Alfred Brendel, one of the world's greatest pianists, is giving his final public performances this week.

Plans for a £1m memorial to the victims of the 7 July bombings will be posted online this week. But what features make a successful, modern memorial?

The BBC's Matthew Collin reports on the fight to save the stunning, eccentric structures that make up the Georgian capital's Old Town.

The title of JK Rowling's final book about the boy wizard, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has long been a source of excited debate among fans. But what exactly are the hallows?

New Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made much of his Latin motto, but what's the significance of these ancient mission statements.

A campaign calling for the ancient history A-level exam to be saved from the scrapheap is successful.

The government wants exam boards to ensure that ancient history continues as an A-level subject.

A UK-led team proposing a new location for Ithaca, home to Odysseus, says it is encouraged by new survey work.

A UK-led team challenges ideas on Greek mythology by proposing a new site for Ithaca, home to Odysseus.

Rappers love it, quaff it, idolise it. But the makers of Cristal champagne have revealed they are at best ambivalent about the patronage of the hip-hop fraternity.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell is installed as the head of Scotland's oldest university.

An application to build homes on land owned by Clifton College in Bristol is rejected.

Plans for a new building at the Royal Hospital Chelsea may be the subject of a public inquiry after complaints about its design.

A new BBC television series goes in search of the origins of art across five continents.

Oxbridge students can now cash in on their dazzling conversation to pay back their debts, thanks to a new escort service.

Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant and Lars von Trier have films in competition at Cannes this year.

A classicist sprints naked to re-enact the races of the ancient Olympics.

The National Gallery is to display 100 Raphael works, including Madonna of the Pinks, for the first time.

The UK's biggest exam board has outraged classicists by deciding to stop offering Latin and ancient Greek.

Spanish city Salamanca plans a host of cultural activities to mark its role as Europe's joint culture capital for 2002.