Free Republic

Somewhere in the Carmel hills of northern Israel, diamond exploration company Shefa Yamim hopes to uncover the exact spot where faith meets science. Inspired by the words of a revered rabbi who prophesized that precious stones were divinely buried in the area, the firm has been mining for about a decade along the steep hills and lush valleys that surround the city of Haifa. Now, Shefa Yamim, the first and only diamond explorer in Israel, says it has found strong signs that significant diamond deposits are indeed hidden in the Holy Land, surprising many who had dismissed the mission as...

Scientists have linked two diamonds in a mysterious process called entanglement that is normally only seen on the quantum scale. Entanglement is so weird that Einstein dubbed it "spooky action at a distance." It's a strange effect where one object gets connected to another so that even if they are separated by large distances, an action performed on one will affect the other. Entanglement usually occurs with subatomic particles, and was predicted by the theory of quantum mechanics, which governs the realm of the very small... Because energy must be conserved in closed systems (where there's no input of outside...

Michelle Obama dazzles in New York, wearing diamond bangles by H-Town's Katie Decker That was no ordinary bling on the wrist of First Lady Michelle Obama at the DNC fundraiser in New York Tuesday night. Those fancy diamond cuffs were the creation of 23-year-old Katie Decker, whose namesake jewelry line has been making a serious splash since her graduation from Texas A&M two years ago. --- blah, blah, blah

An Albany, Georgia dog apparently has a taste for the finer things in life. The pooch dined on a meal of $10,000 worth of diamonds. Honey Bun often walks the counters at John Ross Jewelers. He's not much of a guard dog, but he is great with customer relations. "He's been loved," said co-owner Chuck Roberts. Customers sometimes hide treats in their purse for Honey Bun, but the Roberts' recently learned this pampered pooch has more expensive taste. It happened two weeks ago when a customer came in. "A customer came in and I jumped up out of my chair...

Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi is well known now for the abuses he has inflicted on his own people during more than four decades of brutal rule in Libya, but few remember the vast campaign of carnage and terrorism he orchestrated across West Africa and Europe when he was at the height of his powers. Nor are his more recent alliance with Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and his long-standing relationship with Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua -- both of whom are busy trampling their constitutions and moving toward dictatorship -- well understood. And the fact that all three governments support the Revolutionary Armed...

A rare pink diamond that is regarded as one of the most desirable and beautiful in the world was sold for a record 46.16 million dollars on Tuesday, smashing previous auction records for the sale of any single diamond or jewel, Sotheby's said. Sotheby's had valued the 24.78 carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond mounted on a ring at 27 million to 38 million dollars (20 million to 28 million euros) ahead of the sale in a luxury lakeside hotel. But intense bidding wiped out the record of over 24 million dollars set during an auction in December 2008 in the...

~ EXCERPT ~ CHENNAI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) – A Sri Lankan Man, who had swallowed 2,060 diamonds worth up to Rs. 3 crore ($674,715 dollars) packed in several condoms, was arrested at an airport on Tuesday, local media reported Thursday. Mohammed Shakif, 43, of Galle, Sri Lanka, was smuggling the precious stones in 42 condoms and had just arrived in Chennai, located in the southern region of India, when a team of suburban police acting on a tip off inquired him. According to the police the precious stones were worth between Rs. 1.5 crore ($337,357 dollars) and Rs. 3 crore...

Don't count Kanye West as an official member of the ill grill club. His new chompers are all real - and permanent. After tweeting a picture in July that showed the hip-hop artist had a mouth full of bling, West explained on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Tuesday that he actually had gold and diamonds inserted to replace his bottom of row of teeth because he "just thought the diamonds were cooler." "I just like diamond teeth and I didn't feel like having to take them out all the time," West said.

An “exceptional” 196ct rough white diamond was recovered from Gem Diamonds Ltd’s majority-owned Letseng mine in Lesotho last month. On announcing its August 24 recovery, the company said: “this remarkable rough diamond is expected to achieve a substantial price per carat as preliminary examinations indicate that it is expected to produce top colour and top clarity polished diamonds”. The Letseng mine has produced three of the world’s 20 largest diamonds since Gem Diamonds acquired the asset in 2006. These include the 603ct Lesotho Promise (in August 2006) worth US$12.4 million, the 493ct Letseng Legacy (in September 2007) worth US$10.4 million,...

Getty Images What Naomi Campbell knew about the "blood diamonds" she received from Liberia's former warlord/president, "monopoly of violence" advocate, and Hague war crimes defendant Charles Taylor, is the subject of conflicting testimony. Likewise, her motives for deciding she couldn't keep a gift that could have resulted in criminal charges against her is suspect. Was she "flirting" with a bloody-handed tyrant? Did she know the "dirty stones" she says she got from his henchmen (and there's a word you don't hear much outside of The Venture Bros. episodes these days) were really valuable gems? Does she care about how such...

We wrote a story last year that Bad Robot productions that JJ Abrams’ owned production company secured rights to “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist”? well now a year has passed and the studio has finally found a writer to script the movie. Heat Vision reports that Phil Alden Robinson, who wrote and directed Field of Dreams, co-wrote Sneakers, and last directed The Sum of All Fears, will script this untitled heist project for Bad Robot and Paramount. The film is inspired by a Wired magazine article chronicled the true story of a modern day diamond heist...

When Vaneisha Robinson bought a diamond studded pendant in the shape of LeBron James' number 23 jersey at a yard sale four years ago, she thought it was costume jewelry. "I used to go to high school with it around my neck, not knowing the value of it," Robinson said. Robinson got curious about the pendant's value a few months ago when she noticed the diamonds were set in the same way real ones are. She took it to a local jewelry store for a once-over.

Robert Mugabe has threatened to flood the world's diamond markets - despite being slapped down by the world's diamond control body. The Zimbabwean president said his nation's massive reserves of diamonds have 'huge potential' to revive the shattered economy. He said Zimbabwe can account for one-fourth of the world's diamond supply

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that HECTOR RIVERA was sentenced today to 32 years in prison for leading a robbery and extortion crew that targeted diamond businesses and shipments from the Diamond District in midtown Manhattan. United States District Judge HAROLD BAER, JR., also ordered RIVERA to forfeit $2.93 million in criminal proceeds. According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial: RIVERA was the leader of a robbery and extortion crew that operated primarily in the Diamond District in midtown Manhattan from at least 2003 through December...

Watch a report from WGAL in Harrisburg, where a $17,000.00 diamond ring (2.6 carat) was donated and will be auctioned off on Goodwill’s site. It is being recorded as a donation, and is the largest Goodwill donation ever in the Pennsylvania area. WATCH $17K ANTIQUE RING DONATED to GOODWILL...

De Beers says it will reduce its production to extend the life of its mines. Taking into account the moderated output diamond prices could rise by at least 5 per cent a year for the next five years, according to Des Kilalea, a diamond analyst at RBC Capital Markets. In 2008 De Beers produced 48m carats and the company will cut production to 40m in 2011. In the last two decades the industry has found no new diamond deposit to match the two biggest mines in Africa, owned by De Beers, or the best Russian mines of Alrosa, the other...

Naomi Campbell Explodes After ABC News 'Blood Diamond' Questions Fashion Model Denies Allegations She Took 'Huge' Uncut Gem from African Despot Charles Taylor but Refuses to Cooperate in 'Crimes Against Humanity' Trial By ANNA SCHECTER and BRIAN ROSS Apr. 22, 2010 Allegations that fashion model Naomi Campbell was given a "blood diamond" by the deposed African despot Charles Taylor have become center stage at Taylor's trial for crimes against humanity and led to another one of Campbell's infamous outbursts of anger. The supermodel erupted when ABC News asked her about receiving a "blood diamond" "I didn't receive a diamond and...

AP) A 507-carat diamond as big as a chicken's egg sold for $35.3 million, breaking the record for the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond, the supplier said Friday. The stone- which weighs just over 3.53 ounces - was estimated to be among the world's top 20 high-quality rough diamonds. It was discovered in September at South Africa's Cullinan mine. London-listed diamond supplier Petra Diamonds Ltd. said the gem was purchased by Hong Kong-based private jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Co. Ltd.

NEW YORK – A square, 32.01-carat emerald-cut diamond that billionaire philanthropist Leonore Annenberg bought for her 90th birthday sold for $7.7 million at auction on Wednesday. About the size of a walnut, the flawless, colorless diamond sits on a ring designed by Manhattan jeweler David Webb. It is flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds, one of them 1.61 carats and the other 1.51 carats. The ring was offered for sale by Annenberg's estate. Christie's auction house did not identify the buyer, who bid by phone. Annenberg died in March at the age of 91. She served as U.S. chief of protocol...

Old Southern Medical Remedies Burns: My grandmother would often use mayonnaise applied directly to the burn area.Acme, pimples, Skin infection, etc: One full Tablespoon of Nutmeg, repeat as necessary. My grandmother said this would “cure the blood”.Castol Oil: May be use as a laxative. My grandmother would try to give me a tablespoon of castol oil whenever constipated however I could never swallow this stuff and would always gag. She gave up after many attempts of chasing me around the house.Sunburn: Vinegar. I used to sunburn often and my grandmother always would apply vinegar on a cloth and lightly pat...

In recent years, African diamonds have lost much of their lustre. The ruthless hunt for so-called blood diamonds delivered little more than brutal civil wars and misery upon that continent, no more so than in Liberia, which is still recovering from years of conflict. But when Hillary Clinton touched down there on her African tour this week, she cited another nation, Botswana, as a role model for dealing with the precious stones. As Ginny Stein reports, a massive diamond deposit appears to be a godsend for the once sleepy country. REPORTER: Ginny Stein For over 40 years in an arid,...

here is growing speculation that the $65 million heist of an exclusive London jewelry store was the work of a notorious band of European jewel thieves known to police as the Pink Panthers. A key element in the speculation is that the men who looted Graff Diamonds on New Bond Street Aug. 6 made no effort to hide their faces, suggesting that they had been able to alter their looks with "Mission Impossible" style prosthetic make-up. Disguises as well as lightning-quick robberies have been hallmarks of the Pink Panthers who last year dressed as blond women to get past security...

Two well-dressed thieves walked into a London Bond Street jewelry store last week and, after brandishing handguns at shop workers, made off with $65 million worth of gems in one of Britain's biggest jewelry heists, police said Tuesday.

Graff Diamonds £40 million jewellery robbery is Britain's biggest gem heist A £40 million raid on Graff Diamonds, the Mayfair jewellers, is thought to be the biggest ever gems heist in Britain. Richard Edwards 11 Aug 2009 Scotland Yard have issued CCTV images of two men dressed in suits, concealing handguns, who escaped with 43 rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches from the central London store last week. They threatened staff at Graff’s with handguns, briefly seized a woman employee as a hostage, and fired warning shots as they made a getaway in a series of cars. The two men, thought...

Researchers have found shock-synthesized hexagonal diamonds on one of California's Channel Islands, which they say is the strongest evidence yet that a comet exploded in the atmosphere above North America, causing widespread extinctions there around 12,900 years ago... In 2007 researchers theorized that a comet set off continental fires that led to the mysterious disappearance of the Clovis people and the extermination of 35 mammal genera, including mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths and camels. The team documented a "black mat" of charcoal throughout North America that contains high levels of iridium, magnetic spheres, and nano-diamonds, which are consistent with such an...

The reputation of diamond as the hardest material around is under threat. Researchers in China and the United States recently determined that two naturally occurring substances surpass diamond’s resistance to scratching and indentation. They calculated that the mineral lonsdaleite—made of carbon, like diamond—is 58 percent harder than its famous cousin. And wurtzite boron nitride beats diamond’s hardness by about 18 percent after being subjected to pressure, which alters its atomic bonds. Still, in the short term diamond will continue to dominate in practical applications such as saws, drill bits, and industrial abrasives, since the newly studied materials are extremely rare....

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Thieves emptied more than 100 vaults at a diamond trading center in what officials said might be the largest theft ever in Antwerp, the gem trading capital of the world. Authorities were still trying Tuesday to determine the amount of the loss from the cellar of a building that houses dozens of gem trading companies in a city that has been a center of the trade in precious stones since the 16th century. The thieves bypassed heavy security to steal the diamonds from 123 of 160 vaults in the cellar of the Antwerp Diamond Center over the...

BANGKOK, Thailand - A Russian dubbed the "Merchant of Death" for allegedly supplying weapons to Africa's bloody conflicts over power and diamonds was arrested Thursday in Thailand on suspicion of conspiring to smuggle guns to Colombia's leftist rebels. Viktor Bout, 41, whose dealings reportedly inspired a 2005 movie about the illicit arms trade, was arrested at U.S. request in his hotel room in Bangkok, said police Lt. Gen. Pongpat Chayapan. Bout had eluded arrest for years and was finally seized after a four-month sting organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In New York, federal authorities unsealed a criminal complaint...

The world is full of bad people doing bad things. There are regimes that persecute Christians, Buddhists and others. There are double-crossing generals, arms and drug traffickers, treacherous diplomats and false fronts. There are double agents and blackmailed politicians. There is blood in the streets, revolution, war and hatred in today's world. You wouldn't know it from looking out a suburban window in America. But beyond our borders things aren't nice. People are suffering. On Feb. 11 FoxNews.com reported that Chinese authorities were cracking down on Christian churches that operate outside government control. Nearly 24,000 Christians have recently been arrested ...

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. Arrest of Kenyan Exposes Massive Global Arms Trade The East African Africa News February 25, 2002 Monday Kenya L AST WEEKEND'S arrest of Kenyan-born Sanjivan Ruprah, who is alleged to be a part of a major arms smuggling operation to Africa, has brought into the open the extent of the multi-million dollar illegal business. The whereabouts of Bout remain unknown. Some media reports say he is in Moscow, while others say he is in the Congo or the United Arab Emirates. An international ...

Real 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' gravely ill June 12, 2009, 9:22 AM EST LONDON (AP) -- They were childhood chums. Then they drifted apart, lost touch completely, and only renewed their friendship decades later, when illness struck. Not so unusual, really. Except she is Lucy Vodden — the girl who was the inspiration for the Beatles' 1967 psychedelic classic "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" — and he is Julian Lennon, the musician son of John Lennon. They are linked together by something that happened more than 40 years ago when Julian brought home a drawing from school...

TG-149 May 27, 2009 Treasury Targets Hizballah Network in Africa SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Kassim Tajideen and Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi, two Africa-based supporters of the Hizballah terrorist organization, under E.O. 13224. E.O. 13224 targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism by freezing any assets the designees have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with them. "We will continue to take steps to protect the financial system from the threat posed by Hizballah and those who support it," said Under Secretary for Terrorism...

A flawless vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats sold on Tuesday for a record 10.5 million Swiss francs (6.2 million pounds), the highest price paid per carat for any gemstone at auction, Sotheby's said. The rectangular-shaped blue stone, the rarest to enter the international market this year, went to an anonymous buyer bidding by telephone after hectic bidding see-sawed between two callers for 15 minutes. It was the centrepiece of its semi-annual sale in Geneva, conducted by David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewellery department in Europe and the Middle East, who said the results showed the market's resilience despite the...

You've heard the stories about gold prices being high (currently $868 an ounce). You've seen the ads to sell back your gold. You might have heard about gold parties where guests sell their gold. But what about diamonds? This week, Marketplace reports on the downward sales on diamond jewelry. It is of little surprise that sales of expensive jewelry are down, but why would the price of gold be high, but the price of diamonds be low? Gold is purchased as a way to protect against inflation. Even if your dollars buy you less, you can hold onto your gold....

Gems, al-Qaida and murder. Mystery over killing of Osama Bin Laden's friend · Saudi man's death was political, say his family· US secret service was monitoring his activities Nick Fielding Friday March 2, 2007 The Guardian (UK) Pallbearers carry the coffin of Muhammad Jamal Khalifa at Ivato airport in Antananarivo, in Madagascar. Photograph: Jasleen Sethi/Reuters When Muhammad Jamal Khalifa was found dead at a remote gemstone mine in south-eastern Madagascar at the end of January, local police quickly put the murder down to a business deal gone wrong. The Saudi businessman, 49, had had to call in local police to...

John Luddun of the British Geological Survey told New Scientist that “this may well result in a revision of exploration models for kimberlites and the diamonds they host.”1 It could instead lead to a revision of old-age thinking about diamond formation and the age of the earth. With this proposal—that deep diamonds formed when Gondwana did—comes the instant removal of about 2.8 billion years of evolutionary time (93 percent of the standard age)! That these evolutionary time scales are largely fictional is corroborated by the presence of very young carbon-14 in the diamonds’ mineral matrices.2...

University of Oregon Scientists found microscopic diamonds in the black layer of rock at Murray Springs in Arizona. At least once in Earth’s history, global warming ended quickly, and scientists have long wondered why. Now researchers are reporting that the abrupt cooling — which took place about 12,900 years ago, just as the planet was emerging from an ice age — may have been caused by one or more meteors that slammed into North America. That could explain the extinction of mammoths, saber-tooth tigers and maybe even the first human inhabitants of the Americas, the scientists report in Friday’s...

Abundant tiny particles of diamond dust exist in sediments dating to 12,900 years ago at six North American sites, adding strong evidence for Earth's impact with a rare swarm of carbon-and-water-rich comets or carbonaceous chondrites, reports a nine-member scientific team. These nanodiamonds, which are produced under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions created by cosmic impacts and have been found in meteorites, are concentrated in similarly aged sediments at Murray Springs, Ariz., Bull Creek, Okla., Gainey, Mich., and Topper, S.C., as well as Lake Hind, Manitoba, and Chobot, Alberta, in Canada. Nanodiamonds can be produced on Earth, but only through high-explosive detonations or...

Armed robbers pulled off one of the world's biggest jewellery heists at a famed Paris store, making off with 80 million euros (102 million dollars) in diamonds and valuables, investigators said Friday. A gang of four thieves -- two of them disguised as women -- on Thursday stole nearly all the jewels on display at the Harry Winston boutique just off the Champs-Elysees avenue, which attracts a wealthy international clientele. The heist was well-planned, a source from the investigating team told AFP. The men knew the names of some of the shop's employees and the location of some hidden storage...

ZIMBABWE'S gold deliveries fell 181,6 percent last month compared to the same period last year. According to the Chamber of Mines, gold output for October was 125 kilogrammes, down from 352kg last year.

A method of producing synthetic diamonds using tequila - Mexico's favourite alcoholic drink - has been discovered, scientists there say. The amazing discovery was made by physicists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and could have many industrial uses.

A huge gemstone that could become the world’s largest polished round diamond has been found at the Letseng Mine, owned by Gem Diamonds, in Lesotho, southern Africa. It weighs 478 carats and is the twentieth largest ever found. Gem Diamonds says that initial examination suggests that it has a flawless centre and could produce a 150-carat round-cut white diamond worth tens of millions of pounds. It would dwarf the 105-carat Kohinoor in the Crown Jewels. The largest rough diamond found was the Cullinan, in 1905, which weighed 3,106 carats uncut.

Israeli diamond merchants active in West Africa, responding to the report in Haaretz on Monday that defense officials are worried Hezbollah terrorists will target Israeli communities there, said the Lebanese movement enjoyed the strong support of locals. "The big problem for Israelis in West Africa is that there are countries whose diamond industry is controled by Lebanese locals, a majority of whom openly support Hezbollah," a source in the Israeli diamond business said Monday. "In effect, these are countries which are known as Hezbollah states," he added. Israeli companies that deal in diamonds, agriculture, communications and security operate mainly in...

Afghan Fundamentalism: The Role of the U.S., Russia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia David Storobin, Esq. - 12/12/2004 Victor Boot was a graduate of Military Institute for Foreign Languages in Moscow, a known school for Russian intelligence. He was the son of the son-in-law of foreign Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who initiated the Russian policy of secretly assisting Islamic terrorists. In 1997, Boot arrived in the United Arab Emirates for the first time. From UAE, it was easier for Boot to funnel Russian weaponry to Afghanistan. In June 2001 - less than three months before September 11 - Pakistani intelligence described...

Russian Mogul's Planes Took al-Qaida, Taliban Gold To Sudan9-3-2 Planes owned by Russian businessman Viktor Bout have been used to fly al-Qaida and Taliban gold to Sudan in recent weeks, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Several shipments of gold were delivered by boat from Karachi, Pakistan, to either Iran or the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said, citing unidentified European intelligence officials. From there, the gold was flown on charted planes to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where al-Qaida has broad business contacts, the paper said. European officials believe the gold was transported by Air Bas, an airline set up...

Diamonds and precious metals found in the eastern United States might have rained down during the last Ice Age after a comet shattered over Canada and set North America ablaze, all leading to a mass die-off of animals and humans. New chemical analyses of diamond, gold and silver found in Ohio and Indiana reveal the minerals were transported there from Canada several thousand years ago. The question is, how? "There are no gold mines or silver mines in Ohio that anyone knows of, but there are plenty of them in Canada," said retired geophysicist Allen West, who was involved in...

- Ahmed Khalifan Ghailani, a/k/a "Foopie," is a diminutive Tanzanian with an Uzbeki wife, six children and a deep hatred of America and Western culture in general. A devout Muslim who plays a mean game of soccer but never learned to drive a car, Ghailani is also believed to be a key al Qaeda player who U.S. agents think is involved in a percolating terror plot aimed at disrupting America's upcoming elections. He had a $25 million price on his head as the FBI's No. 7 most-wanted terrorist - the same amount as the bounty for the capture of Osama...

Diamonds may be rare on Earth, but surprisingly common in space -- and the super-sensitive infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are perfect for scouting them, say scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Using computer simulations, researchers have developed a strategy for finding diamonds in space that are only a nanometer (a billionth of a meter) in size. These gems are about 25,000 times smaller than a grain of sand, much too small for an engagement ring. But astronomers believe that these tiny particles could provide valuable insights into how carbon-rich molecules, the basis...

Buy a diamond? Get a refund You may be owed a cut of a $295 million class-action settlement for gems purchased as long ago as 1994. Here's how figure out whether you're eligible and how to make a claim. advertisement Article Tools E-mail to a friendTools IndexPrint-friendly versionSite MapDiscuss in a Message BoardArticle IndexBy Marilyn Lewis How would you like a little refund on that diamond nose stud you bought in your wilder days? Or the diamond engagement ring you purchased for your sweetie when you settled down? If you bought a piece of diamond jewelry -- or jewelry with...