Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘We are now at the women-should-smile-more stage of his presidency’

Late-night hosts dug into Donald Trump’s deflections from the Jeffrey Epstein files and the backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show.Jimmy Kimmel kept the focus on the Epstein files on Tuesday, because it’s “a story that Donald Trump wishes would go away. But it won’t just go away. It’s the kind of story that makes headlines, and he knows that. So what he does is he bombards us with a dozen other crazy things to try to flood the zone

The Guide #228: Against ​my ​better ​judgment​,​ A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms ​has ​me ​back in Westeros

Just when I thought I was out … just when I thought I would no longer have that sweeping, ever so slightly irritating theme tune ringing around my head for hours on end, or feel the need to remember the difference between House Tyrell, Tully or Arryn, I suddenly find myself pulled back in to the Game of Thrones extended universe. The blame for this goes to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the likably low-key Game of Thrones spin-off series about a cloth-eared hedge knight and his shrewd child squire currently ambling through its first season on HBO/Sky Atlantic.Before its arrival, I had departed Westeros for good. My faith had first been shaken by that rushed, badly plotted final season of Game of Thrones proper, which bashed to bits six previous seasons’ worth of finely tuned political intrigue and fascinating character dynamics in a succession of endless (often badly lit) CGI-laden battles, before flambéing them in dragon fire. Worse came with House of the Dragon, a dreary, po-faced, endlessly withholding slog of a prequel series, the enjoyment of which seemed to rest entirely on whether the viewer was familiar with deep lore buried within a Westeros history book that George RR Martin wrote instead of cracking on with that sixth novel

Randa Abdel-Fattah and Louise Adler to headline alternative to cancelled Adelaide writers’ week

The two figures at the centre of the Adelaide festival controversy will reunite to headline the alternative to the cancelled 2026 Adelaide writers’ week.Palestinian Australian academic and writer Randa Abdel-Fattah and AWW’s former director Louise Adler will appear together at Constellations: Not Writers’ Week, a hastily compiled series of events scheduled to start on 28 February in response to the Adelaide festival board’s decision to scrap Australia’s flagship annual literary festival.Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to speak in 2026 was withdrawn by the board after controversy and complaints over her past statements, including a social media post claiming Zionists had “no claim to cultural safety” and a Facebook profile image of a paraglider with a Palestinian flag parachute, which was posted the day after the 7 October attack on Israel.Abdel-Fattah recently told the Full Story podcast that the “cultural safety” statement had been taken out of context and that the paraglider image was “an iconic symbol of freedom” for Palestinians under siege.Adler, who resigned in protest at the decision, will appear in conversation at the Adelaide town hall on 1 March

Jon Stewart on Epstein files: ‘I’m just not sure anybody is going to be held accountable’

Late-night hosts reacted to the latest batch of Epstein files, which failed to redact several victims’ names and photos while still protecting Donald Trump.Jon Stewart returned to his Monday night desk at the Daily Show fuming at the lack of consequences for the men named in the files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – which still have not been fully released, though the justice department published another somewhat redacted batch on Friday.There have been consequences for “none of these dudes”, he said. “They’ve been on the plane. They’ve been on the island

‘Pain is a violent lover’: Daisy Lafarge on the paintings she made when floored with agony

Daisy Lafarge was lying on the floor in excruciating pain when she started her latest paintings. A severe injury, coupled with a sudden worsening of her health, had left her unable to sit upright, while brain fog and fatigue made reading and writing impossible. So the award-winning novelist and poet fell back on her art school training, using the energy and materials she had to hand to create impressionistic paintings of her surroundings – her cat Uisce, her boyfriend’s PlayStation controller – alongside unsettling imagery of enclosed gardens and flowers decaying.“Making the paintings was a way of coexisting with pain,” says the 34-year-old. “I was on my living room floor in agony for a few hours, but I wanted to get something out of that time

From Dorset to the world: wave of donations helps to secure Cerne giant’s home

It feels like a very British monument: a huge chalk figure carved into a steep Dorset hillside that for centuries has intrigued lovers of English folklore and legend. But an appeal to raise money to help protect the Cerne giant – and the wildlife that shares the landscape it towers over – has shown that its allure stretches far beyond the UK.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more