The original show might have ended on a whimper and the first spin-off might have disappointed but this lighter, shorter series has been a genuine joy

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I first entered into A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms extremely gingerly. Game of Thrones (as we all know) all but cratered during its final season, to the point that watching it almost felt like a punishment. House of the Dragon was somehow even worse, for reasons we’ll come to shortly.

And so, presented with an opportunity to dip my toes back into Westeros, I hesitated. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me repeatedly due to a capitalist desire to permanently entrench all existing IP in order to minimise subscriber churn, shame on me.

I was disturbed, but I wasn’t shocked. It’s a bigger problem that in these toxic times, so many of us endure this and other slurs in our daily lives

At the outset of the Baftas, the gilded crowd anticipated historic wins, emotional speeches and enjoying the familiar glow of a cultural institution congratulating itself on progress – whether fully warranted or not.

Then, as proceedings began and as Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, two of the leading actors of our time, stood on stage, there was the N-word – shouted from the audience by John Davidson, a Tourette syndrome campaigner who also lives with TS and is the inspiration for the Bafta-winning film I Swear.

Nadine White is a journalist and film-maker

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Famous Last Words is a series of interviews conducted with notable names and only released after their death and it offers an incredible opportunity

Exactly one day after the death of actor Eric Dane, a new show appeared on Netflix. Entitled Famous Last Words, it consisted of an interview with none other than Eric Dane himself. While at first the timing of the release might have seemed coincidental at best and exploitative at worst, the reality of the interview was something else entirely.

Dane, it transpired, had recorded the interview in full knowledge that he was dying. What’s more, he conducted it on the understanding that it would only be released in the event of his death. Because this is the conceit behind Famous Last Words. It exists as a living obituary, as an opportunity to go on the record for the very last time to contextualise their life in a manner of their choosing.

Reform’s ‘shadow home secretary’, Zia Yusuf, launches tirade of misery that sounded more hardline and deranged as it went

It was only last week that Nigel Farage declared he was no longer a one-man band with the announcement of a handful of key appointments. Though that does not mean his “Mini-Mes” can yet be trusted to be allowed out on their own. Baby steps and all that.

Nige would rather die than let someone else hog all the limelight. It’s not that his team would screw up. That would be just fine. The worry is always that they might do too well. Might reckon they could live without him. Farage needs to watch them all like a hawk.

Amid talk of artificial intelligence taking our jobs, the big unasked question is: how will we be fed?

How will we be fed? That’s the biggest question not seriously being addressed amid all this talk about whether or not artificial intelligence will end up taking over all of our jobs.

Formidable though the technology appears, similar fears have popped up repeatedly since the Industrial Revolution, and most working-age adults remain employed. Still, what is sorely missing is a serious debate about what to do if this future in fact materializes.

Our photographer shares his favourite images from the Games in Italy

I’ve been lucky enough to attend six summer Olympic Games, but I’d never before photographed a Winter Olympics. They’ve always been too far away and the UK has never been a major snowsport country, which has limited their news appeal. This time it was different. With Team GB anticipating a record medal haul and the Games staged in northern Italy, I headed off with nervous excitement, lured by the promise of fast action sports occurring amid beautiful snowy vistas. I covered ski jumping, big air, ice hockey, biathlon, curling and much more. A lot of it was alien to me but it was very enjoyable. There were new rules to learn, new challenges to face – I’ve certainly never had to wear sharp crampons at a football match.

The Games were full of contrasts. From a sporting perspective, the gentle gracefulness that I observed at the figure skating was offset by the full-on brutality of ice hockey brawls, while the delicate precision of curling was juxtaposed by the frantic chaos of short-track speed skating. From a geographical and cultural perspective, Livigno, which is perched high up in the Alps close to Switzerland, seemed like a giant playground for modern snow sports – geared towards those who like to twist and twirl high in the sky – while Cortina, in the Dolomites, was far more old-fashioned and populated by the traditional skiing establishment. Milan, meanwhile, featured a cluster of modernist, edge-of-town arenas, with international fans happily catching the metro to and from the events. But, in my experience, transportation wasn’t always so convenient. The huge amount of travelling between venues – I went to all but one – was exhausting and getting a late night bus over the mountains between Livigno and Bormio in a blizzard felt a bit hairy.

Video footage shows former peer being driven away shortly after he was escorted from his London home by officers

Peter Mandelson has been arrested by detectives investigating claims he committed misconduct in public office during his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Video footage showed the former British ambassador to the US being driven away in an unmarked police car for questioning shortly after being escorted from his London home by plainclothes officers.

Exclusive: Trump’s decision will be driven by envoys’ judgment on whether Iran is stalling on a nuclear deal

Donald Trump’s decision to order airstrikes against Iran will hinge in part on the judgment of Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, about whether Tehran is stalling over a deal to relinquish its capacity to produce nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the matter.

The president has not made a final determination on any strikes, as the administration prepares for Iran to send its latest proposal this week, ahead of what officials have described as a last-ditch round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday in Geneva.

US president’s international trade war spooks investors, with drops in US share prices after European losses

• Trump threatens ‘obnoxious’ tariffs as UK and EU seek clarity on trade deals

Stock markets stumbled on Monday as Donald Trump pushed ahead with fresh tariffs on the US’s trading partners despite a supreme court strike-down and growing opposition from domestic voters.

Uncertainty over the status of global trade deals spooked investors, triggering a drop in US shares prices including on the Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled 1.6% by Monday’s closing. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fell 1.4% and 1.1%, after losses for European stock markets.

Charles Kushner had been summoned to explain comments relating to the killing of far-right activist Quentin Deranque

Donald Trump’s ambassador to Paris has been banned from meeting French government ministers after failing to show up for a meeting at the foreign ministry to explain US comments about the killing of a far-right activist.

Charles Kushner, whose son Jared is married to the US president’s oldest daughter, Ivanka, was summoned to the 7pm meeting by the foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, after the US embassy in Paris reposted state department comments about the case.