"The Hollywood sign may be unique among American icons," writes Leo Braudy at the start of this dazzlingly enjoyable exposition. "Its essence is almost entirely abstract."

It may sound sacrilegious, as Kauto Star seeks another piece of Turf history at Kempton on Boxing Day, but something equally momentous might conceivably get under way 15 minutes earlier – in a £3,500 race at Wolverhampton. Few will be paying the slightest attention to Harvard N Yale, not least with the holiday programme over jumps apparently secured by a mild weather forecast. Unlikely as it seems, however, this young colt will be taking the first tentative steps towards a summit never yet scaled from this side of the Atlantic.

A university professor is claiming that he lost his job after he gave James Franco an embarrassing 'D' grade in a course he was teaching on account of the knock-'em-dead actor and perennial student showing up for only two out of the 14 lectures he was expected at.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is to stage the British premiere of a ballet by German-Jewish composer Kurt Weill that was lost in a library basement for 80 years. The ROH is showing Magical Night, or Zaubernacht, in December. The ballet tells the story of two children's toys brought to life. Weill composed it in Berlin in 1922 but it was lost after his death in 1950 when his papers were transferred to Yale University Library. His orchestration was mislabelled and languished in a locked safe, which was assumed to be empty until it was opened in 2005.

Further to yesterday's obituary of the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Baruch Blumberg, Tam Dalyell writes:

Yale University has signed an agreement with a university in Peru to return thousands of Inca artefacts taken from the Machu Picchu citadel nearly 100 years ago.

John Fenn was a Nobel Prize-winner in chemistry whose work in the field of Biomolecular Technologies helped increase the speed and development of new drugs. Fenn was in his 70s when his research made possible the rapid analysis of the structure of proteins and other biomolecules through mass spectrometry. The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences said in its citation for the 2002 Nobel Prize, "The possibility of analysing proteins in detail has led to increased understanding of the processes of life."

As Peru counts down to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu by the American explorer Hiram Bingham, thousands of artefacts taken from the breathtaking lost city of the Incas could soon be returned to the country.

Peru's government has formally asked Barack Obama to assist its efforts in persuading Yale University to return thousands of artefacts which were taken from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.

A woman's blood group could influence her chances of getting pregnant, scientists claim. Women with blood type O may struggle to conceive, they said, due to a lower egg count and poorer egg quality, according to a study. Women with blood group A seem to be better protected against falling egg counts.

Their new lecturer is certainly an expert in the fields of leadership and international affairs, but students at Yale University may want to think twice before taking advice from him in the delicate art of modern public relations.

This exhibition at the Jerwood Space in south London, the third in a series, shows us work by applied artists that has stolen a march on all those stuck-up fine artists out there. It is a collection of unique, hand-made objects crafted in a variety of materials, including felt, glass, clay, wood, plastic and woven basketware.