At the height of the Cold War, Ninette de Valois, the founder of the Royal Ballet, set up a ballet company on Soviet Russia's doorstep. The Istanbul State Ballet Company and the Ankara State Ballet Company are the descendants of Valois's Turkish State Ballet, and they made their first visit to London as part of the Royal Ballet's anniversary.

United States Army investigators have unearthed evidence of a cover-up in the first official account after the Haditha incident on 19 November, where marines may have gone on a rampage, killing up to 24 civilians in the north western Iraqi town.

Wherever you roam in Portugal you'll find a country that's spectacular, unspoilt and hugely inviting, says Eric Almonds

She is a dancer of bewitching genius, a woman who gives absolutely nothing away. So why has she published a book of photographs from her personal album? Jenny Gilbert considers what it means to be Sylvie Guillem at 40, while her fellow professionals offer snapshots of a remarkable talent

Much has been made of the entertainment and education aspects of the Dome, but it has been a unique opportunity for architects and artists

The Power Behind the Prime Minister: the hidden influence of number ten by Dennis Kavanagh and Anthony Sheldon (HarperCollins, pounds 19.99)

THE PLAY

What Is It?

WAITING FOR GODOT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE MANCHESTER

`I haven't the faintest idea what this play means." So said Peter Hall as he started rehearsals for the British premiere of Waiting for Godot in 1955. The "meaning" and implications of Samuel Beckett's revolutionary play, recently voted the most significant of the century, have inspired millions of words from academics.

Tony Hancock would have been 75 today. Lauded as our greatest modern comedian, he stood for the hopes, expectations and pretensions of another era. But stone me, he would have been horrified by the pessimism of contemporary comic creations such as Victor Meldrew. So does he have any relevance in 1999?

BEFORE TRANSFERRING to the Intelligence Corps during the Second World War, Brinsley Ford saw a short period of service in the unlikely guise of Troop Sergeant-Major in an artillery unit. An event he liked to recall from that time was of the puzzling reprimand he received one day from an inspecting colonel - for displaying a nude pin-up. The object of the colonel's disapproval, it turned out, was a photograph Ford had hung over his bunk of Giambologna's Venus Standing on a Dolphin, a particular favourite among a group of works by Giambologna contained in Ford's remarkable family collection.

Toast

THE ALLEGATIONS that Jack Cunningham has been living it up at the expense of the taxpayer may have been "rebutted" by the Cabinet Office on his behalf, but they still leave a nasty taste in the mouth. No one begrudges Jack a glass or two of whisky after a hard day in Brussels. But the wider perception is that this administration relishes the fruits of office just a little too much and that its members enjoy a lifestyle that, to use a new Labour slogan, is hardly in touch with "the many, not the few".