For a compact Hausdorff space with a dense set of isolated points, we give a complete description of points of weak$^\ast$-norm continuity in the dual unit ball of the space of Banach space valued functions that are continuous when the range has the weak topology. As an application we give a complete description of points of weak-norm continuity of the unit ball of the space of vector measures when the underlying Banach space has the Radon-Nikodym property.

As a consequence of results due to Bourgain and Stegall, on a separable Banach space whose unit ball is not dentable, the set of norm attaining functionals has empty interior (in the norm topology). First we show that any Banach space can be renormed to fail this property. Then, our main positive result can be stated as follows: if a separable Banach space $X$ is very smooth or its bidual satisfies the $w^{\ast }$-Mazur intersection property, then either $X$ is reflexive or the set of norm attaining functionals has empty interior, hence the same result holds if $X$ has the Mazur intersection property and so, if the norm of $X$ is Fr\'{e}chet differentiable. However, we prove that smoothness is not a sufficient condition for the same conclusion.

It is shown that if a Banach space $X$ admits a $C^k$-smooth bump function, and $X^{*}$ is Asplund, then $X$ admits $C^k$-smooth partitions of unity.

Various authors have studied when a Banach space can be renormed so that every weakly compact convex, or less restrictively every compact convex set is an intersection of balls. We first observe that each Banach space can be renormed so that every weakly compact convex set is an intersection of balls, and then we introduce and study properties that are slightly stronger than the preceding two properties respectively.

There is a sizeable class of results precisely relating boundedness, convergence and differentiability properties of continuous convex functions on Banach spaces to whether or not the space contains an isomorphic copy of $\ell_1$. In this note, we provide constructions showing that the main such results do not extend to natural broader classes of functions.