SARKOZY AND BRUNI TO MARRY

Italian supermodel CARLA BRUNI is to wed French President NICOLAS SARKOZY. The 39-year-old beauty has been dating Sarkozy since October 2006, and the pair recently sent gossips into a frenzy when Bruni sported a new sapphire ring on her engagement finger during the couple's Christmas vacation in Egypt. And Bruni's mother, Marisa Borini, has confirmed the reports after revealing the French leader had asked her permission for Carla's hand in marriage. She says, "I said to him, 'Monsieur le Président, I have no reason to refuse.' "Carla is living an authentic love story. I think that they make a good couple." Local newspaper reports claim a wedding has provisionally been planned for 8 or 9 February (08), but officials at the Elysee Palace, the President's official residence, have yet to issue a statement to confirm or deny the rumours.