As presented by theatre director Jonathan Munby, ETO's Don Giovanni was a very uneven affair, whose saving graces were Julia Sporsen's gorgeously sung Donna Anna, Ilona Domnich's subtle Zerlina, and the music under Michael Rosewell's assured baton.

English Touring Opera really are getting their act together, with two other new productions in addition to Donizetti's seldom-seen Anna Bolena. And, as ETO director James Conway observes, it can't hurt their box-office that the English queen famously beheaded with a sword is currently getting so much attention.

A new twist in a familiar tale

Malaysia's High Court has barred Cherie Booth from representing a company embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit which questions government transparency.

The original chronicled the life and devilish intentions of Satan's offspring and gained an instant cult status when it hit cinemas in 1976. Now, thirty years later, Damien is back.

Live on stage, comedians Mel and Sue are very much unchanged from their familiar personae on Channel 4's Late Lunch. They display all those qualities which gained them sofa-loads of malingering student fans: they're sassy, saucy, sussed, sarky. Oh, yes, and silly. The pair are at their best when their professionalism is at its worst. During a recent live show, they would often lose it completely in the middle of a sketch, and step out of character to take the mick out of each other's (frequent) fluffs. Rather than appearing self-indulgent, this is actually rather endearing. They appear with Tim Vine, Bill Bailey, Paul Zerdin and Jocelyn Jee at tonight's Alan Davies Appeal Benefit. Alan Davies Appeal Benefit (in aid of the Hackney Empire Appeal Fund), Hackney Empire, London E8 (0181-985 2424) tonight

Sir: John Harris cannot get his head around the possibility that the "millennium number one" will be a record using words written by the man who started the whole thing off 2,000 years ago ("Praise be! It's the terrifying cult of Sir Cliff", 23 November).

`If there's a more awful experience than looking for a flat to rent, I don't want to know about it'

LEGISLATION TO cut disability benefits was passed by the House of Lords last night, despite last-ditch claims by Labour peers that they were "grossly unjust" measures.

ALISTAIR DARLING came under intense pressure for "betraying" the most vulnerable people in society last night as backbenchers rebelled against measures to cut incapacity benefits (IBs).

It's four years since Hackney Downs school was forced to shut down after years of very public pillorying as `Britain's Worst School'. But its long demise was no simple tale of poor teachers and lack of community support.

Sir: Though entertaining, Danny Penman's tale of how he was set up in an east London flat by Syd the Squatbroker exposes the myth of the "harmless" squatter ("How squatter king set me up in a London flat for pounds 120", 24 July).

Sir: In a number of articles last week your writers have appeared to glamorise squatting in Hackney (reports, 22, 23, 24 July). I don't think that the average Hackney council tenant or property owner shares the views or perceptions of your writers.

Danny Penman gets a place from a man who acts as estate agent to the capital's homeless