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.
Former head of counter-terrorism in UK has called the government-backed review of Prevent scheme an 'insult' to professionals fighting to stop terrorist attacks in the country as the report was driven by ‘rightwing viewpoint’.
Neil Basu, who was head of counter-terrorism policing until 2021, disagreed to the finding that Prevent concentrated mainly on far right rather than Islamist extremism, reported The Guardian.
Launched in 2007, Prevent is a strand of the British government's counter-terrorism strategy that aims to safeguard and support those vulnerable to radicalisation, to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
"The review is driven by a rightwing viewpoint that XRWT (extreme rightwing terrorism) is either unimportant or doesn’t really exist. The head of MI5 says it’s 20 per cent of the work they do, so I would listen to him," Basu was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
William Shawcross submitted the Prevent review this week with 34 recommendations and the government accepted all of them.
According to the review, Prevent failed to stop non-violent Islamist extremism and exhibits double standard while dealing with extreme right wing and Islamism.
Meanwhile, Basu argued that the threat from the far right was very real and the system had been too slow to realise the danger.
“It’s insulting to any counter-terrorism professional to suggest they’d put any particular ideology over another. It’s about how they risk-assess the initial intelligence of the potential for violence and how it is then dealt with afterwards," he told the newspaper.
He pointed out that Prevent’s work tackling mental health and other vulnerabilities was essential to stem the flow of terrorists.
Experts in countering far-right terrorism and Amnesty International have also expressed similar concerns as Basu's.
Nick Lowles, of Hope Not Hate, told The Guardian:“Counter-terrorism policy should not prioritise one form of extremism over another. There must be an evidence-based approach that takes action based on the level of risk posed by extremists, regardless of ideology.”
Amnesty International said that errors and plain anti-Muslim prejudice are rampant in the report.
“William Shawcross’s history of bigoted comments on Muslims and Islam should have precluded his involvement in this ill-starred review in the first place. There’s mounting evidence that Prevent has specifically targeted Muslim communities and activists fighting for social justice and a host of crucial international issues – including topics like the climate crisis and the oppression of Palestinians," Ilyas Nagdee, Amnesty International UK’s racial justice director, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Statistics from Prevent also tell a similar story as referrals because of extreme rightwing radicalisation (20 per cent) were higher than Islamist referrals (16 per cent) between April 2021 to March 2022 for the second year in a row.
DCS Maria Lovegrove, counter-terrorism policing’s national Prevent lead, said: “The terrorist threats we face now are very different to when Prevent began, and a strong collective approach is absolutely vital if we are to keep up with this changing landscape and its growing dimensions,” she said.
Prevent receives £40 million funding to help steer people away from extremism. According to the government, Prevent has already changed and saved the lives of individuals from all walks of life, with over 3,800 people offered early interventions through the Channel programme.
Sir Keir Starmer attends an opening 'Welcome to Liverpool' session during the first day of the Labour Party conference at ACC Liverpool on September 28, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer urged his Labour Party on Sunday (28) to stop "navel gazing" and unite against Reform UK, accusing the rising populist party of planning a "racist policy" of mass deportation if it wins power.
Labour is well behind Reform in opinion polls, and Starmer kicked off its annual conference in the city of Liverpool by exhorting members to focus their anger on that party, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, not his own leadership.
"We have got the fight of our lives ahead of us, because we've got to take on Reform. We've got to beat them, and so now is not the time for introspection or navel gazing," he told BBC News. "We need to be in that fight united."
The next national election is not due until 2029, but with Reform surging in popularity, Starmer is seeking a positive narrative after difficult weeks when his deputy leader and his ambassador to the US were forced to quit.
The conference gives him a chance to rally Labour and redirect the frustrations of critics who want him replaced, including the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham.
Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, are under pressure inside the party to increase spending, and relax self-imposed fiscal rules that aim to balance day-to-day expenditure with tax revenue by 2029. But the government is expected to raise taxes in a budget on November 26 to adhere to the rules.
"The budget is an absolutely critical point of us knowing whether direction is going to change," said Sharon Graham, head of Unite, one of Britain's biggest trade unions.
"We should stop dancing around our handbag and do that (change the fiscal rules). If that budget is essentially nothing ... I think we've got a real problem on our hands, because without the money to make the change, then nothing is going to change."
But while leftist party members criticise Starmer for failing to improve living standards as he promised at last year's election, centrists fear the markets could punish the government if it raises spending.
Reform UK's central policy is restricting immigration, one of voters' main concerns.
Starmer turned his fire on Farage's party.
"It is one thing to say we're going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I'm up for that," he said. "It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them ... I do think that it's a racist policy, I do think it is immoral."
According to the polling firm Ipsos, only 13 per cent of voters are satisfied with Starmer while 79 per cent are dissatisfied - the worst score of any prime minister since it started collecting the data in 1977.
Starmer said he was not simply ignoring criticism and would be judged by three things: improvement in living standards, better public services, and whether people felt safe in their homes.
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Relatives mourn after receiving the dead body of a victim who was killed in a stampede that broke out during a campaign rally last evening in the Karur district, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on September 28, 2025. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
A STAMPEDE that killed dozens at a south India political rally happened after a crowd of thousands waited hours in baking heat without sufficient safeguards, officials and witnesses said on Sunday (28) .
Some 27,000 people thronged a public road in Tamil Nadu state in hopes of seeing popular actor-turned-politician Vijay on Saturday (27), but panic broke out and 39 were killed, authorities said.
Witnesses cited hours of delays, insufficient police presence and people falling from a tree branch onto the audience as contributing to the tragedy.
Vijay, known by one name, was addressing the rally when the crowds surged suddenly, forcing him to halt his speech in Karur district.
Videos on social media showed him tossing water bottles to supporters shortly before the panic broke out.
"My heart is shattered at this tragedy," the 51-year-old star said in a statement.
State chief minister M K Stalin told reporters on Sunday that 39 people had died, raising an earlier toll of 36.
Nine children were among the dead, he added, announcing a judicial enquiry into the disaster.
State police chief G Venkataraman said crowds had been waiting for hours under hot sun without sufficient food and water after the public was informed that Vijay would arrive at the venue by noon.
"The crowds started coming in from 11 am (local time). He came at 7.40 pm. The people lacked sufficient food and water under the hot sun," he told reporters.
He added 10,000 people were expected but some 27,000 turned up.
Vijay launched his own party in 2024 and has drawn huge crowds at campaign events ahead of state elections due next year.
"I was pushed down by the crowd all of a sudden. There was absolutely no space to move," B Kanishka, a survivor, told the Hindu newspaper. "I subsequently fainted."
Others said poor organisation and an hours-long wait left people restless before the situation spiralled dangerously out of control.
Karthick, a survivor, told the publication that the situation could have been prevented "if people were not forced to wait for hours together".
"Poor planning and execution of the programme and lack of police personnel at the spot were also the reason," he said.
The Indian Express newspaper said panic spread after supporters who had climbed onto a tree branch fell onto the crowd below.
In January, 30 people were killed in a crush at a major religious fair, and last year 121 died during a Hindu prayer meeting in Uttar Pradesh.
In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.
(AFP)
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The meeting lasted for about one hour and 20 minutes. (Photo: X/@DerekJGrossman)
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump met Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House to discuss bilateral ties.
Speaking to reporters after signing executive orders on Thursday, Trump said, “In fact, we have a great leader coming, the prime minister of Pakistan coming, and the field marshal (of) Pakistan. Field marshal is a very great guy and so is the prime minister, both. And they're coming.”
This was the first formal bilateral meeting between Trump and Sharif. The last Pakistani leader to meet Trump was Imran Khan in July 2019 during Trump’s first term.
Sharif is in the US for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly and will address the General Debate on Friday.
The Oval Office meeting in Washington DC was also attended by vice president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio, according to a statement from the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The PMO said the meeting was held in a “pleasant atmosphere”.
The meeting, closed to the press, was scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm (local time) but started about 30 minutes later due to Trump’s engagements. It lasted for about one hour and 20 minutes. Photos released later showed Sharif and Munir speaking with Trump, who posed with his thumbs up during a group photo.
Sharif and Trump had earlier met in New York on Tuesday at a multilateral meeting the US president held with leaders from Arab nations and others, including Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
Radio Pakistan had reported that the White House talks were expected to cover matters of mutual interest as well as regional and global developments. Sharif arrived at the White House at 4.52 pm and was received by senior US officials. His motorcade left at 6.18 pm, according to the White House pool.
After signing the executive orders, Trump told reporters he had “stopped seven wars”. He repeated the same at the UNGA. Pakistan has nominated Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, citing “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis”.
On May 10, Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington. Since then, he has repeated nearly 50 times that he “helped settle” tensions between the two countries.
India, however, has maintained that the agreement to cease hostilities was reached through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two sides.
The last Pakistani prime minister to visit the White House was Imran Khan in 2019. Before that, Nawaz Sharif visited in 2015.
Pakistan and the US were Cold War allies and worked together in Afghanistan against the USSR and later militancy. Their ties weakened over differences on the Afghan Taliban. The relationship reached a low when the US killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
The two countries have now signed a trade agreement under which Pakistani imports will face a 19 per cent tariff. The US will also assist in developing Pakistan’s oil reserves.
According to official figures, US goods and services trade with Pakistan was USD 10.1 billion in 2024, up 6.3 per cent (USD 523.0 million) from 2023. The total goods trade was USD 7.2 billion.
US goods exports to Pakistan in 2024 were USD 2.1 billion, up 3.3 per cent (USD 67.2 million) from 2023. Imports from Pakistan were USD 5.1 billion, up 4.8 per cent (USD 233.9 million). The US goods trade deficit with Pakistan was USD 3 billion in 2024, a 5.9 per cent increase (USD 166.7 million) from 2023.
(With inputs from agencies)
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ONS said population growth was fastest in England at 1.2 per cent, compared with 0.7 per cent in Scotland, 0.6 per cent in Wales and 0.4 per cent in Northern Ireland. (Photo: Getty Images)
UK population grew by 755,300 to 69.3 million in the year to mid-2024
Net international migration accounted for 98 per cent of growth
Births exceeded deaths by 16,239, but natural change was negative in Scotland and Wales
Net migration has since declined to 431,000, ONS figures show
THE UK population grew by 755,300 in the year to mid-2024, reaching an estimated 69.3 million, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was the second-largest annual increase in more than 75 years, driven mainly by immigration.
Net international migration accounted for 98 per cent of the growth. An estimated 1,235,254 people immigrated to the UK, while 496,536 emigrated, resulting in net migration of 738,718. Births exceeded deaths by 16,239, with 662,148 births and 645,909 deaths recorded.
ONS said population growth was fastest in England at 1.2 per cent, compared with 0.7 per cent in Scotland, 0.6 per cent in Wales and 0.4 per cent in Northern Ireland. Natural change was negative in Scotland and Wales, where deaths outnumbered births. The proportion of people aged 65 and over continued to rise across the UK.
The ONS noted that net migration has since declined, with updated data showing it fell to 431,000 last year. The reduction was linked to fewer non-EU nationals arriving on work and study visas and more departures of people with study-related visas.
Nigel Henretty of the ONS said: “The UK population has increased each year since mid-1982. The rate of population increase has been higher in recent years, and the rise seen in the year to mid-2024 represents the second largest annual increase in numerical terms in over 75 years. Net international migration continues to be the main driver of this growth, continuing the long-term trend seen since the turn of the century.”
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, said: “The Labour government are continuing the Boriswave and our lives are all getting poorer because of it. Only Reform will control our borders.”
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Incidents included kicking a young boy in the face
Nursery worker Roksana Lecka abused 21 babies across two nurseries
Abuse included kicking, pinching, and scratching children
Parents report lasting trauma and increased caution with childcare
Abuse uncovered through CCTV
Families of 21 babies in southwest London have described the “horrifying” experience of seeing CCTV footage showing their children being abused. The perpetrator, 22-year-old nursery worker Roksana Lecka, was employed at Riverside Nursery in Twickenham and Little Munchkins in Hounslow.
Incidents included kicking a young boy in the face, pinching children repeatedly, pushing babies headfirst over cots, and covering toddlers’ mouths when they cried. Several children were left with bruises and scratches, causing parents long-term concern.
Negligence and substance use
Investigations revealed that Lecka smoked cannabis before shifts and vaped near young children. Parents reported her showing “total disregard” for the safety of the children under her care. The abuse took place between October 2023 and June 2024.
Detectives discovered the pattern of abuse after she was sent home from Riverside Nursery for pinching children and appearing “flustered.” Subsequent CCTV review revealed the full scale of the assaults.
Impact on families
Parents described the trauma of watching their children suffer and the ongoing effects on their wellbeing. Several children experienced sleep problems and separation anxiety, while parents reported feeling mistrustful of childcare services.
One mother said: “I cannot get over how an adult could have done that to a child. My biggest worry is that my son will think that’s something adults do to children. It will live with me forever knowing that my son and 20 other children had to go through this.”
The closure of Riverside Nursery forced parents to find alternative childcare, often at significant financial and emotional cost.
Legal proceedings and sentencing
Lecka admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under 16 and was convicted of a further 14 counts by a jury at Kingston Crown Court. The case highlighted the need for accountability and stricter safeguards in early years settings.
Senior crown prosecutor Gemma Burns said: “Lecka repeatedly showed exceptional cruelty in her treatment of these babies. She was placed in a position of trust and instead caused lasting harm.”
Calls for reform
Local MP Munira Wilson emphasised the importance of ensuring children’s safety in nurseries. She called for no-notice Ofsted inspections, mandatory CCTV reviews, and stronger safeguarding measures.
“Every parent should know their child is safe when left at nursery,” she said, urging immediate reforms to prevent similar tragedies.