FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, June 29, 2006

ON THE MARKET: Denise Richards selling the L.A.-area home she bought last year during her separation from Charlie Sheen, People reports. Could it be that she wants to put some distance between herself and her neighbor (and ex-best friend) Heather Locklear?

IDENTITY THEFT: A salesman using a fake ID with a picture of Brad Pitt apprehended during an attempt to fleece a money exchanger in the United Arab Emigrates out of more than $23,000. In a blow to Pitt's ego, the man said he had no idea whose picture was on the ID--he had simply downloaded it from the Internet.

PHOTO OP: Police and the FBI raiding a Westfield, Massachusetts house and seizing photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Namibian baby shower that had been downloaded from a digital memory card that was allegedly taken from Jolie's brother, James Haven's camera after he took it to a Best Buy to be fixed, TMZ.com reports. Looks like Jolie and Pitt will go to great lengths to block photos of themselves in feather boas from leaking onto the Internet...oh wait, too late.

NOT SO SUPER: Superman Returns taking in approximately $21 million on its opening day Wednesday, good for only eighth place all time for a movie released on Wednesday, and lagging far behind Spider-Man 2's $40.4 million. Plus, Spider-Man's outfit is cooler.

DO-GOODER: Nicolas Cage donating $2 million through Amnesty International to help former child soldiers. "I understand that this pledge is not a solution for the problem," Cage told a United Nations Conference via video link. "It's my hopeful wish that today's discussions on this tragic subject at the United Nations conference may bring us closer to eradicating the nightmare of child soldiers."

COPPING A PLEA: A second man pleading guilty to attempted grand larceny for trying to sell Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's stolen wedding video back to the couple for $1 million. How many times has J. Lo got to say it--her love don't cost a thing and she's certainly not shelling out a cool mil for it.

SAY WHAT?! "For Barbara to say she felt betrayed is the height of hypocrisy."
--Star Jones Reynolds to the New York Daily News, firing the latest salvo in the View battle.

BADA BLING! Four more Sopranos cast members said to have accepted offers they couldn't refuse to return for the final season of the series: Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Melfi), Aida Turturro (Janice), Robert Iler (AJ) and Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow). All four were said to have received substantial pay bumps. Meanwhile, Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt and Steven Schirripa remain in negotiations.

JURY OF HIS PEERS: Three people who said they believed Michael Jackson was guilty of child molestation were among those chosen for the jury in the trial of a lawsuit filed by Jackson's former associate, F. Marc Schaffel, who claims the entertainer owes him $3.8 million. This may seem like a bad sign for Jackson, but on the other hand, some of the people who acquitted him of all molestation charges also said they believed he was guilty.

BEDAZZLED: Janice Dickinson sued by jewelry designer Neil Lane, who alleges the former supermodel never returned several valuable pieces loaned to her for an August 2002 photo shoot. Dickinson claimed the items, worth at least $88,000, were lost or stolen from her home, according to the suit. Either that, or they vanished into the folds of her latest facelift, never to be seen again.

STYLE FILE: Pharrell Williams stepping up as the new face of Louis Vuitton luggage, the company announced Wednesday. That's baggage we wouldn't mind having.

WANTED MAN: A judge issuing an arrest warrant for DMX after he failed to appear in court Wednesday to face a number of charges stemming from bad-driving instances. Maybe he couldn't find a ride to the court house?

OH, BABY: Mariska Hargitay and her husband, Peter Hermann, welcoming a baby boy Wednesday, Us Weekly reports. The tyke was reportedly delivered by C-section a week after his due date and weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds, 9 ounces.

KUDOS: Crash picking up the Humanitas Award honoring work that helps "liberate, enrich and unify society," while My Name is Earl winning on the TV front.

MAKING WAVES: Fox ordering only 16 episodes of The OC, as compared to the usual 22. It seems Mischa Barton may have killed off more than just her character.

BRING ON THE BOTOX: Extreme Makeover making a move to the Style Network with reruns starting Tuesday and all-new episodes premiering July 10. (E! Online and Style Network are divisions of E! Networks.)