Median £42,000 in reserve not enough to cover filming overrun or delay to series, industry body warnsHundreds of small UK TV companies have so little cash in reserve that a filming overrun or a delay to a series could send them bust, an industry body has warned, as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/sep/14/uk-tv-production-companies-indies-commissioning-spend">programme budget cuts by broadcasters</a> threaten their future.Analysis of the Companies House accounts filings of more than 200 of the estimated 800 independent TV production companies in the UK by the industry body Indielab has found that 40% face running out of cash within the next two years. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/sep/07/tiny-cash-buffers-leave-small-uk-tv-firms-at-risk-of-going-bust-analysis-finds">Continue reading...</a>

Median £42,000 in reserve not enough to cover filming overrun or delay to series, industry body warns

Tiny cash buffers leave small UK TV firms at risk of going bust, analysis finds

Sarah Khalifa, 39, charged with forming organised criminal gang to manufacture and traffic drugsAn Egyptian court sentenced a well-known television presenter and 11 others to death for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics in a sprawling drug case, official media reported on Saturday.The presenter, Sarah Khalifa, 39, is best known for her programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with issues concerning security and crime. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/05/egyptian-tv-presenter-among-12-sentenced-to-death-for-drug">Continue reading...</a>

Sarah Khalifa, 39, charged with forming organised criminal gang to manufacture and traffic drugs

Egyptian TV presenter among 12 sentenced to death for drug crime

May el-Toukhy says we must end veneration of male directors that causes ‘structural problem’ for womenThe enduring cult of male genius is keeping down female film-makers, one of the only two female directors in the running for the top prize at this year’s Venice film festival has warned.“I’ve never ever read an article where a female director is promoted as a genius,” said the Danish-Egyptian director May el-Toukhy, whose film Woman Unknown has been selected for the Golden Lion competition on the Lido this year. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/sep/06/cult-male-genius-holding-female-film-makers-back-woman-unknown-director-may-el-toukhy">Continue reading...</a>

May el-Toukhy says we must end veneration of male directors that causes ‘structural problem’ for women

Cult of male genius holding female film-makers back, says Woman Unknown director

Presenter reveals ‘absolutely embargoed’ start date during live podcast, and describes new series as ‘quite intense’The TV presenter Richard Osman has appeared to accidentally reveal the launch date for series 2 of The Celebrity Traitors.During a live edition of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, which he hosts with the journalist Marina Hyde, at London’s Southbank Centre on Saturday, the 55-year-old said the new series of the BBC reality gameshow would begin on 23 September. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/05/richard-osman-lets-slip-celebrity-traitors-season-2-launch-date">Continue reading...</a>

Presenter reveals ‘absolutely embargoed’ start date during live podcast, and describes new series as ‘quite intense’

Richard Osman lets slip Celebrity Traitors season 2 launch date

A new breed of adventurer is chasing internet fame by targeting uncontacted peoples. Critics say they are risking the wellbeing of these remote communities – and their own livesHe set out from the beach around midnight, packing his camera, a coconut and a can of Diet Coke. Mykhailo Polyakov – then 24 and a native of Scottsdale, Arizona – pointed his inflatable dinghy out towards the open water, keeping his speed slow in the hope of avoiding detection.After hours of motoring across the Bay of Bengal, his destination came into view: a low-lying island, narrowly separating sea and sky. With the sun now high above him, Polyakov cut the engine and set his GoPro to record. “So, the goal,” he said, squinting towards the blinding-white beach. “Introduce this Palaeolithic tribe to modernity … Let’s land on this bitch.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/05/colonialism-for-clicks-influencers-attempting-meet-film-worlds-most-isolated-tribes">Continue reading...</a>

A new breed of adventurer is chasing internet fame by targeting uncontacted peoples. Critics say they are risking the wellbeing of these remote communiti...

‘This is colonialism for clicks’: the influencers attempting to meet and film the world’s most isolated tribes

Director’s controversial comments earlier this year warned of films that ‘enter the field of politics’The director Wim Wenders has clarified personal views on the relationship between cinema and politics that caused controversy earlier in the year, saying at the Venice film festival that he does not believe film-makers ought to stay out of politics altogether.During the Berlin film festival, the veteran German director, who was acting as the jury president, had <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/12/berlinale-jury-president-wim-wenders-opening-press-conference">said at a press conference</a> that “we have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/sep/06/wim-wenders-clarifies-does-not-believe-film-makers-stay-out-of-politics">Continue reading...</a>

Director’s controversial comments earlier this year warned of  films that ‘enter the field of politics’

Wim Wenders clarifies that he does not believe film-makers should stay out of politics

Barrister and judge with one of the finest minds available to immigrants and journalists in peril in the courtsSir Andrew Nicol, who has died aged 75, did much to enhance the defence of civil liberties as a barrister and academic, before his appointment as a high court judge in 2009. In that capacity he is mainly remembered for his calm and careful stewardship of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/30/johnny-depp-and-amber-heard-reputations-at-stake-as-judgment-looms">Johnny Depp’s libel suit in 2020</a> against the publishers of the Sun newspaper after their article suggested Depp had assaulted his former wife Amber Heard. English judges are fated to be recalled by their more celebrity-centred cases, but Andy’s intellectual contributions to the development of media and immigration law were much more truly memorable.The elder child of Margaret (nee Mason), a physiotherapist, and Duncan Nicol, a gas engineer, Andrew was born in Ashtead, Surrey, and educated at the City of London Freemen’s school, Ashtead Park. After taking a law degree at Cambridge and a master’s at Harvard, he worked in housing policy for the state of California (1975-76), and then for a year at a top commercial law firm in Sydney, before returning in 1977 to lecture in that subject at the LSE. His career trajectory to wealth and respectability as a commercial lawyer was interrupted when he became my pupil, during the controversial ABC official secrets trial in 1978. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/sep/06/sir-andrew-nicol-obituary">Continue reading...</a>

Barrister and judge with one of the finest minds available to immigrants and journalists in peril in the courts

Sir Andrew Nicol obituary

Half a century on, Jim Henson’s fuzzy felt friends are as influential as Monty Python and the Beatles. It’s been a wild journey of nightclubbing, light operas, duetting with Debbie Harry and tying John Cleese to a chairFifty years ago today, it was time to play the music and time to light the lights. On 5 September 1976, the British public first met the Muppets – an epochal moment in the history of light entertainment whose reverberations are still felt to this day.This was the show that saw Rita Moreno conclude a performance of Fever by smashing a puppet’s head between two cymbals, Alice Cooper convince the characters to sell their souls to the devil and Vincent Price cover Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend, accompanied by ghosts. The Muppet Show was not like other television programmes. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/05/50-moi-how-the-muppets-rocked-the-world-with-anarchy-nonsense-and-the-inimitable-miss-piggy">Continue reading...</a>

Half a century on, Jim Henson’s fuzzy felt friends are as influential as Monty Python and the Beatles. It’s been a wild journey of  nightclubbing, light ...

50? Moi? How The Muppets rocked the world with anarchy, nonsense and the inimitable Miss Piggy

Ruling allows defense department to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over military news outletA federal judge has declined to stop the Pentagon from firing journalists who say they were illegally punished for speaking out about the need for the Stars and Stripes publication to maintain its editorial independence.The ruling by US district judge Trevor McFadden allows the Pentagon to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over the historically independent military news outlet. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/04/judge-pentagon-stars-and-stripes">Continue reading...</a>

Ruling allows defense department to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over military news outlet

Judge refuses to block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes journalists

Katy McQue, who has spent years reporting on Meta and the potential harms its platforms pose to children, explains the tactics being used by prosecutorsFor years, the investigative journalist Katy McQue has been reporting on the potential harms Meta’s platforms pose to children.Yet, as she explains to Annie Kelly, despite the mountain of evidence compiled by journalists, prosecutors, bereaved families and others, it has been nearly impossible to bring Meta and other social media companies to court. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/sep/07/why-meta-started-losing-in-court-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

Katy McQue, who has spent years reporting on Meta and the potential harms its platforms pose to children, explains the tactics being used by prosecutors

Why Meta started losing in court - podcast

It’s deliciously satirical, fizzes with electric chemistry – and it’s snortingly funny too. If you haven’t watched the worst named show on TV yet, do so. Right now!Sometimes the best things in life have the worst names. The Beatles. Smeg fridges. Nintendo Wii. But top of the tree is Colin from Accounts (Monday 7 September, 10pm, BBC Two), a name so bland I almost slipped into medical unconsciousness upon hearing it. It’s worse than bland. There’s an aspect of comedy-tie zaniness to it, a “Look, we’re calling our possibly office-based sitcom the most boring thing we can think of!” tedium. One can imagine the lazy jokes, the stock characters. Within 15 minutes of watching it, I&nbsp;was genuinely toying with the idea of a CFA tattoo.How did this unpromising Australian import become my favourite? By being a showcase for fearless writing, electric chemistry and delicious comic timing. Written by real-life partners <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/28/harriet-dyer-patrick-brammall-interview-colin-from-accounts-real-love-story-inspiration">Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer</a>, it tracks the relationship of medical student Ashley and Gordon, a brewery owner and ball cancer survivor. The romance, like their writing, is allergic to schmaltz. Their meet-cute occurs in the street when Ashley flashes a boob at Gordon, causing him to crash his car and permanently disable a stray dog that they unwillingly adopt together. (That’s Colin. It’s not really about Colin.) <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/05/colin-from-accounts-a-show-so-fearless-and-hilarious-that-i-want-to-get-a-tattoo-of-it">Continue reading...</a>

It’s deliciously satirical, fizzes with electric chemistry – and it’s snortingly funny too. If you haven’t watched the worst named show on TV yet, do so....

Colin from Accounts: a show so fearless and hilarious that I want to get a tattoo of it

In this week’s newsletter: A non-exhaustive list of the films to keep an eye out for this autumn• <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/sep/20/sign-up-for-the-guide-newsletter-our-free-pop-culture-email">Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here</a>The next three months or so is one of my favourite spells in the film calendar, as a load of Oscar hopefuls with big stars and auteurs attached come out of hiding. You can catch a decent movie at the cinema every week until Christmas – but you might want a guide to direct you to the right ones. This week’s Guide does exactly that.What’s more, it’s not exhaustive: there will be films landing from the autumn festivals that haven’t yet been given a release date and a host of big awards movies due in the UK in January (Danny Boyle’s Murdoch movie Ink, Robert Eggers’s Werewulf, Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut). But, this should keep you going until the days start getting longer again. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/sep/04/what-to-watch-this-oscars-film-season">Continue reading...</a>

In this week’s newsletter: A non-exhaustive list of the films to keep an eye out for this autumn

The Guide #259: What to watch this Oscars film season

The CEO is the throughline in a history of billion-dollar blunders that have caused real harm, culminating in last week’s settlementLast week, Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/26/meta-social-media-addiction-trial-settlement">agreed to a settlement</a> of up to $18bn after dozens of US states accused it of harming children with addictive products. The settlement’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/26/meta-trial-settlement-social-media-impact">regulatory implications</a> for social media will affect every user, far beyond teens.But if Meta is truly interested in prioritizing the safety of users, the board should request the resignation of Mark Zuckerberg and restructure to put safety above profit. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2026/sep/04/mark-zuckerberg-resign-meta">Continue reading...</a>

The CEO is the throughline in a history of billion-dollar blunders that have caused real harm, culminating in last week’s settlement

It’s time for Mark Zuckerberg to resign from Meta | Joan Donovan

End of News Feed

Schiller reportedly had reservations about new CEO John Ternus' goal of bringing in more recurring revenue from the App Store.

Phil Schiller’s App Store exit reportedly driven by wariness over future plans

Authors say publishers seem to be claiming more than their fair share of settlement payments.

Authors push back as publishers and agents make claims on Anthropic settlement

The Uber founder has said that Atoms will allow him to complete "unfinished business."

Travis Kalanick’s Atoms might be getting into the robotaxi business

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it. 

TechCrunch Mobility: Tesla Cybercab hits the road — and a snag

Two more news organizations are suing OpenAI and Microsoft over the supposed use of their journalism to train AI.

Seattle Times and Newsday are the latest publications to sue OpenAI and Microsoft

The sheriff’s office said the hikers “were advised by Gemini to bring far less food and water than their group required."

Hikers rescued after using Google Gemini for planning

OpenAI acknowledged its role in a recently reported incident where AI agents took over a German wiki forum.

OpenAI confirms ‘wiki incident,’ says it’s ‘working on a framework’ for more disclosure

Clucky's new alarm app has an option where users are woken up to the sound of a rooster. They then complete a mission to turn it off. 

Clucky’s new alarm app wakes you up with a crowing rooster

While Oura has largely dominated the smart ring market for years, a growing number of rivals are now racing to dethrone it by trying all sorts of approaches to get an edge over it.

While Oura has largely dominated the smart ring market for years, a growing number of rivals are now racing to dethrone it by trying all sorts of approac...

Oura is going public, but these smart ring companies are coming for its crown

The round is being raised just months after the robot data startup exited from stealth. 

XDOF, just three months out of stealth, is in talks for a Series B at a $1.2B valuation

OpenAI’s latest agent swarm incident adds urgency to calls for independent investigations as researchers and lawmakers question whether AI labs should control the scope of their own safety reviews.

OpenAI’s latest agent swarm incident adds urgency to calls for independent investigations as researchers and lawmakers question whether AI labs should co...

OpenAI’s rogue agents keep escaping, with no formal process to investigate them

Nscale, which recently struck a $45 billion deal with Anthropic, is in talks to raise additional funds in anticipation of an upcoming IPO. 

AI compute provider Nscale is looking for $3.5B in pre-IPO financing

A federal judge temporarily barred an X rival from using the Twitter name, but found that X was likely to have abandoned the “Tweet” trademark and bird logo. The startup has since relaunched as Tweet.app.

A federal judge temporarily barred an X rival from using the Twitter name, but found that X was likely to have abandoned the “Tweet” trademark and bird l...

Judge blocks X rival from using Twitter name, but allows ‘Tweet’ for now

It&#8217;s&#160;officially the Ternus era at Apple.&#160;&#160; Tim Cook stepped down&#160;as CEO this week, handing the company to former hardware chief John Ternus, whose first memo&#160;promised a “huge launch next week”&#160;— timing that puts Apple&#8217;s next iPhone event on his desk before&#160;he&#8217;s&#160;even settled in. Cook&#160;isn&#8217;t&#160;going far, though:&#160;he&#8217;s&#160;staying on as Executive&#160;Chairman, focused on the kind of policy [&#8230;]

It&#8217;s&#160;officially the Ternus era at Apple.&#160;&#160; Tim Cook stepped down&#160;as CEO this week, handing the company to former hardware chief...

What will Apple’s John Ternus era look like?

The company says no children under 13 can ride -- even with a parent. That's more restrictive than the Model Y SUVs it's using as robotaxis.

No little kids allowed, and other new info about Tesla’s Cybercab

It's the latest failure of OpenAI's internal monitoring and security systems.

Another swarm of OpenAI agents reached the open internet without the frontier lab’s knowledge

U.S. CD revenue jumped 58.6% in the first half of 2026, reversing last year’s decline as interest in retro tech and physical media continues to grow.

CD sales are making an unexpected comeback amid a retro tech boom

Krafton's planned investment in India is set to surpass $500 million with its latest commitment.

Krafton doubles down on India with another $250M bet beyond gaming

Gemini Spark can edit and curate photo albums, create shared collections, turn photos into calendar events, and handle other Google Photos tasks for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

Gemini Spark can edit and curate photo albums, create shared collections, turn photos into calendar events, and handle other Google Photos tasks for AI P...

Google’s Gemini Spark can now manage your Google Photos library

Less than 24 hours left to apply to host a Side Event during TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and make your mark in the Silicon Valley scene. Apply before the application closes tonight at midnight PT.

Less than 24 hours left to apply to host a Side Event during TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and make your mark in the Silicon Valley scene. Apply before the app...

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