Headlines @ Closin’ Time — 2/7/06

Mitchell Rupe reads a statement to jurors at the conclusion of his third death-penalty hearing in Olympia, Wash., seen in this Monday, Mar. 6, 2000, file photo. Rupe, a former death row inmate once found too fat to hang, died in prison Tuesday following a long illness, a state penitentiary spokeswoman said here . He was 51. (AP photo)

* Report: Teen killed priest due to cartoons: Turkish TV says Muslim high-school student confessed to slaying /Reuters — The old defense of “The Cartoons Made Me Do It.” C’mon.

* Iran renames Danish pastries: Sweet treat will be called ‘Muhammadan’ pastries in protest of cartoons /AKI — How silly can you get? Now, could you pass the ketshup for my Freedom Fries?

* ‘Shocking’ Saddam art banned in Belgium: Piece depicts handcuffed Hussein inside liquid-filled tank /Agence France-Presse — ‘Tis doubtful that Saddam Hussein has many followers inside or outside of Iraq. The world doesn’t have much use for a “former” strongman.

* Lesbian shower scene keeps viewers at ABC: Opening scene of post-game ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ helped make episode ratings winner /Associated Press — Super Bowl afterglow + menage a trois = ratings bonanza. If only Ricky and Lucy had known, they could have invited Fred and Ethel into the bedroom to boost ratings even more. Sheesh.

* Study: Angry people a danger to themselves: Being mad quadruples odds of being injured, getting hostile makes it sixfold /USA Today — Another reason to count to 10.