LONDON (AP) ― American author Harry Harrison, whose space-age spoofs delighted generations of science fiction fans, has died, a friend said Wednesday. He was 87.Irish sci-fi writer Michael Carroll said in a telephone interview that he learned of Harrison’s passing from the author’s daughter, Moira, earlier in the day. He said Harrison died in southern England, but didn’t have much further detail.Harrison was a prolific writer whose works ranged from tongue-in-cheek inter-galactic action romps to

WADI ABU HINDI, Palestinian Territories (AFP) ― It was the trauma of seeing Israeli troops raze homes in the Bedouin community where she lives that inspired 14-year-old Salha Hamadin to write an award-winning fairy tale.Earlier this year, Salha, who comes from an impoverished Palestinian Bedouin community near Jerusalem, was crowned winner of the teenage category of the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Bay competition, which saw 1,200 entries from around the world by youngsters aged 11 to 16.T

For 45 years pop star Elton John has left the writing to such lyricists as Bernie Taupin, Gary Osborne and Tim Rice. A cursory examination of the few songs with his own lyrics, such as 1978’s simplistic B-side “Flintstone Boy,” strongly suggests he made the right decision.Similarly, John, 65, might have been better served had he employed a ghostwriter to draft his good-intentioned memoir. “Love Is the Cure” isn’t a tell-all or about his music career. He only mentions 1974’s Caribou because durin

LONDON (AFP) ― It’s a literary phenomenon: with nearly 40 million copies sold, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” an erotic romance spiced up with sado-masochism is well on its way to breaking all the records.What sets the book apart is that it is written for women by a woman ― British author EL James, a previously unknown TV executive.“Never before has a book aimed at an adult audience sold so many copies so quickly,” the book’s British publisher Random House says.Only the seven-volume Harry Potter series