Shalom Auslander's God is blood-brother to Randy Newman's: "I burn down your cities – how blind you must be/ I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we/ You all must be crazy to put your faith in me/ That's why I love mankind". In Auslander's first book, Beware of God, God is a serial killer; in his second, Foreskin's Lament, it's God's representatives on earth - the orthodox Jews – who do His dirty work for Him. And now – in his third book (and first novel), it's the history God has imposed upon His Chosen People that does the damage.

Canada has cleared the way for a member of the Flying Wallenda family of daredevils to attempt a tightrope walk over Niagara Falls during the summer.

The RSC is considering taking its hit musical Matilda to Broadway.

News from across the Atlantic will have put a smile on Sir Martin Sorrell's face last night. As his WPP empire closed at its highest since last March, one of its major rivals posted forecast-beating figures on Wall Street while predicting a jump in advertising spending over 2012.

Two young, single people who decide on a sex-only relationship, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis keep going on about how phoney Hollywood romantic comedies always are, but Friends With Benefits is hardly a radical alternative.

Ben Gazzara managed a career that embraced critically acclaimed independent and art-house films, popular movies, television and stage. He may be best known for three searing performances in John Cassavetes films but also worked with directors such as Otto Preminger, Spike Lee, the Coens and Lars von Trier. He claimed that youthful idealism made him turn down a lot of roles but in later years he refused few jobs, simply to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. In such a prolific career his ability to make the smallest gesture register means he is often better than the films he is in.

The French journalist Anne Sinclair, wife of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, launched the French version of the news website The Huffington Post yesterday with its founder Arianna Huffington.

One is the home of Sex and the City, Lady Gaga and the Statue of Liberty. The other is better known for Last of the Summer Wine, Dame Judi Dench and the Humber Bridge.

It is a sorry state of affairs when an opera company resorts to locking out its own performers – and the once vibrant and innovative New York City Opera (NYCO) is looking like barely a rump of its former self.

New York City Opera locks out musicians and scraps rehearsals a month ahead of new season

This week I've been eating... Big Apple hotdogs

Icap has recruited MF Global's top futures broker, Gary Pettit, as global head of financial futures and options.

My parents were... middle class, aspirational, Mad Men-era Democrats who wanted the best for me. They were unusually adventurous about food.