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Botswana Says Huge 2,492-carat Diamond Uncovered at Mine

FILE PHOTO: Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in the capital Gaborone in Botswana, November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in the capital Gaborone in Botswana, November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
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Botswana Says Huge 2,492-carat Diamond Uncovered at Mine

FILE PHOTO: Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in the capital Gaborone in Botswana, November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in the capital Gaborone in Botswana, November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Botswana says one of the largest diamonds ever found has been unearthed at one of its mines and will be put on show on Thursday.
The Botswana government believes the huge 2,492-carat stone is the biggest discovered in the country, and the second-biggest ever brought out of a mine.
Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp. said in a statement Wednesday that it recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe Mine in western Botswana. Lucara said it was a "high-quality" stone and was found intact. It was located using X-ray technology.
The weight would make it the largest diamond found in more than 100 years and the second-largest ever dug out of a mine after the Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905, The Associated Press reported. The Cullinan was 3,106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.
A bigger black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but it was found on the surface and was believed to have been part of a meteorite.
Botswana is the second biggest producer of diamonds and has unearthed all of the world's biggest stones in recent years.
Before this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, which was found at the Karowe Mine in 2019, was recognized as the second-biggest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats. It was bought by French fashion house Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount.
The 1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, also from Botswana's Karowe Mine, was bought by a British jeweler for $53 million in 2017.

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Saudi Arabia Participates in 65th Session of Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
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Saudi Arabia Participates in 65th Session of Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

Represented by a delegation from the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) and the Saudi Space Agency (SSA), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in the 65th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), held in the United Nations’ office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, SPA reported.

The meetings addressed regulatory issues aimed at tackling legal challenges associated with space activities. Discussions focused on developing and establishing legal frameworks to explore and utilize space resources, as well as managing and coordinating space traffic. The meetings also examined mechanisms to enhance the long-term sustainability of activities in outer space and to mitigate space debris.

The Saudi delegation provided many contributions to support the development of flexible international regulations that enables a sustainable and safe environment for space innovation, it also highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts in regulating and advancing the space sector.

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1958 in Vienna, Austria. The committee was established with 24 state members and has currently grown to include 110 members, making it one of the largest committees of the United Nations; while the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has acted as the secretariat to the committee.

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Final Talks Begin on Missing Piece for Pandemic Treaty

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 20, 2021. (Reuters)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 20, 2021. (Reuters)
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Final Talks Begin on Missing Piece for Pandemic Treaty

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 20, 2021. (Reuters)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 20, 2021. (Reuters)

An extra week of negotiations to complete an international agreement on handling future pandemics kicked off in Geneva on Monday, with sharp divisions holding up an accord.

Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads in the talks at the World Health Organization over how the pandemic treaty, adopted last year, will work in practice.

The agreement's Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system deals with sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing benefits derived from them such as vaccines, tests and treatments.

"The world cannot afford to lose this opportunity and risk being unprepared for the next pandemic," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the start of the talks.

"It will not be perfect; no agreement ever is. But it can be fair; it can be functional," he told negotiators.

In May 2025, WHO members adopted a landmark agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.

The accord aims to prevent a repeat of the disjointed international response that surrounded the coronavirus crisis, by improving global coordination, surveillance and access to vaccines.

PABS, the heart of the treaty, was left out to get the bulk of the deal over the line.

- 'Blame is shared' -

"Developing countries are voicing their mistrust, fearing they will share their viruses without any guarantees of equitable access to vaccines in the event of a crisis," WHO chief scientist Sylvie Briand told AFP.

Other countries are asking whether the pharmaceutical industry has the capacity and motivation to contribute to a pandemic agreement "without a guarantee of return on investment", she said.

Countries have until Friday to negotiate PABS so it can be approved during the World Health Assembly of WHO member states, which opens on May 18.

"Progress has been slow" and finding compromise "will be very hard", though the European Union was now "making an effort to demonstrate some flexibility", said Jean Karydakis, a diplomat at Brazil's mission in Geneva.

The pathogen sharing clauses are considered crucial by developing states, particularly in Africa, where many countries felt cut adrift in the scramble for Covid-19 vaccines.

While NGOs have criticized wealthy nations' obduracy, a western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were also "excessive demands from some developing countries", and thus "the blame is shared" for the deadlock.

- Anonymous access? -

The treaty already says participating pharmaceutical companies should make available 20 percent of their production of vaccines, tests and treatments to the WHO for redistribution -- with at least half as a donation and the rest "at affordable prices".

However, the terms and conditions remain to be defined, as does access to health data and tools outside pandemics.

NGOs and developing countries want to impose mandatory rules for laboratories to ensure poor countries receive vaccines.

"During the Ebola outbreaks, samples from African patients led to treatments developed without such obligations," said Olena Zarytska of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The result, she said, was limited supplies in Africa and stockpiles in the United States, which under President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the WHO.

Developing countries also want a user registration and tracking system for the PABS database, while developed countries, "basically Germany, Norway and Switzerland, advocate for maintaining anonymous access", said K. M. Gopakumar, senior researcher with the Third World Network.

Anonymous access would make it "impossible" to track who is using pathogen information and whether they are sharing the benefits, 100 non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam, said in a joint letter to the WHO.

"In practice, this means that genetic resources originating in developing countries can be accessed, commercialized, and exploited with complete impunity," the letter said.

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Steep Mountainside Offers Respite for Daring Afghans

An Afghan boy enjoys rolling down a steep and sandy mountainside on a weekend at the Sayad area of Reg-e-Rawan in Kapisa province on April 24, 2026. (AFP)
An Afghan boy enjoys rolling down a steep and sandy mountainside on a weekend at the Sayad area of Reg-e-Rawan in Kapisa province on April 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Steep Mountainside Offers Respite for Daring Afghans

An Afghan boy enjoys rolling down a steep and sandy mountainside on a weekend at the Sayad area of Reg-e-Rawan in Kapisa province on April 24, 2026. (AFP)
An Afghan boy enjoys rolling down a steep and sandy mountainside on a weekend at the Sayad area of Reg-e-Rawan in Kapisa province on April 24, 2026. (AFP)

Backflipping down a steep and sandy mountainside, Afghan teenager Imran Saeedi wows the crowds of men who gather each springtime to unwind beside breathtaking views.

Hundreds of visitors travel each weekend to Reg-e-Rawan -- "the moving sands" in Dari -- to practice parkour or roll down the honey-colored sand in Kapisa province.

"I feel afraid when I'm going for a flip or a jump, and of course I can get injured," said 16-year-old Saeedi, who nonetheless loves the thrill.

"When the week starts, I'm just waiting for the weekend so I can come to Reg-e-Rawan to have fun again," said the high school student.

Men and boys clapped in admiration as he ran down the hill and flipped forwards, then backwards, while his friends filmed on their phones.

Less daring onlookers sat atop rocks surrounding the mountain, picnicking together and enjoying the scenery.

Reg-e-Rawan is off limits to women and girls, who are banned by the Taliban authorities from recreational spots such as parks.

Families with women were turned away when AFP journalists visited, while officials under the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice patrolled the area.

- 'Humans need nature' -

Mirwais Kamran, a 48-year-old businessman, had driven three hours north from the capital Kabul with some of his 12 children.

"I feel joy when I come here with my children and friends," said Kamran, who climbed up the slope but stopped short of rolling down.

Nusratullah Nusrat, the provincial head of tourism at the Kapisa Department of Information and Culture, said the site dates back thousands of years.

"The unique feature of this place is that the sand never decreases despite people climbing up and sliding down," he told AFP.

Some people believe rolling in the sand also helps treat rheumatism, added Nusrat.

For visitors such as Nohzatullah Ahmadzai, who travelled from Kabul with a group of friends, Reg-e-Rawan lifts his mood.

"I'm someone who gets depressed when I'm sad, so visiting such places erases that feeling," said the 22-year-old, who works for a cargo firm.

Climbing the slope takes about an hour, rewarding visitors with views over green fields dotted with villages.

"We humans need nature," said Ahmadzai. "When we feel stressed, we can visit natural places for relaxation or relief."