NEWS LITE : GORE, SON TAKE TOP-SECRET CLIMB.

A weary, unshaven Vice President Al Gore and his 16-year-old son successfully finished their climb of Mount Rainier on Friday night, striding out of a cold mist before sunset to shake hands with well-wishers.

With exhausted Secret Service agents leading the way off the mountain, the vice president summed up his climb as simply ``fantastic.''

``It's an unbelievable experience,'' a tired-looking Gore told reporters from beneath his mountain backpack. ``It was just great. And it's very hard.''

The two days Gore and his son, Albert Gore III, were on the 14,411-foot volcano were filled with terrible weather - hail, wind, fog and snow.

None of it stopped the Gore party. ``We were bound to do it,'' Gore said. As a father-son experience, reaching the summit of Mount Rainier ``couldn't have been better.''

The weather was fierce enough to keep many climbers off the mountain, or hunkered down in tents.

Gore's party headed up the mountain from Paradise on Wednesday morning, according to a Mount Rainier National Park official, who said only a handful of park staffers were told the vice president would be there.

Members of Gore's staff described the getaway by Gore and his son as so secret that even many senior White House staffers and presidential campaign aides were not informed of it.

The secrecy was at Gore's ``specific request - he wanted to climb with his son,'' Jarvis said.

The Gores have been running and lifting weights together at home for months. All along, the vice president has said he was training for a marathon.

This week will mark the 238,000-acre national park's centennial, which will be celebrated with a ceremony at Paradise on the south side of Mount Rainier on Thursday. Gore was invited to the party, but it's not known whether he will return.

Canadian files suit for loss of lordship

Conrad Black is suing Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien for thwarting his appointment to Britain's House of Lords.

The newspaper magnate, a native of Canada, lives in Britain most of the time and holds dual citizenship.

He suggests in the lawsuit that Chretien intervened to block the appointment because the prime minister was a frequent target of Black's Canadian newspapers.

Chretien's government said it urged British Prime Minister Tony Blair to change plans to name Black to the House of Lords because of a 1919 resolution that halted the practice of granting British titular honors to Canadians.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Ontario Supreme Court, seeks about $16,000, suggesting the multimillionaire publisher is more interested in making a point than in gaining compensation. Black says Chretien committed ``an abuse of public office.''

``We will defend the lawsuit vigorously,'' a Chretien spokeswoman said.

Singer to play God in a very small way

Alanis Morissette will make her big-screen debut playing God in ``Dogma,'' directed by Kevin Smith (``Clerks,'' ``Chasing Amy''). She said the role was a breeze because ``Kevin Smith and I both believe that God is us. So there's really no preparation needed. It's really small - it's a small role.''

Renaming Opera House hits sour note with Brits

Arts purists have attacked a plan to let an American's name be emblazoned on London's refurbished Royal Opera House in return for a $16 million donation, a newspaper reported Friday.

``This sounds like a rather tacky American idea,'' classical music promoter Raymond Gubbay was quoted as saying in The Independent. ``It's not very nice to see a state-run company doing this.''

Devised by the Royal Opera House's new American chief executive, Michael Kaiser, the plan would allow the unidentified donor's name to precede that of Floral Hall, the public foyer and showpiece of the theater's new $340 million renovation.

The Royal Opera House, home to the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, is scheduled to reopen in December.

If the deal goes ahead, it will be the first time one of the major government-subsidized arts companies has an individual's name on the outside of the building.

The idea is sure to bring more unwanted controversy to the beleaguered institution, which has grappled with major financial difficulties, mass resignations and government criticism.

Pug's new address no doghouse

Malcolm the 14-year-old pug still is recovering from the death of his mistress, actress Sylvia Sidney. But he's adjusting in splendor.

Sidney died July 1 and left Malcolm to the National Arts Club, which offers lodging to members on Manhattan's tony Gramercy Park.

``He's quite popular,'' club President Aldon James told The Associated Press on Friday. ``I think Sylvia would want him as a member.''

Sidney belonged to the club and frequently would bring Malcolm.

James said Malcolm pines for his mistress, but a diet of lamb chops, ``very lean'' roast beef and dietetic dog food is keeping him happy. Malcolm sleeps with a red slipper that had belonged to Sidney.

``It's like his tranquilizer, his pacifier,'' James said.

The pug, who spends a lot of time at the front desk, is going to be inducted into the club - a requirement for living there.

News Lite is compiled from Daily News Staff and Wire Reports.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) DRESS REHEARSAL?

Three-month-old Guinean baboons make their public debut Friday in the zoo of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Zoo workers have taken over feeding the twins because their mother refuses.

Sergei Venyavsky/Associated Press

(2) AN ELEVATING SIGHT

Three themed balloons - ones shaped especially for a subject or sponsor - lift off Friday from Ashton Court during the International Balloon Fiesta in Bristol, England.

Barry Batchelor/Associated Press