The Guardian·2026-02-22
Chris Boffey obituaryChris Boffey arrived at the Observer in 2007 with a reputation as one of Fleet Street’s most experienced reporters and news executives, a journalist who had worked on papers as diverse as the Sun, News of the World and the Sunday Telegraph. Chris, who has died aged 74 of cancer, also brought along his own set of rules, which he deemed essential to the conduct of his reporters, of whom I was one. His mandates brought a subversive edge to the newsroom. First there was his 10-minute rule. A reporter, returning from a war zone or some other grim assignment, was given this strict time limit for their pub recollections of their experiences. After that, watches were stared at and interruptions began. As a colleague put it: “Chris had no time for ‘show ponies’.” Then there was his initially baffli
The Guardian·2026-02-22
Lobbyist in Labour Together scandal has been investigating Guardian reporter, say reportsA lobbyist who examined journalists on behalf of an influential thinktank has now been accused of recently investigating a Guardian reporter. Tom Harper, a senior director at the US public affairs company Apco, was the author of a 58-page report examining the journalists behind a 2023 Sunday Times story about undisclosed donations to Labour Together, the thinktank that was instrumental in Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership victory. His report, which was commissioned by the thinkthank, claimed – without evidence – that the story was based on data hacked from the Electoral Commission, which it linked to Russia. The report also examined the religious and ideological positions of some of the journalists and sources involved. According to the Sunday Times, Harper has since been examining Henry Dy
The Guardian·2026-02-22
Trump warns Netflix of ‘consequences’ unless it pulls top Democrat from boardDonald Trump has told Netflix to remove the Democratic foreign policy expert Susan Rice from its board or “face the consequences”, while the streaming platform is locked in an extraordinary corporate battle to take control of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). In comments posted on his Truth Social platform, the US president described Rice – who served as national security adviser to Barack Obama and UN ambassador and White House adviser under Joe Biden – as a “political hack” and accused her of having “no talent or skills”. Trump’s comments herald a fresh intervention in the takeover battle between Netflix and Paramount Skydance for the studios and streaming businesses of WBD only weeks after promising not to get involved. He said in an interview with NBC News in early February that the justice
