Babar

The elephant long has been considered a symbol of good luck in many cultures. And this year, Babar, one of the world's most beloved pachyderms, turns 60. Jean Laurent de Brunhoff's King of the Elephants didn't move from the printed page to animated life until 1989. The syndicated cartoon is soon moving from HBO, where Babar and Celeste and the rest of the elephant kingdom nestled for four years, to the Family Channel.

Renee Denise Golabek-Kaye, 52, a concert pianist who was coached from an early age by her mother, the late concert pianist Lisa Jura Golabek, died June 12. Her family did not disclose where she died. Golabek-Kaye earned a master's degree at the Juilliard School and made her performance debut at the age of 18. Through her career, she performed at a number of fundraising concerts benefiting Jewish causes.

As President Bush touted his record in the war on terror Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, another front in the terrorism fight was playing out nearby in the federal holding cell of a Pakistani American named Mohammed Junaid Babar. Babar, who grew up in Queens, is a cooperating witness in an unfolding investigation of what authorities say may be a New York-based "sleeper cell" involved in Al Qaeda efforts to launch attacks in the U.S., perhaps as the Nov. 2 election approaches.

Three Afghans armed with pistols and hand grenades hijacked a school bus to Islamabad from the northwestern Pakistani town of Peshawar on Sunday, taking 73 schoolchildren and staff hostage, officials and witnesses said. The masked gunmen, who later released all but 16 Pakistani schoolboys, said they wanted $5 million, officials said. Earlier, the gunmen said they would free the boys, ages 12 to 14, only after food supplies were delivered to the beleaguered Afghan capital, Kabul.

Nickelodeon Going to Latin America: Viacom Inc. said it will launch its children's television channel in Argentina, Mexico and Brazil in the fourth quarter, reaching a potential audience of 11 million households. The Latin American countries will receive programs such as "Babar" and "The Adventures of Tintin" on the 24-hour network, which will be based in Miami and broadcast in Spanish and Portuguese, the New York-based entertainment and communications company said.

A British terrorism suspect fighting extradition to the United States will receive more than $80,000 in compensation for being assaulted by police during a 2003 arrest. Lawyers for Scotland Yard acknowledged that Babar Ahmad, 34, was subjected to gratuitous violence and religious abuse by officers. Officers forced him into a Muslim praying position, and one screamed, "Where is your God now?" according to Ahmad's lawyer. Ahmad was released but was rearrested in 2004. American officials accused him of running websites to raise money for the Taliban, appealing for fighters and providing equipment to terrorists.