Exclusive: Goldsmith and brother Ben the major investors in trkradio, which is due to go to air next monthThe former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith is launching a new sports radio station, trkradio, in the run-up to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/world-cup-2026">men’s football World Cup this summer</a>.The Track Radio Corporation is understood to have been granted a licence by Ofcom last week, with Goldsmith and his brother Ben, a financier and environmentalist, the major investors. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/08/former-tory-minister-zac-goldsmith-to-launch-new-sports-radio-station">Continue reading...</a>

Exclusive: Goldsmith and brother Ben the major investors in trkradio, which is due to go to air next month

Former Tory minister Zac Goldsmith to launch new sports radio station

Lucia Osborne-Crowley has endured threats and sexual harassment to report on Jeffrey Epstein’s chief enabler. Maxwell’s conviction was only the start of the quest for justice, she saysOn 9 September 2022, Lucia Osborne-Crowley flew from London to Miami and caught a Greyhound bus north to West Palm Beach. The writer and journalist had arranged to meet Carolyn Andriano, who was abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell from the age of 14 until she was 17, starting in 2001. Andriano had been a crucial witness in the trial against Maxwell in 2021.When the two women met, Andriano said she had just been visited by a private investigator – a man in his 60s, who had heard she was talking to someone about a book. In a restaurant that afternoon, Osborne-Crowley was approached by a man in his 60s. What was she writing, he wanted to know. He offered her drugs, cash and a meeting with one of Epstein’s pilots, then put his hands under her skirt. When the manager asked him to leave, he waited in the car park; Osborne-Crowley had to escape through a staff exit. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/09/lucia-osborne-crowley-tenacious-traumatic-fight-expose-ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein">Continue reading...</a>

Lucia Osborne-Crowley has endured threats and sexual harassment to report on Jeffrey Epstein’s chief enabler. Maxwell’s conviction was only the start of ...

‘The cover-up is brazen’: one journalist’s tenacious, traumatic fight to expose Ghislaine Maxwell

Tech firms condemned for lack of controls with Meta AI and Gemini even offering advice on how to bypass UK gambling and addiction checksAI chatbots are recommending illegal online casinos to vulnerable social media users, putting them at increased risk of fraud, addiction and even suicide.Analysis of five AI products, owned by some of the world’s largest tech companies, found that all could easily be prompted to list the “best” unlicensed casinos and offer tips on how to use them. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/08/ai-chatbots-point-vulnerable-to-online-casinos-gambling-addiction-uk">Continue reading...</a>

Tech firms condemned for lack of controls with Meta AI and Gemini even offering advice on how to bypass UK gambling and addiction checks

AI chatbots point vulnerable social media users to illegal online casinos, analysis shows

Lake, whom Trump appointed without Senate confirmation to run Voice of America parent agency, cut over 1,000 jobsA federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake unlawfully led the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for several months last year and voided mass layoffs and other actions taken during that period to dismantle the agency.The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.usagm.gov/who-we-are/">oversees</a> the Voice of America (VOA), the US’s largest and oldest international broadcaster, and provides grants to Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other news agencies. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/08/kari-lake-us-media-agency-voice-of-america">Continue reading...</a>

Lake, whom Trump appointed without Senate confirmation to run Voice of America parent agency, cut over 1,000 jobs

Judge rules Kari Lake unlawfully ran US media agency, voiding mass layoffs

He’s television’s most daring documentary-maker, known for asking questions others wouldn’t. But Theroux doesn’t seem to like it when the tables are turnedOn the pavement outside the Netflix office, I stand in the rain, confused. Was that interview a little off? Louis Theroux seemed not to like my questions, which were typical interview questions, related to him and his big glossy Netflix debut, Inside the Manosphere. He seemed, I don’t know, prickly? A&nbsp;bit&nbsp;testy? I’m&nbsp;prone to rumination, so&nbsp;perhaps I am overthinking. Because Louis Theroux is a good guy, right? He&nbsp;skewers the bad&nbsp;guys. And yet here I am, baffled. The only thing to do is sit in a cafe and replay the tape.Theroux is solicitous, lightly ironic in tone. “Louis,” he says. “How do you do?” I am fine. Looking forward to our chat, as you may imagine. Theroux, 55, might be north&nbsp;London dad in appearance – specs, grey T-shirt, black jeans, sneakers – but he’s the grandmaster of both&nbsp;the immersive documentary and interview form. The son of American writer Paul Theroux (a&nbsp;nepo&nbsp;baby&nbsp;before they existed), he has built a&nbsp;30‑year career in television, much of it at the BBC, making a&nbsp;virtue of being a socially awkward verbivore, hyper‑curious, super-funny. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/07/louis-theroux-interview-inside-the-manosphere-2026-documentary">Continue reading...</a>

He’s television’s most daring documentary-maker, known for asking questions others wouldn’t. But Theroux doesn’t seem to like it when the tables are turned

‘Would you like me to cry now?’: Louis Theroux on the manosphere, marriage and misunderstandings

Axel Springer, owner of Bild and Die Welt, agrees all-cash deal for one of UK’s oldest newspapersThe European media group Axel Springer is to acquire the Telegraph after tabling a £575m deal that has scuppered a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/20/lisa-nandy-media-regulator-daily-mail-telegraph-titles">rival deal</a> from the owner of the Daily Mail.Axel Springer, which owns Europe’s biggest newspaper, Bild, and the daily Die Welt, has agreed an all-cash deal for Telegraph Media Group (TMG), the owner of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/06/axel-springer-buy-telegraph-daily-mail-owner">Continue reading...</a>

Axel Springer, owner of Bild and Die Welt, agrees all-cash deal for one of UK’s oldest newspapers

Telegraph sold for £575m as German buyer elbows out Daily Mail

My friend Ardan Fisher, who has died aged 79, was a film editor for the BBC during its creative heyday. While working in the music and arts department he edited documentaries such as The Orson Welles Story (1982) and Artists and Models (1986), working alongside BBC stalwarts including Alan Yentob and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/sep/09/leslie-megahey-obituary">Leslie Megahey</a>. He then moved into television drama and film after winning a Bafta award for the thriller Edge of Darkness (1985).Ardan was born in Cambridge to Bryan, bursar of the Bath Academy of Art and his wife, Irene (nee Jefferies), a teacher. He grew up in Corsham in Wiltshire, where his parents moved into a big house on the high street and transformed the spare bedrooms into lodgings for art students. As a result, he was surrounded by unconventional, inquiring minds – and gained a worldliness beyond his years. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/06/ardan-fisher-obituary">Continue reading...</a>

My friend Ardan Fisher, who has died aged 79, was a film editor for the BBC during its creative heyday. While working in the music and arts department he...

Ardan Fisher obituary

Announcing the InterPositive deal, the actor says he was moved from being scared of the technology to embracing itBen Affleck has sold his artificial intelligence company to Netflix in a surprise deal, saying he had been driven to embrace a technology that had initially “really scared” him.Netflix has acquired the postproduction startup InterPositive from the Oscar-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter for an undisclosed sum. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/06/ben-affleck-sells-ai-postproduction-startup-interpositive-to-netflix">Continue reading...</a>

Announcing the InterPositive deal, the actor says he was moved from being scared of the technology to embracing it

Ben Affleck sells his AI postproduction startup to Netflix

Platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as communication minister says ‘our children face real threats’<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/indonesia">Indonesia</a> will ban social media for children under 16, its communication and digital affairs minister said on Friday.Meutya Hafid said in a statement to media said that she signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live, a popular livestreaming site. With a population of about 285 million, the fourth-highest in the world, the south-east Asian nation represents a significant market for social networks. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/06/indonesia-social-media-ban-children">Continue reading...</a>

Platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as communication minister says ‘our children face real threats’

Indonesia to ban social media for children under 16

As a new report reveals career ‘apartheid’ in newsrooms, I and many others wonder if the fine promises will ever bring genuine changeThere’s a generally accepted ethical requirement for news organisations to reflect society, both in terms of the content they produce and the people who produce it. Unfortunately, this is just not happening. Look, for example, at the new study released this week by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity revealing a DEI backlash in British journalism<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/04/journalism-minority-newsroom-jobs-report">, with one respondent describing their office as an “apartheid newsroom”</a>. Look, too, at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.thepressawards.com/">Press Awards</a>, said to showcase “the best of national journalism in the UK”, and notably the individual awards shortlists. Search for the Black journalists in them. You’ll struggle. Diversity was clearly not a priority: several categories, including news reporter of the year, feature only men.As the head of journalism and strategic communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, this all makes my heart sink.Dr Omega Douglas is an academic and writer. Her latest book <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Racial-Dynamics-of-Reporting-Africa-Colonial-and-Decolonial-Practices-in-Mainstream-Western-News-Media/Douglas/p/book/9781032569451">The Racial Dynamics of Reporting Africa: Colonial and Decolonial Practices is Mainstream Western News Media</a> is published by Routledge.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tone/letters"> letters</a> section, please <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:guardian.letters@theguardian.com?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20with%20your%20letter%20below.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author%27s%20name%20and%20city/town/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20where%20necessary.">click here</a>. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/09/who-decides-news-diversity-black-journalists">Continue reading...</a>

As a new report reveals career ‘apartheid’ in newsrooms, I and many others wonder if the fine promises will ever bring genuine change

Who decides what’s news these days? For all the diversity talk, it certainly isn’t Black journalists | Omega Douglas

The European media giant Axel Springer has scuppered the Daily Mail owner. But why did it not bid sooner? And what will Brexit-backing readers think?After three years, a series of failed bids stretching from the US to Abu Dhabi, internal rebellions and even changes in the law, it should be no surprise that the tortured sale of the Telegraph has delivered another spectacular twist with a blockbuster offer from the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/06/axel-springer-buy-telegraph-daily-mail-owner">media giant Axel Springer</a>.It has torpedoed the long-held dreams of the Daily Mail proprietor, Lord Rothermere, to secure the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and begin the next chapter of his family’s love affair with the British press. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/06/german-twist-in-the-telegraph-tale-shatters-lord-rothermeres-dreams">Continue reading...</a>

The European media giant Axel Springer has scuppered the Daily Mail owner. But why did it not bid sooner? And what will Brexit-backing readers think?

German twist in the Telegraph tale shatters Lord Rothermere’s dreams

As the public consultation on the BBC nears its end, the right will be out in force to undermine it. But its supporters can do their bit – with this guidanceThe BBC may have more than one and a half years before its charter expires in December 2027, but the public consultation on its renewal closes next week. All those who care about the BBC’s future should hurry and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/britains-story-the-next-chapter-the-bbc-royal-charter-review-green-paper-and-public-consultation">send in their response</a> before 10 March. Despite strong public support for the national broadcaster, you can bet battalions of enemies driven by the right will be out in force to undermine it.The timing turns out to be accidentally apt. As chaos is unleashed across the Middle East, the BBC and its array of experienced correspondents has never been more visibly needed. Nightly reports from Jeremy Bowen, Sarah Smith, Lyse Doucet, Orla Guerin, Clive Myrie and all the rest give the country – and the world – trusted updates, as few others can do. The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Lisa Nandy, a strong defender of the BBC, called its World Service “the light on the hill” in a world of flexible fictitious facts.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/06/bbc-public-consultation-supporters-guidance">Continue reading...</a>

As the public consultation on the BBC nears its end, the right will be out in force to undermine it. But its supporters can do their bit – with this guid...

In a world of lies, we need the BBC more than ever. This week could be our last chance to save it | Polly Toynbee

The early intel from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels paints the Targaryens as tyrants – so making them the heroes is going to require some hefty literary PRThere must be a few Game of Thrones fans out there who have rather mixed feelings about the news that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/03/game-of-thrones-film-warner-bros">Warner Bros is to bring George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire “universe” to the big screen</a>. On the one hand, the prospect of a properly enormous fantasy epic featuring dragons the size of commuter trains is undeniably appealing; on the other, have they really thought this thing through?Reports suggest that the feature film will take as its source material Aegon Targaryen’s conquest, which brought the purple-eyed, dragon-riding clan to continental Westeros (and united six of its seven kingdoms) about 300 years before the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones itself. There’s also a TV series happening, which will presumably cover much of the same ground in greater detail. At first glance, this ought to make even the most reluctant fantasy acolyte want to punch the air. After all, Aegon’s conquest is the sort of story cinema was invented for: dragons blotting out the sky, castles melting like cheese toasties under a blowtorch; an entire continent being thrillingly upended by a bunch of platinum-haired dragonlords. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/06/game-of-thrones-movie-george-rr-martin-targaryens-a-song-of-ice-and-fire">Continue reading...</a>

The early intel from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels paints the Targaryens as tyrants – so making them the heroes is going to require so...

The Game of Thrones movie is coming – but how are they going to make audiences root for the baddies?

End of News Feed

The facial recognition question is where things get more tangled.

Ring’s Jamie Siminoff has been trying to calm privacy fears since the Super Bowl, but his answers may not help

The company launched its first product, a Game Boy-style handheld device called the Chromatic, in 2024.

Palmer Luckey’s retro gaming startup ModRetro reportedly seeks funding at $1B valuation

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, we discussed what the controversy means for other startups seeking to work with the federal government.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, we discussed what the controversy means for other startups seeking to work with the federal governm...

Will the Pentagon’s Anthropic controversy scare startups away from defense work?

AI data center developers are increasingly relying on a style of camp popularized as housing for men working in remote oil fields.

Owner of ICE detention facility sees big opportunity in AI man camps

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.” 

TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s R2 gambit

The Pro-Human Declaration was finalized before last week's Pentagon-Anthropic standoff, but the collision of the two events wasn’t lost on anyone involved.

A roadmap for AI, if anyone will listen

A coalition of telecom operators and device makers is pushing $40 smartphones to bring up to 20 million people online, but rising component costs threaten the plan.

A coalition of telecom operators and device makers is pushing $40 smartphones to bring up to 20 million people online, but rising component costs threate...

Push for $40 smartphones builds momentum, but still faces cost hurdles

Most of it is tied to performance, including new stock incentives linked to Waymo and Wing, its drone delivery venture.

Google just gave Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package

A recently-added feature in Grammarly purports to improve users’ writing with help from the world's great writers and thinkers — and some tech journalists, too.

A recently-added feature in Grammarly purports to improve users’ writing with help from the world's great writers and thinkers — and some tech journalist...

Grammarly’s ‘expert review’ is just missing the actual experts

Hardware executive Caitlin Kalinowski announced today that in response to OpenAI's controversial agreement with the Department of Defense, she’s resigned from her role leading the company's robotics team.

Hardware executive Caitlin Kalinowski announced today that in response to OpenAI's controversial agreement with the Department of Defense, she’s resigned...

OpenAI hardware exec Caitlin Kalinowski quits in response to Pentagon deal

David Barnett, founder of PopSocket, stops by Equity to talk about scaling the business and what he's learned as a leader. 

PopSockets founder David Barnett talks about building a viral business

The feature, which will give verified adult users access to erotica and other adult content, had already been delayed from December.

OpenAI delays ChatGPT’s ‘adult mode’ again

The fund currently offers retail investors exposure to eight startups, including Mercor, Ramp, and Stripe, with plans to expand its portfolio.

Robinhood’s startup fund stumbles in NYSE debut

An ad test on X promotes Musk's Starlink beneath original content.

X is testing a new ad format that connects posts with products

This lawsuit comes after a Supreme Court decision struck down some of the president's sweeping tariffs, which had impacted Nintendo and thousands of other companies.

This lawsuit comes after a Supreme Court decision struck down some of the president's sweeping tariffs, which had impacted Nintendo and thousands of othe...

Nintendo sues the US government for a refund on tariffs

The Rad Power brand is expected to live on. 

Life EV officially owns Rad Power Bikes now

A 61-year-old worker died on Thursday after reportedly getting stuck between a tractor trailer and a loading dock.

OSHA probing fatality at Rivian warehouse

Trump's Department of War feud with Anthropic won't impact other companies that are using Claude via Microsoft and Google products.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon say Anthropic Claude remains available to non-defense customers

It's the first permit to be issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in nearly a decade. 

Bill Gates’ TerraPower gets approval to build new nuclear reactor

In a recent security partnership with Mozilla, Anthropic found 22 separate vulnerabilities in Firefox — 14 of them classified as "high-severity." 

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