People

An unseemly spat has erupted between Sir Terence Conran, and Ikea, with the designer accusing the flatpack furniture group of discourtesy, misrepresentation and arrogance. The row began with the Swedish firm's full-page newspaper advert which quoted Sir Terence as saying it was "doing a brilliant job" and that shoppers with "a discerning eye" could furnish their homes for "amazingly little money". The quote was plucked from an interview Sir Terence gave to the Daily Telegraph this month - but was rare praise in an otherwise disparaging critique of Ikea's service levels. "Ikea's oh-so-clever marketing in separating my praise and ignoring my criticism is pretty arrogant," he wrote in a letter to yesterday's Telegraph. "Angry customers might wonder if the cost of a page [advertisement] might not have been better spent on improving service in their stores." Sir Terence says he regularly corresponds with Ikea's founder, Ingvar Kamprad, who "admitted to the company's service problems in a Christmas card".

Another row, this time between the comedian Joan Rivers and the author Darcus Howe on Radio 4's Midweek programme yesterday. A comment by Howe, "... since black offends Joan", set Rivers off on a tirade in which she called Howe a "son of a bitch" and repeatedly yelled: "Don't you call me a racist." The rant lasted for more than two minutes, and when peace finally broke out the presenter, Libby Purves, moved on to talk to another guest, a plant photographer.

Gwyneth Strong, the actor best known for playing Cassandra in Only Fools and Horses, is to return to the stage in a new play by 26-year-old Jack Thorne. When You Cure Me, which opens at the Bush theatre, London, on November 16, also stars Samuel Barnett, who was nominated for an Olivier award for his role as Posner in Alan Bennett's The History Boys. When You Cure Me is directed by Mike Bradwell, the theatre's veteran artistic director.

In a move that demonstrates the lengths magicians go to to attract the attention of their audience, the illusionist David Copperfield is promising to impregnate a girl on stage without touching her. Speaking to German magazine Galore, he said: "In my next show I'm going to make a girl pregnant on stage ... naturally it will be without sex."