London, Feb 24: 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.

Mahashivratri, the most important religious festival of Kashmiri Pandits, is being celebrated across the Kashmir valley today.

Though a majority of Pandits migrated from the valley due to the eruption of militancy about 18-years-ago, people here continue to cherish the traditional glory associated with the annual festival.

Mahashivratri is celebrated by Kashmiri Pandits as ‘Hairath’.

The Governor, NN Vohra and several other top leaders have extended their greetings to the Pandits on the eve of Mahashivratri.

Bargarh (Orissa), Feb 23: An artist in Orissa unleashed his creativity to make a wooden replica of the Taj Mahal, one of the ''Seven Wonders of the World''.

Arun Kumar Meher, an artist adept in wooden art in Bargarh district took three months to create the five feet high and ten feet wide wooden replica.

"Not everyone can go to Agra to see the actual Taj Mahal made by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz. So, for those who have not witnessed the monument, my work will give them an idea of how it actually looks like," Meher said.

Different shades of Sal wood were used for making the replica. No external colours were added to it.

Seoul - When Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Seoul last week, she came as a powerful diplomat with a stern message against North Korea's nuclear and weapons programmes. When she departed a day later, she also left as an inspirational role model for South Korean women seeking to break through the glass ceiling in the Confucian society.

London, February 23: A woman owes her life to her dog who managed to warn her about her malignant breast cancer.

Maureen Burn suspected a health problem after her red collie cross Max kept sniffing her breath and prodding her right breast, before withdrawing from his lively behaviour.

The 64-year-old, from Rugby, was prompted to go for a check-up, which confirmed a small but deadly lump in her right breast.

"I do believe that Max has saved my life. It was his peculiar reaction that alerted me to the fact that something was wrong," the Mirror quoted her as saying.

Jakarta - A tiger mauled two people to death on Indonesia's Sumatra island, bringing to six the number of humans in the area killed by the endangered beasts since last month, an official said Monday.

The two people were attacked on Saturday while working in an illegal logging camp in a forest in Jambi province, said the head of the provincial Natural Conservation Office, Didy Wurjanto.

Didy said six people had been killed and three others injured by Sumatran tigers since late January.