Mrs. Bush leaves hospital

Update

Mrs. Bush leaves hospital

Former first lady Barbara Bush, 83, was released from a Houston hospital Tuesday, nearly a week after surgery for a perforated ulcer. Her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, said the "silver fox" was in good condition. On Nov. 25, surgeons closed a dime-size hole in Mrs. Bush's small intestine.

NBC, Gregory still talking

NBC News has settled on David Gregory, 38, to succeed Tim Russert on its longtime Sunday discussion program "Meet the Press," but the network has not finalized the deal and has no plans to announce it in the next several days, NBC executives said Tuesday. News of Gregory's appointment has been reported on several Web sites this week. Russert died of a heart attack in June.

People

On Couric's new 'do

Controversy has broken out over CBS News anchor Katie Couric's new hairdo. The New York Daily News calls it a "hair-raising new look that puts the 'ew' in the evening news." Actress/talk-show maven Kelly Ripa disagrees: "I love her haircut!" she said on Tuesday. Male journalists aren't free of the same treatment: Remember the insults inspired by Ted Koppel's hair.

"ER" actress expecting

"ER" Actress Parminder Nagra, 33, and photographer James Stenson are expecting their first child this summer, Usmagazine.com reports.

Reports anger Swayze

Actor Patrick Swayze is angry about tabloid reports that say he doesn't have long to live. The actor, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, said Tuesday that he is responding well to treatment. Swayze, 56, says such coverage is tantamount to "emotional cruelty."

Rice plays on

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice performed in a piano quintet Monday night for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Rice played Brahms' Op. 34 with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's wife, Louise, on violin, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra.

TODAY IN HISTORY

1979: 11 people were killed in a crush of fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum, where The Who was performing.

1984: Thousands of people died after a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Rocker Ozzy Osbourne, 60. Actress Julianne Moore, 48. Actor Brendan Fraser, 40.

Seattle Times news services