Gibson to anchor ABC news

New York – Continuing a remarkable period of upheaval at the top ranks of broadcast news, ABC appointed Charles Gibson on Tuesday to replace Elizabeth Vargas as anchor of its hard-luck “World News Tonight” evening newscast.

Gibson starts Monday and will continue on “Good Morning America” until the end of June. Vargas, who is pregnant, will return to “20/20” when she comes back from maternity leave in the fall.

Vargas wound up flying solo just weeks into her tenure when her co-anchor, Bob Woodruff, was badly injured in January by a roadside bomb in Iraq

With “World News Tonight” slipping in the ratings, ABC News can now position Gibson, 63, as the experienced hand against NBC’s Brian Williams, 47, and Katie Couric, 49, who takes over at the “CBS Evening News” this fall.

Name games

Geri Halliwell has named her infant daughter Bluebell Madonna.

The 33-year-old singer, also known as Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls, told Hello! magazine she’d been inspired by seeing the spring flowers during her pregnancy, and that she had chosen the middle name in honor of one of her heroines and favorite singers.

Meanwhile, comedian Penn Jillette and his wife, who have a daughter, Moxie CrimeFighter, came up with something a bit more mainstream for their new son – Zolten Penn.

“Zolten is a common Hungarian name, it’s my wife’s maiden name and most importantly, it’s the name of Dracula’s dog,” Jillette, the 51-year-old larger half of the comedy-and-magic duo Penn & Teller, said.

Can’t make it to Cannes

Paris – Brad Pitt sent an e-mail to the Cannes Film Festival saying he was unable to attend this year’s event because of the “imminent arrival” of his new baby.

Henri Behar, who moderates Cannes’ news conferences, read a message Tuesday from Pitt, who has been in Namibia with his “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star, Angelina Jolie, awaiting the birth of the couple’s first child.

“With the imminent arrival of the newest addition to our family, I am unable to join Alejandro, Cate, Gael and the rest of the cast and crew in introducing” his new film, “Babel,” the 42-year-old actor said in the message.

In “Babel,” directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Pitt plays a husband and father trying to cope with a crisis on vacation in Morocco. Cate Blanchett plays Pitt’s wife, and the film also stars Gael Garcia Bernal.