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Rod and romance
Veteran British rocker Rod Stewart has split from his wife Rachel Hunter, Stewart's management announced. The singer and former leader of The Faces, who has a reputation of something of a wild man, was thought to have been tamed by the 28-year-old New Zealand model, with whom he has two young children. But early on Friday the couple announced their split in a brief joint statement issued through 54-year-old Stewart's American management company. It said: ``After eight years of marriage Rod Stewart and his wife Rachel Hunter have formally announced their separation. There are no immediate plans for the couple's divorce.''
Hunter became Stewart's wife in 1990, when he was 45 and she was 21. The rock star, a football fanatic and devoted Scotland fan, romanced his way through the 1960s and 1970s with actresses and models. Among the women seen draped on Stewart's arm have been Britt Ekland, Kelly Le Brock, model Dee Harrington and Alana Hamilton, whom he married and divorced. He had adaughter, Ruby, with model Kelly Emberg and also has two children, Sean, 17, and Kimberley, 19, with Alana. His latest marriage produced another two children, Liam, four, and Renee, six.
No litigation
Britain's ex-trade minister Peter Mandelson, who resigned last month over a secret loan for a luxury house, escaped legal action for failing to disclose it when applying for another home loan. The Britannia Building Society, which granted him a £150,000 loan to complete the purchase of his West London house, said it would not pursue the matter. Mandelson's spokesman said the ex-minister had been in correspondence with Britannia after conceding that he may not have revealed details of the £373,000 he had borrowed from another government minister, Geoffrey Robinson, to make up the rest of the purchase price. The disclosure of the secret loan shortly before Christmas led to the resignations of both ministers.
Fighting over Bond
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) scored a new victory in its legal battlewith Sony over the right to make movies about the adventures of the world's most famous spy, James Bond. A federal appeals court refused to overturn a lower-court ruling that barred Sony from beginning production on a new Bond film before a lawsuit between the companies is settled. MGM President Frank Mancuso said the decision meant that Sony had exhausted all of its legal options to overturn the lower-court decision before the lawsuit, in which MGM is seeking damages from Sony for interfering with its Bond franchise, is complete.
``We have said all along that the rights to the James Bond film franchise are the exclusive domain of MGM'' and the heirs to the late 007 producer Albert `Cubby' Broccoli, Mancuso said. ``We eagerly await our court date to establish damages for Sony's interference,'' he said. The conflict between the two movie giants began in October 1997 with an announcement by Sony President John Calley that the company's subsidiary, Columbia Pictures, had reached a deal to make a new series ofBond films. The James Bond series is the most profitable in the history of the movies with the take from all the films made so far surpassing $3 billion. MGM has co-produced 18 pictures with agent 007 since 1962. The studio is scheduled to release the latest in the series, The World Is Not Enough, in November.
Nidal's in Iraq ABU NIDAL, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, had fled Egypt for Iraq for fear of being handed over to Western governments, a British newspaper said. The Guardian, quoting ``normally reliable diplomatic sources'', said the Palestinian fled to Baghdad from a hospital bed in Cairo, where he had been undergoing treatment for leukaemia. Nidal, 61, now dying and inactive, has been in Iraq since mid-December, said the paper, and was being treated in a lavish clinic reserved for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's inner circle. Nidal was the most notorious Arab terrorist of his day, opposing both Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel. He is reputed to have killed orwounded 900 people in 20 countries since 1974, aided by radical Arab regimes such as Iraq, Syria or Libya.
Blair's farewell
Visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair bade President Nelson Mandela farewell ahead of the 80-year-old South African leader's retirement later this year. After hour-long talks with Mandela about international issues, Blair showered praise on the President at a media briefing, prompting the South African to thank him for ``being kind to an old man''. Blair told journalists: ``During (Mandela's) very long political life, whether it has been in adversity or whether it has been in good times, he has shown compassion, integrity, of course, strength and forgiveness. I believe that arises not simply from a love of humanity but from an understanding of it.
He has been a shining light throughout his entire life and I don't think that light will ever be dimmed,'' Blair said. Mandela, who spent 27 years in jail for his fight against the former White regime, intends to hand powerto Deputy President Thabo Mbeki after the country's second democratic election, this year.
A stamp for love
After issuing the world's first round stamp during last year's World Cup, France is to offer another first for collectors a heart-shaped stamp for Valentine's Day. The three-franc (53 US cents) stamp, to be issued on February 8, will feature either a rosebud or the words Je T'aime (I love you) spattered with stars. Last year's World Cup stamp beat all sales records in France, with 120 million sold before the football tournament and 14 million after the France's July finals victory that carry the words `World Champion'.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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