BERLIN (AP) — Germany's respected news
weekly Der Spiegel mistakenly published an
obituary Sunday for former U.S. President George
H.W. Bush, hours after a family spokesman said
the 88-year-old was recovering from illness. Bush was hospitalized in Houston Nov. 23 for
treatment of a bronchitis-related cough and
moved to intensive care on Dec. 23 after he
developed a fever. On Saturday, spokesman Jim
McGrath said Bush was moved out of intensive
care into a regular hospital room again after his condition improved. The unfinished obituary appeared on Der
Spiegel's website for only a few minutes Sunday
before it was spotted by Internet users and
removed. In it, the magazine's New York correspondent
described Bush as "a colorless politician" whose
image only improved when it was compared to
the later presidency of his son, George W. Bush. "All newsrooms prepare obituaries for selected
figures," the magazine said on its Twitter feed.
"The fact that the one for Bush senior went live
was a technical mistake. Sorry!"

Source: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/german-magazine-mistakenly-publishes-bush-obituary