Geneva

An exceptionally rare blue diamond went under the hammer in Geneva on Nov. 7, selling for more than $40 million, making it one of the most expensive diamonds ever sold at auction, Christie's said.

Weighing 17.61 carats, the Bleu Royal is the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue gem ever to appear for sale in auction history.

GENEVA - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said in Geneva on Monday evening his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto had conveyed to him a message from PM Viktor Orban that there were growing demands from those supporting Pristina's calls for imposing sanctions against Serbia but that Hungary would definitely not allow that to happen.

GENEVA - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said in Geneva on Monday 210,284 people - mostly Serbs, but also other non-Albanians like Roma, Ashkali and Gorani - had been forced to leave their homes in Kosovo-Metohija due to ethnic hatred.

Addressing the UNHCR Executive Committee, Dacic said that, according to UNHCR figures, only 12,707 IDPs had returned to Kosovo-Metohija.

Climate activists have spraypainted a superyacht, blocked private jets from taking off and plugged holes in golf courses this summer as part of an intensifying campaign against the emissions-spewing lifestyles of the ultrawealthy.

A sting operation at a London hotel helped authorities recover a 15th-century Chinese vase worth about 2 million pounds ($2.5 million) and break up the criminal ring believed to have stolen the artifact from a Swiss museum, British police said Saturday.

The United Nations General Assembly on July 25 has adopted a resolution that deplores all acts of violence targeting holy books as a violation of international law.

The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution drafted by Morocco by consensus.

Maribor, Slovenia's second largest city, will launch its first international primary school programme in September, joining Ljubljana in catering to the needs of internationally mobile families.

Extreme heat was forecast across the globe on Wednesday, as wildfires raged and health warnings were in place in parts of Asia, Europe and North America.

Firefighters battled blazes in parts of Greece and the Canary Islands while Spain issued heat alerts and some children in Italy's Sardinia were told to stay away from sports.

The United Nations is convening this week a global gathering to try to map out the frontiers of artificial intelligence and to harness its potential for empowering humanity.

The UN hopes to lay out a clear blueprint on the way forward for handling AI, as development of the technology races ahead the capacity to set its boundaries.

Switzerland on July 3 handed back to Egypt a fragment of a 3,400-year-old statue of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, which was stolen more than 30 years ago.

Carine Bachmann, director of the Federal Office of Culture, handed over the fragment to the Egyptian embassy in the capital Bern.