Workers told to be realistic about outcome of union talks as corporation aims to make savings with job cutsBBC staff have been told their bosses will forgo a pay rise this year but fear the freeze will lead to a meagre increase for the rank and file, who have been urged to be realistic about the outcome of union negotiations.Employees have been told that the corporation’s executive committee – its 12 highest-paid bosses including the director general, who were paid almost £5m in total last year – will have their pay frozen this year amid <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/apr/15/bbc-cut-jobs-downsize-matt-brittin-tim-davie">a £600m cost-cutting drive</a>. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/may/12/bbc-staff-fear-meagre-pay-rise-after-bosses-forgo-own-increase">Continue reading...</a>

Workers told to be realistic about outcome of union talks as corporation aims to make savings with job cuts

BBC staff fear meagre pay rise after bosses forgo own increase

Deborah Turness, who resigned last year, says traditional news in danger of being replaced by personality-led contentBroadcasters must urgently adapt to an existential threat from “creator journalism” that is causing audiences to shun traditional television news, the former boss of BBC News has said.Deborah Turness, who <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/nov/21/bbc-board-member-quits-after-being-cut-out-of-talks-over-liberal-bias-claims">resigned from the BBC</a> alongside the then director general, Tim Davie, last year, said consumption was “collapsing” for traditional television news, which was facing “a profound moment of disruption”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/may/12/broadcasters-must-react-threat-creator-journalism-says-ex-head-bbc-news">Continue reading...</a>

Deborah Turness, who resigned last year, says traditional news in danger of being replaced by personality-led content

Broadcasters must react to threat from ‘creator journalism’, says ex-head of BBC News

PM accused of dragging heels on forcing tech firms to block transmission of nude photos on children’s phonesInternet safety and children’s rights campaigners have accused Keir Starmer of failing to act on proposals to stop children sending and receiving nude images on their phones, after Jess Phillips resigned from the government saying she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”.The Labour politician was one of four ministers who quit on Tuesday and joined more than 80 MPs calling for the prime minister to go. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/12/online-safety-campaigners-reveal-starmer-frustrations-after-phillips-exit">Continue reading...</a>

PM accused of dragging heels on forcing tech firms to block transmission of nude photos on children’s phones

Online safety campaigners reveal Starmer frustrations after Phillips exit

Activists claim use of laws to curtail internet freedoms part of well-documented history of cracking down on dissentWhen Gabon’s media regulator indefinitely suspended major social media platforms in February, citing security concerns during anti-government protests, it became the talk of town – literally.Within weeks of the announcement, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass the restrictions surged in the central African country. When gendarmerie began stopping young men at road checkpoints in the capital Libreville and other urban centres to confiscate mobile phones with VPNs installed or detain the owners, warnings spread by word of mouth. Activists and opposition members said their accounts were also suspended due to efforts of state officials. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/13/concern-gabon-social-media-clampdown-human-rights">Continue reading...</a>

Activists claim use of laws to curtail internet freedoms part of well-documented history of cracking down on dissent

‘Blatant disregard for rights’: concern grows over Gabon’s social media clampdown

National broadcaster RTÉ accused of antisemitism for decision to screen satirical 1996 Eurovision episode in boycott of contest It is considered one of the funniest episodes of a beloved sitcom, but the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/father-ted">Father Ted </a>storyline about Eurovision has been dragged into the row over Israel’s participation in this week’s song contest.Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/apr/23/slovenia-to-air-films-about-palestine-instead-of-eurovision-song-contest">which is boycotting</a> the competition in protest against Israel’s inclusion, will instead broadcast the 1996 episode A Song for Europe, in which the characters Father Ted and Father Dougal perform their song My Lovely Horse and earn nul points. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/may/12/irish-tv-rte-father-ted-eurovision-final-israel">Continue reading...</a>

National broadcaster RTÉ accused of antisemitism for decision to screen satirical 1996 Eurovision episode in boycott of contest

Irish TV to air Father Ted instead of Eurovision final in protest against Israel’s inclusion

<ul><li>BBC to bring back classic gameshow after 24 years away</li><li>Former world champion to host with Paddy McGuinness</li></ul>The BBC is reracking the balls and chalking the cues again after announcing that the classic TV gameshow Big Break will return after 24 years away.The seven-time snooker world champion Stephen Hendry is to co-host the series alongside the presenter and comic Paddy McGuinness in a reboot of a show that originally ran for 10 series from 1991 to 2002. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/may/12/snookering-you-again-big-break-to-return-with-stephen-hendry-on-trick-shot-duties">Continue reading...</a>

BBC to bring back classic gameshow after 24 years away

Snookering you again: Big Break to return with Stephen Hendry on trick-shot duties

<ul><li>BBC to add Giroud to regular panel, including Frank</li><li>Postecoglou will join ITV, who show England opener</li></ul>The former Tottenham managers Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank will go head to head in the TV studio this summer as rival World Cup pundits. The Guardian has learned that Frank has signed a deal with BBC Sport as one of their main analysts, with Postecoglou having agreed to work for ITV.The BBC is also understood to have added the former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud to their regular punditry panel that includes Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Alan Shearer, with ITV recruiting Andros Townsend to join Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Roy Keane. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/12/world-cup-2026-pundits-bbc-itv-thomas-frank-ange-postecoglou">Continue reading...</a>

BBC to add Giroud to regular panel, including Frank

Frank and Postecoglou going head to head as BBC and ITV pundits for World Cup

Comedian will host the 99th Oscars in 2027 after viewership dipped this year despite rise in social media engagement<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/22/hilarious-defiant-and-unabashedly-weird-conan-obrien-hasnt-lost-an-iota-of-his-underdog-brilliance">Conan O’Brien</a>’s era as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/oscars">Oscars</a> host is becoming a trilogy. The Emmy-winning comedian will be back to host the 99th Academy awards in 2027, leaders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science said on Tuesday.O’Brien hosted the last two Oscar ceremonies to positive reviews. Earlier this year, in his <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/15/conan-obrien-opening-oscars-monologue">opening monologue</a>, he said he was “honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards … Next year it’s going to be a Waymo in a tux.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/12/conan-obrien-oscars-host-2027">Continue reading...</a>

Comedian will host the 99th Oscars in 2027 after viewership dipped this year despite rise in social media engagement

Conan O’Brien to return as Oscars host for third year in a row

Premium editions of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! cost up to $250 but some say signatures are unnaturally identicalLiza Minnelli fans who bought signed copies of her memoir are seeking refunds because they believe her signature is fake.Copies of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/10/kids-wait-till-you-hear-this-by-liza-minnelli-review-a-heady-brew-of-gossip-glamour-and-defiance">Kids, Wait Till You Hear This</a>! by the American 80-year-old singer were marketed around the world as “hand-signed collectibles”, with premium editions costing up to $250 (£185). <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/12/liza-minnelli-memoir-signed-by-hand-signatures-autopen">Continue reading...</a>

Premium editions of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! cost up to $250 but some say signatures are unnaturally identical

Buyers of Liza Minnelli memoir claim it was not signed by hand

There is a revolution reshaping how people want and get their information. News brands can and must react, but the time is now<ul><li>This is an extract from the Sir David Nicholas memorial lecture that Deborah Turness delivered in London on Tuesday evening</li></ul>No one can dispute that, today, the news industry is once again experiencing a revolution; a revolution that is reshaping news for a new generation of consumers. The disruption transcends all news brands. It impacts all journalists and all journalism, everywhere.I am an optimist. I believe there are very good reasons to believe in a bright future for what I call the established news providers. So I am determined, having spoken to many people for this dispatch from the frontline, to set out a positive way forward. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/warning-news-industry-act-now-joe-rogan-piers-morgan-ecosystem">Continue reading...</a>

There is a revolution reshaping how people want and get their information. News brands can and must react, but the time is now

A warning to the news industry: act now or the Joe Rogan/Piers Morgan ecosystem will leave you far behind | Deborah Turness

The naturalist is venerated as a cuddly Paddington Bear, but he’s more than that. Don’t let the superficial backslaps obscure the political critique he makesThe excesses the capitalist system has brought us have got to be curbed somehow. Ordinary people worldwide are beginning to realise that greed does not actually lead to joy. Our economic system has been based on the profit principle: you have to come out at the end of the year having made a profit, and the bigger profit you have made, the better it is. In the short term that works, but it ends with disaster.At this point, I should make a confession. The above sentiments are not mine at all. In fact, they were pilfered, purloined, shoplifted from a far more erudite radical thinker than myself. So, quiz time: which incendiary leftwing firebrand spoke these words? Zack Polanski? Antonio Gramsci? Ash Sarkar? At the very least, you would probably assume that, in the current climate, anyone daring to utter these dangerous fringe sentiments would be cast to the margins of our cultural life, only occasionally being let out for the purposes of getting shouted at on the Jeremy Vine show.Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/13/david-attenborough-most-radical-person-tv">Continue reading...</a>

The naturalist is venerated as a cuddly Paddington Bear, but he’s more than that. Don’t let the superficial backslaps obscure the political critique he m...

David Attenborough is not just a national treasure: he is also the most radical person on TV | Jonathan Liew

The festival is a celebration of cinema and a frantic trade show all at once. After 25 years, I can’t help but go backNothing prepares you for the shock that is the Cannes film festival: the adrenaline, the fatigue, the elation and the emotion, but also the hunger, the anger, the magic and the ridicule. For young cinephiles, and for almost everybody who works in the film industry, it is the mecca of cinema and has been so for nearly eight decades. Anyone going for the first time this week, as I did 25 years ago, should not listen to the old grognards – Cannes’ battle-worn veterans – who will lament that the festival has become an abominable circus and swear this year will be their last. It is a circus, and you can bet they will be back for as long as their knees can take it. For there is nothing quite like it.Born to counteract Benito Mussolini’s Venice film festival, its first edition was planned for September 1939, but Adolf Hitler had other plans. The previous year, under pressure from Berlin and Rome, the Venice film festival’s top prize, the Coppa Mussolini, was handed to Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda film Olympia, prompting the French, British and American delegates to walk out. Hence Cannes, conceived as the festival of the “free world”. More than 80 years later, for all its sins, it has remained faithful to that founding promise.Agnès Poirier is a political commentator, writer and critic for the British, American and European press <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/13/cannes-film-festival-beautiful-gruelling-circus-cinema">Continue reading...</a>

The festival is a celebration of cinema and a frantic trade show all at once. After 25 years, I can’t help but go back

Cannes is a beautiful, gruelling circus. I wouldn’t quit it for anything | Agnès Poirier

Requirement to upload documents for the purpose of ‘age verification’ is coming to platforms near youWant to Google your symptoms, join an ICE watch group on Facebook or scroll Reddit? You might need to show ID. Age verification is coming to platforms near you. Worse, it’ll come at the expense of your rights.More than <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-resources/state-avs-laws/">25 states</a>, and multiple countries, have enacted laws requiring mixed-audience websites to verify users’ ages to prevent access by children. Some of these laws target adult content providers explicitly while others apply these requirements to a wide array of websites, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.dwt.com/about/news/2025/10/dwt-files-1a-challenge-to-texas-app-store-law">Google search to Coursera to the New York Times</a>. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/website-age-verification-government-identification">Continue reading...</a>

Requirement to upload documents for the purpose of ‘age verification’ is coming to platforms near you

Upload government papers to go online? That’s our terrifying future | Aliya Bhatia

End of News Feed

There is no governmental mechanism to pay for an AI agent that monitors a patient between visits, calls to check in, coordinates a housing referral, or makes sure someone picks up their medication. ACCESS creates that mechanism for the first time.

There is no governmental mechanism to pay for an AI agent that monitors a patient between visits, calls to check in, coordinates a housing referral, or m...

Medicare’s new payment model is built for AI, and most of the tech world has no idea

The firm takes a generalist approach, backing companies across categories such as AI applications, fintech, healthcare, and security. The average check size for this fund will be between $3 million and $5 million, with the aim to back at least 30 startups. 

The firm takes a generalist approach, backing companies across categories such as AI applications, fintech, healthcare, and security. The average check s...

Kevin Hartz’s A* just closed its third fund with $450M

Sadi Thermal Machines is Drew Baglino's second startup since leaving Tesla in 2024.

Former Tesla exec and Heron Power CEO Drew Baglino has founded a heat pump startup

Altman said that Musk's focus on controlling the initial for-profit gave him pause because OpenAI was dedicated to keeping advanced AI out of the hands of a single person, and Altman, with his experience running the prominent startup accelerator Y Combinator, knew "founders who had control usually did not give it up."

Altman said that Musk's focus on controlling the initial for-profit gave him pause because OpenAI was dedicated to keeping advanced AI out of the hands o...

Musk mulled handing OpenAI to his children, Altman testifies

"Any sale or transfer of Anthropic stock, or any interest in Anthropic stock, offered by these firms is void and will not be recognized on our books and records," the company's support page reads.

"Any sale or transfer of Anthropic stock, or any interest in Anthropic stock, offered by these firms is void and will not be recognized on our books and ...

Anthropic warns investors against secondary platforms offering access to its shares

Fleet management company Samsara has developed an AI model to detect different kinds of potholes and gauge how fast they're deteriorating.

Potholes cost cities millions: This company is using AI and trucks to fix them

Google and SpaceX are in talks to build data centers in orbit, pitching space as the future home for AI compute, even as costs today remain far higher than on the ground.

Google and SpaceX are in talks to build data centers in orbit, pitching space as the future home for AI compute, even as costs today remain far higher th...

Report: Google and SpaceX in talks to put data centers into orbit

Google unveiled its new AI-first Googlebooks laptops, more agentic Gemini features, vibe-coded Android widgets, Gemini in Chrome, refreshed Android Auto, and more ahead of I/O.

Google unveiled its new AI-first Googlebooks laptops, more agentic Gemini features, vibe-coded Android widgets, Gemini in Chrome, refreshed Android Auto,...

Everything Google announced at its Android Show, from Googlebooks to vibe-coded widgets

Anthropic's new tools are designed to help law firms automate specific clerical functions — things like document search and review, case law resources, deposition prep, document drafting, and other related areas. 

Anthropic's new tools are designed to help law firms automate specific clerical functions — things like document search and review, case law resources, d...

The AI legal services industry is heating up — Anthropic is getting in on the action

Google's transcription feature will initially launch with Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones.

Google adds Gemini-powered dictation to Gboard, which could be bad news for dictation startups

Google’s new Android feature, Pause Point, forces you to wait before opening distracting apps in an effort to curb addictive scrolling habits.

Android adds a feature to stop you from doomscrolling

The company says Googlebooks, which are launching this fall, are the first laptops designed from the ground up for Gemini Intelligence to offer personal and proactive help.

The company says Googlebooks, which are launching this fall, are the first laptops designed from the ground up for Gemini Intelligence to offer personal ...

Google unveils Googlebook, a new line of AI-native laptops

To create a widget, users will be able to describe what they want using natural language. For example, you could ask the feature to "suggest three high-protein meal prep recipes every week" in order to get a custom dashboard that you can add and resize on your home screen.

To create a widget, users will be able to describe what they want using natural language. For example, you could ask the feature to "suggest three high-p...

Google’s ‘Create My Widget’ feature will let you vibe-code your own widgets

Gemini Intelligence will also include Gboard-based dictation and form-filling capabilities.

Google brings agentic AI and vibe-coded widgets to Android

Intrusion Logging is a new part of Android’s Advanced Protection Mode, which aims to help protect human rights activists, journalists, and dissidents from government spyware attack and law enforcement forensic devices.

Intrusion Logging is a new part of Android’s Advanced Protection Mode, which aims to help protect human rights activists, journalists, and dissidents fro...

Google launches new Android security feature to help uncover spyware attacks

Indigo's new social app lets you cross-post to the open social web, including Mastodon and Bluesky, and browse a unified timeline.

Indigo brings the open social web to one app

Community Bank, which operates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, disclosed a cybersecurity incident that exposed customers’ names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers.

Community Bank, which operates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, disclosed a cybersecurity incident that exposed customers’ names, dates of birth...

US bank discloses security lapse after sharing customer data with AI app

The feature is designed to help people get real-time context about trends and breaking stories, as well as receive recommendations, all within conversations. 

The feature is designed to help people get real-time context about trends and breaking stories, as well as receive recommendations, all within conversati...

Threads tests a Meta AI integration that works similarly to Grok

As bad actors weaponize AI to exploit software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed, companies are increasingly recognizing the need to bolster their cybersecurity defenses. The round valued the three-year-old startup at $725 million. 

As bad actors weaponize AI to exploit software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed, companies are increasingly recognizing the need to bolster their c...

Exaforce raises $125M Series B to build AI for catching and stopping cyberattacks as they happen

Waymo has issued a software recall that makes its robotaxis more cautious around flooded areas. A "final remedy" is in the works.

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