Khalil Dale was an English aid worker who for decades devoted himself to humanitarian work in some of the world's most dangerous trouble spots before meeting a brutal death in a Pakistan border town. He was abducted by armed men in January; his body was found on 29 April. His killers coldly explained that they had killed him because their demands for a ransom had not been met.

Second only to the Beatles in the annals of popular music, the Bee Gees have sold over 200 million records and scored No 1s as performers and writers across five decades, a feat that is likely to remain unmatched in the digital age. The family group made a masterful transition from Sixties pop balladeers to standard bearers of the Seventies disco phenomenon and soundtracked the lives of several generations of club-goers and radio listeners.

Acres of newsprint have appeared in recent years, covering various rather separate theories about the release of the so-called Lockerbie bomber.

The German-American actor Günther Kaufmann was brought to the screen by the director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Nobody who was present at Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's British debut will ever forget it. Thomas Beecham, who had a good nose for talent, had sniffed out a young German baritone who was making a name for himself. In England entirely unknown, he appeared on the posters as FISCHER DIESKOW. But he was a superb choice for Delius's A Mass of Life -– in looks somewhere between Tarzan and a Nietzchean übermensch; in voice, ideally sensuous and (as he later confirmed) entirely at home with Delius's idiom. The performance, on 7 June 1951, was a knock-out and next day at the Ritz, Beecham offered his discovery the role of Hans Sachs at Covent Garden. Fischer-Dieskau courteously, and wisely, declined, pointing out that at 27 such an assumption might be premature.

In the mid-1970s, when disco ruled the airwaves, the biggest acts were the Bee Gees and Donna Summer. As well as being controversial, the combination of Summer's lubricious voice and Giorgio Moroder's infectious rhythms were appreciated by dancers and non-dancers alike and although most '70s disco records now sound dated, her best work has retained its popularity.

Daniel Salem was the man who priced the sale of Condé Nast, publishers of Vogue, to the Newhouse family in 1958-59 and, as head of its international operations, helped it expand in Europe and elsewhere in the decades following. The story goes that Sam Newhouse asked his wife, Mitzi, what she wanted as he was going out shopping and she replied, "I've got everything but if you could get me British Vogue when you're out, dear." He returned not with a copy but the company. Apocryphal or not – and it is in the nature of legend become fact – it does give a flavour of a family company that expanded by instinct, combining arigorous attention to financial detail and returns with a broad-minded appreciation of quality and freedom of its editorial. If the eccentric behaviour of its editors has become famous, so has been the tightness with which the family has kept control to itself and to a few close advisers.

Joyce Redman was a talented and versatile actress who was equally at ease on stage, in films or on the small screen, during a career that lasted more than 60 years. She will probably be best remembered for her role in Tom Jones (1963), Tony Richardson's adaptation of the novel by Henry Fielding. Here she played the servant Mrs Waters, opposite Albert Finney in the title role. In a deliciously sensual three-minute scene of amour gourmand, the pair sit facing one another at a tavern table and devour their way through a foreplay of soup, lobster, chicken, oysters and fruit before scuttling off to bed.

Eric James was one of the most influential Church of England clergy of his generation. Possessing a strong understanding of the inter-connectedness which lies at the heart of Anglican spirituality combined with a prodigious gift for friendship and a phenomenal memory, James made an outstanding contribution to the life of the church in the world.

It is an abiding mystery why the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes was never awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. A major 20th century literary figure, he launched "el boom" in Latin American fiction with his first novel, Where The Air is Clear (1958), while his magnum opus, Terra Nostra (1975), is one of the great novels of the 20th century. Some critics rate The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962) and his later novel The Years of Laura Diaz (1999) as Terra Nostra's equal.

Although the humour in the 1960s TV series Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In seemed particularly American, much of its content depended on the British actor and scriptwriter, Digby Wolfe, who had also named the show. That was his defining moment, as Wolfe was a journeyman in the broadcasting arts, being able to turn his hand to most things, but usually with limited success.

If things had worked out differently, Frank Parr could have been one of the great characters of post-war English cricket. An acrobatic wicketkeeper, he caught the eye almost as soon as he appeared in the Lancashire side. At The Oval in 1952, in only his second county match, he was tipped by The Times to be Godfrey Evans' successor in the England side. Herbert Strudwick, England keeper in the 1920s, thought he was very special. The following year Parr came close to being selected for the winter tour of the West Indies.

Sir Roy Shaw, who has died aged 93, was secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain in some of its most difficult years, from 1975 to 1983, when it was under fierce attack from right-wing politicians who disliked public subsidy for the arts.

Carroll Shelby," the great American racing driver Dan Gurney said, "was an automotive visionary and leader. His West Texas down-home bib overalls style had a huge emotional impact on me and when he launched his now legendary Ford-powered Cobra team, I found myself a very willing volunteer to lend my driving ability to his quest to take on the established European teams on their home turf."

A mighty combination of groove and melody, the firm yet fluid bass playing of Donald "Duck" Dunn underpinned many of the Southern soul hits that came out of the Stax stable in the 1960s and early '70s. He backed Otis Redding on "Respect" and "I Can't Turn You Loose", Wilson Pickett on "In The Midnight Hour" and "634-5789 (Soulsville USA)", Sam & Dave on "Hold On! I'm Comin'" and "Soul Man", Eddie Floyd on '"Knock On Wood" and "Raise Your Hand", Albert King on "Born Under A Bad Sign' and Shirley Brown on "Woman To Woman".

A mighty combination of groove and melody, the firm yet fluid bass playing of Donald "Duck" Dunn underpinned many of the Southern soul hits that came out of the Stax stable in the 1960s and early '70s. He backed Otis Redding on "Respect" and "I Can't Turn You Loose", Wilson Pickett on "In The Midnight Hour" and "634-5789 (Soulsville USA)", Sam & Dave on "Hold On! I'm Comin'" and "Soul Man", Eddie Floyd on '"Knock On Wood" and "Raise Your Hand", Albert King on "Born Under A Bad Sign' and Shirley Brown on "Woman To Woman".

Sandy Fenton was among the very greatest scholars of the Ethnology and Antiquities of Scotland of this age – or of any age. For 15 years he was a member of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, from 1979 to 1994.

Shortly after Angelica Bell was born on Christmas Day 1918, David Garnett wrote to Lytton Strachey about the baby, "I think of marrying it. When she is 20, I shall be 46 – will it be scandalous?" In 1942, following the death of his first wife, "Bunny" Garnett did indeed marry her. The disparity in age was the least of the complications.

Nicholas Katzenbach's career in government was the history of America's turbulent 1960s in miniature.

The footballer Rashidi Yekini, who died on 4 May at the age of 48, was Nigeria's all-time leading goalscorer, who registered his country's first goal in a World Cup finals tournament.

Horst Faas was one of the finest war photographers of his era, with two Pulitzer prizes to show for it. But he won his legendary status more as a pictures editor and leader who groomed his own "Horst's army" of younger photojournalists, including Vietnamese. Working for the co-operative US-based Associated Press news agency (AP) for almost all his 50-year career, his photography, editing and pursuit of the truth played a massive role in turning the tide of US public opinion against the Vietnam war. Although many of his staff assumed he was American – with a Kissinger-like accent - he retained German citizenship and retired to Munich, where he died on Thursday aged 79.

The nose-fuze would not budge. The American 600-pounder unearthed on a building site in Kowloon in October 1959 would not yield even to the practised pianist's dexterity of Bomb Squad No 1's commander, 36-year-old Major Henry Qualtrough. The nose of the bomb, one of thousands dropped in 1944 and 1945 in the Allied drive to reconquer territories taken by Japan, had been badly distorted on impact.

Further to Marcus Williamson's interesting obituary on Vidal Sassoon (11 May), he glosses over perhaps the most important element of how he first got a job in a hairdressing salon, writes Michael S Fishberg.

Vidal Sassoon was one of the leading hairdressers of the 20th century, known especially for his easy-to-wear hairstyles and minimalist design philosophy. He said of his work, "My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous."