SYDNEY, Madeleine Coorey- A new book about legendary French singer Edith Piaf reveals much about her life before stardom, including her yearnings for poetry and philosophy as a young girl working to...

LOS ANGELES- Canadian country pop diva Shania Twain was honored with a star on Hollywood's storied Walk of Fame on Thursday, and voiced surprise that she had come so far. "I mean, why is a girl...

LONDON- Irish-born writer Josephine Hart, whose debut novel "Damage" was made into a film starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche, has died aged 67, it was announced on Friday. "Damage",...

RAMALLAH, Selim Saheb Ettaba- France is ready to host a Middle East peace conference before the end of July to help relaunch stalled negotiations, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on...

SANTIAGO, Paulina Ambramovich- Chile will launch an investigation into the death of Nobel Prize-winning writer Pablo Neruda, who died 12 days after the 1973 coup that overthrew the government,...

JOHANNESBURG- South Africa's ailing former president Nelson Mandela arrived at his home in Johannesburg after a visit to his village home, following a health scare earlier this year, an official said...

FRANKFURT- New Zealand will be the guest of honour at the world's biggest book fair in the German business capital Frankfurt in 2012, organisers said Wednesday. Fair director Juergen Boos,...

SARAJEVO, Rusmir Smajilhodzic - Twenty years on from the siege of Sarajevo, artists in the Bosnian capital are planning a museum to commemorate the 44-month atrocity for which Ratko Mladic faces a...

LONDON- Britain's government has suspended the distribution of an animated film designed to stop young Muslims from becoming Islamic extremists, the maker said Tuesday. The short movie, called...