Harry’s on God’s side; commentary from the National Post. Interesting article from The Times (UK), which says that children who resemble Harry Potter are more likely to be identified as gifted than bright pupils who do not fit the typical academic image.

CNN reports that a Harry Potter “hateline” has been set up in Austria. A Monmouthshire school teacher is believed to be the model for the “evil” Professor Snape in the Harry Potter books (from the BCC News). It has been mentioned that Chris Columbus is playing phone tag with Ewan McGregor’s agent, trying to pin …read more!

In today’s Friday Sale on Amazon, the video game for the PC is marked down from 29.99 to 19.99. A good deal! Action figures from Chamber of Secrets, including a Hermione with ears and Harry in spider-draped robes, have been released. Soon to come are Fred and George Weasley (sold seperately) in Quidditch gear. As …read more!

Law.com has an article on how 2001 was a year that corporations learned the limits of their Intellectual Property rights, both in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. However, the article made no mention of the recent Potter Wars, but instead focused on Nancy Stouffer’s claims of trademark and copyright infringement. The …read more!

CNN reports that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is now the year’s top-grossing film (thanks to Margaret for the link). Tourism potential of Harry Potter express derailed (from the Guardian Unlimited).

Digital Israel reviews the Harry Potter CD-ROM game. Church leaders in Australia used Harry Potter during their Christmas message sermons (from Ananova; thanks to “ITZRegina” for the link). Dame Maggie Smith says since McGonagall is in all seven Harry Potter books, she is “looking at it as a sort of pension!” (from USA Today). The …read more!

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).