FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, April 12, 2005

BABY ON BOARD: Following weeks of tabloid speculation, Britney Spears finally confirming on Tuesday that she is expecting her first child with husband Kevin Federline. No word on a due date, but reports have put her at four months along.

JACKSON WATCH: The stepfather of Michael Jackson's accuser taking the stand Tuesday and testifying that Jackson's people offered the boy's family a house in exchange for appearing in a pro-Jackson video rebutting Martin Bashir's Living with Michael Jackson documentary.

SOBER STATE OF MIND: Billy Joel checking out of the Betty Ford Center after a 30-day stint to battle alcohol abuse.

ET TU, JOAQUIN? Gladiator star Joaquin Phoenix voluntarily entering an undisclosed rehab facility two weeks ago to deal with his own addiction to the bottle, according to his rep.

DAD'S DRIVING WOES: Lindsay Lohan's father, Michael Lohan, pleading not guilty Tuesday to a felony DWI charge stemming from a solo February car crash in New York.

ANCHOR AWAY: Peter Jennings expected to begin chemo treatment today for his lung cancer, the New York Post reports. No word on when he will return to anchor duties on ABC News.

NAILED: Foxy Brown pleading not guilty to misdemeanor assault stemming from an alleged scuffle last summer at a nail salon. The rapper is accused of melting down on staffers over a $20 pedicure bill.

CIVIC DUTY: David Letterman reporting for jury duty on Monday at Westchester County's Supreme Courthouse, according to the Journal News. Letterman was considered for a medical malpractice case but didn't make the panel.

DENIED: U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum shooting down Martha Stewart's hopes of shedding her electronic tether and ending her house arrest early and denying her arguments for a new trial.

SCARIER THAN GIGLI: Jennifer Lopez claiming she narrowly avoided a car accident over the weekend when a vehicle driven by paparazzi cut in front of her at a traffic light in Beverly Hills. "Sometimes they feel like it's a game; like they're playing cops and robbers," she told AP Radio. "I got goosepimples."

YEE HAW! Keith Urban's "Days Go By" snagging Video of the Year Monday night at the CMT Awards, while Gretchen Wilson nabbed best Breakthrough Video for "Redneck Woman" and Best Female Video for "When I Think About Cheatin'."

SICK BAY: Leann Rimes temporarily pulling out as host of USA Network's Nashville Star for the April 12 show due to a broken blood vessel in her vocal cords from viral bronchitis. Sara Evans will sub in until the singer returns for the finale on April 26.

BRAND NEW ELEPHANT: The White Stripes announcing they'll release their fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan, on June 7.

NEW NEIGHBORS: Variety reporting that Alfre Woodard is joining the cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives as a regular next season, playing a woman who moves to Wisteria Lane with her son. The veteran thespian makes her first appearance as a guest star on this season's final episode.

DESPERATE EXTENSION: ABC stretching out Desperate Housewives' run by adding a special Apr. 24 episode, Desperate Housewives: Sorting Out the Dirty Laundry, which will recap each character's story to date.

DESPERATE ADD: Meanwhile, Sunday's episode of Desperate Housewives drawing 25.4 million viewers, the series' best numbers since January.

MUGGLE ALERT: Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announcing plans to release a videogame based on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that will feature for the first time in the franchise the movie's actors playing the CG characters.

SPY GAMES: Canada's Incendo Productions teaming up with German-based Action Concept to develop a small-screen TV series based on Robert De Niro's 1998 mercenary spy drama, Ronin, per the Hollywood Reporter.

GET YOUR MIME ON: The AMC cable network announcing Monday it will air Celebrity Charades, a new star-filled game show developed by Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe. The first of six episodes debuts in June and features such guests as Hank Azaria, Bebe Neuwirth and Rosie Perez, all of whom will donate their winnings to their favorite charity.

SHE'S A BEAUTY: Chelsea Cooley, a 21-year-old fashion-marketing student from Charlotte, North Carolina, winning Monday night's 54th annual Miss USA pageant in Baltimore. She'll move on to compete in the Miss Universe competition in Bangkok.

HE'S ALWAYS CRANKY: 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney drawing the ire of a federal judge Monday for trying to quiz a lawyer while on the witness stand in the fraud trial of Alan Walker, who allegedly bilked Rooney out of $10,000 in speaking fees.

X MARKS THE YOUTH MARKET: Microsoft planning to unveil its next generation Xbox videogame console in a May 12 special on MTV.

HARVARD GUY: John Lithgow, the veteran film and TV actor as well as Harvard graduate and star of the Broadway hit Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, tapped to deliver his alma mater's 2005 commencement speech in a departure from the school's tradition of inviting world leaders and other dignitaries to address graduates.

FAIR AND BALANCED RADIO? Fox News Radio planning to offer more news updates and breaking news coverage to over 300 radio stations nationwide along with two weekday chatfests, The Tony Snow Show and The Alan Colmes Show.