No Write-Up: The screaming headline might have...

No Write-Up: The screaming headline might have read: “Paper Pays Royally.” But then it’s doubtful publisher Rupert Murdoch would do a story in his own Australian papers about his agreement Monday to pay $80,000 to Jane Makim, sister of the Duchess of York. A Sydney jury last year found Murdoch’s papers had falsely implied she had had an adulterous affair.

Write Out: Even without money problems, Donald Trump would not have been able to buy his way into the latest edition of the World Book Encyclopedia. Trump “makes interesting newspaper copy but so far he lacks lasting significance,” said Executive Editor A. Richard Harmet. “A person must have made a major contribution to his or her field.” Those who did make the cut include Lucille Ball, movie director Francis Ford Coppola, Ray Charles and Manuel Noriega.

Writer’s Rights: Some top U.S. writers are urging Israel to free Palestinian writer and professor Sari Nussibeh, jailed for allegedly providing information to Iraq. E.L. Doctorow, Larry McMurtry, Susan Sontag and Edward Said wrote to the New York Times calling Nussibeh a “tireless campaigner for a peaceful solution” to the Israel-Palestine conflict. They said that during the war in the Gulf “it is particularly troubling to see voices of peace silenced.”

Write Over: Uncle Sam has bitten the dust in the Gulf War. The tiny hamburger stand down the street from the American embassy in central Amman, Jordan, is now nameless because of popular pro-Iraqi sentiment. Some wags suggested that Uncle Sam insert two Ds and an A in its name to become Uncle Saddam.