London, Nov 3 : A rare blue-grey diamond, which traces its history to India, and had been given to the girl in one of the most famous paintings in Western art, will soon go under the hammer at Christie’s, London.

The Wittelsbach diamond, which apparently originated from the Indian diamond mines, is almost once inch in width.

A Christie’s spokesperson claimed that offering a blue diamond of this type was ''truly extraordinary''.

It was given to Infanta Margarita Teresa by her father King Philip IV of Spain on her engagement to her uncle Leopold I of Austria—one of the most historic events in European history.

Paris - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has threatened to nationalize any French bank receiving emergency government aid that does not extend loans to businesses, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported on Monday.

Interviewed for a television program to be broadcast late Monday, Fillon said, "If we feel that the banks are not doing the necessary work ... we will take back the credits we have given them."

Without this government aid, Fillon said, the banks will find themselves in difficulty.

"The next question is if we will then take over the bank's capital, possibly to change their leadership, to oversee their strategy," he said.

London, Nov 3 : A novel imaging programme for facial surgery called DI3D system, which could produce life-like 3-D images on a computer from photographs, has been chosen for a top innovation award.

The DI3D system could help transform the treatment of facial surgery, burns, and orthodontics.

The Gannochy Trust innovation award of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) will be given to Dr. Colin Urquhart, of Glasgow-based Dimensional Imaging on November
7.

Cairo - Egyptian police shot dead a Sudanese man on Monday south of Rafah near the Egyptian-Israeli border, security sources said.

New York, November 3 : Jennifer Hudson has not been able to step into her Chicago residence that had bared the slain bodies of her mother and brother, according to her friends.

The Oscar winning-actress’ family was found shot dead on October 24 in their home, while the body of the singer’s nephew was discovered three days later in an abandoned car in Chicago.

“I believe she went back just once, to the gate, but didn’t go inside,” the New York Daily News quoted Hudon’s friend and mentor Andre Leon Talley as telling them.