Makerfield MP has been under pressure over thinktank’s commissioning of PR firm to investigate reportersThe Labour minister Josh Simons has resigned from the government after the Guardian revealed that he falsely <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/20/labour-minister-falsely-linked-journalists-to-pro-kremlin-network-in-emails-to-gchq">linked reporters to a “pro-Kremlin” network</a> in emails to GCHQ despite having claimed to be “surprised” and “furious” about a PR firm’s investigation into their journalism.Simons, who had been a Cabinet Office minister, previously ran the thinktank Labour Together. He quit on Saturday, saying his position in office had become “a distraction from this government’s important work.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/28/minister-josh-simons-resigns-labour-together">Continue reading...</a>

Makerfield MP has been under pressure over thinktank’s commissioning of PR firm to investigate reporters

Labour minister Josh Simons resigns after falsely linking journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network

As the director general prepares to stand down, potential candidates have fallen away amid a series of crisesThere is an impressive shortlist circulating in Britain’s media circles, comprising some of the most talented executives in the business. Unfortunately for the BBC, it contains the names of figures no longer in the running to become its next director general.Those closely observing the corporation’s search for a successor to Tim Davie have been quick to note how the events of the past week help explain the alarming attrition rate. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/28/bbc-struggles-to-find-a-successor-to-tim-davie-director-general">Continue reading...</a>

As the director general prepares to stand down, potential candidates have fallen away amid a series of crises

Poisoned chalice? The BBC’s struggles to find a successor to Tim Davie

Streamer said ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match offer by David Ellison’s firmParamount Skydance has beaten Netflix to take over Warner Bros Discovery’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after the streaming giant refused to increase its bid.The $110bn deal ends a high-stakes bidding war between the two media companies, but the takeover still faces regulatory hurdles and a backlash from critics worried about a rightward tilt in US media. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/26/netflix-paramount-warner-bros">Continue reading...</a>

Streamer said ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match offer by David Ellison’s firm

Paramount Skydance wins Warner Bros Discovery bid after Netflix walks away from deal

Ofcom says that after provisional ruling it could apply to courts to demand internet providers stop access to siteA suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/27/suicide-forum-in-breach-of-online-safety-act-after-failing-to-block-uk-users">Continue reading...</a>

Ofcom says that after provisional ruling it could apply to courts to demand internet providers stop access to site

Suicide forum found to be in breach of Online Safety Act after failing to block UK users

Liz Kendall to launch consultation next week that will also explore alternatives such as curbs on infinite scrollingMinisters will take another step towards banning social media for under-16s next week as they launch a consultation on the policy, with government insiders increasingly certain Keir Starmer will back the idea.Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, will publish the terms of reference for the consultation, which is expected to explore options including an age limit and less hardline action such as curbs on infinite scrolling. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/26/uk-social-media-ban-under-16s-consultation-keir-starmer-backing">Continue reading...</a>

Liz Kendall to launch consultation next week that will also explore alternatives such as curbs on infinite scrolling

UK social media ban for under-16s edges closer with Starmer expected to back it

Station will no longer be working with journalist after pianist makes email publicPianist Yuja Wang today made public an email sent to her by writer, critic and Radio 3 presenter Norman LeBrecht, and her response that accuses the journalist of “derogatory misogynistic bullying”.Lebrecht had written to the musician querying her decision to withdraw from a BBC Lebrecht Interview stating: “I am surprised and disappointed. I thought you were a serious person who stood by her commitments. I may have to revise that opinion.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/26/yuja-wang-accuses-radio-3-norman-lebrecht-misogynistic-bullying">Continue reading...</a>

Station will no longer be working with journalist after pianist makes email public

Yuja Wang accuses Radio 3’s Norman Lebrecht of misogynistic bullying

Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce and Anthony Albanese have appeared on news host’s breakaway podcast, which has climbed to No 2 in Australian chartsBy the time the prime minister sat down at the Lodge for a live chat on the Karl Stefanovic Show, Nine’s highest-paid journalist had amassed more than 50,000 YouTube subscribers on his new independent platform in four weeks. His most popular videos, each watched almost 300,000 times on YouTube and TikTok, feature guests with strong anti-immigration views.By Friday, the Karl Stefanovic Show had climbed to the second spot on Apple Podcasts overall, behind Mamamia Out Loud, and was number one in the news category. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/28/karl-stefanovic-show-podcast-albanese-interview-australia-ntwnfb">Continue reading...</a>

Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce and Anthony Albanese have appeared on news host’s breakaway podcast, which has climbed to No 2 in Australian charts

Riding the rightwing algorithm to success: is Karl Stefanovic Australia’s Joe Rogan?

BBC and Financial Times among those calling for frameworks to help publishers gain control over their content being ‘scraped and copied’A coalition of UK media companies including the Guardian has urged industry peers to back global frameworks ensuring AI firms pay for the journalism they use.The news providers are calling on leaders across publishing, broadcasting, media and news to join their newly created group, with the aim of protecting “original journalism” and securing “the long-term sustainability of our industry”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/26/guardian-joins-media-coalition-to-protect-original-journalism-from-unpaid-use-by-ai">Continue reading...</a>

BBC and Financial Times among those calling for frameworks to help publishers gain control over their content being ‘scraped and copied’

Guardian joins media coalition to protect original journalism from unpaid use by AI

Feature for supervised accounts rolls out as Meta platform faces US trials over alleged harms to childrenInstagram will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm.The announcement on Thursday comes as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/instagram">Instagram</a>’s parent company, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/meta">Meta</a>, is in the midst of two trials over harms to children. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/26/instagram-meta-self-harm-searches">Continue reading...</a>

Feature for supervised accounts rolls out as Meta platform faces US trials over alleged harms to children

Instagram to alert parents if teens repeatedly search self-harm terms

With David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance poised to buy Warner Bros Discovery, the president is tightening his grip on the US media<ul><li>Get Margaret Sullivan’s latest columns delivered straight to your inbox by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/16/margaret-sullivan-newsletter-sign-up-email-alerts">signing up here</a></li></ul>For many years, Donald Trump has trashed CNN and has <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/03/trump-whips-up-crowd-anger-as-he-vilifies-media">taught his loyal followers</a> to do the same.During the 2016 presidential campaign, angry chants of “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/14/cnn-trump-debacle-town-hall-us-media">CNN sucks!</a>” reverberated at his campaign rallies, and he still jumps at every opportunity to disparage star CNN journalists such as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://people.com/kaitlan-collins-responds-after-being-slammed-donald-trump-smiling-jeffrey-epstein-survivors-11908506">Kaitlan Collins.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/28/trump-paramount-skydance-warner-bros-cnn-netflix">Continue reading...</a>

With David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance poised to buy Warner Bros Discovery, the president is tightening his grip on the US media

Trump just got much closer to bringing CNN to heel | Margaret Sullivan

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Media Matters over critical coverage. It’s just one example of the administration’s approachThe Trump administration is embracing an intimidation strategy to silence critical media coverage. Here’s how it works: a federal agency launches a pretextual investigation into a perceived enemy, keeps the investigation open to coerce compliance, and resists any effort to have a court review the lawfulness of the agency’s actions.There’s no better example than the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliatory investigation of Media Matters for America for its critical coverage of one of the Trump administration’s most powerful allies.David Bralow is counsel to the Intercept <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/27/trump-free-speech-ftc-media-matters">Continue reading...</a>

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Media Matters over critical coverage. It’s just one example of the administration’s approach

Trump has embraced a disturbing strategy to silence free speech | David Bralow

The latest rush of docudramas seems to suggest that anyone in the public eye must expect a degree of intrusion. But where does that end?Was that really Peter Mandelson getting into <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/23/peter-mandelson-arrested-on-suspicion-of-misconduct-in-public-office">a police car on Monday</a>? Was it really the same Mandelson who had supposedly <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/24/mandelson-accuses-police-of-arresting-him-over-baseless-claims-he-planned-to-flee-abroad">been about to flee</a> to the British Virgin Islands, the man called “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUVtW0uDX_P/">a traitor</a>” to his country and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mkd29lk08o">the buddy</a> of a sex trafficker of girls? Was he really to be questioned for nine hours by the police over “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/24/what-is-misconduct-public-office-why-hard-investigate">misconduct in public office</a>”, an offence few people have ever heard of? For a moment, I thought it must be a trailer for a new Epstein docudrama “inspired by real-life events”.For two months, news desks on both sides of the Atlantic have been trawling through the Epstein files, daily releasing sensational details. This one story – now years old – is crushing out many others. The name of Jeffrey Epstein this past week has claimed precedence over Donald Trump, China, Iran and Ukraine. Each night’s BBC television news has demoted Keir Starmer, the NHS, tax reform and student loans. Preference is relentlessly ceded to Epstein, with bit parts for the former prince Andrew, Mandelson, Bill Gates, the Clintons and a galaxy of billionaires and celebrities. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/27/dirty-business-lady-mandelson-arrest-docudramas-intrusion">Continue reading...</a>

The latest rush of docudramas seems to suggest that anyone in the public eye must expect a degree of intrusion. But where does that end?

Dirty Business, The Lady, Mandelson’s arrest – are they truth, ‘faction’ or just more drama? | Simon Jenkins

In this week’s newsletter: After a controversial awards moment thrust the condition into the spotlight, we look at the new biopic of John Davidson and the decades of portrayals that led to it• <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 wildfire surrounding last week’s Bafta ceremony – where Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson involuntarily shouted a racial slur at actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, and the BBC aired the moment – continues to rage. Criticisms have been levelled at, and investigations opened by, the Beeb and Bafta; hundreds of news stories and comment pieces have been devoted to the incident (if you read anything, make sure it’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/25/baftas-bbc-n-word-john-davidson-black-disabled-people">this clear-eyed piece</a> from Jason Okundaye, who was at the ceremony); and the climate on social media has been toxic, with much of the ire directed at Davidson himself. It’s an ire that is based on a complete misunderstanding of coprolalia, the form of Tourette syndrome (TS) that Davidson has, which results in the unintended and completely involuntary utterance of offensive or inappropriate remarks.There’s an unhappy irony at play here because Davidson, arguably more than any other person in Britain, has been responsible for raising awareness of TS. There’s an unfortunate symmetry, too, to the fact that the incident was shown on primetime BBC, because that was where Davidson was first brought to national attention as the subject of the landmark 1989 documentary John’s Not Mad. Directed by film-maker Valerie Kaye, and aired as part of the popular science series QED, the half-hour film – available on DVD or to rent or stream on Prime Video – shadows a 15-year-old Davidson around his home town of Galashiels, in the Scottish Borders, as he struggles both with his condition and the intolerance of those around him (his own grandmother claimed that he was possessed by the devil). <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/feb/27/from-documentary-shock-to-bafta-acclaim-how-the-screen-shaped-our-understanding-of-tourettes">Continue reading...</a>

In this week’s newsletter: After a controversial awards moment thrust the condition into the spotlight, we look at the new biopic of John Davidson and th...

The Guide #232: From documentary shock to Bafta acclaim – how the screen shaped our understanding of Tourette’s

End of News Feed

Learn more about Paramount's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — a historic Hollywood megadeal valued at $111 billion — as it continues to develop.

Learn more about Paramount's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — a historic Hollywood megadeal valued at $111 billion — as it continues to de...

What to know about the landmark Warner Bros. Discovery sale

Anthropic’s chatbot Claude seems to have benefited from the attention around the company’s fraught negotiations with the Pentagon.

Anthropic’s Claude rises to No. 2 in the App Store following Pentagon dispute

Here's everything we know about the biggest AI infrastructure projects, including major spending from Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI.

The billion-dollar infrastructure deals powering the AI boom

OpenAI's CEO claims its new defense contract includes protections addressing the same issues that became a flashpoint for Anthropic.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman announces Pentagon deal with ‘technical safeguards’

We round up everything Xiaomi announced at its Mobile World Congress event.

Xiaomi launches 17 Ultra smartphone, an AirTag clone, and an ultra slim powerbank

China’s push into humanoid robots is accelerating, with domestic firms shipping more units and iterating faster than U.S. competitors in a still-nascent market.

China’s push into humanoid robots is accelerating, with domestic firms shipping more units and iterating faster than U.S. competitors in a still-nascent ...

Why China’s humanoid robot industry is winning the early market

India, one of Supabase’s biggest markets, is seeing patchy access after a government block order.

India disrupts access to popular developer platform Supabase with blocking order

The company said such trades violates its internal company policies about using confidential information for personal gain.

OpenAI fires employee for using confidential info on prediction markets

"We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again," the president wrote in the post.

Pentagon moves to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk

In his lawsuit against OpenAI, Musk touted xAI safety compared with ChatGPT. A few months later, xAI's Grok flooded X with nonconsensual nude images.

Musk bashes OpenAI in deposition, saying ‘nobody committed suicide because of Grok’

Anthropic and the Pentagon are clashing over AI use in autonomous weapons and surveillance, raising high-stakes questions about national security, corporate control, and who sets the rules for military AI.

Anthropic and the Pentagon are clashing over AI use in autonomous weapons and surveillance, raising high-stakes questions about national security, corpor...

Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: What’s actually at stake?

OpenAI shared the new numbers as part of its announcement that it has raised $110 billion in private funding.

ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly active users

Suno lets users create music using natural language prompts, making it possible for people with little experience to generate audio with little effort.

AI music generator Suno hits 2M paid subscribers and $300M in annual recurring revenue

As Netflix continues its live sports push, the company has partnered with Apple to air the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Apple and Netflix team up to air Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 

Perplexity Computer, in the company’s words, "unifies every current AI capability into a single system." 

Perplexity’s new Computer is another bet that users need many AI models

The 10th-generation starter Pokémon were revealed in the trailer: Browt (a grass bird), Pombon (a fire puppy), and Gecqua (a water gecko). 

Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves are coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027

While Anthropic has an existing partnership with the Pentagon, the AI company has remained firm that its technology not be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weaponry.

While Anthropic has an existing partnership with the Pentagon, the AI company has remained firm that its technology not be used for mass domestic surveil...

Employees at Google and OpenAI support Anthropic’s Pentagon stand in open letter

The U.S. cybersecurity agency's acting director Madhu Gottumukkala will be replaced, after a year of cuts, layoffs, and staff reassignments, and allegations of security lapses and claims he struggled to lead the agency.

The U.S. cybersecurity agency's acting director Madhu Gottumukkala will be replaced, after a year of cuts, layoffs, and staff reassignments, and allegati...

CISA replaces acting director after a bumbling year on the job

Similar to the streaming giant's Music and Podcast Charts, the Audiobook Charts will be updated weekly and highlight the top audiobooks overall and by genre.

Similar to the streaming giant's Music and Podcast Charts, the Audiobook Charts will be updated weekly and highlight the top audiobooks overall and by ge...

Spotify is rolling out Audiobook Charts

The lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 end after today. Prices go up at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don't miss connecting with 10,000 founders, investors, and operators, and key takeaways from 250+ industry leaders. Register now to save up to $680, or up to 30% on group passes.

The lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 end after today. Prices go up at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don't miss connecting with 10,000 founders, inve...

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