Stoke's first Europa League tie will see them face Croatian giants Hajduk Split in the third qualifying round.

That rugged Icelandic glacier, Detective Erlendur, is away from Reykjavik and a disturbing case is handled by his female sidekick, Elinborg. The female perspective creates a different kind of novel from those built around Arnaldur Indridason's withdrawn and isolated loner. Here we have a detective worrying about her family while handling with sensitivity the victims of a serial rapist who drugged his victims with Rohypnol.

The Australian experimental composer Ben Frost is in London to meet his mentor Brian Eno, ahead of their joint project at the Reykjavik Festival in Iceland this weekend.

Jodie Foster said yesterday it was "natural" for her to ask Mel Gibson to star in The Beaver. She said: "I've been friends with Mel for over 15 years and we've had many, many long discussions about life and so it was a natural place to go."

Icelanders rejected for a second time a plan to repay €4bn (£3.5bn; $5.8bn) to Britain and the Netherlands from a bank crash, results showed today, and the prime minister said economic and political chaos could follow.

Dieter Roth is probably most famous for his artist’s books and the sculptures he fashioned from chocolate, cheese and other organic matter. But his career as an artist, composer and poet took many forms, some more conventional than others.

1 Germany

The Liszt 2011 festival (liszt-2011.com), for the composer's bicentenary, starts today. The website has ideas on where to stay.

1 Liverpool

The Beatles-themed Hard Days Night Hotel (harddaysnighthotel .com) is offering double rooms from £105 per night this spring.