At the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre broke new ground in selling readers an angry rightwing perspective. Today, most of Fleet Street is run by his disciplesIn 1986, 131 years after the Daily Telegraph was founded, its editor, Max Hastings, wrote a memo to senior colleagues about the newspaper’s nature and purpose. “The Daily Telegraph is … ‘nice’,” he said, “in the business of reassurance, of providing confirmation each morning for our readers that their world is looking pretty safe and stable.” He went on: “We are not a strident campaigning newspaper – our business each day is to seek to give our readers the fullest possible information about what is happening in the world, and to suggest what it might mean.”In practice, under Hastings and many other Telegraph editors, this ethos produced a journalism of pervasive but usually understated conservatism: often focused on the English countryside, the value of hierarchy and tradition, the pleasures of seasonal pursuits such as foxhunting and gardening, the interests of farmers and retired military men – and cautionary tales about more reckless lives gone wrong, often presented through enjoyably detailed reports from the divorce courts. The Torygraph, as many non-readers called it, could be inward-looking and “numbingly dull”, says Geoffrey Wheatcroft, the historian of British conservatism, but it was “thoroughly respectable”. Many of its most renowned figures, such as Hastings’s predecessor as editor, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/aug/18/guardianobituaries.obituaries1">Bill Deedes</a>, were “mildness itself”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/16/the-dacre-dynasty-how-the-daily-mails-fearsome-former-editor-still-shapes-the-british-press">Continue reading...</a>

At the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre broke new ground in selling readers an angry rightwing perspective. Today, most of Fleet Street is run by his disciples

The Dacre dynasty: how Britain’s rightwing press was radicalised

Ofcom concerned TikTok’s age verification is ineffective, leaving some exposed to posts on suicide, self-harm and pornographyTikTok is under formal investigation over concerns it has failed to protect children from harmful content, the UK’s online regulator, Ofcom, has announced.The social media platform’s approach to checking the ages of users has sparked “particular concerns” at the watchdog, almost a year after measures to protect children from the worst of online content came into effect under <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/24/thursday-briefing-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-internet-safety-rules">the Online Safety Act.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/16/tiktok-uk-investigation-ofcom-child-protection-self-harm-suicide">Continue reading...</a>

Ofcom concerned TikTok’s age verification is ineffective, leaving some exposed to posts on suicide, self-harm and pornography

TikTok facing UK investigation amid fears over age checks and harm to children

Psychologist Candice Odgers has studied adolescent mental health for 25 years. She fears the current debate around smartphones obscures some of the biggest issues facing teenagers – from the impact of Covid to the health of their adult caregiversThe quickest way to make being online safer for children and teens would be to kick all adult men off the internet, the Canadian psychologist Candice Odgers believes. Men are the biggest perpetrators of sextortion and most likely to spread misinformation, she says.Odgers is not recommending this as a policy for governments to adopt: “That would be crazy, right? It would be unfair.” But she is on a drive to puncture the prevailing narrative that the best way to address online harms is a social media ban for teenagers. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/16/psychologist-candice-odgers-kids-tech-mental-health-social-media-bans">Continue reading...</a>

Psychologist Candice Odgers has studied adolescent mental health for 25 years. She fears the current debate around smartphones obscures some of the bigge...

The social media ban sceptic: are we getting it wrong on kids, tech and mental health?

<ul><li>Broadcasters expect to have time to analyse the game</li><li>Channels planning for break to last 25 to 30 minutes</li></ul>ITV and BBC are planning to screen in full Fifa’s controversial half-time show from the final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, but the broadcasters remain in the dark over how long it will last.The Guardian <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/10/tv-rights-holders-frustrated-over-world-cup-final-half-time-show-delay">revealed last month</a> that there were concerns among broadcasters at the length of the half-time spectacle, which has been curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and will feature Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and the K‑pop boyband BTS. They are planning for the interval to last between 25 and 30 minutes. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/15/itv-bbc-world-cup-final-half-time-show">Continue reading...</a>

Broadcasters expect to have time to analyse the game

ITV and BBC to screen full World Cup final half-time show despite time concerns

The much-loved presenter had 10 years on This Morning before suddenly deciding she had to get out of there. She discusses sexual harassment, tabloid intrusion, Phillip Schofield and the power of forgivenessOn the daytime TV behemoth that is This Morning, Fern Britton always had an appealing mix of warmth, no-nonsense capability and a hint of danger, as if she could decide to blow it all up at any moment. And then she did.On the day she resigned in 2009, Britton didn’t know she was going to do it, but amid rumours of a feud with co-host Phillip Schofield, she took the scorched-earth route and walked away from her high-profile, high-paying job with nothing to take its place. Was she not worried about what she would do next? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/15/fern-britton-survived-tv-1980s-beyond-this-morning-phillip-schofield">Continue reading...</a>

The much-loved presenter had 10 years on This Morning before suddenly deciding she had to get out of there. She discusses sexual harassment, tabloid intr...

‘Frank Bough told me: I do have a very big cock’: how Fern Britton survived in TV in the 1980s – and beyond

Star Wars director calls AI technology ‘the future’ of film-making and says ‘there’s nothing you can do about it’The Star Wars director, George Lucas, has added his voice to the growing chorus of film-makers receptive to the rising use of AI tools in moviemaking.Speaking in an interview with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://a-rabbitsfoot.com/editorial/confessions/the-last-picture-show-a-conversation-with-george-lucas/">A Rabbit’s Foot</a>, Lucas, 82, said: “Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/15/george-lucas-likens-ai-sceptics-to-luddites-clinging-to-horses-and-carts">Continue reading...</a>

Star Wars director calls AI technology ‘the future’ of film-making and says ‘there’s nothing you can do about it’

George Lucas likens AI sceptics to luddites clinging to horses and carts

Five decades since punk bible Sniffin’ Glue, DIY magazines are in rude, rich health. Their creators talk fandom, community-building and resisting the algorithm‘The most important part of the word ‘fanzine’ is ‘fan’,” says London-based zine-maker Jon Marsh. Existing outside mainstream media, free from the demands of release cycles and search engine optimisation, music fanzines are obsessions turned into tangible objects; self-published primarily for the maker’s own enjoyment, but with the potential of forging connections with like-minded people.In the 1970s, punk zines such as Sniffin’ Glue, Alternative Ulster and Ripped &amp; Torn allowed fans to share news and enthusiasm quickly and cheaply. Half a century on, music fanzines are enjoying a resurgence as a form of resistance to algorithm fatigue and the hyper-capitalist music industry. “Digital attention span is at an all-time low,” says hip-hop musician ExP, creator of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://dubwhy.com/products/wy-hip-hop-issue-1-zine?variant=57690204242265">West Yorkshire Hip-Hop</a> zine. “You’re almost definitely going to spend more time looking at a zine than anything you see scrolling. It’s more interesting and more real.” In the words of Stephen McRobbie, from indie-pop icons and fanzine regulars the Pastels: “It’s the long way round compared to other media, but the scenery is always better.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jul/15/uk-fanzines-zine-radical-resurgence">Continue reading...</a>

Five decades since punk bible Sniffin’ Glue, DIY magazines are in rude, rich health. Their creators talk fandom, community-building and resisting the alg...

‘More real than anything you’ll see scrolling’: the radical resurgence of UK fanzines, 50 years after punk

Promise Me, America to cover everything from economy to decision to drop bid for re-electionFormer president <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/joebiden">Joe Biden will</a> publish a memoir this fall, publisher Little, Brown and Company told the Associated Press.Promise Me, America, which Biden says will touch upon everything from the economy to his decision to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/21/biden-drops-out-kamala-harris-takeaways">drop his bid for re-election</a>, is scheduled to come out on 17 November. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/15/joe-biden-promise-me-america-memoir-book">Continue reading...</a>

Promise Me, America to cover everything from economy to decision to drop bid for re-election

Joe Biden to publish memoir of presidency after November midterms

Midnight to 6am block on some apps is latest stage of Labour’s bid to protect young people from online harmsSixteen and 17-year-olds are to be encouraged to observe a midnight social media curfew, in the latest stage of Labour’s bid “to protect the next generation” from online harms, including poor sleep caused by night-time scrolling.From next spring, Britain’s oldest children will be urged to refrain from using certain apps with a midnight to 6am block being switched on by default. But the curfew will not be mandatory and can be overridden. The move is an extension of the under-16 social media ban announced last month, which included restrictions on platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/14/uk-16-17-year-olds-midnight-social-media-curfew">Continue reading...</a>

Midnight to 6am block on some apps is latest stage of Labour’s bid to protect young people from online harms

UK 16- and 17-year-olds to be encouraged to follow midnight social media curfew

<ul><li>L’Équipe laments ‘mentally sunk’ players in Dallas</li><li>Ouest France front page reads: ‘End of American dream’</li></ul>French fans’ expectations of their national team had been at an all‑time high: a semi-final on Bastille Day, Kylian Mbappé a hero, a squad unbeaten. Across the country, bars had been packed with viewers spilling on to pavements, ready to crack open the fireworks ahead of hopes for the final.The night was unexpectedly subdued, however, streets cleared early. On Wednesday morning, the French media were digesting the disappointment of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/14/france-spain-world-cup-semi-final-match-report">defeat in a World Cup semi-final</a>, praising Spain’s performance in Texas while struggling to comprehend Les Bleus’ fall. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/15/france-world-cup-semi-final-media-reactions-spain">Continue reading...</a>

L’Équipe laments ‘mentally sunk’ players in Dallas

‘Collective failure’: French press digests World Cup semi-final defeat by Spain

Federal agents showed up at reporters’ homes, targeting journalists for doing exactly what the first amendment protectsTo non-journalists, receiving a government subpoena is a serious thing but probably not a violation of basic rights.To journalists, it’s quite a different matter – an attack on a foundational right to gather information in the public interest and to provide confidentiality to sources. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/14/new-york-times-subpoenas-trump-media">Continue reading...</a>

Federal agents showed up at reporters’ homes, targeting journalists for doing exactly what the first amendment protects

With New York Times subpoenas, Trump is brazenly escalating his attacks on the press | Margaret Sullivan

From mechanical mutts to android assassins, our cybernetic companions have been entertaining us, their organic overlords, for decades. Here are the 20 best automatons ever to grace the small screenThe robots are coming. And one of them happens to look a lot like Philomena Cunk in a wig. This week sees the arrival of Ann Droid, the BBC’s new odd-couple comedy. Diane Morgan stars as a secondhand elderly care bot, foisted upon <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/03/sue-johnston-interview-fame-loneliness-ann-droid-diane-morgan-comedy">Sue Johnston</a>’s sceptical pensioner.Ann Droid is the latest in a long line of TV tinheads. We tentatively toast the rise of the machines by counting down the all-time Top 20. Stand by, cybernetic selection is now loading … <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/15/tv-all-time-top-robots">Continue reading...</a>

From mechanical mutts to android assassins, our cybernetic companions have been entertaining us, their organic overlords, for decades. Here are the 20 be...

Bite my shiny metal ass! TV’s all-time top robots

The actor, who has died aged 78, was refreshingly candid about Hollywood, filmmaking, his cancer treatment – and why he preferred life on his New Zealand farm to the movie business<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/05/sam-neil-actor-20-best-roles-films-performances">Sam Neill’s 20 best performances</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2026/jul/13/sam-neill-a-life-in-pictures">A life in pictures</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/13/sam-neill-death-tributes">‘A true gentleman’: actors, directors and leaders pay tribute to Sam Neill</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/13/sam-neill-obituary">Obituary</a></li><li>Neill interviewed in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/17/sam-neill-cancer-memoir-interview">2023</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/05/the-second-act-of-sam-neill-the-truth-was-i-didnt-know-how-long-i-had-to-live">2024</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/11/sam-neill-vineyard-bendigo-ophir-goldmine-otago-santana-minerals">2026</a></li></ul>I interviewed Sam Neill in 2024, remotely: he was in Vancouver filming a Netflix series, Untamed, but we were there to talk about a quirky Australian court-room drama, The Twelve. He was immediately, disarmingly frank. Its second season, he said, was “considerably stronger” than the first, which was absolutely true, the first being a little schlocky, and the second showing more trust in its audience and our tolerance for nuance.But actors, generally speaking, will never say anything remotely critical of any project, it’s just not worth the hassle. This can make even the most reflective among them sound anodyne, and the feeling of being in a conversation with a real, three-dimensional human was unfamiliar and warm. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/13/sam-neill-tribute-zoe-williams">Continue reading...</a>

The actor, who has died aged 78, was refreshingly candid about Hollywood, filmmaking, his cancer treatment – and why he preferred life on his New Zealand...

I interviewed Sam Neill in 2024. He was even more charming than I’d expected | Zoe Williams

End of News Feed

Google is adding personalized AI avatars to Vids that let users create videos starring a digital version of themselves, alongside Gemini Omni-powered tools for generating and editing videos from prompts and reference images.

Google is adding personalized AI avatars to Vids that let users create videos starring a digital version of themselves, alongside Gemini Omni-powered too...

Google Vids now lets you star in your own AI videos

Roblox's new "Build" feature lets users generate basic games using a single text prompt. 

Roblox launches an AI-powered game-creation feature in its mobile app

BP Ventures is shutting down, ending a nearly 20-year run that was marked by reportedly lackluster returns.

Oil giant BP shutters its corporate venture arm after 20 years

Uber has agreed to acquire Delivery Hero in a $14.8 billion all-stock deal that would nearly double the company’s global footprint and create one of the world’s largest food-delivery platforms outside China.

Uber has agreed to acquire Delivery Hero in a $14.8 billion all-stock deal that would nearly double the company’s global footprint and create one of the ...

Uber’s $14.8B Delivery Hero deal would nearly double its global footprint

Beehiiv is launching an AI Copilot to help publishers with user growth and analytics.

Newsletter platform Beehiiv now lets subscribers chat with each other, adds AI

X will use Grok AI to better detect stolen content, redirect payouts to original creators, and crack down on engagement bait.

X cracks down on creators who steal content

Travel agency Fora announced a $60 million Series D round led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion. 

AI-powered travel agency Fora hits unicorn status, raises $60M

With this new update, Google is expanding AI Mode beyond answering questions and into completing tasks across the apps they use regularly.

Google’s AI Mode now lets you link and interact with select apps

Google said users can soon access their notebooks through AI Mode in Search.

Google continues its renaming streak by turning NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook

DoorDash is opening a limited beta of dd-cli, a command-line tool that lets developers and AI agents search stores, build carts, and place orders from the terminal, marking another step toward software designed for AI agents instead of just humans.

DoorDash is opening a limited beta of dd-cli, a command-line tool that lets developers and AI agents search stores, build carts, and place orders from th...

Yes, you can now order DoorDash from the command line

Owen Flowers and Thalha Jubair, two members of the prolific Scattered Spider hacking group, pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years and six months in jail for hacking London’s metropolitan transit system. 

Owen Flowers and Thalha Jubair, two members of the prolific Scattered Spider hacking group, pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years and six month...

UK cops say arrest of two young hackers disrupted the operations of an infamous hacking group

One period tracker app tested by Mozilla was 'squeaky clean,' while another app was seen sharing users' health data with an analytics company, underscoring vast differences in user privacy among these apps.


One period tracker app tested by Mozilla was 'squeaky clean,' while another app was seen sharing users' health data with an analytics company, underscori...

Period tracker Stardust shares users’ health data with analytics firm, says Mozilla research

You may have heard that OpenAI released its first piece of hardware this week. You may not have heard about the ChatGPT basketball.

Why is OpenAI selling a ChatGPT basketball?

Drawing on more than a decade spent helping build some of the world's most influential AI systems, including research that later informed the development of ChatGPT, Andrew Dai explains why he believes visual AI is one of the next major frontiers in artificial intelligence.

Drawing on more than a decade spent helping build some of the world's most influential AI systems, including research that later informed the development...

How a former DeepMind researcher raised at a $300M pre-seed valuation before launching a product

The startup, founded in 2021, lets enterprise customers use smartphones to scan and spot vehicle damage.

Sheryl Sandberg leads $10 million investment in AI-powered vehicle inspection service

While everyone in AI is chasing "superintelligence," Alexandre LeBrun, CEO of Yann LeCun’s world model startup, AMI Labs, dismisses the word.

Why AMI Labs’ Alexandre LeBrun won’t call his AI ‘AGI’ or ‘superintelligence’

The FT reports Kimi K3 will be the largest open AI model from China, with a parameter count between 2 trillion and 3 trillion. 

Moonshot’s upcoming Kimi 3 is expected to close the gap with Anthropic’s Opus 4.8

The deal, which was rumored to be in the works last year, marks an important step for Apple's AI ambitions in a key market. 

Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba and Baidu

Aina is going to pilot a new device in the coming weeks.

Ultrahuman’s former hardware VP raises $5.5M for devices that control AI agents, not just record you

The updates come as Meta and other tech companies are facing scrutiny from regulators and parents around how AI chatbots respond to users in crisis, particularly teenagers. 

The updates come as Meta and other tech companies are facing scrutiny from regulators and parents around how AI chatbots respond to users in crisis, part...

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