AP - An 800-word Harry Potter prequel is one of 13 card-sized works to be sold at a charity auction in the British capital. Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd. says the cream-colored A5 papers — each slightly bigger than a postcard — were distributed to 13 authors and illustrators, including the boy wizard's creator J.K. Rowling, Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing, novelist Margaret Atwood and playwright Tom Stoppard.

AP - Kirk Douglas and his wife have dedicated their 400th school playground — completing a decade-long effort to give Los Angeles kids a place to frolic.

AP - Questions linger about what, if anything, a man who made a surprise call to defense attorneys might be able to say to help R. Kelly at his child pornography trial.

AP - George Clooney is marking Thursday's 60th anniversary of U.N. peacekeeping with a public service announcement praising the soldiers who wear the distinctive blue helmets.

AP - French fashion house Christian Dior said Thursday it has dropped Sharon Stone from its Chinese ads and released a statement from the actress apologizing for saying China's earthquake may have been bad karma for its treatment of Tibet.

Reuters - Singer Chris de Burgh said in Iran on Wednesday that his plans to hold concerts in the Islamic Republic sprang purely from a desire to sing for ordinary people.

Reuters - Singer Ashlee Simpson and her husband, rocker Pete Wentz, are expecting their first child, the couple said on Wednesday.