World's Most Expensive Gemstones!

These are some of the rarest and most expensive of gems from around the world according to Forbes. The most expensive, the Blue Diamond valued at $55 million, the Pink Diamond valued between $23 - 28 million, and the 'Red Diamond' valued at $1,000,000 per carat, while Jeremejevite is valued at $2,000 per carat. 

Below are pictures of the gems in their raw and finished state.

Blue Diamond:

The Blue Diamond is reportedly valued at $55 million




Pink Diamond: 

The Pink Diamond is reportedly valued between $23 - 28 million

Red Diamond: 
Discovered by a Brazilian farmer,in the Abaetezinho river in 1990 in Alto Paranaiba region, this is believed to be the rearest of the gems as there are less than 30 red diamonds found around the world, with most of them being less than half a carat. 

The Red Diamond is reportedly currently valued at $1,000,000 per carat.

Taaffeite:
Named after its discoverer Richard Taffe who found the first sample, which was a cut and polished gem in October of 1945 in a jeweler's shop in Dublin- Ireland, Taafeite is a very rare mineral and often misidentified as spinel. The double refraction found in Taafeite differentiates it from spinel. 

Taaffeite is reportedly currently valued at $35,000 per carat.

Grandidierite:

First discovered in Madagascar in 1902, this gem with a lovely blue-green color is seldom seen in collections because few collectors have even heard of it or know it exists in cuttable form. 

Grandidierite  is currently valued at $20,000 per carat.

Serendibite:
Serendibite is an extremely rare mineral has a complex chemical formula with many side branches of calcium, boron, aluminum, magnesium. It was first discovered in the in Sri-Lanka, in 1902.  

Serendibite is currently valued at $18,000 per carat.



Diamond:

Found in cooled kimberlites that formed over the course of 1 to 3 billion years, Diamonds are pure carbon arranged in a diamond lattice, which accounts for it’s incredible strength and durability. This stones are renowned as a material with superlative physical qualities, most of which originate from the strong covalent bonding between its atoms. In particular, diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material. 

Diamond is currently valued at $15,000 per carat.

Alexandrite: 
Found in  the Ural Mountains, Russia in the 1830′s, this is a very rare and highly valuable gemstone, and until recently was extremely difficult to obtain due to its rarity. 

Alexandrite is currently valued at $12,000 per carat.

Red Beryl: 
The gemstone has several different names: Red beryl, red emerald, or bixbite.  In nature, pure beryl is colorless but acquires it’s coloration from trace amounts of additional elements. The mineral was originaly named bixbite, but now red beryl is the most accepted designation. 

Red Beryl  is currently valued at $10,000 per carat.



Musgravite:
An extremely rare member of the taaffeite family which was discovered in the Musgrave Range of South Australia, in 1967. The Musgravite is a gemstone named after the Musgrave Ranges, Australia, where it was reportedly first discovered. 

Musgravite  is currently valued at $6000 per carat.

Benitoite:
This rare stone is found in California and San Benito County.

It is a rare blue barium titanium silicate mineral, found in hydrothermally altered serpentinite. Benitoite fluoresces under short wave ultraviolet light, appearing bright blue to bluish white in colour. The more rarely seen clear to white benitoite crystals fluoresce red under long-wave UV light. 

Benitoite  is currently valued at $4000 per carat.

Poudretteite:

This colourless to very faint pink rare stone was first discovered in the Poudrette Quarry / Mont St. Hilaire / Québec / Canada, around 1965 by the Poudrette family. Poudretteite is a member of the osumilite/milarite group of minerals.

Poudretteite is currently valued at $3000 per carat.

Fire Opal:

Fire Opal (SiO2·nH2O) is actually not technically a mineral but instead is a mineraloid. They are unique in the lush world of the opals. They were already admired as symbols of the most fervent love in ancient times, in India and in the ancient Persian kingdom, and among the Amerindians and Central America . 

Fire Opal is currently valued at $2,300 per carat.

Jeremejevite:

First found in the Adun-Chilon Mountains in Siberia in 1883.This is a rare aluminium borate mineral with variable fluoride and hydroxide ions, with a chemical formula of Al₆B₅O₁₅(F,OH)₃. Due to the fact that it has a similar hardness as quartz, 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, it is ideal for jewellery making. 

Jeremejevite is currently valued at $2000 per carat.

Bodies Of Russian Air-Bus Crash Victims Flown To St Petersburg!

Victims of Russian ( Kogalymavia-operated Airbus A321)  St Petersburg bound plane.

(From top left):Anastasia Bogdanova, Anton Bogdanov, Alena Moiseeva, Diana Golenkova, Maria Ivleva, Aleksandra Illarionova, Leonid Gordin, Aleksandra Chernova, (from bottom left)Aleksei and Tatiana Gromov, their 10-month-old baby Darina Gromov, Valeria Kantcerova, Nina Golubeva, Vera Gerasina, Victor Anisimov and (bottom right) Svetlana Dudochkina.  

The passenger plane carrying about 224 including17  children on board, disappeared from radar screens after take-off from Sarm el- Sheik air-port- Egypt at about 6.14am Saturday 31 October, on reaching an altitude of between 30 -31,000 ft. 

Wreckage of the plane was later found near the town of Hasna, north of the Sinai Peninsula. 

Actual cause of the crash is unknown, however, it was reported that the co-pilot Sergei Trukachev raised concerns to his family before takeoff that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired. To that, authorites revealed that the crashed airliner had received a certificate on airworthiness, according to regulators in Ireland where the plane was registered,  earlier in 2015. 

There are also reported claims of responsibility from Islamic State (ISIS), which was dismissed by Russian authorities. Howbeit, authorities stated that  there are no grounds yet to rule out all theories on the cause of the crash, as the key task is to investigate in detail what caused the tragedy. 

Meanwhile, Bodies of victims have been flown to St Petersburg, for identification and burial by relatives.

Sorry State Of Some Roads In High- Brow Victorian Island!

This is Elsie Femi Pearse street, located in the high brow area of Victoria Island - Lagos....

This street, like a couple of other streets off Kofo Abayomi, hosts some top organizations and state of the art residential appartments, yet it is in a very bad state, especially when ever it rains. The roads are bad, the drainage system here is very very poor. 

We hope concerned authorities get to do something about this soon.

Over 20 People Injured After Passenger Plane Caught Fire In Florida!

More than 20 people were injured when a Caracas, Venezuela bound Boeing 767 carrying 101 passengers caught fire on Taxiway B,  Fort Lauderdale International Airport - Florida around 5:30pm, Thursday, October 29. 

Among those injured are a 62-year-old man who fell and hit his head on the tarmac while running away from the plane, and a 4-year-old boy. 

According to authorities, cause of the accident was a minor fuel leak in the area of the left wing near the engine, and a fuel fire on the ground.

The airport's runways were shut down while all inbound flights were diverted.

China Abandons Decade Long 'One-Child-Policy', To Allow Couples Have Two Children!

After its Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held from Monday to Thursday, 26th - 29th October,  the communique issued the following:

• To allow all couples to have two children, abandoning its decades-long one-child policy.

On Economy:

• Targets "medium-high economic growth" for the next five years starting 2016.
• The nation will aim to double its 2010 GDP and per-capita income of both urban and rural residents by 2020 by ensuring more balanced, inclusive and sustainable development.
• Government will intervene less in price formation.
•  Overhaul state assets management, establish modern fiscal and taxation systems, and reform financial supervision.
• Innovation will be put at core position for China's development in the next five years.
• Significantly raise the contribution of consumption to economic growth from 2016 to 2020.

On foreign Investment Policies: 

•  To attract more foreign investors by being clearer on the rules that apply to them.
• Adopt the "negative list" model nationwide which clearly states sectors and businesses that are off limits to foreign investment.

On Social Welfare: 

• Extend old-age insurance to its full population

Changes:

• Endorses prior decisions to revoke the membership of 10 former officials, including Ling Jihua.
• Three new members fill vacancies of the Central Committee of the CPC after former members were expelled from the Party.

British Born Ghanaian Actor, Sam Sarpong Dies After Falling Off Bridge In Los Angeles!

British born American actor, super-model, and musician, Samuel Osei Sarpong, Jr. popularly known as "Sam Sarpong"  is dead. 

Authorities said Sam died on Tuesday, October 28th, after jumping from Pasadena bridge - Los Angeles in what was ruled as an apparent suicide, after Police and family members tried to talk him out of it. 
The 40- year- old in his life time, featured in about 60 films and in 55 TV shows, among them includes: 'Love Don't Cost A Thing', Anchor Baby, Carmen The Hip Hopera. 

Sam released six rap albums with The League group, which sold more than a million copies. He was Louis Vuitton's first black male model,  he also modelled for Gucci, Versace and Tommy Hilfiger.

Prince Harry Visits Virginia Fort Belvoir!

To attract interests to the Invictus Games, a programs that help injured service members, Prince Harry accompanied by the First Lady Michelle Obama and the Vice- President's wife Jill Biden on Wednesday October 29th visited injured members of the military at the USO Warrior and Family Center, Fort Belvoir - Virginia. 

The British Prince also visited President barack Obama at the Oval office.

Recounting on what inspired his keen interest in the program for wounded members of the military, Prince Harry stated: "I am in no doubt that my two deployments to Afghanistan changed the direction of my life. There is very little that can truly prepare you for the reality of war. The experiences can be stark and long lasting. Returning to the UK after my first deployment, I shared the flight home with three critically-injured British soldiers, all in induced comas, and the body of a Danish soldier, killed in action. It hit me then that this flight was one of many, carrying home men and women whose lives would be changed forever, and some who had made the ultimate sacrifice.

"From that moment, I knew I had a responsibility to help all 
veterans, who had made huge personal sacrifices for their 
countries, to lead healthy and dignified lives after service."