Turner Broadcasting is scouring more than 1,500 classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including old favourites Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, to edit out scenes that glamorise smoking.
The review was triggered by a complaint to British media regulator Ofcom by one viewer who took offence to two episodes of Tom and Jerry shown on the Boomerang channel, part of Turner Broadcasting, which itself belongs to Time Warner Inc.
"We are going through the entire catalogue," Yinka Akindele, a spokeswoman for Turner in Europe, said yesterday. "This is a voluntary step we've taken in light of the changing times." - (Reuters)
Dance festival director steps down
The artistic director of the International Dance Festival Ireland, Catherine Nunes, has announced her departure from the festival.
Ms Nunes, who was appointed artistic director six years ago, is largely credited with establishing the festival as an annual event.
"The festival is currently on the crest of a wave and it seems an appropriate time to hand it over," said Ms Nunes. She will leave the post at the end of the year.
Waterville winners
The winners of the world invitational father and son tournament in Waterville, Co Kerry, were Robert and Rudi Butler of the Adare Manor Golf Club, Limerick. The event finished at the weekend.
Milk is your only man
Thousands of people flocked to temples across India yesterday after reports that idols of Hindu gods were drinking milk given by devotees as sacred offerings. Teenagers, adults and the aged stood in long lines with garlands and bowls of milk to feed the idols of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna and the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha. Hundreds chanted hymns in the northern city of Lucknow and the eastern city of Kolkata and went into hysterics when the milk held against the idols disappeared.
"It is very natural for any stone idol to absorb any liquid, and the older the stone the more it absorbs," MP Singh, a geology professor at Lucknow University, told Reuters.