Yesterday the New York Post ran a gruesome update on the Annie Le murder, saying that Le's killer "broke the bones and mangled the body" before stuffing her into a wall. New Haven cops say: False.

After 19 weeks of testimony (or 20 weeks, according to the Daily News), jurors in the trial of Brooke Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, and lawyer, Francis X. Morrissey Jr. are expected to begin their deliberations later this afternoon. How long will it take to reach a verdict? Not all that long, since the 19 (or 20) weeks of testimony appears to have sorely tested jurors' patience. "I think there will be a lot of internal peer pressure to quickly reach a verdict so that they can all go home," says one law professor. [NYT, NYDN]

We thought the action on the Emmy stage was juicy, but apparently two actresses had a meeting in the ladies room and two different stars paid for their dates. The award for the trashiest awards show goes to...

Nikki Finke is an industrious and relentless blogger. But she's not a reliable one. As her readers know, she's given to frequent unexpected absences from her blog. Now that she's making $400,000, we're going to start keeping track.

• Jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz has a new home at the Olympic Tower on Fifth Avenue. The woman who's been called "the Queen of Bling" (and been namedropped in a Beyoncé song) paid $4.7 million for a 2,900-square-foot duplex on the building's 39th and 40th floors. [Cityfile]
• Steven Oesterle, a managing director at Giuliani Partners, and his wife Nancy, have sold their three-bedroom apartment at the Park Imperial on West 56th Street for $4.9 million. [Cityfile]
• British architect Lord Norman Foster has closed on the purchase of a second apartment at 912 Fifth Avenue. The eighth-floor pad, which Foster was first reported to be buying back in July, was bought for $6.7 million. [Real Deal]
• Christina Ricci is reportedly looking to unload her home in LA. The three-bedroom house is on the market for $1.549 million. [Real Estalker, Movoto]

If there's any way you can avoid Midtown today, do so. Thanks to roughly 120 heads of state in New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly, this will likely go down as the absolutely worst day of the year as far as gridlock and temperamental cab drivers are concerned. (If it makes you feel any better, President Obama extended his apologies to NYC residents for all the traffic tie-ups on the Late Show with David Letterman last night.)

The Metropolitan Opera's gala opening night performance of Puccini's "Tosca" last night was met with "the loudest and most sustained booing in memory." [NYT, AP]

New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. turns 58 today. NBA commissioner David Stern is turning 67. Art world fixture and chief curator of the Studio Museum Thelma Golden is 44. Fox Business anchor Neil Cavuto is turning 51. Bonnie Hunt turns 45. Joan Jett is 51. Singer/writer Nick Cave is 52. Opera singer Andrea Bocelli is turning 51. Hall of fame baseball manager Tommy Lasorda is 82. Retired Rangers star Mike Richter turns 43. And Scott Baio is 48 today.

• Friends worry Jessica Simpson is "at the lowest point of her life" now that she's lost her beloved dog, Daisy. Others say she's coping "better than her friends may realize." Either way, we she's probably feeling much better now that her friends are sharing her innermost feelings with the tabloids. [People]
• The man suspected of breaking into Lindsay Lohan's house wasn't a complete stranger: The two reportedly hung out on the set of her film Labor Pains last year. The girl's not the best judge of character, as you've probably realized by now. [TMZ]
• The drugs that were prescribed to Anna Nicole Smith amounted to "pharmaceutical suicide," according to newly unsealed court documents that were obtained by the LA Times. Most disturbing: The documents also reveal that both of Anna Nicole's doctors "transgressed professional boundaries by having sexual contact with their famous patient." [LAT]
• Michelle Obama gave Barack the silent treatment at points during his campaign for president because she was pissed about all the women throwing themselves at him, according to a new book. There was even a hot young campaign aide who was mysteriously "relocated" after developing a close relationship with the President. [NYDN, P6]
• Did you catch President Obama's appearance on Letterman last night? [MTV]

Rejoice, Internet masses! Godly website Facebook has been forced to abandon Beacon, an advertising program that also published "updates" on your page. Don't worry, though, because founder Mark Zuckerberg and company have a new revenue scheme.

Will Jessica Simpson survive her dog's death? Did Anna Wintour survive sitting next to Pixie Geldof? Did Lindsay know her burglar? Did Anna Nicole's doctors know pills would kill her? Get some answers in your Tuesday morning gossip roundup!

France has long relied on fashion for its prestige and economy. And fashion relies on advertising. And that advertising has to manipulate a consumer's aspirations. It's a delicate, ugly and ultimately international balance. Now its under attack.

Barack Obama capped a media push by sitting down with David Letterman to talk to the everyman. Yeah, he discussed serious issues, but those hardly matter, because everyone's going to be talking about a heart-shaped potato.

Some wonder what business lesbian talk show host and non-singer Ellen DeGeneres has being a judge on American Idol. Ellen's reply? "I know I'm going to be a great judge — because I've spent my whole life being judged." [ET]

There's another big campus death. It doesn't appear to be murder, but it definitely qualifies as unfortunate and unnecessary.

CBS and its hot shot lawyers were impotent in their efforts to thwart old manDan Rather's $70 million wrongful termination suit. Now Rather's lawyers want Viacom big wig Sumner Redstone to take the stand. It's war! [Reuters]

Katie Couric's first foray into internet interviewing was a success! Well, it's getting some press, at least, because the ubiquitous Glenn Beck admitted a secret love for Hillary and trashed McCain, whom he thinks would have done worse than Obama.

The government pumps about $20 billion into NASA each year to levitate mice and study crystals. Whatever. All most of us want from space are pictures. And some MIT students did that for a far cheaper fee. Math lesson, anyone?

• London Fashion Week kicked into high gear over the weekend. Given LFW is celebrating its 25th anniversary and a handful of designers who have been absent in recent years have returned, it's shaping up to be London's biggest year yet. Further proof of LFW's resurgence: Vogue editrix Anna Wintour (seen here fumbling with her BlackBerry) is attending the shows following a two-year hiatus. [Telegraph, LAT, NYT, Guardian]
• While many top NY-based fashion editors are turning up to the shows in London, many mags are saving cash by divvying up editors between the shows in London, Milan, and Paris. Or by making them stay at cheaper hotels. [WWD]
• More highlights and reviews from LFW's first few days. [NYT, NYT, Pipeline]

Courtney Love has subjected fellow singer Ryan Adams to a series of online rants for more than a year now, and now Adams is pushing back. He says he never borrowed any money from Love, nor did he date her.