CARTOONIST BARBERA DIES

Cartoonist Barbera dies
LOS ANGELES -- Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95. Barbera died of natural causes at his home with his wife, Sheila, at his side, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. With his longtime partner, Bill Hanna, Barbera first found success creating the highly successful "Tom and Jerry" cartoons. The antics of the battling cat and mouse went on to win seven Academy Awards, more than any other series with the same characters. The partners, who teamed up while working at MGM in the 1930s, then went on to a whole new realm of success in the 1960s with a witty series of animated TV comedies, including "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Yogi Bear," "Scooby-Doo" and "Huckleberry Hound and Friends." Their strengths melded perfectly, critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his book "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons." Barbera brought the comic gags and skilled drawing, while Hanna brought warmth and a keen sense of timing. "This writing-directing team may hold a record for producing consistently superior cartoons using the same characters year after year -- without a break or change in routine," Maltin wrote.
Skin cancer tumor removedfrom Laura Bush's shin
WASHINGTON -- First lady Laura Bush had a skin cancer tumor removed from her right shin in early November. The procedure was not disclosed until Monday night. The cancer was identified as a squamous cell carcinoma, a malignant tumor that is the second-most-common form of skin cancer. Explaining why the procedure was not disclosed until now, the first lady's press secretary Susan Whitson said, "This medical procedure was a private matter for Mrs. Bush, but when asked by the media today, we answered the question." The first lady was noted wearing a bandage on her right leg before the election, and at the time, Whitson said Mrs. Bush had a sore on her shin. Later, she had a biopsy because the sore was not healing, Whitson said, and it was determined to be a squamous cell carcinoma.
Astronauts fold solar array
HOUSTON -- Two spacewalking astronauts finished folding up a stubborn, accordion-like solar array Monday, resolving the only complication in space shuttle Discovery's otherwise smooth mission to the international space station. Shuttle astronauts Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang managed to get the last section of the 115-foot array folded into a box about five hours into the spacewalk. It was the fourth venture outside for Discovery's astronauts during their visit to the orbiting outpost. Workers in Mission Control applauded when the final section fell into the box. But Curbeam radioed back that a wire was still loose. About 30 minutes later, he managed to get it rolled up and the box latched. "Great job by everybody up there and everyone on the ground here," Mission Control said.
Police arrest suspect inmurder of 5 prostitutes
IPSWICH, England -- Police on Monday arrested a 37-year-old grocery store clerk on suspicion of killing five prostitutes -- slayings that struck terror in this quiet English community. British media quoted the suspect as saying he knew all the victims and had been repeatedly interviewed by police about the killings. But the man, identified as Tom Stephens, said he did not kill the women, whose naked bodies were dumped in rural areas around Ipswich, 70 miles northeast of London. "I don't have alibis for some of the times [of the killings]. Actually, I'm not entirely sure I have tight alibis for any of the times. But I'm not worried about being charged. I'm innocent," he was quoted as telling The Sunday Mirror.
Iran is making headwayon weapons, officials say
WASHINGTON -- Iran is making headway in building nuclear weapons, the Bush administration said Monday as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried to iron out differences with Russia over a U.N. resolution designed to stop the program with economic sanctions. Though not predicting when Iran would join the nuclear club, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Iranians were trying to perfect technology to enrich uranium. Iran has denied an effort to build nuclear weapons and says its work is for energy development. "It's a very tricky matter of perfecting centrifuge technology so you can actually enrich all the uranium," McCormack said.
Associated Press