The Albuquerque Tribune reports that a pastor plans a public burning of Harry Potter works. The most popular film around the world at the weekend was The Lord of the Rings, but it failed to bring in anything like the American box office receipts taken by Harry Potter (from The Independent).

The BBC says that the JKR special, airing on Friday, will be subtitled, which should make it easy for anyone in the UK with a VCR and a subtitle-enabled telly to make an accurate transcript. Thanks in advance to anyone who does!

The BBC reports that future sequels to the Harry Potter film will be dubbed into Catalan. Online bookstores are shattering their sales records with the opening of the blockbuster fantasy flick Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (from The Korea Times).

The Chicago Tribune has an interview with Daniel Radcliffe in today’s online edition. (Looks like they got his birthdate wrong, however!) And one more article about some of the information revealed in the upcoming special, J. K. Rowling — Harry Potter and Me, this one from The Times (UK).

The article is titled “Police on Case of Potter Theft”, but it also reveals additional hints regarding upcoming books, including this from JK Rowling: “I’m not going to say I’ll never write anything to do with the world of Hogwarts ever again. Because I have often thought that (if I wrote) book eight, I think …read more!

“Rowling plots Harry Potter’s end, via love and death” (from the Hindustan Times). Quotage: “More people are going to die, and there’s at least one death that’s going to be horrible to write.” Harry will develop more of an interest in Hermione too, one of his best friends. Rowling said there will be “more boy-girl …read more!

The York Daily Record carries yet another story of the controversy over Harry Potter and its suitability for youngsters. As does The Brunswick News, with an article titled Harry Potter and the Children of Today. From the National Post Online comes The Dark Side of Harry Potter, which offers the opinion that “adorable, unflappable, hopeful …read more!

More news on Book 5: The Guardian reports that “next year’s Harry Potter story looks like being a bit late … as the traditional July publication date is set to slide to September.”

Children at A.C. Moore Elementary in Columbia, South Carolina, will get a special message from Harry Potter at noon today as part of the national Read for 2002 challenge. Anti-Jew threats stop Paris Harry Potter screening (from Ha’aretz Daily).

JK Rowling has been added to the new Encyclopaedia Britannica (from the Chicago Tribune). Noting that children have become very interested in owls lately, the National Audubon Society is inviting them to take part in this year’s Christmas Bird Count. From the Budapest Sun Online, comes a review of Harry Potter és a bölcsek köve …read more!