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Venture Outdoors, the outside activity advocacy group, is sponsoring a ride and rally today to welcome four bicyclists completing a trip from Washington, D.C.

The rally will be at 12:20 p.m. in Market Square, Downtown, to celebrate the ride that is part of a relay across the country sponsored by the National Bicycle Greenway of Palo Alto, Calif.

The riders include Troy Bogdan of Bridgeville. They began this ride July 2 as part of the Greenway's efforts to increase awareness of bicycling.

The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Greenfield end of the Eliza Furnace Trail. Bicyclists and inline skaters are asked to join the four cyclists for the last three miles of their trip.

Details: (412) 255-0564.]

-- Bob Karlovits

Elephant's new daughter lives in Florida's sunshine

He's the Casanova of elephants, fathering calves from here to Orlando, Fla.

Jackson, the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium's virile bull elephant, became a father for the third time on Tuesday when his 230-pound daughter was born at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The prolific Jackson has fathered two offspring at the Pittsburgh Zoo -- Victoria, born in 1999, and Callee, born in 2000. Kianga, the recently born Florida calf, is the third elephant Jackson has sired. The baby African elephant's name means "sunshine" in Swahili.

Jackson was on loan to Disney from 2001 through May of this year, during which time he impregnated two female elephants. His second Disney progeny is not due until 2005 -- a typical elephant pregnancy lasts 22 months. At 26 years of age, Jackson is the only active naturally breeding bull African elephant in this county.

-- Mary Frances Stotler

Judge: 'Day After Tomorrow' didn't steal from book

A German court rejected a Harvard University professor's claim that the writer-director of "The Day After Tomorrow" plagiarized his book, ruling that the film and the novel told "entirely different stories."

Ubaldo DiBenedetto, 77, had alleged that Roland Emmerich's film stole parts of his 1993 novel, "Polar Day 9," written under the pseudonym Kyle Donner. His lawyer wanted its German distributor, 20th Century Fox Deutschland, to put signs in theaters saying the movie is based on his book.

However, presiding Judge Margarete Reske told the Cologne state court that many of the similarities claimed by DiBenedetto "simply could not be found."

The author argued that the book and movie feature similar scenes set in an Arctic research station, similar scenes of Americans fleeing over the Mexican border and similar characters.

At a hearing last month, 20th Century Fox lawyer Thomas Hertel said the German-born Emmerich was not familiar with DiBenedetto's book.

In its ruling Wednesday, the Cologne court found that the film and book "outline essentially entirely different stories against the background of an approaching Ice Age."

-- The Associated Press

Ewan McGregor wins photo court case

Ewan McGregor has won damages from newspapers that printed photos of him and his family on a vacation in Mauritius.

Details of the settlement with The Sun, the Daily Record and other newspapers weren't disclosed in court Monday, but The Guardian newspaper said it amounted to about $74,000.

McGregor, star of "Moulin Rouge" and several "Star Wars" films, won a court ruling in November that the pictures were a breach of confidence and violated data protection laws.

-- The Associated Press

Gere launches campaign in India to promote safe sex

Richard Gere launched his new HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in Bombay, India's financial and entertainment capital, using Indian film and sports stars to convey a safe-sex message.

The Heroes Project is the latest initiative by Gere, who over the past year has become a vocal campaigner against HIV/AIDS in the region, identifying AIDS awareness and care projects that need more funds.

India has 5.1 million HIV-positive people, the world's second highest number of infections after South Africa, according to a report issued Tuesday by UNAIDS.

In the campaign's first TV spot broadcast Wednesday, India's star cricketer Rahul Dravid put on his helmet and warned: "Don't take chances with AIDS. Protect yourself and others."

Future ads will be more direct, Gere told The Associated Press.

Celebrities will "pick up a condom and talk about it," the 54-year-old actor said. "They'll say, 'Please use it. You gotta protect yourself, you know about this disease. Use a condom."' Anti-AIDS campaigns in India are rarely so candid.

The campaign's public service messages will run nationwide next month in newspapers, television, radio and on the Internet.

-- The Associated Press

Heirs of composer seek royalties from Disney

An impoverished South African family has filed a lawsuit against U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney, seeking royalties for its use of a song by a popular Zulu composer in "The Lion King."

The estate of Solomon Linda, a Zulu migrant worker turned songwriter who in 1939 wrote the tune that became the world hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," filed a lawsuit last week in the Pretoria High Court. The lawsuit seeks $1.6 million in compensation from Disney, lawyer Hanro Friedrich said Wednesday.

Disney denied liability in a statement released Tuesday.

Linda died penniless in 1962, having sold the rights to the song to a South African publisher. Originally titled "Mbube," the song generated some $15 million in royalties after it was adapted by other artists, including American songwriter George Weiss, whose version is featured in Disney's 1994 film "The Lion King."

Linda's three surviving daughters and 10 grandchildren, living in poverty in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, have received only a one-time payment of $15,000 from the present copyright holder, Friedrich said. The daughters decided to seek legal help after realizing they had lost out on millions of dollars in royalties.

Their lawyers are bringing a challenge on the basis of law in force in Commonwealth nations at the time the song was first recorded. Under its provisions, the rights to a song revert to the composer's heirs 25 years after his death.

-- The Associated Press

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