Nicolas and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Announce Newborn Daughter's Name

Nicolas and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy have named their newborn daughter Giulia. France's First Lady made the announcement on her official website Thursday, telling the world, "I am deeply touched by the many messages of congratulations that I have received since the birth of our daughter." To mark the "happy occasion," Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 43, and her husband, the President of France, offer their "warmest thanks to all those of you who sent us these tokens of your kindness." Weighing in at 7½ lbs., little Giulia was born on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Paris. Her famous father, 56, has already been to the hospital twice on Thursday to check in on his family. The baby girl is the first child born to a ruling French leader since Napoleon.


Jerome Harrison has a brain tumor
Detroit Lions running back Jerome Harrison has a brain tumor that was discovered during a physical performed by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions, just before the league's trading deadline on Tuesday afternoon, had agreed to a deal that would have sent Harrison and a seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft to Philadelphia in exchange for running back Ronnie Brown. The proposed deal was posted on the Eagles' website Tuesday night, as was the fact that Harrison had failed a physical, which nullified the trade, Wednesday night. Brown, who had expressed happiness over being traded to the Lions, will have his rights returned to the Eagles.The Lions are thin at running back because of a second concussion sustained this year by starting tailback Jahvid Best. He had one concussion in the exhibition season and another in Sunday's loss to the 49ers. Best cannot practice or play until he is cleared under the NFL's strict protocol for evaluating players with concussions. Schwartz said Thursday there is no plan to put Best on injured reserve; when he's cleared to play, he'll play.


Husband says Giuliana Rancic doing well after breast cancer surgery
Shortly after Giuliana Rancic announced on TODAY that she has breast cancer, the E! news anchor underwent a double lumpectomy. Giuliana is home from the hospital resting now, and her husband Bill gave TODAY an update on how Giuliana is faring, post-surgery. But first, he described the day of Giuliana's surgery, saying it began with a two-hour MRI where guide wires were inserted into one breast so that the surgeon knew what area to remove. Following that, Giuliana had a mammogram and insertion of a guide wire on the other breast, and from there surgery to remove the cancerous lumps. "She's a trooper, she pulled through it and was kind of relieved to get it over with and get the cancer out and is doing well at home ... I'm adding nurse to my resume now," Bill said. Giuliana's prognosis remains good. "We're viewing this as a gift. It was caught very very early and we're going back to the doctor tomorrow," Bill said. "They had to remove a couple of lymph nodes and we're hoping we get a report tomorrow."

NBA labor talks end with uncertainty

Three days and 30 hours' worth of talks ended on a nasty note Thursday in NBA labor negotiations. And only one thing seemed fairly certain: more games were likely to be cut. Possibly even the season. Players insist that's the outcome owners wanted all along - ''preordained,'' as union executive director Billy Hunter said. ''We've always felt there was still a place where they would just not go and they would lock us out as long as it would take in order to get us beyond that place. There was never really a willingness to negotiate beyond certain points,'' union president Derek Fisher of the Lakers said. ''There was just a line drawn, and regardless of what's going on, how many times we meet, `we're not going past that.''' After 30 hours of negotiations before a federal mediator, the sides remained divided over two main issues - the division of revenues and the structure of the salary cap system. Without a deal, NBA Commissioner David Stern, who missed Thursday's session with the flu, almost certainly will decide more games must be dropped. The season was supposed to begin Nov. 1, but all games through Nov. 14 - 100 in total - already have been scrapped, costing players about $170 million in salaries. Stern said previously that games through Christmas were in jeopardy without a deal this week. Silver said the labor committee would speak with Stern on Friday about the future schedule, though no further cancellations are expected yet. Cohen didn't recommend that the two sides continue the mediation process as they weren't able to resolve the ''strongly held, competing positions that separated them on core issues.''

Idol's Crystal Bowersox Splits With RCA/Jive

Hot on the heels of American Idol Season 9 champ Lee DeWyze being dropped by RCA, runner-up Crystal Bowersox has also split with the RCA/Jive label, her manager confirmed. Speaking today about her role on next Tuesday’s episode of Body of Proof (ABC, 10/9c), Bowersox said that she expects her sophomore album to be an independent release, especially in light of the fact that RCA announced earlier this month plans to shutter its Jive, J, and Arista labels, and bring only some of those label’s artists into the RCA fold. (Furthermore, American Idol producer 19 Entertainment ended its relationship with Sony/RCA and began distributing its winners’ and runners’up’s albums via Universal Records beginning with Season 10.)



TV NEWS
A new war is about to break out on Army Wives. Lie to Me‘s Kelli Williams is joining the Lifetime drama as a potential rival to Kim Delaney’s Claudia Joy. Williams will play the recurring role of Jackie Clarke, the ambitious and well-educated spouse of a general who brings a whole new set of challenges to the wives — specifically Claudia Joy. She’ll debut during the show’s forthcoming sixth season.



Erica Kane and Jenny Gardner, together again! In her first post-All My Children role, Susan Lucci has landed a multi-episode arc on Army Wives opposite fellow Pine Valley alum Kim Delaney. The suds queen will play the wife of a retired general who gives Delany’s Claudia valuable advice on how to deal with a potential rival. Lucci will appear in at least two episodes during the Lifetime drama’s upcoming sixth season. Williams, meanwhile, is on board for at least seven episodes.