Simpsons fan

London, June 20 (Reuters): The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the world’s 70 million Anglicans and a self-declared devotee of the US television hit The Simpsons, could soon be paying Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa a visit in Springfield.

Producers of the animated comedy have invited Rowan Williams, 54, to take part in an episode after he praised the programme for its humour and humility, Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper reported.

“We’d love to have him on the show...It’s a great thrill that the archbishop is such a fan,” executive producer Al Jean said.

the beginning, some religious groups in the US disliked the show, so to have such a prominent religious leader defend it is great,” he added.

A spokesperson for the archbishop said they had not yet received an invitation but that it would certainly be considered.

“It would be a very intriguing prospect,” he added.

an interview to be broadcast on Britain’s ITV network next Sunday, Williams says of the programme: “It’s generally on the side of the angels and on the side of sense. It punctures lots of pompous fictions about how the world works.”

Special baby

Cape Canaveral (Reuters): The birth of Tarali Paulina Fincke on Friday was another first for Nasa — she was born while her father was in outer space. The proud papa, US astronaut Michael Fincke, is serving a six-month hitch aboard the International Space Station but was linked by a high-bandwidth satellite to his wife Renita’s cell phone during the delivery at a Houston-area hospital.

Brit award

London (Reuters): Britain has awarded an honorary knighthood to Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal for a ‘lifetime of service to humanity’ by helping bring Holocaust perpetrators to justice, the foreign office said on Saturday. Wiesenthal, 95, spent the best part of five decades tracking down more than 1,000 Nazi war criminals responsible for the mass murder of Jews in World War II and played a role in the capture of one of Adolf Hitler’s henchmen, Adolf Eichmann.

Long life

New York (Reuters): People who quit smoking before the age of 35 can eventually live as long and healthy lives as people who never smoked, a new study shows. “If you quit by age 35, you avoid nearly all of the harm smoking has on lifespan and quality of life,” study author Dr. Donald H. Taylor, Jr said.