Downed planes raise new perils for Trump as Tehran hunts for missing US pilot

By Phil Stewart and Enas Alashray

Reuters

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 3 (Reuters) - Two U.S. warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and U.S. officials said on Friday, with two pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran's forces.

The incidents show the risks still faced by U.S. and Israeli aircraft ‌over Iran despite assertions from U.S. President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.

The first plane, a two-seat ‌U.S. F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian fire, officials in both countries said.

The second plane, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft, was hit by Iranian fire and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, two U.S. officials said.

Two Blackhawk ​helicopters involved in the search effort for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The degree of injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear. The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E crew member was not publicly known.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot's plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed "forces of the hostile enemy."

Iranians, who have been pummeled by American air power for weeks, posted ‌gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer ⁠Qalibaf said on X that the U.S. and Israel's war had been "downgraded from regime change" to a hunt for their pilots.

Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond ⁠to requests for comment.

NO SIGN OF END TO WAR

The prospect of a U.S. service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.

Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with U.S. officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, ​have ​reached a dead end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

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The U.S. and Israel opened the campaign with ​a wave of strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ‌on February 28. The war has killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.

So far, 13 U.S. military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the U.S. Central Command.

Iran has rained drones and missiles down on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the U.S., which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.

In a security alert on Friday, the U.S. embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged U.S. citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.

Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the ‌militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.

TRUMP THREAT TO STRIKE BRIDGES, POWER PLANTS

On Friday, as Trump ​threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining ​the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.

On ​Thursday, Trump posted footage on social media showing dust and smoke billowing up as U.S. strikes hit the newly constructed B1 bridge between Tehran and ‌nearby Karaj, which was due to open this year, and said more ​attacks would follow.

"Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by ​far!) anywhere in the World, hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!" he wrote in a subsequent post.

On Friday, a drone hit a Red Crescent relief warehouse in the Choghadak area of Iran's southern Bushehr province.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery had been hit by drones. Other attacks ​were also reported to have been intercepted in Saudi Arabia and ‌Abu Dhabi. Missile debris landed near the Israeli port of Haifa, site of a major oil refinery.

Oil markets were closed after benchmark U.S. crude prices gained 11% ​on Thursday following a speech by Trump that offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, Reuters bureaux; ​Writing by James Mackenzie and Sharon Singleton; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Bill Berkrot and David Gregorio)

Downed planes raise new perils for Trump as Tehran hunts for missing US pilot

By Phil Stewart and Enas Alashray WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 3 (Reuters) - Two U.S. warplanes were downed over Ir...
Charlie Day shares awkward moment disrobing for Jennifer Aniston: 'Never felt less attractive'

Charlie Dayis reflecting on his extremely awkward first day withJennifer Anistonon the set ofHorrible Bosses.

Entertainment Weekly Charlie Day and Jennifer Aniston at the premiere of 'Horrible Bosses' at Grauman's Chinese TheatreCredit: Eric Charbonneau/WireImage

Speaking withEntertainment Weeklyto promote the release ofThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Day, alongside co-starChris Pratt, was asked to review photos from previous on-screen roles. When it came to a scene from the 2011 comedy in which Day is bitten on the ear by Aniston, theIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphiastar joked it was actually a "private photograph" of the two together snapped by paparazzi.

In reality, the pic came from one of many scenes in the film in which Day's character, dental assistant Dale Arbus, is sexually harassed by boss Dr. Julia Harris, played by Aniston.

Day recounted one particular scene from the movie, which also starredJason BatemanandJason Sudeikis, in which Aniston's Dr. Harris uses revealing photos of Dale as blackmail.

Day and Aniston in 'Horrible Bosses.'Credit: John P. Johnson/Warner Bros.

"Our very first day of filming, we actually had to [shoot] the photographs that she bribes me with," Day recalled.

"That was like, 'Hi, how are you. Alright, pardon me, I'm going to take all of my clothes off.' I never felt pastier and doughier and just less attractive," he continued as Pratt laughed.

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In the comedy, Dale, along with his friends Nick Hendricks (Bateman) and Kurt Buckman (Sudeikis), plot to murder their overbearing, abusive bosses, portrayed by Aniston,Kevin SpaceyandColin Farrell.

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

Day reprises his role as Luigi inThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie.The animated sequel toThe Super Mario Bros. Movie.also stars Pratt (Mario),Anya Taylor-Joy(Princess Peach), andJack Blackas Bowser, the King of the Koopas.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movieis now playing in theaters.

Additional reporting by Gerrad Hall.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

Charlie Day shares awkward moment disrobing for Jennifer Aniston: 'Never felt less attractive'

Charlie Dayis reflecting on his extremely awkward first day withJennifer Anistonon the set ofHorrible Bosses. ...
Fossils from China show complex life evolved millions of years earlier than once thought

Goblet-shaped sea jelly relatives with miniature "arms." A plump, legless creature resembling a sausage. Long, wormlike animals tipped with flat "holdfast" discs for anchoring to the seafloor.

CNN This goblet-shaped fossil from the Jiangchuan Biota in China's Yunnan province is an early species from a group that includes jellyfish, sea anemones and corals. - Gaorong Li

Newfound fossils from a site in southwestern China, preserved in exquisite detail, offer a peek at a time in Earth's distant past called the Ediacaran (635 million to 542 million years ago). The discovery suggests that complex animals — perhaps even ancestors of all vertebrates — were around millions of years earlier than once thought.

A few types of creatures were previously known from the Ediacaran, but the evolution of complex animal life has long been associated with the Cambrian, a later period from 542 million to 488 million years ago when fauna diversity and complexity were booming.

During theCambrian explosion, animals with a wide range of bizarre structures and adaptations emerged. Some groups died out, but others eventually gave rise to modern animal groups such as chordates, crustaceans and mollusks. Because the Cambrian fossil record preserves so much animal diversity, scientists have long hypothesized that complex animal life didn't yet exist during the Ediacaran.

However, the fossils from China tell a different story. These boneless organisms fossilized as biofilm — they were rapidly buried and compressed between layers of rock, leaving behind two-dimensional impressions of their organic tissues. Animals' entire bodies were preserved. Feeding structures, delicate limbs and even traces of internal organs, which are typically lost during fossilization, are still visible.

For the first time, scientists have highly detailed examples of animals from the latter part of the Ediacaran. What an international team of researchers saw suggests that complex animal life arose around between 554 million and 539 million years ago — at least 4 million years before the Cambrian, they reported Thursday inthe journal Science.

An artist’s reconstruction, based on fossils found in what's now China’s Yunnan province, depicts the Jiangchuan Biota about 554 million to 539 million years ago. - Xiaodong Wang

"We found what's been long hoped for, which is a Cambrian-like preservation in the Ediacaran," said study coauthor Ross Anderson, an associate professor of natural history at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. "We actually start to see some of the Cambrian-like organisms appearing in the Ediacaran when you have the right kind of preservation."

A fossil trove

Researchers found the fossils at the Jiangchuan Biota fossil site in what's now China's Yunnan province. The site measures just 518 square feet (50 square meters), covering roughly the same area as a dozen king-size mattresses. Scientists from China and then the UK excavated approximately 700 fossils during multiple visits between 2022 and 2025. About 200 of these specimens represented animals, many measuring less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long.

"I'm amazed that during so few field seasons they found that much," said Jo Wolfe, an associate of the department of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University who was not involved in the new research.

Six goblet-shaped specimens resembled a type of Ediacaran animal called Haootia quadriformis, known fromfossils in Newfoundlanddating to 565 million years ago. The wormlike fossils with "holdfast" discs — 56 fossils in all — were unlike any other ancient animal. Another type of animal resembled a segmented, tentacled sea creature called Herpetogaster, which was previously known only from the Cambrian. To Wolfe, that detail stood out.

"It's a fairly unusual situation to have a mixture of Ediacaran-style and Cambrian-style organisms in a single locality," she said. "It's blurring the boundaries between what are Ediacaran and Cambrian life-forms."

The presence of a preserved, visible gut in the sausage-shaped worm was also quite a rare sight in an Ediacaran fossil, as most fossils from this period are impressions of an organism's body or movement, Wolfe added.

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A newly discovered fossil of a sausage-shaped animal from the Jiangchuan Biota has an end-positioned mouth. - Gaorong Li

Many of the fossils demonstrate bilateral symmetry, in which the right and left sides of the body mirror each other. Most modern animals possess this trait, and the fossils provide abundant evidence that it evolved before the Cambrian.

"It really is a treasure trove of bilateral fossils, something that we did not have before," Anderson said.

Perhaps the most intriguing fossils are the ones that potentially represent deuterostomes, the animal group that includes vertebrates, as well as starfish and sea urchins. Previously, the earliest known deuterostome fossils dated to the Cambrian, so this pushes back the emergence of the group to the Ediacaran.

"It shows that our vertebrate ancestors were around at this pretty early stage in animal evolution," Anderson said. "I think that's really exciting."

However, classifying extinct animals that have never been seen before based on a handful of fossilized characters can be tricky, especially when scientists have only a single fossil to work from, Wolfe noted. In the crabs that she studies, different species often share features that represent convergent evolution — when the same characters evolve independently in different lineages — which only becomes apparent through analysis of modern animals' DNA. For animal fossils that lack preserved DNA and don't resemble anything alive today, teasing out their relationships to known animal groups can be significantly harder.

"The biggest difficulty with the Ediacaran organisms is that you have to hang your interpretation on very few characters," she explained.

Much to discover

While the findings suggest that complex animals were already evolving by the end of the Ediacaran, the Cambrian explosion nonetheless still produced new and important animal phyla — the taxonomic classification below kingdom — such as mollusks and arthropods, and introduced unprecedented species diversification.

"In that sense, I still think the Cambrian is quite unique," Anderson says. Still, the fossil finds support a growing body of evidence that the evolutionary boom associated with the Cambrian had an earlier start, "perhaps stretching back into the Ediacaran."

This study is just the start of scientific investigation into these hundreds of fossils, Anderson added. Researchers will explore the conditions at Jiangchuan Biota that led to the fossils' exceptional preservation, and plenty of questions remain about the biology, habits and interactions of these animals — among whom were our earliest evolutionary ancestors.

"What were their ecologies? Where were they living? What kinds of organisms were they? I think that will inform us a lot about our own ancestry. That's something I'm quite excited about from this deposit."

Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine. She is the author of "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control" (Hopkins Press).

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Fossils from China show complex life evolved millions of years earlier than once thought

Goblet-shaped sea jelly relatives with miniature "arms." A plump, legless creature resembling a sausage. Long, ...
Death toll from Afghan quake rises, including 8 members of refugee family returned from Iran

ITTEFAQ, Afghanistan (AP) — For several minutes after the earthquake struck, he could hear their screams. Then there was silence.

Associated Press Neighbor Mohibullah Niazi searches through items piled up at a house damaged by an earthquake in the village of Ittefaq, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai) Items are seen piled up at a house damaged by an earthquake in the village of Ittefaq, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai) Locals and journalists inspect a house damaged by an earthquake in the village of Ittefaq, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai) Items are seen piled up at a house damaged by an earthquake in the village of Ittefaq, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)

Afghanistan Earthquake

Mohibullah Niazi, a neighbor who helped in the rescue efforts, said Saturday that the eight people killed on the outskirts of Kabul after a5.8 magnitude earthquakestruck northern Afghanistan the previous night were a refugee family recently returned from neighboring Iran.

There was only one survivor: a boy of around 3 years old, who was injured and has been hospitalized in Kabul.

Afghanistan's deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat on Saturday increased the overall death toll from the quake to 12, with another four people injured. Fitrat said five homes were destroyed and another 33 significantly damaged, affecting 40 families in the provinces of Kabul, Panjshir, Logar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan.

The Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority put the overall death toll at nine. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

The family near Kabul was among themillions of Afghan refugeeswho have recently returned from Iran and Pakistan, afterboth countries launched crackdownsin 2023 on foreigners — particularly Afghans — living in their countries.

They had arrived 15 days ago and were living in a tent on land next to Niazi's home. The family head, Najibullah, who was about 50 years old, "had no other shelter," Niazi said. "He was a very poor person."

'We tried our best'

The family had set their tent up next to a wall separating the plot of land from Niazi's home, which stood on higher ground, in the village of Ittefaq on the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital.

Heavy rainsover the past several days, which have led to deadly floods in many parts of Afghanistan, had left the ground sodden and soft. When the earthquake struck, the wall collapsed on the family.

"My daughter shouted to me that a wall had fallen on them. The whole family ran, but there were so many big rocks," Niazi recounted Saturday as he stood at the scene. "We tried our best."

On Saturday morning, piles of bricks and mud were all that were left, along with blankets, cooking utensils and other personal belongings salvaged from the rubble and set into a pile.

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"For about three minutes, I could hear the voices of these people," Niazi said. "But we couldn't do anything. There were two or three of us, but this was not the work of three people."

Neighbors soon rushed to help, digging through the mud and rubble with spades and their hands. They alerted the local Taliban police checkpoint, which sent rescuers and ambulances.

The young boy, Aarash, was pulled out alive but injured, and rushed to the hospital. Health Ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman, who visited the boy Saturday, said he was being treated for a severe head injury.

For the rest of the family — the father and mother, four daughters aged between 12 and 23, and two sons — it was too late. The rescuers could only recover their bodies.

Niazi said he had hosted the family in his own home one night. On Friday, just half an hour before the earthquake struck, he had renewed the offer, telling the family they could spend the night in his own guest room to shelter from the cold and rain. "But they did not come with me," he said.

A string of deadly quakes

Friday night's quake had an epicenter in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of the northern city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the U.S. Geological Survey. The area is roughly 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of Kabul.

Afghanistan lies in ahighly seismically activepart of the world, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years.

Last August,a 6.0 earthquakethat struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.

In November,a 6.3 earthquakestruck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan's famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.

On Oct. 7, 2023,a 6.3 quakefollowed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.

Associated Press writer Abdul Qahar Afghan in Ittefaq, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

Death toll from Afghan quake rises, including 8 members of refugee family returned from Iran

ITTEFAQ, Afghanistan (AP) — For several minutes after the earthquake struck, he could hear their screams. Then there was ...
In A Funk? Why Experts Say Sunshine Could Be The Cure

What if your doctor's next prescription didn't come in a bottle? What if, instead, it came with sunglasses, in the form of a vacation?

The Weather Channel

According to experts, getting out into the sunshine, whether it's during spring break, a summer getaway or even a mid-winter escape, can have powerful effects on both mental and physical well-being.

So How Does It Work?

Many people immediately think of vitamin D when they think of sunshine. But Dr. Allison Edwards, family physician and medical director for the telemedicine platform Sesame, says the most important benefit actually starts in the brain.

"Sunny days, and being exposed to outdoor sun, are associated with so much positive energy, like reductions in depression, anxiety, rumination, all of those sort of negative thoughts that you can harbor when it gets kind of cold and you're holed up all winter," she said.

There's also a biological reason spending time in the sunshine feels so energizing.

(MORE:What To Pack For Vacation In Any Weather)

"The sun is so important to give us cues as to how we should go about our day," she said. "Your eyes actually have special sensors that receive sunlight in a specific way that help regulate circadian rhythms, that sort of sleep and wake cycle."

That's why waking up to sunshine can feel dramatically different than waking up in the dark. A few days in a sunny environment can help reset sleep patterns, improve energy levels and even make mornings feel easier.

For people who live in places where winter drags on, or where spring is still cloudy and cold, Edwards says planning a sunny trip can make a real difference.

"Use it as a good excuse to go somewhere warm and sunny because it will definitely boost your mood," she said. "That has been borne out in study after study."

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(MORE:Avoid Skin Whiplash After A Warm Weather Trip)

In other words, a warm-weather trip isn't indulgent. It can genuinely help reverse the emotional and physical effects of months without sunlight.

Sun Safety Still Matters

One of the biggest misconceptions, Edwards says, is that people have to sit directly in the sun for hours to get the benefits. In reality, simply being exposed to good weather for short periods of time can be enough.

That means a shaded patio, a beach umbrella or a breezy walk along the boardwalk can still deliver the mood-boosting benefits without increasing your risk ofsun damage.

(MORE:Gift Ideas For The Traveler In Your Life)

Edwards emphasizes that a "prescribed" sunny vacation doesn't mean ignoring sun safety.

"Some of the best sun protection you could get is aUV protective shirt. Get a light-colored one so it's not super hot, and a super wide-brim hat," she said.

The key idea is to enjoy the sunshine without overdoing it.

As Edwards puts it, sunshine is "important on so many levels for mood, for your sleep, for your circadian rhythm. It is so wonderful to have a sunny day. You should really lean into it."

Which is why, for some patients, a sunny vacation might be exactly what the doctor ordered.

weather.com lead editorJenn Jordanexplores how weather and climate weave through our daily lives, shape our routines and leave lasting impacts on our communities.

In A Funk? Why Experts Say Sunshine Could Be The Cure

What if your doctor's next prescription didn't come in a bottle? What if, instead, it came with sunglasses, in th...
Photo Credit: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Kylie Cosmetics

Khloe Kardashianwore a cropped jacket over a fitted crop top for Fabletics. The look perfectly blended leisure with athleisure, and captured the reality TV star's fashion-forward style. The crop top featured a deep neckline and a sleeveless design. She layered it with a matching jacket and bottoms for a monochromatic look.

Khloe Kardashian keeps it chic in cropped jacket over fitted crop top and leggings for Fabletics

Check outKhloe Kardashian'slatest look for Fabletics:

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The Good American founder exuded relaxed vibes in a new post for Fabletics. She wore a black crop top that fit her like a glove and featured a deep neckline. The fashion mogul paired it with a matching jacket with white stripes on the sleeves to keep the look understated yet stylish.

She wore matching leggings for a structured, athletic look. Kardashian opted out of accessories to maintain the sporty vibe and completed the outfit with shoes. She shared the photos on her social media, and fans loved her look.

The postKhloe Kardashian Layers Cropped Jacket Over Fitted Crop Top for Fableticsappeared first onReality Tea.

Khloe Kardashian Layers Cropped Jacket Over Fitted Crop Top for Fabletics

Khloe Kardashianwore a cropped jacket over a fitted crop top for Fabletics. The look perfectly blended leisure with athleisure, and capture...
All About Beyoncé's 24-Carat Diamond Engagement Ring, Including Why She Rarely Wears It

Beyoncé's engagement ring features a 24-carat emerald-cut diamond and is estimated to be worth $5 million

People Beyoncé attends the Atlantis The Royal Grand Reveal Weekend on January 21, 2023 in Dubai, UAE ; Beyoncé wears her engagement ring at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 11, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.Credit: Mason Poole/Parkwood Media/Getty ; Kevork Djansezian/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

  • She and Jay-Z had a secret wedding in 2008 with only 40 guests, including Kelly Rowland and Chris Martin

  • The couple have matching Roman numeral IV tattoos symbolizing their birthdates and wedding anniversary

With a nickname like Queen Bey, it's no surpriseBeyoncéhas a stunning engagement ring.

The "Crazy in Love" singer and her husbandJay-Zfirst starteddating sometime between 2000 and 2001. The couple dated for about seven years before tying the knot in a secret ceremony in New York on April 4, 2008. Jay-Z popped the question with an emerald-cut diamond ring designed by celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz.

Speaking withEssencemagazine in October 2008, Beyoncé said she opted for a small and intimate ceremony because she is not a "traditional woman" and it's been her "day so many days already."

The singer also told the outlet that she rarely wears her 24-carat engagement ring. Instead, she dons a simple band on her ring finger over a tattoo of the Roman numeral IV, which matches the tattoo on Jay-Z's left-hand ring finger.

Here's everything to know about Beyoncé's engagement ring.

The ring features a large emerald-cut diamond

Close up of Singer Beyoncé Knowles' engagement ring on February 10, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty

Beyoncé has an engagement ring fit for her superstar status. It features an emerald-cut diamond set on a split-shank pavé band and isestimatedto be worth about $5 million.

Beyoncé's custom ring was designed by celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, who has worked with several other A-list stars on their engagement rings, includingJennifer LopezandKim Kardashian.

The "Texas Hold 'Em" singer has worn jewels by Schwartz on several other occasions and, in 2021, the two launched the Beyoncé Knowles-Carter x Lorraine Schwartz GIA Scholarship. Speaking withOnly Natural Diamondsin 2021, Schwartz called Beyoncé her "muse."

"The way she wears the jewelry with such confidence, style and grace is forever inspirational," she said.

Beyoncé initially didn't want an engagement ring

Beyoncé during the Men's Final of the 2011 US Open on September 12, 2011 in New York City.Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty

Though Beyoncé rocks a stunning sparkler, she initially didn't want an engagement ring. During her 2008 interview withEssence, the singer opened up about how she and Jay-Z "always knew" they would marry and that she didn't feel the need to have a ring.

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"People put too much emphasis on that," she said. "It's just material and it's just silly to me."

Beyoncé added, "What Jay and I have is real. It's not about interviews or getting the right photo op. It's real."

Beyoncé and Jay-Z kept their engagement and wedding a secret

Beyoncé and Jay-Z attend the 56th GRAMMY Awards on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Beyoncé and Jay-Z kept the details of their engagement under wraps and shared very few details oftheir top-secret wedding.

The pair tied the knot on April 4, 2008, under a white tent in the living room of Jay-Z's Manhattan penthouse. There were only 40 guests in attendance, includingKelly Rowland,Michelle WilliamsandChris Martin.

"It was a very emotional wedding — lots of crying — and really very spiritual," a source told PEOPLE at the time.

Beyoncé has worn her engagement ring to a few red carpet events

Beyoncé at The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 11, 2009 in Hollywood, California.Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage

While Beyoncé doesn't always wear her engagement ring, she has given fans a glimpse at the sparkler during a few red carpet appearances. A year after tying the knot, the singer donned her ring at the Oscars and Golden Globe Awards.

She also wore her engagement ring at the 2014 Grammys, where she performed her hit song "Drunk in Love" with Jay-Z.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have matching wedding ring tattoos

Beyoncé's ring finger tattoo ; Jay-Z's ring finger tattoo.Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood ; Paras Griffin/Getty

Beyoncé might not wear her engagement ring often, but she still marks her ring finger with a special symbol of her and Jay-Z's love.

The couple havematching ring finger tattoosof the Roman numeral IV, which represents their birthdates and wedding day — Beyoncé was born on September 4, Jay-Z on December 4 and they tied the knot on April 4.

Read the original article onPeople

All About Beyoncé's 24-Carat Diamond Engagement Ring, Including Why She Rarely Wears It

Beyoncé's engagement ring features a 24-carat emerald-cut diamond and is estimated to be worth $5 million N...

 

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