People talk 8B 7/14

Foreman denies claims of alleged daughter

HOUSTON -- Boxing legend George Foreman is fighting the claims of a 22-year-old woman who says she is his daughter.

Foreman said he took a blood test which proved he is not the father of Jasmine Christina Foreman. He says the allegation is years old, and stems from his previous marriage to Cynthia Lewis. They divorced in 1978.

The former heavyweight champion says he has fathered 10 children, including five sons named George.

"Believe me, this could not be true. ... I have been hit a few times, but not hard enough to lose a child," Foreman told the Houston Chronicle in Friday's editions.

Jasmine Foreman's lawsuit against the former boxer seeks her recognition as his child. No monetary award is requested, the newspaper reported.

Law and order, Romanian style

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Jude Law got an unexpected earful at the Bucharest airport when a Romanian politician mistook the actor for a car thief.

Dinu Patriciu, a leading member of the opposition Liberal Party, told The Associated Press on Friday that he saw Law and another man get into his Land Rover early Thursday at Bucharest's Otopeni Airport.

Patriciu said he angrily yelled at the men because he presumed they were trying to steal the vehicle. He realized he had made a mistake when they showed him rental papers.

The firm rented the vehicle to Castel Films, a producer for "Cold Mountain," which is scheduled to begin filming in Romania next week.

Larry Kaplan, a publicist for "Cold Mountain," said Law did not want to comment.

-- From wire reports

In "Cold Mountain," the 29-year-old British actor, whose films include "The Talented Mr. Ripley," plays a leading role as Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier who is on a perilous journey home to his mountain community, hoping to reunite with his sweetheart, Ada, played by Nicole Kidman.

Max Weinberg takes to the road with Springsteen

NEW YORK -- Max Weinberg is packing up his drum kit to take a leave of absence from Conan O'Brien's "Late Night."

The NBC show's bandleader is going out on the road with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band in a tour to support the new album, "The Rising," it was announced Friday.

The tour, which opens Aug. 7 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., will stretch into next year.

Jimmy Vivino, guitarist for the Max Weinberg Seven, will be the bandleader after Weinberg begins his hiatus on July 19. James Wormworth will sit in on drums.

"Mighty Max" Weinberg has been a member of the E Street Band since 1974. He took a previous leave from O'Brien's show for Springsteen's reunion tour in 1999-2000.

Minogue video too hot for Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Australian pop star Kylie Minogue's music video and episodes of the TV series "Ally McBeal" and "Friends" have been censored in Malaysia, a Home Ministry official said.

The Film Censorship Board, which is under the authority of the Home Ministry, assigns viewer ratings -- or bans -- entertainment fare before it is released to theaters and TV networks.

The official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said Friday that 195 items have failed to make the cut under censorship laws passed April 1 tightening rules against overt violence, sex and obscenity.

Minogue's "Live in Sydney" music video was judged "too hot," The Star newspaper reported Friday. Other snipped titles were an episode each of "Friends" and "Ally McBeal."

Censorship Board Chairman Shaari Mohamad Noor was quoted by The Star as saying strict monitoring of foreign entertainment shows helps protect family values.

"In order for us to instill good morals and values in our people, we have to stop importing films that are not appropriate for our country," Shaari said.

Possession, distribution or selling the banned titles in the form of videodiscs or tapes is punishable by a maximum $7,900 fine and a three-year jail term.

Rap czar Knight told to pay up on back taxes

LOS ANGELES -- Rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was slapped with a $6 million income tax bill that racked up while he was behind bars.

An attorney for Knight, owner of Tha Row Records, formerly known as Death Row Records, said the Internal Revenue Service sent a collection notice this week regarding taxes owed in 1997.

At that time, Knight was serving a five-year sentence for violating his probation after getting involved in a fight the night Death Row Records rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in Las Vegas.

Knight "is a hardworking citizen and meets all his responsibilities," lawyer Arthur Barens said Friday. "He plans to pay it."

IRS spokesman Victor Omelczenko declined to comment.

The collection notice arrived just a few months after Knight's former attorney, David E. Kenner, 60, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges.

Moroccan royal wedding celebrated in style

RABAT, Morocco -- King Mohammed VI publicly celebrated his marriage to a 24-year-old computer engineer during two days of festivities that show the 38-year-old king's desire to modernize Morocco's monarchy.

About 1,500 people were on the guest list, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, who arrived for an evening ceremony Friday at the royal palace in Rabat.

The celebration, initially set for April, was postponed because of Mideast tensions. Toned down, it still included street parties and public group marriages.

Clinton, in a navy suit, and Chelsea, wearing a long black dress, arrived in time for the offering of gifts, when a procession of Moroccans marched to the royal palace bearing "symbols of a happy life and purity" for the bride, Salma Bennani.

The festivities began in the late afternoon Friday, when 1,400 horsemen trotted through the streets of the capital, which were flooded with thousands of onlookers.

The king married Bennani on March 21 in a private Muslim ceremony. Bennani comes from a middle-class family from Fez and has worked for Omnium Nord-African, one of the largest conglomerates in the country.

Baseball team remembered by bridge re-christening

HOMESTEAD, Pa. -- Negro League baseball team the Homestead Grays had a bridge named in their honor in their western Pennsylvania hometown.

Some believe dedicating the 3,000-foot-long span that leads into this suburb just east of Pittsburgh is an overdue tribute to a team that included Hall of Famers Josh Gibson and "Smokey" Joe Williams.

When Allegheny County and Homestead borough officials signed legislation Thursday to change the name of the Homestead Hi-Level Bridge to the Homestead Grays Bridge, Elija D. Miller couldn't contain his excitement. The 95-year-old Homestead resident was the Grays' backup batboy in 1926.

"They call me 'Lucky' and I'm lucky to be here," Miller said.

The Grays existed for about 40 years from 1912.