Paris Hilton not to return borrowed jewels

NEW YORK: Paris Hilton is holding $60,000 of jewelry that does not belong to her and should give it back, a new lawsuit contends.

A German insurer, Allianz SE, has sued the celebrity socialite and heiress to the Hilton Hotels fortune, saying she has ignored several attempts to recover the borrowed jewels.

According to an April 6 complaint filed in a New York state court, Hilton borrowed the jewelry in 2007 from the Manhattan jeweler Damiani, promising to store it in a safe or vault when she was not using it.

But Allianz said the gems sat unguarded on a closet shelf in Hilton’s unlocked Los Angeles mansion when they and some $2.7 million worth of other jewelry were stolen in a December 19, 2008, burglary while Hilton attended a Hollywood party.

Allianz said Los Angeles police found and returned the jewelry to Hilton after it had already paid Damiani’s claim under an insurance policy.

It said it began asking Hilton and two eponymously named companies she controls to return the jewelry, but that phone calls and email messages have been ignored.

Allianz’s lawsuit accuses Hilton of negligence and breach of contract.

A Hilton spokeswoman said the lawsuit was “not based on fact,” and that none of Hilton’s representatives ever told Allianz that the stolen Damiani jewelry had been returned. “Only costume jewelry was recovered,” she said.

The dispute is the latest involving a celebrity and jewelry. Actress Lindsay Lohan is expected to make a court appearance later this month on a charge that she stole a gold necklace from a Los Angeles store in January.

The Hilton case is Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty AG et al vs. Hilton et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 104169/2011. AGENCIES

Sharapova engaged to Sasha Vujacic

Female tennis star Maria Sharapova got engaged with Los Angeles Laker Sasha Vujacic.
In its exclusive report, a US entertainment website said Sasha locked down tennis hottie, proposing marriage to her with a massive engagement rock.
Sources said that the pair was first spotted holding hands about a year ago. Sharapova, a former world No.1 Russian professional tennis player, has enjoyed many fans in Korea.
She has won 22 singles titles, three doubles titles and three Grand Slam singles titles, including 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. Sharapova debuted in 2004 as a professional player. But she also engaged in brisk public activities in a number of modeling assignments. Also she has been featured in many advertisements including Nike, Prince, Canon and many more. Sasha, 27, is a Slovenian basketball player of Serbian descent who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. In the NBA, he is also known as The Machine.

‘CIA says Al-Qaeda in Pakistan hit hard in US attacks’

WASHINGTON: The CIA’s expanding operations in Pakistan have taken “a serious toll” on the Al-Qaeda network, the spy agency director, Leon Panetta, has told US media.

But he said it remained unclear whether the effort had prevented a possible terror plot against European cities, the Los Angeles Times quoted him as saying Tuesday.

Panetta did not specify bombing raids by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan as US officials do not publicly discuss the campaign.

But the CIA missile strikes are an open secret, and US officials privately describe the program as a vital tool in the fight against Al-Qaeda and allied Islamist militants based in northwest Pakistan.

Referring to stepped up operations, Panetta said the effort is “taking a serious toll” on Al-Qaeda’s capabilities, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“The basis for that increased pace is

Thai plane lands in L.A. after bomb threat aboard

LOS ANGELES: Investigators found no evidence of a bomb aboard a Thai Airways THAI.BK flight on Tuesday after a written threat was discovered in a lavatory shortly before its arrival in Los Angeles, officials said.

After landing safely, the plane taxied to a remote area of the Los Angeles International Airport where officials interviewed passengers and crew members, screened luggage and searched the plane.

“No evidence has been found to suggest a credible threat to the aircraft,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. The FBI is now investigating to determine who was responsible for making the threat among the nearly 200 passengers and crew members on the Bangkok-Los Angeles flight, she said.

Eimiller could not confirm reports that the threat was scrawled on a lavatory mirror.

Los Angeles airport officials were notified of the threat around 90

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Judge grants Sandra Bullock restraining order

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Secrets of Mummies unraveled in California

LOS ANGELES: From an ornate Egyptian sarcophagus to the striking preserved remains of a howler monkey wearing a feathered skirt, a new exhibition in Los Angeles is unraveling the mysteries of mummies.

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Dancing, exhibits, grave visit mark MJ anniversary

LOS ANGELES: In Tokyo, fans are planning a sleepover surrounded by his possessions; in Los Angeles, devotees will visit his grave; and on TV and radio stations around the world, lovers of the King of Pop’s music won’t stop ’til they get enough.

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