High court dismisses claims by group including Duke of Sussex that Mail publisher used unlawful methods to source stories about themPrince Harry and six other prominent figures are facing a legal bill of up to £50m after losing their case against the publisher of the Daily Mail over claims it used unlawful methods to source stories.In an emphatic ruling that is likely to signal an end to new litigation relating to the phone-hacking scandal era, the high court dismissed all the group’s claims, stating that the claimants had not proved that any information had been obtained unlawfully. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/07/prince-harry-lawsuit-mail-publisher-phone-hacking-claims">Continue reading...</a>

High court dismisses claims by group including Duke of Sussex that Mail publisher used unlawful methods to source stories about them

Prince Harry and other claimants could face £50m legal bill after losing phone-hacking case

Ofcom levies largest-ever consumer protection fine after finding firm deliberately mishandled millions of phone calls<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jul/08/oil-prices-rise-fresh-us-strikes-iran-return-sanctions-tehran-federal-reserve-minutes-live-updates">Business live – latest updates</a></li></ul>Virgin Media has been fined £28m by the UK telecoms watchdog for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling their contracts over a near three-year period.Ofcom discovered that Virgin Media “likely mishandled” millions of phone calls between the start of 2022 and autumn 2024, with deliberate call-dropping tactics, unnecessary call transfers and putting customers on hold for “no reason”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/08/virgin-media-fined-preventing-customers-cancelling-contracts-ofcom">Continue reading...</a>

Ofcom levies largest-ever consumer protection fine after finding firm deliberately mishandled millions of phone calls

Virgin Media fined record £28m for stopping customers cancelling contracts

The Washington-based publication is announcing plans for a new digital subscription product called the Hill InsiderThe most-visited digital-first news publication dedicated to politics wasn’t Politico or Axios in May – it was the Hill, a Washington-based outlet that also still publishes a print product three days a week that gets delivered to the office of every member of Congress.While the Hill is often left out of conversations about the most influential political news outlets, the publication has been quietly chugging along since it was acquired by the television conglomerate Nexstar in 2021 for $130m. Bill Sammon, the Fox News veteran who serves as senior vice-president for editorial content, said the Hill was profitable and had benefited from a surge of interest in the second Trump administration. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/08/the-hill-insider-trump-bill-sammon">Continue reading...</a>

The Washington-based publication is announcing plans for a new digital subscription product called the Hill Insider

The Hill is capitalizing on reader interest in the second Trump administration

They may have been unethical, potentially dangerous and somewhat sexist … but each of these classic adverts, from the PG Tips chimps to the Tango slapper, caught the public’s imagination<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jul/08/baldy-man-gold-blend-flirters-mash-martians-golden-age-ads-adverts">Baldy Man, Gold Blend flirters and mash-mad Martians: TV’s golden age ads</a></li></ul> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/jul/08/aliens-chimps-and-a-pregnant-man-iconic-british-adverts-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>

They may have been unethical, potentially dangerous and somewhat sexist … but each of these classic adverts, from the PG Tips chimps to the Tango slapper...

Aliens, chimps and a pregnant man: iconic British adverts – in pictures

Péter Magyar hails ‘end of propaganda broadcasts’ as Kossuth radio and M1 TV channels suspend transmissionHungarian public media outlets close to Viktor Orbán have suspended broadcasting, the country’s prime minister said as he hailed efforts to dismantle the longtime nationalist leader’s control over information.Péter Magyar, who ousted Orbán in a landslide election victory in April, wrote on Facebook: “A historic day. Today marks the end of propaganda broadcasts on public media platforms. They lied at night, they lied during the day, they lied on every wavelength. That is now over.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/hungary-public-media-tv-radio-suspend-broadcasting-viktor-orban-peter-magyar">Continue reading...</a>

Péter Magyar hails ‘end of propaganda broadcasts’ as Kossuth radio and M1 TV channels suspend transmission

Hungarian public media outlets halt broadcasting in post-Orbán shake-up

Audience of 9.1 million watch 2am BST kick-off live and on iPlayer with 48m requests for digital content on MondayEngland’s triumph over Mexico in the World Cup attracted a peak live audience of 9.1 million on BBC One and BBC iPlayer despite kicking off at 2am BST – the biggest television audience ever for a live UK broadcast at that hour.The dramatic 3-2 win drove the biggest day ever recorded for BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app and for BBC Sport’s social video views, the broadcaster said. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/07/england-world-cup-win-mexico-breaks-viewing-records-bbc">Continue reading...</a>

Audience of 9.1 million watch 2am BST kick-off live and on iPlayer with 48m requests for digital content on Monday

England’s World Cup win over Mexico breaks viewing records across BBC

Valter Lavitola suspected of planning bomb attack on Sigfrido Ranucci, for which four people have been arrestedItalian prosecutors have placed a businessman and former journalist under investigation for allegedly masterminding a bomb attack at the home of Sigfrido Ranucci, a prominent investigative reporter.Valter Lavitola was supposedly friends with Ranucci, the host of Report, an investigative programme aired by the state broadcaster, Rai, and is being investigated on suspicion of trying to cause mass murder. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/italy-businessman-valter-lavitola-investigative-reporter-sigfrido-ranucci-bombing">Continue reading...</a>

Valter Lavitola suspected of planning bomb attack on Sigfrido Ranucci, for which four people have been arrested

Italian businessman questioned over bombing at investigative reporter’s home

Reform UK leader confronts journalist after question about gifts from friend and convicted fraudsterNigel Farage has said Sky News bosses face “serious consequences” in an outburst triggered by questions over fresh revelations about his finances.The Reform UK leader has faced renewed scrutiny after the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/revealed-nigel-farage-secretly-funded-by-convicted-criminal-j0brtrlnk">Sunday Times revealed</a> he had received funding from his longtime ally, the convicted fraudster George Cottrell. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/07/serious-consequences-farage-attacks-sky-news-after-question-about-george-cottrell">Continue reading...</a>

Reform UK leader confronts journalist after question about gifts from friend and convicted fraudster

‘Serious consequences’: Farage attacks Sky News after question about George Cottrell

Director of current affairs programmes who was a pioneer of drama-documentaries on British televisionThe film-maker Leslie Woodhead, who has died aged 88, helped to establish the hard-hitting ITV current affairs programme World in Action, and was a pioneer of drama-documentaries on British television. He invented the format as a way of telling the stories of those behind the iron curtain during the cold war between the Soviet Union and the west, when direct access for journalists and film crews was difficult. “For us, the dramatised documentary is an exercise in journalism, not dramatic art,” he explained.The first was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdWb9AnUEwA">The Man Who Wouldn’t Keep Quiet (1970)</a>, which told the story of the Russian dissident and former Soviet army general Petro Grigorenko, who was being held in a psychiatric hospital, portrayed by actors. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/06/leslie-woodhead-obituary">Continue reading...</a>

Director of current affairs programmes who was a pioneer of drama-documentaries on British television

Leslie Woodhead obituary

Harry claimed victory in two earlier legal actions but he and his co-claimants lost their lawsuit against ANL on Tuesday<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/07/prince-harry-lawsuit-mail-publisher-phone-hacking-claims">Prince Harry and others could face £50m legal bill after losing phone-hacking lawsuit</a></li></ul>The Duke of Sussex has variously described his long-running legal battles with certain sections of the British media as a “mission” and a “life’s work”.“I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned,” was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/15/mission-continues-prince-harry-legal-crusade-against-uk-media">his defiant response when he claimed victory against Mirror Group Newspapers </a>in December 2023 over historic allegations of unlawful information gathering, adding it was a “worthwhile price to pay”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/07/duke-of-sussex-calls-legal-battles-with-british-media-his-lifes-work-phone-hacking-daily-mail">Continue reading...</a>

Harry claimed victory in two earlier legal actions but he and his co-claimants lost their lawsuit against ANL on Tuesday

Prince Harry gets burned in his mission to ‘slay dragons’ of British media

While everyone agrees the deal is the end of an era, it was also unavoidable in the era of Netflix and Disney+A generation ago, ITV was regarded as such a precious jewel in the UK broadcasting firmament that there was outrage when BSkyB, as it was, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/nov/17/bskyb.itv">bought a 17.9% stake</a> to stop anybody else getting their hands on the business. After a drawn-out saga, the then Murdoch-controlled Sky was forced by regulators to divest in the interests of plurality. Politicians breathed a sigh of relief.That was 2006. To say the UK television game has changed since those days is to understate matters grossly. As ITV <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/06/sky-owner-announces-16bn-takeover-of-itvs-broadcasting-arm">unveiled its £1.6bn deal to sell its broadcasting business</a> – but not its more valuable programme-making studios operation – to Sky, now under the ownership of US group Comcast, it was hard to detect any political uproar that might threaten the deal. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2026/jul/06/streaming-storm-made-itv-sharing-a-roof-with-sky-sadly-inevitable">Continue reading...</a>

While everyone agrees the deal is the end of an era, it was also unavoidable in the era of Netflix and Disney+

Streaming storm made ITV sharing a roof with Sky sadly inevitable

After the classic series became a pandemic-era smash, a glossy new adaptation aims to explore the complexities of frontier lifeEach incarnation of Little House on the Prairie has reflected the fears, hopes and hangups of its time – from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/25/laura-ingalls-wilder-memoir-little-house-prairie">Laura Ingalls Wilder</a>’s semi-autobiographical children’s novels, first published in the wake of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/04/crash-1929-wall-street-what-the-great-depression-reveals-about-our-future">Great Depression</a>, to the television series they inspired, which premiered amid a recession and an oil crisis in 1974.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/netflix">Netflix</a>’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/03/little-house-on-the-prairie-to-trying-the-seven-best-shows-to-stream-this-week">reboot</a>, premiering on 9 July, is no exception. “The stories are able to transcend generations, which speaks to its basic nature,” says Luke Bracey, who stars in the new series as Charles “Pa” Ingalls, the rugged family patriarch. “This is a family trying to get along in the world.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/07/little-house-on-the-prairie-netflix-reboot-controversy">Continue reading...</a>

After the classic series became a pandemic-era smash, a glossy new adaptation aims to explore the complexities of frontier life

Tradwives and ‘anti-woke’ backlash: can Netflix reboot Little House on The Prairie for a new generation?

New Legally Blonde prequel Elle features a lovely appearance from the late Dawson’s Creek actor. Here are some of television’s other fantastic post-death appearancesThose watching Amazon’s Legally Blonde prequel series Elle were treated to a surprise recently, as the show offered a posthumous appearance by James Van Der Beek. The actor, who died in February aged 48, had a fun little role as a crooked school district superintendent. As with most of his roles since Dawson’s Creek, Van Der Beek’s performance was bright and happily self-aware.However, Van Der Beek is far from the only actor to have appeared on screen after their death. Here are some other standout posthumous performances. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/07/from-james-van-der-beek-to-carrie-fisher-tvs-greatest-posthumous-performances">Continue reading...</a>

New Legally Blonde prequel Elle features a lovely appearance from the late Dawson’s Creek actor. Here are some of television’s other fantastic post-death...

From James Van Der Beek to Carrie Fisher: TV’s greatest posthumous performances

End of News Feed

The round, led by Radical Ventures, values the two-year old startup at $1 billion.

Prime Intellect raises $130M Series A to help enterprises build their own AI agents

The cyberattack targeting a U.S. insurance giant is the largest known breach of driver's license numbers so far in 2026.

Another massive data breach exposed millions of driver’s license numbers

There are a lot of fast-growing AI startups, but some are growing even faster, they say.

These AI startups are growing  revenue at faster and faster rates

Vermilion Cliffs Ventures announced Wednesday the close of a $25 million Fund II. 

Solo GP Ashley Smith announces second $25M fund to back startups in AI, security and more

Apple has signed a $30 billion+ multiyear deal with Broadcom to design and produce more than 15 billion U.S.-made custom wireless connectivity chips for Apple products. 

Apple has signed a $30 billion+ multiyear deal with Broadcom to design and produce more than 15 billion U.S.-made custom wireless connectivity chips for ...

Apple to produce Made in America wireless chips with Broadcom

Build a new kind of rocket engine and the world will beat a path to your door.

Venus Aerospace raises $90M Series B to build a new kind of rocket engine

Blue Origin is raising $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation from Coatue Asset Management, Bezos himself, and other big-name investors, The New York Times reported.

Blue Origin is raising $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation from Coatue Asset Management, Bezos himself, and other big-name investors, The N...

Blue Origin reportedly raising $10B at $130B valuation

With funding from tennis star and angel investor Venus Williams, the French app WeWard says that it increases walking time by almost 25%. 

Venus Williams-backed WeWard can now lock your apps until you hit your steps

Kevin Weil's new role at Stoke Space suggests reusable rockets are the next hot thing in Silicon Valley.  

Former OpenAI exec Kevin Weil is now on the board of Stoke Space

ZML, a hot French AI startup endorsed by Turing Award winner Yann LeCun, has now released ZML/LLMD, software that could make running AI less costly.

Hot French startup ZML releases free product to speed inference across lots of AI chips

AI chip maker SambaNova has raised at an $11 billion valuation months after Intel was rumored to be trying to buy it for about $1.6 billion.

AI chip maker SambaNova raises $1B at $11B valuation, 5 months after last mega round

If you're building something ambitious, this is a fast track to the people who can move your startup forward.

Final extension: Startup Battlefield Australia applications now close July 20

The new image-generating model has numerous use cases, including advertising and decorating, and creator-based opportunities. 

Meta just launched a new AI generator, Muse Image, and users are already pushing back over use of their photos

Open source models’ success isn’t coming at the expense of frontier labs. Instead, they each seem to capture two phases of the same life cycle.

Why the rise of open source AI isn’t hurting Anthropic … yet

Microsoft is the latest Silicon Valley giant to cut back on its AI spending. 

Microsoft joins AI cost-cutting trend by relying more on its own models

The company confirmed that the issue had been affecting accounts since May, with an additional 200 users banned over the weekend before its team identified and fixed the problem. 

The company confirmed that the issue had been affecting accounts since May, with an additional 200 users banned over the weekend before its team identifi...

Discord admits AI moderation bug wrongfully banned users over harmless images

Google's upcoming event in August will introduce new Pixel devices. 

Google’s Pixel event is set for August 12

The Y Combinator-backed company started a vibe-coding platform and later built an agent-creation product.

Figma acquires team behind a vibe-coding app

Netflix is bringing 2- to 20-minute videos to its platform through new partnerships with digital publishers, including Rolling Stone and Variety. 

Netflix dabbles in shorter video content with its new set of publisher deals with Variety, others

From a massive DOGE data breach and the hacking of critical energy and water systems to the hack of an FBI surveillance system, here are the most damaging security incidents and data breaches of 2026.

From a massive DOGE data breach and the hacking of critical energy and water systems to the hack of an FBI surveillance system, here are the most damagin...

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