Simon Cowell ‘having second thoughts about getting hitched’

London, May 14 (ANI): If close friends are to believed, one has every reason to doubt if Simon Cowell will ever get married.

“I really don”t know if he will go through with it. If he is really true to himself, he probably won”t,” The Mirror quoted Sinitta, a close friend and former lover.

Sinitta said she was shocked when The Mirror broke the news of the earlier this year.

She said, “He always said he never wanted to get married. He surprised us all.”

The X Factor judge, 50, who proposed to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy, 36, with a 288,000-pound Graff diamond ring on Valentine”s Day, is privately telling pals he has no idea when he will get hitched.

“He”s a bit overwhelmed by the whole marriage thing and has no plans at the moment. He hates everyone talking about it,” a source said.

“When Mezhgan and myself decide the time is right, we will make our own plans,” Cowell has always insisted.

“There is a fear it will be the longest engagement in history and will never translate into a wedding,” another source said.

But a friend added, “They make a great couple and Simon”s intentions are totally genuine.”

A spokeswoman said, “We do not comment on Simon”s private life.” (ANI)

Chelsea Clinton flashes engagement ring at Broadway”s ”Promises, Promises”

New York, April 27 (ANI): Former U.S. First Daughter Chelsea Clinton flashed her sizeable diamond engagement ring from Marc Mezvinsky for the first time at the opening night of Broadway”s “Promises, Promises.”

The 30-year-old bride-to-be arrived at the musical on crutches having broken her heel earlier this month, reports the New York Daily News.

She is expected to shed her cast in time to marry her investment banker beau this summer.

Clinton has not revealed the venue for the impending marriage.

However, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN in December that the wedding would be intimate.

“It will be a private affair. It will be for [Chelsea''s] close friends and that”s the way it should be,” she said. (ANI)

In building boom, no place like home

Beijing, April 23 — This year, the term ‘naked marriage’ started appearing in the staid pages of China’s State-run newspapers and the Internet. Luo hun or naked marriage is how the Chinese refer to the trend of couples getting married without the traditional wedding feast, diamond ring, car – and critically – a new apartment. Chinese analysts may disagree with hedge fund manager James Chanos’ controversial comparison of China’s property boom as ‘Dubai times 1,000 or worse’. But you know Beijing is worried about its failure to control property prices when it discusses social instability. An essay in the official media on Thursday said that decision-makers now believe that the housing crisis could cause ‘social instability’ if handled ineffectively. Right after China posted nearly 12 per cent first quarter economic growth, the cabinet moved to cool the overheating economy by issuing the strictest property control measures since 2007. Regional officials were held responsible for stabilising the ‘abnormally high’ property prices. Developers were warned of penalties for artificially hiking prices and hoarding. Property prices in 70 Chinese cities rose 11.7 per cent in March, the fastest rate since 2005. Premier Wen Jiabao has compared the housing prices to a wild horse that must be tamed. A majority of professionals in the world’s fastest-growing economy cannot afford an apartment even on the capital’s outskirts. Thousands of Chinese respondents in a recent online survey said they plan to exit big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou because of the costly, competitive lifestyle. A Thursday poll linked the Chinese middle-class’ health problems to the housing crisis. Recent surveys rank China’s big cities lower on the happiness index than the less developed and cheaper cities. “Achieving balance in China’s real estate market is the government’s most difficult task,” said the Global Times on Wednesday. The latest rules curb lending for third-home purchases and require higher down payment and mortgage rates for property sales.

Advertising professional Li Jie left Beijing for lesser-known Zhengzhou city in central China in 2006, because he couldn’t afford a post-marriage apartment. “As a traditional Chinese, I think a house is most important for married life,” he said. This year, he says, his apartment in cheaper Zhengzhou is worth the same price as the apartment he couldn’t afford in Beijing four years ago.

Charlotte Church drops diamond engagement ring down plughole!

London, April 21 (ANI): Welsh singer/songwriter Charlotte Church is said to have flown into a tizzy when her new diamond engagement ring dropped down a plughole while she was washing her hands.

Church, 24, was left horrified when the ring disappeared in a bathroom basin at the Welsh farmhouse she shares with rugby star fiance Gavin Henson, who was not at home at the time.

Plumber Andy Ward was about to set off on holiday when he got the frantic call to Church’s 20-acre home at St Brides Major, near Bridgend.

“The ring was trapped in the U-bend and Andy found it within minutes. Charlotte was incredibly relieved,” the Mirror quoted a friend as saying.

The mum-of-two had been given the ring by Henson, 28, after her 24th birthday in February.

The two plan to marry on an island hideaway. (ANI)

Sandra Bullock pictured sans her wedding ring

Washington, April 20 (ANI): Actress Sandra Bullock was recently photographed without her wedding ring.

Bullock, 45, had not been seen for more than a month after her husband Jesse James’ cheating scandal first broke out, reports Radar Online.

The picture, which is a first since then, was taken in Northern California during a hike on April 16. It shows Bullock wearing a scarf and a hat.

It will be featured on Entertainment Tonight, and it clearly shows a bare left finger, as Bullock’s diamond wedding ring is missing. (ANI)

Jewels worth £100k found inside Dame Agatha Christie”s trunk

London, Mar 5 (ANI): A battered leather trunk that had belonged to British crime novelist Dame Agatha Christie is said to have contained jewels worth up to 100,000 pounds.

Jennifer Grant, a fan of the Poirot and Miss Marple creator, had bought the box for 100 pounds at auction, and though she realised something was inside, she left it unopened for more than three years as no key was available.

When she finally asked a friend to force open its two brass locks, she was astonished to find it contained a metal strongbox.

Upon opening the strongbox, she discovered that it contained more than 50 gold coins, a buckle-shaped brooch and what is thought to be Christie”s mother”s diamond engagement ring.

Experts have valued the collection at a minimum of 20,000 pounds, but told Grant it could be worth five times as much with the Christie background.

“The trunk was a talking point at dinner parties for years, but I thought nothing of it. Eventually I discovered the locked strongbox but the auctioneer had no knowledge of a key,” the Sun quoted her as saying.

“Inside it was a hoard of gold in a small crocheted bag, a diamond ring, and a beautiful buckle-shaped brooch wrapped in paper.

“I was thrilled I had something that touched Agatha Christie”s life,” she said.

Grant had the jewels valued by John Benjamin, a contributor to the BBC”s Antiques Roadshow.

“If we can prove these are the Christie family diamonds who knows what someone will be willing to pay?” he said.

Christie, who died in 1976 aged 85, described some of her family jewellery in her autobiography.

Auctioneers Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood had sold the trunk with the initials C.M.M, which are the same as Christie”s mother Clara Margaret Miller.

“If we made a mistake, I”ll put my hand up,” Andrew Thomas, from the firm”s stated.

It is not known if Christie inherited the items and stored them in the box, or if she kept the trunk unaware they were inside. (ANI)

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Britney dumped by agent beau Jason Trawick

New Delhi, Aug 18 (ANI): Britney Spears is single again, after her agent beau Jason Trawick reportedly dumped her because he felt pressurised to propose marriage to her.

Trawick pulled the plug on their relationship after he found that the 27-year-old singer was desperate for him to commit to her, reports the China Daily.

“It was just too fast, too soon for Jason. He didn’t like the pressure Britney and her family were putting on him to put a ring on her finger. He told Britney repeatedly that he would never marry, but she refused to believe him,” a source told National Enquirer magazine.

Britney, who has sons Sean Preston, three, and Jayden James, two, with ex-husband Kevin Federline, thought she could change his mind by having a baby with him.

“Jason told Britney he needs time to chill away from her. She’s heartbroken,” said the source.

Although the couple have now separated, the ‘Womaniser’ star was seen wearing a diamond ring on her engagement finger while shopping in Beverly Hills last week.

Recently, it was claimed that Britney, who was first romantically linked to Jason in March, was so determined to marry Jason that she was planning to convert to Judaism for him. (ANI)

Anna Kournikova spotted with diamond ring on engagement finger

Melbourne, July 07 (ANI): Anna Kournikova has been spotted with a huge diamond ring on her engagement finger.

The hot Tennis star, who has long been linked to singer Enrique Iglesias, showed off her ring when she came to watch World Team Tennis on Monday night, the Daily Telegraph reports.

However, when she was asked if the ring meant she was committed, she simply replied: “I thought you were the good press.”

The Russian bombshell became conscious and hid her hand behind her back.

Kournikova was scheduled to play for the St. Louis Aces but will miss the season because of a wrist injury.

She still participated in a kid’s clinic, signed autographs and cheered on her teammates. (ANI)

Kate Moss sparks marriage rumours

London, July 2 (IANS) British supermodel Kate Moss has been photographed wearing a giant diamond on her ring finger, sparking rumours that she is engaged to her musician boyfriend Jamie Hince.
The 35-year-old ramp queen who has been dating The Kills rocker since summer 2007 has sparked rumours the pair are planning to wed after she was spotted wearing a diamond on her ring finger during a romantic trip to Paris, reports contacmusic.com.

“Kate and Jamie looked totally loved-up. Jamie took her to the trendy La Maison Du Caviar restaurant for a romantic lunch. People kept noticing the ring on her engagement finger but she didn’t say anything,” said a source.

This is not the first time it has been reported the British beauty and the 40-year-old musician are set to tie the knot. Earlier this year, Hince had revealed he was desperate to commit to Moss.

Nicole Scherzinger ‘Hush Hush-ly’ strips naked for bath

London, May 28 (ANI): Pussycat dolls vocalist Nicole Scherzinger has set the pulse racing with a revealing new video for Hush Hush; Hush Hush.

The 30-year-old singer, who’s dating F1 star Lewis Hamilton, is seen singing naked in the bath tube in the new video, reports the Sun.

Meanwhile, American pop star is reportedly hunting for a dazzling engagement ring for her forthcoming engagement ceremony with beau Lewis Hamilton.

Nicole is currently hunting for an exquisite diamond ring, and has been visiting multifarious jewellery stores to buy one for the occasion.

Nicole has been dating Brit formula one racer Hamilton for a year. (ANI)

Nicole Scherzinger on the lookout for an engagement ring

Melbourne, May 27 (ANI): American pop star Nicole Scherzinger is reportedly hunting for a dazzling engagement ring for her forthcoming engagement ceremony with beau Lewis Hamilton.

Nicole is currently hunting for an exquisite diamond ring, and has been visiting multifarious jewellery stores to buy one for the occasion.

“She’s looking for diamonds and she wants something unique,” the Herald Sun quoted a source as saying.

“She found a Cartier ring that she liked, but she was worried that other people had similar designs,” the source added.

Nicole has been dating Brit formula one racer Hamilton for a year. (ANI)

Critics demand Grace Mugabe to be banned from Hong Kong

Hong Kong – Hong Kong lawmakers and human rights activists on Tuesday called for the wife of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to be banned from the city after she was granted diplomatic immunity over an alleged assault.

Grace Mugabe, 43, escaped prosecution for allegedly attacking a British photographer who took pictures of her on a shopping trip to Hong Kong in January.

The ruling that she enjoyed diplomatic immunity was greeted with fury by some legislators and human rights activists who demanded a full explanation from the Department of Justice and urged to ban Grace Mugabe from returning to the city of 7 million.

Photographer Richard Jones, 42, claims he was repeatedly hit by Grace Mugabe in the January 15 assault and left with cuts on his face from a diamond ring she was wearing.

The assault took place while Grace Mugabe and her entourage were on a luxury Asian holiday reportedly funded by 92,000 US dollars withdrawn from the Harare central bank by her husband, at a time her home country is suffering hyperinflation, widespread poverty and continued political turmoil following Robert Mugabe’s apparent loss of the
2008 presidential elections.

Speaking on the government-run radio station RTHK, human rights activist Law Yuk-kai on Tuesday demanded a full explanation on why immunity was extended.

He questioned whether she was entitled when on a private shopping visit to the city, where her daughter Bona is a university student and she and her husband have reportedly bought a 5-million-US-dollar home.

“We need to do something about it,” he said. “They [the Department of Justice] should give out what information they have in hand to the Hong Kong public,” he said.

Some legislators also called to ban Grace Mugabe from entering Hong Kong. “Is there nothing we can do?” pro-democracy lawmaker Audrey Eu said in Tuesday’s South China Morning Post.

“Even though she has diplomatic immunity and cannot be arrested, at least we can refuse to let someone who has committed a crime in Hong Kong visit again.”

In a statement on Sunday, Hong Kong’s Department of Justice cited mainland China’s regulations on diplomatic immunity, saying they applied to Hong Kong as well.

“We have ascertained that … Grace Mugabe is not liable to arrest or detention and enjoys immunity from criminal jurisdiction,” it said.

A spokesman declined to clarify whether Grace Mugabe had requested diplomatic immunity or it had been granted automatically.

The decision comes despite a police report which, according to sources, concluded there was enough evidence to prosecute Grace Mugabe for the alleged assault, which was seen by two independent witnesses.

Jones earlier told the German Press Agency dpa he was disappointed but not surprised by the outcome, adding that it was “appalling” that Grace Mugabe could behave as she did without being held to account.

Diplomatic immunity is recognized worldwide under the terms of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and has in the past shielded diplomats overseas from prosecution for serious offences. (dpa)

WAG Amii Grove auctioning her #32K engagement ring on eBay

London, Mar 21 (ANI): British footballer Jermaine Pennant’s ex-fiancee Amii Grove has auctioned her 32,000 pounds engagement ring on eBay.

Grove, 23, had offered the ring back to Pennant, 26, but he refused to accept it after using her Mercedes as part-exchange on a new Ferrari, reports the Sun.

The Page 3 girl now wants at least 15,000 pounds for the ring, part of which she will donate to a charity set up in memory of her brother.

The Portsmouth player had given Grove the diamond ring beside the grave of her brother Lee Marley, 25, who died in a quad bike crash. (ANI)

Charles Dickens love-child rumour diamond ring fetches £26k at auction

London, Feb 24 (ANI): A controversial diamond ring that is part of Charles Dickens love-child rumour has fetched 26,000 pounds at an auction.

The 0.9-carat ring is regarded as final evidence that Britain’s most famous novelist had a long-standing affair with his sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth.

Dickens had made her take a virginity test to silence the gossips and safeguard his reputation as a guardian of Victorian family values.

But the previous owners of ring say it was passed down to them from a secret love child, Hector Charles Dickens, born to Dickens and Hogarth.

Now an anonymous collector from Northern Ireland has paid the huge amount for the ring, which was a gift to Dickens from the famous poet Alfred Tennyson in 1854, reports The Telegraph.

Dickens’ close relationship with Georgina fuelled hot rumours that they were enjoying a long-standing affair.

The great writer always shunned the “monstrous misrepresentations” about their relationship.

But descendants of Georgina, who have asked not to be named, claim the ring proves the writer had an illegitimate son with their distant relative.

Nigel Ward, from Nigel Ward and Company Auctioneers in Pontrilas, Herefordshire, said: “I don’t think there was any really any doubt about the authenticity of the ring. We had a lot of people coming to the sale to view the ring and one of them said they needed to speak to me.

“They were friendly with an Ian Dickens who lives somewhere in Cambridgeshire and is the great, great grandson of Dickens and had seen what we had been saying on the website about the ring and was able to collaborate it all.

“He said it was all known about in the family but that they didn’t really talk about it. Hector was the son of Georgina Hogarth and was then employed as a housekeeper in the family home. Throughout his life Hector was known as Charles Dickens the younger.”

Dickens was given the ring, inscribed ‘Alfred Tennyson to Charles Dickens 1854′, whilst married to Catherine with whom he had 10 children. (ANI)

50 Cent’s wins legal battle against his ex

New York, Feb 6 (ANI): Rapper 50 Cent has won a lawsuit against his ex Shaniqua Tompkins, after a Manhattan judge gave his verdict against her.

Shaniqua claimed 50 Cent’s millions, as she is the mother of his child.

However, according to the verdict, she will not even get a single penny.

50 Cent was more than glad when Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead refuted the suit, ruling that none of Tompkins’ allegations had merit.

“I knew that once the facts were heard that justice would prevail, I hope now that we can put this behind us and move forward with our lives,” the New York Daily News quoted 50 Cent as saying.

Tompkins began dating 50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson in 1995, when he was freshly paroled, unemployed and an aspiring rapper.

According to her, the rapper had vowed to take care of her once he became a star, while she was pregnant with his son in 1996.

“Even if we weren’t going to be together, we were down for life. That no matter what, whether we’re together or not that he would always take care of me. He said he would never see me fall,” Tompkins claimed, according to court paper.

The suit stated that Tompkins stood by 50 Cent, whose fortune is at least 50 million dollars, when he was a no-name, and that she bought him a diamond ring and watch because they were “part of the makeup of being a rapper.”

” It says she nursed him back to health after he was shot nine times in front of his grandma’s house in 2000, I did it because I loved him, and wanted him to be happy,” Tompkins said that in a deposition.

Tompkins had also claimed that she was forced to sign away her life rights to the production of Fitty’s movie, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”, but the judge was buying none of it.

Instead, the mother of two will continue to receive 6,700 dollars in monthly child-support payments.

“In dismissing the case before trial, the court is sending a clear message, this is a complete and total victory for 50,” Brett Kimmel, a lawyer for the 50 Cent said. (ANI)

Wedding bells for Kate Moss and Jamie Hince?

London, Jan 15 (ANI): Supermodel Kate Moss has sparked rumors of an impending marriage after she was spotted with a huge diamond ring on her wedding finger.

Kate flaunted the ring as she left an art do with her rocker beau Jamie Hince.

However, the pair has denied all claims hinting marriage.

“The ring is a Christmas present and that’s the only finger it fits on,” the Sun quoted Kate’s pal, as saying.

Meanwhile, Kate was also in news, as she berated her beau from talking to a fine-looking woman. (ANI)

Canadian Admirer Sends Israel’s Tzipi Livni Diamond Ring

Jerusalem – Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni may be married with two children, but that did not stop a Canadian admirer from sending her what looks like a diamond ring, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.

The 18-karat golden ring arrived at Livni’s office in Jerusalem with an international package delivery service, Yediot Ahronot said.

Her security people first scrutinized it to ensure the package contained no bomb, but once they opened it, they found a silver- coloured luxury box with the ring inside.

A letter with only the words “I’m aware of myself” and a photograph of the sender, a Canadian from Quebec, accompanied the box.

It was not clear whether the shiny stone on the ring was a real diamond or a crystal.

Either way, Livni, 50, and the mother of two adult sons, ordered her staff to return the ring to its sender with a thank you note. dpa ok wjh