Fantasy novelist George RR Martin has released a chapter from the next book in his series on which hit television show Game of Thrones is based. The American writer has kept fans of his epic A Song of Ice and Fire saga in suspense since 2011, when the fifth instalment, A Dance with Dragons, was published. The new chapter – available on the author's website and taken from the sixth book, The Winds of Winter – focuses on Alayne, the name Sansa Stark adopts as she hides out following the death of evil King Joffrey. The fifth season of the TV show, which begins in the United States next Sunday, will catch up with the events in book five, which means the show might have to depart from the plot lines that eventually end up appearing in the sixth and the final, seventh, volumes in the saga when they are eventually published. The epic power struggle at the heart of the story has not yet been resolved: Martin himself has said he hasn't yet decided how it all will end. The author, who published the first book in the series in 1996, is a notoriously slow writer and has said he hopes to have book six finished within the next year. – AFP
Daily Show star targets attitudes to Muslims
A new online sitcom from The Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi that takes a satirical swipe at anti-Muslim bias will debut online on Thursday. He said that four episodes of Halal in the Family will be posted on the humour website Funny or Die. The show's title is a play on the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom, All in the Family. The episodes, each five minutes long, use comedy to address issues including FBI surveillance of Muslims in America, cyberbullying, hate networks and media bias, according to Mandvi. He hopes the series will start a productive conversation about how Muslims are stereotyped. Indian-born Mandvi, who is the "senior Muslim correspondent" on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, has also appeared in several movies. – AP
House of Cards set to return
Frank Underwood's murderous and Machiavellian pursuit of power will be extended for at least another term after a fourth season of the acclaimed political drama House of Cards was confirmed. The return of the award-winning Netflix series, starring Kevin Spacey as the scheming American politician who plots a path to the White House, was confirmed on the show's Twitter feed. "I will leave a legacy #Underwood 2016," a brief post read, above an image carrying the message "Season 4 2016". Showrunner and writer Beau Willimon tweeted: "Official – S4 of @HouseofCards announced. But the writers & I have been secretly writing for months." – AFP
A final album from Frank Zappa
More than 20 years after his death, one last album is coming from Frank Zappa. His estate announced pre-order sales for Dance Me This, saying it was the 100th and final album from the Los Angeles-based experimental musician, who died in 1993 from prostate cancer. His official website announced the album's release on April Fool's Day – prompting initial speculation it was a joke – but it has been confirmed that the album is available to order and will be shipped in June. Zappa had mentioned the album before his death, saying that it would feature the synclavier – a synthesiser and programming system developed in the 1970s – and, true to the work's name, would consist of dance music. His estate has been releasing albums from him and his band, The Mothers of Invention, almost annually since his death. – AFP
90s rapper Vanilla Ice agrees a deal in theft case
Vanilla Ice has accepted a plea deal to perform community service after being arrested over a break-in and theft at an abandoned home in Florida. The rapper, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, appeared in court in West Palm Beach on Thursday. He agreed to a fine and 100 hours of community service to avoid charges of grand theft over the incident in February. He hosts a home-improvement show, DIY Network's The Vanilla Ice Project, and was renovating a home next to that of the victim. He said the alleged theft was a misunderstanding. – AP
Portuguese film pioneer dies at 106
Portuguese cinema legend Manoel de Oliveira, reportedly the only director whose career ran from the silent era into the digital age, died on Thursday at the age of 106. The award-winning director made more than 50 films, including features and documentaries, during a career that began in 1931. It was reported that he died at his home in the northern coastal city of Porto, where he was born in 1908. In 2008, he was awarded the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes for his lifelong contribution to cinema, as well as the French Legion of Honour. Portuguese actor and director Maria de Meideiros once described Oliveira as a “genius who represented the creative freedom of cinema”. Gilles Jacob, president of the Cannes film festival until last year, said the man was a “legend and a mystery”. – AFP
Divine intervention for Billy Ray Cyrus
A late-night glimpse of a Pentecostal church while he was walking his dog inspired country singer Billy Ray Cyrus to dream up a television series that the CMT network said Thursday will become part of its schedule early next year. Cyrus will star in the comedy, Still the King, as Vernon Brown, a one-hit country star turned Elvis Presley impersonator who becomes a minister at a country church outside of Nashville. The show puts the channel back into business with Cyrus, daddy of Miley and frequent presence on the network when his Achy Breaky Heart was a hit two decades ago. –AP
