FOR once there was no sign of Nicole Kidman’s constant companion. But Keith Urban’s ring was clearly visible on the actor’s left hand in New York yesterday, as she presented News Corp chairman and chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch with a humanitarian award.

“As you are probably aware we are both from a place we call ‘Down Under’,” Kidman said, explaining why she had been chosen to present the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Humanitarian Laureate Award to Mr Murdoch.

The award recognised Mr Murdoch’s support for Israel. He thanked his “real friend and great sport” for agreeing to present it.

Kidman was clearly the night’s star attraction. Every glimpse of the ring on her wedding finger was greeted with scores of rapid-fire camera flashes from assembled paparazzi.

Kidman’s dinner conversation with Mr Murdoch and his wife Wendy Deng was interrupted by bursts of flash each time she lifted her fork to her mouth and exposed the ring to the photographers’ lenses.

Despite the ring, the actor has not confirmed whether she is engaged, let alone addressed the marriage rumours that have dogged her since she spent Christmas at Urban’s Nashville home.

Ms Kidman had spent the past few weeks holidaying with Urban in America after wrapping up filming of The Visiting. The pair has been photographed in Los Angeles, Nashville, Las Vegas and New York.

She appears to be uncomfortable with the constant attention generated by her romance with the country singer.

The pair fled trendy NYC nightclub Bungalow 8 just minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, after clubgoers started taking photos of the pair with mobile phone cameras.

They had spent less than two minutes inside the club.