The opera singer Elizabeth Connell enjoyed 10 successful years as a mezzo before becoming a soprano and enjoying over two decades more of international acclaim.

I'm all for cats at the opera – a fuzzy feline will always raise a smile. But isn't there something alarming about it when a mermaid meets one? We all know what cats do to fish. It looks as if that might happen to the unfortunate Rusalka, the eponymous heroine of Dvorak's post-Wagnerian take on The Little Mermaid, in the opera's first-ever production at the Royal Opera House.

The chief executive of Dixons Retail is to swap Hemel Hempstead and an arduous retail turnaround for the Californian sunshine and highly coveted role of running the global stores of the technology giant, Apple.

Our new-style night at the opera took place in a cinema with five-star comfort, drinks being brought as we lounged on our sofas.

Hotel Chocolat will today open the UK's first shop that sells and makes chocolate under one roof.

In these straitened times a new full-length classical ballet is a rarity, so the Opera National de Paris deserves praise for breathing new life into a forgotten hit from the 19th-century. With music by Delibes and Minkus, and costumes by Christian Lacroix, La Source – the spring – is a version of the Rusalka legend set in what is now Chechnya. When it premiered in 1866, its exotic locale was part of its appeal.

Gary Dobson was seen swaggering around his flat bare-chested and holding a knife in police surveillance footage.

Three years ago the Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho was virtually unknown in Britain.

Kirby had a small part in The Hour but made a big impact. Now, she's starring as the heartbreaker from Great Expectations.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe appealed for information today about the murder of a "courageous" officer on the 20th anniversary of his death.

The Moomins – Finnish cartoon characters – descend on London this week.

What I Learnt This Week

Hogg Robinson; Gem Diamonds

The Royal Opera House declared it a "celebration" to mark 40 years since Placido Domingo first sang here.