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The trial of Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former chief executive of medical technology company Theranos, has begun in California.

She is pleading not guilty to perpetrating one of the biggest frauds in Silicon Valley history, “an elaborate, years-long fraud” as the US government alleges, and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Theranos itself, which she founded aged 19, has shut down after the unravelling of its claims to have invented a revolutionary finger-prick blood test.

Holmes is accused of knowing this test was unreliable and inaccurate and of hiding this information.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks with Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba Group, and Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York
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Holmes shared the stage with Bill Clinton and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma

The Downfall

By 2014 the company had announced a partnership with US pharmacy chain Walgreens, and Forbes was hailing Elizabeth Holmes as the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.

Theranos reached its peak in September 2015 when the company was valued at $9bn (£7bn) and Holmes shared a stage with former president Bill Clinton and Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma in a panel discussion about equality and opportunity.

But a month later, the Wall Street Journal published a front-page story that claimed the company’s blood testing technology was so flawed Theranos was actually using equipment made by other businesses to carry out tests in its laboratories.

The Journal reported that the company’s former chief scientist had taken his own life two years earlier after telling his wife the finger-prick technology did not work.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes exits Robert F. Peckham U.S. Courthouse after the first day of federal court hearings in San Jose, California, U.S. May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Kate Munsch
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Holmes has pleaded not guilty to the charges

The Charges

Investigations by medical and financial regulators soon followed and in 2018 criminal charges were filed against Elizabeth Holmes and Romesh Balwani, her former boyfriend and the president and chief operating officer of Theranos, accusing them of fraud.

The pair were charged with engaging “in a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud investors, and a separate scheme to defraud doctors and patients” and each face two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.

Theranos made misrepresentations to doctors and patients about the reliability of its tests, the Department of Justice alleged.

The executives were also accused of making misrepresentations to investors about the financial condition of the company, celebrating expected sales of over $1bn when they were actually bringing in just a few hundred thousand.

Former Theranos President and COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani smiles after a hearing at a federal court in San Jose. Pic: Reuters
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Theranos president Ramesh Balwani has also been charged with fraud – which he denies

The Trial

Lawyers for Holmes are expected to argue that she was working with an impaired mental state at the time of the fraud due to alleged sexual abuse and coercive behaviour by Ramesh Balwani.

Balwani’s lawyers have denied these claims.

His trial is set to take place next year after his lawyers sought to have him tried separately to avoid Holmes’ testimony prejudicing the jury. He too has pleaded not guilty.

According to an unsealed court document written by Balwani’s lawyers when seeking to have his case heard separately, she “plans to introduce evidence that Mr Balwani verbally disparaged her and withdrew ‘affection if she displeased him’; controlled what she ate, how she dressed, how much money she could spend, [and] who she could interact with”.

The jury selection process has been a challenge, with dozens already removed after confirming their familiarity with media coverage of the case, and with others now asked whether they have any experience of abusive relationships.

The main defence expected from Holmes’ lawyers is that Balwani’s controlling behaviour “erased her capacity to make decisions”, including in the case of knowingly defrauding investors, doctors and patients.

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes arrives for a hearing at a federal court in San Jose. Pic: Reuters
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Holmes will be tried at a court in San Jose, California

What does it mean?

Both defendants previously reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, relinquishing their shares in the company and paying a $500,000 (£360,000) penalty.

But their case is also emblematic of what is often seen as a culture of ‘fake-it-until-you-make-it’ among Silicon Valley startups, as Sky News business presenter Ian King writes.

Analysis by Ian King, business presenter

There are many lessons to be drawn from the Theranos affair, but perhaps the most worrying thing that has emerged is the culture of secrecy that existed in Theranos, a culture that was – and is – by no means unique in Silicon Valley.

John Carreyrou, the investigative journalist at the Journal whose stories exposed the scandal, has since written a book on the saga, Bad Blood, which highlights the weirdly cultish nature of the company.

Again, in this regard, Theranos was perhaps not so different from a number of other companies in the Valley.

Quite apart from the crushing losses for investors, this secrecy and cult-like nature had other real-world consequences, with many patients likely to have received erroneous blood test results.

There are many outstanding questions surrounding Theranos, not least the outcome of Ms Holmes and Mr Balwani’s forthcoming fraud trial, as well as whether the remaining patents being acquired by Fortress will turn out to have any lasting value.

The biggest of all, though, is whether there are other tech companies presently enjoying outlandish valuations that eventually turn out to be similarly flawed.

The chances must be that there are.

Jury selection has begun in the trial, which the court expects may continue into December.

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Donald Trump sending ‘top of the line’ weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

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Donald Trump sending 'top of the line' weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

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Donald Trump and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte in the White House. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

Later on Monday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Trump and said he was “grateful” for the US president’s “readiness to help protect our people’s lives”.

Analysis: Will Trump’s shift in tone make a difference?

As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.

His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.

Read Mark’s analysis here.

After criticising Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag it out”, he said he appreciated “preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine” – and added Kyiv is “working on major defence agreements with America”.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

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Trump threatens Russia with ‘severe’ tariffs’

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

Read more:
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Trump threatens to revoke US comedian’s citizenship
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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

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Trump is clearly fed up with Putin – but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?

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Trump is clearly fed up with Putin - but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?

As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.

His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.

Ever since Mr Trump returned to the White House he has flatly refused to side with Ukraine over the Russian invasion.

He has variously blamed Ukraine for the invasion and blamed Joe Biden for the invasion, but has never been willing to accept that Russia is the aggressor and that Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself.

Today, all that changed. In a clear signal that he is fed up with Vladimir Putin and now fully recognises the need to help Ukraine defend itself, he announced the US will dramatically increase weapons supplies to Kyiv.

Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the White House. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

But, in keeping with his transactional nature and in a reflection of the need to keep his isolationist “America-First” base on side, he has framed this policy shift as a multi-billion dollar “deal” in which America gains financially.

American weapons are to be “sold” to NATO partners in Europe who will then either transfer them to Ukraine or use them to bolster their own stockpiles as they transfer their own existing stocks to Kyiv.

“We’ve made a deal today,” the president said in the Oval Office. “We are going to be sending them weapons, and they are paying for them. We are manufacturing, they are going to be paying for it. Our meeting last month was very successful… these are wealthy nations.”

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What will Trump’s weapons deal mean for Ukraine?

This appears to be a clever framing of the “deal”. Firstly, America has always benefited financially by supplying weapons to Ukraine because much of the investment has been in American factories, American jobs and American supply chains.

While the details are not entirely clear, the difference now appears to be that the weapons would be bought by the Europeans or by NATO as an alliance.

The Americans are the biggest contributor to NATO, and so if the alliance is buying the weapons, America too will be paying, in part, for the weapons it is selling.

However, if the weapons are being bought by individual NATO members to replenish their own stocks, then it may be the case that the US is not paying.

NATO officials referred all questions on this issue to the White House, which has not yet provided clarity to Sky News.

It is also not yet clear what type of weapons will be made available and whether it will include offensive, as well defensive, munitions.

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Will Trump’s deal make a difference?

A key element of the package will likely be Patriot missile batteries, 10 to 15 of which are believed to be currently in Europe.

Under this deal, it is understood that some of them will be added to the six or so batteries believed to be presently in Ukraine. New ones would then be purchased from US manufacturers to backfill European stocks. A similar arrangement may be used for other weapons.

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The president also issued the Russian leader with an ultimatum, saying that Putin had 50 days to make a peace deal or else face 100% “secondary tariffs”. It’s thought this refers to a plan to tariff, or sanction, third countries that supply Russia with weapons and buy Russian oil.

This, the Americans hope, will force those countries to apply pressure on Russia.

But the 50-day kicking of the can down the road also gives Russia space to prevaricate. So, a few words of caution: first, the Russians are masters of prevarication. Second, Trump tends to let deadlines slip. And third, we all know Trump can flip-flop on his position repeatedly.

Read more:
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Air India plane suffered ‘no mechanical fault’ before crash

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‘Trump sides with the Ukrainian cause’

Maybe the most revealing aspect of all this came when a reporter asked Mr Trump: “How far are you willing to go if Putin sends more bombs in the coming days?”

“Don’t ask me questions like that…”

Mr Trump doesn’t really know what to do if Mr Putin continues to take him for a ride.

Mr Biden, before him, supplied Ukraine with the weapons to continue fighting.

If Mr Trump wants to end this, he may need to provide Ukraine with enough weapons to win.

But that would prolong, or even escalate, a war he wants to end now.

There’s the predicament.

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‘Disgusting’ antisemitic and racist messages posted on Elmo’s X page by hacker

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'Disgusting' antisemitic and racist messages posted on Elmo's X page by hacker

An X account for the Sesame Street character Elmo has been targeted by an unknown hacker who posted antisemitic and racist messages.

The profile is followed by more than 650,000 users on the social network – and usually posts upbeat and motivational updates.

Sunday’s messages, which have since been deleted, called for violence against Jews, insulted Donald Trump, and referred to alleged files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement, Sesame Workshop said the X account has now been secured – and described the posts uploaded to Elmo’s page as “disgusting”.

This is the latest controversy to befall Elon Musk’s platform in recent days.

Last week, X’s AI chatbot Grok also produced content with antisemitic tropes, which were later removed and denounced as “inappropriate”.

Musk purchased the website, formerly known as Twitter, back in 2022 – with extremist content increasing against a backdrop of less moderation.

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The Anti-Defamation League, a US organisation that fights antisemitism, said: “It’s appalling that Elmo’s official account, known for spreading kindness, was hacked solely to spread violent antisemitism.”

“Antisemitism on social media fosters the normalisation of anti-Jewish hate online and offline – and contributes to an increasingly threatening environment for Jewish people everywhere.”

Elmo’s account has not posted since the hack.

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