war look more like our modern Britain of 2025 than that of 1945. Half of the public do know that Indian soldiers took part. Not so many understand that Hindu, Sikh and Muslim soldiers fought alongside British officers in the largest volunteer army the world has ever seen. The My Family Legacy campaign from British Future, the Royal British Legion and Eastern Eye will help British Asian families find and tell their stories. Writing this vital chapter fully into our national history remains work in progress – but can show why national symbols, like the poppy, belong to us all and can help to bring this diverse society together.
Sunder Katwala
Sunder Katwala is the director of thinktank British Future and the author of the book How to Be a Patriot: The must-read book on British national identity and immigration.
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Army personnel patrol outside Nepal's President House during a curfew imposed to restore law and order in Kathmandu on September 12, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
Nepal’s president and army in talks to find an interim leader after deadly protests
At least 51 killed, the deadliest unrest since the end of the Maoist civil war
Curfew imposed in Kathmandu, army patrols continue
Gen Z protest leaders demand parliament’s dissolution
NEPAL’s president and army moved on Friday to find a consensus interim leader after anti-corruption protests forced the government out and parliament was set on fire.
The country of 30 million faced unrest this week after security forces clamped down on rallies by young anti-corruption protesters, leading to widespread violence on Tuesday.
At least 51 people were killed in the violence, the deadliest since the end of the Maoist civil war and the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.
The military took control of the streets on Wednesday, enforcing a curfew, as army chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel and president Ramchandra Paudel held talks with political leaders and representatives from the youth protest movement known as “Gen Z.”
Search for interim leader
Disagreements between factions remain, but 73-year-old Sushila Karki, Nepal’s first woman chief justice, has emerged as a key candidate.
"A meeting has been scheduled for this afternoon with the president, the army chief, former chief justice Sushila Karki, our representative Sudan Gurung and one legal expert," Nimesh Shrestha, who was part of the Gen Z protest, told AFP.
Karki told AFP that "experts need to come together to figure out the way forward", adding that "the parliament still stands."
However, Gurung, a youth activist, said on Thursday that their "first demand is the dissolution of parliament."
In an address to the nation, President Paudel said that "a solution to the problem is being sought, as soon as possible."
Curfew in Kathmandu
Army patrols continued for a third day in Kathmandu on Friday. The protests and unrest also triggered a mass jailbreak earlier in the week.
"I was very afraid and stayed locked inside my home with family and didn't leave," said Naveen Kumar Das, a painter-decorator in his mid-40s.
With a brief lifting of the curfew on Friday morning, residents went out to buy food and essentials.
"It was a really tense time and we just stayed indoors," said Laxmi Thapa, 32, who came out with her husband to refuel their motorbike. "We came out as things have improved."
Deadly crackdown
At least 21 protesters were among those killed, many during Monday’s police crackdown on demonstrations against corruption and governance problems, which began after a ban on social media.
On Tuesday, protesters set fire to parliament, government buildings and a Hilton Hotel. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, 73, resigned, and the army took over security in the streets.
The army said on Friday that more than 100 guns looted during the protests had been recovered.
Police spokesman Binod Ghimire told AFP that over 12,500 prisoners who escaped from jails across the country during the unrest "are still at large."
Call for change
Nepal’s economic challenges have fuelled discontent. More than 40 per cent of the population is aged between 16 and 40. A fifth of people aged 15-24 are unemployed, according to the World Bank, and GDP per capita is $1,447.
Gen Z protesters continue to debate the country’s political future.
"We started this movement so we could make a better Nepal," said James Karki, 24. "And I am positive that the army will listen."