Fishy tale

Stockholm, Jan. 23 (Reuters): It was the narrative of an old Cuban fisherman?s struggle against nature which finally persuaded the Swedish Academy that Ernest Hemingway wasn?t too rich or famous to be honoured with a Nobel prize.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported today that the Academy had been considering Hemingway up to seven years before he was awarded the Nobel for literature in 1954.

1947, Swedish writer and Academy member Per Hallstrom criticised the author for hurling readers straight into the story, a practice which had ?little to do with the art of the novel?. The Academy also noted that the prize money was certain to be inconsequential to the best-selling author.

He was discussed again in 1950, but his Across the River and into the Trees published that year, was found by the head of the 18-member Academy to contain ?a regretful relaxation both in terms of technique and human interest.?

Hemingway?s 1952 novel The Old Man and the Sea convinced members of the Academy he had earned his place alongside other laureates for ?his mastery of the art of narrative?.

Bad Santa

Paris (Reuters): French customs officers have seized a set of Christmas Santa Claus decorations made of cocaine. The smiling Father Christmases, complete with long white beard and red coat, were found in a van crossing the border from Spain into France on January 13, France?s Journal du Dimanche reported on Sunday.

Work woes

London (PTI): Almost half of women serving in Britain?s Royal Air Force have been sexually harassed, according to an internal survey reported by media here. An official research, carried out by the RAF last year but kept secret, indicates that more than 1,000 women of the 2,500 surveyed have suffered sexual harassment in the past 12 months, The Independent on Sunday reported.