Video On Demand - Amazing Video
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Here's a look at some of the truly Amazing Video that has appeared on KREM.com
2009-07-03
Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch is shown with the interiors completely empty and a few shots of a fountain on the exterior.
2009-07-02
-Australia-
Migaloo, the rare all-white humpback whale, was spotted swimming off the Queensland state on Wednesday as it migrated up the Australian coast.
Swimming with a small group of whales, Migaloo wowed watchers who set sail from the Gold Coast to get a glimpse of the endangered whale.
Migaloo is the only documented white humpback whale in the world, according to the Pacific Whale Foundation website.
Now in his mid-twenties, Migaloo has become a regular visitor off the country's east coast.
Humpback whales are heading north to warmer waters, and Migaloo is expected to reach Cape Moreton by Thursday.
Whale watchers must keep their distance by law by 0.3 miles and anyone getting closer can draw a 16-thousand Australian dollar fine.
-CBS
2009-06-30
Enhanced surveillance video of the attack on a small dog outside of Spokane City Hall.
Dog swung by leash into Spokane City Hall
2009-06-30
KREM 2's Marissa Bagg reports on a dog attack caught on surveillance tape outside of Spokane City Hall.
2009-06-30
A high speed chase through the freeways of Dallas ended in a crash as a narcotics suspect blew through red lights and failed to stop at oncoming traffic.
Authorities were in pursuit of a vehicle traveling high speeds along Interstate 635. Nearly seven constable cars were involved in the chase.
According to media reports, authorities deployed spike strips but the driver managed to get around them.
At an intersection the vehicle was hit by a pick-up truck while trying to flee authorities. The drive of the pick up sustained minor injuries.
The condition of the driver is unknown at this time.
-CBS
2009-06-29
A smiling murder suspect sparked a wild court room brawl in Flint Friday.
Juanell Darrough had a big grin on his face as he looked at the family of 22-year-old Alex Pace, the man Darrough was charged with shooting to death.
The smile prompted Pace?s father to jump a railing and punch the suspect in the face as the court room erupted into mayhem.
Pace?s father was arrested, along with another family member. At least one other person was Tasered.
At one point during the melee, a defense attorney took cover under a table and a prosecutor in the courtroom started pulling people into a hallway to protect them.
Only one officer was in the court room at the time, but the district?s sheriff said he would appoint more in the future.
-CBS
2009-06-26
A trip around the world through all climate zones, following one meridian in a few hours is an experience visitors can make in Bremerhaven's latest museum, the "Climate house Bremerhaven, 8 degrees East" (Klimahaus Bremerhaven, 8 Grad Ost).
Whether the desert heat of 35 degrees Celsius, the Arctic cold of minus 10 degrees or melting glaciers in the Alps, people can't only see different life size display but actually feel the different climate situations such as humidity and dryness.
The trip through the 11,500 square meters of exhibitions space is following the 8th meridian, where also Bremerhaven is located, with all its different landscapes and climate situations.
On the itinerary are Switzerland, Sardinia, Niger and Cameroon in Africa, Antarctica or Samoa and Alaska. 600,000 people are expected each year to come and get their own impressions of climate change.
When planning for the 100 million Euro nest-shaped glass and steel construction began nine years ago, little did the average citizen know about climate change and how urgent that problem would soon become. Only experts were aware of the urgency of the problem.
Jakob Uexkuell, founder of the alternative Nobel price, praised the project as "pioneering and unparalleled".
"The Western world has an above average share in the development of climate change. That's why each visitor has an above average chance to make a change", he added.
Needless to say that the museum itself is setting an example of ideal climate behaviors. The toilets are run with rain water, the restaurants only serve organic food and the building's energy concept is a state of the art sustainable concept, that combines various methods of energy saving in a unique way.
Especially the tangible climate zones with many different temperatures, created on a comparatively small area, proved to be a big challenge for the engineers.
The museum will open to the public on Saturday.
-CBS
100 Million Year Old Dinosaur Teeth
2009-06-25
Japanese researchers have discovered fossils in western Japan of what are believed to be the teeth of a large dinosaur species dating back more than 100 million years.
They believe the finding suggests that the species started becoming larger much earlier than is now widely believed.
Researchers at the Museum of Nature and Human Activities in Hyogo Prefecture excavated the fossils of two teeth of the meat-eating dinosaur species Tyrannosaurus Rex in Tamba City in the prefecture.
One of the teeth is .7 inches in length and 0.2 inches in width, while the other one, which is chipped, is 0.3 inches long.
Researchers say that judging from the size of the teeth, the dinosaur is presumed to have measured 16 feet from head to tail.
Tyrannosaurus Rex is widely believed to have evolved into a larger dinosaur about 85 million years ago. But the newly found fossils were unearthed from a stratum dating back 120 to 140 million years.
The museum says another set of fossils of the same species found in Gansu Province in China, from a stratum of more than 100 million years, is also evidence the species evolved into a larger dinosaur earlier than is thought.
Senior researcher Haruo Saegusa at the museum says the finding is significant because it shows the evolution of the species began much earlier than is widely believed.
-CBS
Car Crashes Through Yakima Duplex
2009-06-24
Police say a speeding car hit the side of a duplex in Yakima, crashing through living areas and garage of one unit before stopping in the second garage.
An elderly woman was sitting in the living room just three feet off to the right when the Mitsubishi plowed through.
Witnesses say the driver barreled through the intersection, drove across the sidewalk and lawns, then hit one side of the duplex.
Police say the driver, a 31-year-old Bothell woman, was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive her injuries.
Amazingly no one in the duplex got hurt.
Police are not sure at this time if alcohol was involved.
The accident is still under investigation.
-CBS
2009-06-24
A walking humanoid robot that is able to use its whole face and body to express emotion was unveiled on Tuesday in Japan.
The robot was created by scientists at Tokyo's Waseda University and is thought to be the first of its kind according to its makers.
It is able to express a range of different emotions, including happiness, fear, surprise, sadness, anger and disgust, by opening and closing its eyes, moving its lips and eyebrows, and using its arms and legs.
The robot is installed with 48 "actuators" which allow its face and body to move in a variety of ways.
It shows happiness by opening its eyes and mouth wide and raising its arms, and sorrow by drooping its head and covering its eyes.
The robot's hands are covered with a soft material which is supposed to replicate the feeling of a human hand.
Professor Atsuo Takanishi and his team at Waseda University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, spent the last two and a half years creating the robot, which they called "KOBIAN".
Takanishi believes KOBIAN is the first robot able to express emotion with its entire body.
He said the ability to express feeling was an "important factor" in achieving "natural communication" between robots and humans.
The professor hopes robots such as KOBIAN could be used in the future to help elderly people with housework and in nursing homes.
But he said the robot was still at the prototype stage and was not yet able to interact with humans emotionally apart from through its set of pre-programmed responses.
Takanishi said it could be several decades before robots such as KOBIAN can be used to help people in their homes.
Waseda University set up the Humanoid Robotics Institute in April 2000 to carry out research on creating new relationships between humans and machines.
According to its website, the institute hopes to create a robot which will eventually experience the same patterns of thought and behavior as a human being.
-CBS
2009-06-23
Noah Fulmore and Erin Finnegan Saturday became the first people on the planet to tie the knot while weightless.
The bride and groom, from Brooklyn, New York, 'floated' down the aisle in a special plane whose mid-air maneuvers allow it to reach conditions of no gravity or weight.
The couple took off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral with a small group of friends and photographers.
The couple paid a whopping sixty thousand dollars for the ceremony.
-CBS
2009-06-22
Apple co-founder Steve, Wozniak helped launch 15-thousand rubber ducks for the 2nd annual Silicon Valley Duck Race.
The race is sponsored by local charities to raise money for services for families and the community.
The sponsors of the top-placing ducks won thousands of dollars worth of prizes, and a chance to win a million dollars.
-CBS
2009-06-19
Storm-chasers caught dramatic footage of these wild storms throughout the Midwest.
Toothpick Sculpture of San Francisco
2009-06-18
Of all the billions of toothpicks ever made, Scott Weaver's are the lucky ones. They have found their way, not between teeth, but into the fingers of Weaver, who makes them part of bigger things.
One million of his toothpicks became a rendition of San Francisco, California. It took him 34 years to build it.
It started as a school project.
One cannot really appreciate how big the sculpture is until you stand next to it. Seven feet wide, nine feet high, and it has entrances for ping pong balls. Put them in, they go all the way to the bottom.
Weaver's version of San Francisco has its own scenic drive; 50 feet of ping pong trails wind down Lombard Street, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and pass through many other attractions, in between.
It is folk art, pure and simple. No wonder that when Ripley's Museum offered 40-thousand dollars for the piece, Weaver turned them down.
-CBS
2009-06-17
The Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines is now part of monkey history.
A Japanese macaque called Baldy celebrated her 35th birthday on Tuesday. That makes her the oldest-ever female macaque with a confirmed birth date.
Japanese macaques are also known as snow monkeys. Zoo officials say snow monkeys usually live between 20 and 25 years. They?re hoping she makes it to several more birthdays.
Baldy has been at the Blank Park Zoo since 1985. If she were a human she?d be more than 100 years old.
-CBS
Caretta Turtles Brought to Sea
2009-06-16
TURKEY-
The Caretta Turtle is a species that lives in the Mediterranean. They can have considerable dimensions - the largest weighs over 300 pounds... in spite of this, they are very fast.
The Caretta spawns always in the same beach-Dalyan (near the tourist resort Bodrum) where they are born, and for this reason it is important to care for the nests' well-being in order to avoid extinction. The nesting period is from June to August, the months in which the females reach the beach to spawn.
In Dalyan, Carettas are under protection. They are kept in special pools. 6 Carettas were brought to sea last night.
-CBS
2009-06-15
People in Spain try to break the Guinness record of ham cutting.
-CBS
2009-06-12
If you?re 84-year-old and retired, what kind of challenges do you want to take on? For a woman in Arizona, her challenge was sky-high and Thursday she made a dream come true.
84-year-old Jean Pettit suited up, loaded up into a plane and headed for 13-thousand feet with one purpose in mind, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
Pettit, who lives in Peoria, Arizona, headed to Eloy, Arizona with a huge group of family, friends and fans who wanted to watch her accomplish her goal.
Once at altitude, it was time to jump and out she went! Pettit did a tandem jump with an experienced skydiver.
Pettit says if former President George H.W. Bush can jump out of an airplane, she could too. Pettit entered a writing contest and won, so Thursday?s jump was free of charge.
Friends from the retirement community where Pettit lives loaded up into a bus and headed to the jump site, about an hour south of Phoenix.
Pettit was able to free-fall about 8-thousand feet before the chute was pulled and she drifted to the ground with all of her fans cheering her on. Once on the ground, Pettit was all smiles and said she hopes Bush would be proud.
-CBS
2009-06-11
Something is rotten in San Marino and it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
A rare corpse flower is about to bloom at the Huntington Library.
The bud shot up inside The Conservatory.
When it does bloom, the odor will knock people over.
It smells like rotting flesh.
You can smell these flowers blocks away when they are outside, but inside?
It's going to be very ugly.
The flowers can grow up to 12-feet tall.
They think this one will be just under 6-feet when it opens and that is expected to happen sometime in the next few days.
-CBS
Bird Dive Bombs People in San Francisco
2009-06-10
A very determined and aggressive blackbird has some people wondering if it's safe to walk in San Francisco's financial district Tuesday.
The tiny bird has spent the last several weeks dive bombing people as they walk near the intersection of California and Front Street.
A few bird experts say the determined dive bomber is just defending his nearby nest using a tactic behavior experts call mobbing.
Nobody's been hurt, but quite a few people have been startled.
The bird has also developed a following. Several people now gather to watch the daily dive bombing activities.
-CBS
2009-06-08
A colossal crustacean creation was a mouthful to chew on in Portland, Maine on Sunday.
Cooks at Maine's Old Port Festival served up the world?s largest lobster roll.
The team of culinary whizzes combined 45 pounds of lobster meat, four gallons of Miracle Whip and a special blend of herbs and seasonings into a mix slathered onto a 60-foot roll.
The roll was so big, it was brought in on a flat bed truck.
-CBS
Atlanta police chase ends with car on fire
2009-06-02
Two burglary suspects led police in Atlanta on a high speed chase for 25 miles before they crashed their stolen car and it burst into flames. The two suspects were arrested.
Caught On Tape: Boaters Rescued near Dam in VA
2009-06-02
Two men out fishing in Fairfax County, Virginia were rescued in dramatic fashion after developing engine problems on their boat.
A member of the local volunteer fire department captured the incident on video Sunday.
Authorities said the fishermen developed mechanical problems at about 1:00 pm Sunday afternoon while fishing on the Occoquan River. They began drifting toward a dam.
The men were able to grab a pole as the boat dropped roughly 75-feet to the bottom of the dam. Local rescuers lowered life jackets and helmets to the men. The U.S. Park Police also joined the effort?lowering a net to the men.
However, one the men let go of the pole he was holding and grabbed the rope used for the rescue equipment. As a result, rescuers were forced to drag the man along the water and away from the dam. The man was taken in by a waiting fire department boat.
Rescuers successfully captured the other man with the net.
-CBS
2009-06-01
Real cowboys may ride horses, but in Colorado they also ride snow plows.
Friday morning in the parking lot of the Denver Coliseum, under sunny skies and
Toasty temps, dozens of snow plow operators competed in the annual Snow Road-Eo.
The drivers maneuvered their rigs around an obstacle course on asphalt.
The winning teams advance to regional competitions in September.
-CBS
Caught On Tape - Wedding Camera Stolen
2009-05-29
Police say a thief was caught on tape when he snatched a digital camera containing nearly eight-hundred wedding photos from the couple's reception.
Surveillance video from the Holiday Inn Buena Park, California Saturday (5/23) shows a man in a suit grabbing the camera from a table, putting it under his jacket, then running down a hallway and out of the building.
Investigators think the suspect is a professional thief who dressed like a wedding guest in order to fit in.
The photographer, Carlos Garcia, says he wants the camera back but he'll be happy to just get the flash card inside, which holds the couple's photos.
-CBS
Caught on Tape: Riots in Barcelona after Soccer Win
2009-05-28
More than 100 people were arrested and 153 injured in the Catalonia region as celebrations turned violent following Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final.
Police said 119 arrests were made in Barcelona for public disorder, vandalism and disobeying police orders, while 15 others were apprehended in the Catalan towns of Lleida, Tarragona, Girona, Granollers and Igualada.
Eighty-nine police officers were among the injured, with two taken to hospital.
Atlas TV showed pictures of the clashes that started around 2am local time in Barcelona when, according to the broadcasters, anarchists and anti-capitalists started vandalizing shops and restaurants on Las Ramblas, the traditional site for celebrating the club's wins.
The rioters were infiltrated by plain clothes policemen, who called in riot police who used tear gas to try and disperse the area once clashes broke out, according to Atlas TV.
Barcelona city hall said that around 500 people were involved in the violence, which caused damage valued at between 102,700 US dollars and 138,900 US dollars.
Trouble had also flared at previous celebrations in Barcelona earlier this month after the team won the Copa del Rey and then the Spanish league title.
An estimated 100-thousand jubilant supporters had gathered at the Canaletes fountain on Las Ramblas, soon after the team beat defending champions Manchester United 2-0 in Rome on Wednesday.
Barcelona had become the first Spanish team to win the treble of Europe's top club competition together with the domestic league and cup in a single season.
-CBS
Baby Elephant Debuts at Russian Zoo
2009-05-27
-Russia
A newly-born Asian elephant who has yet to be named, was allowed to take her first walk outdoors on Wednesday in the Moscow Zoo, chaperoned by her mother and another female elephant friend.
It's the first time an Asian elephant has been born in the history of the Zoo which has been open for 164-years.
The news of the baby elephant's first walk attracted numerous excited visitors of all ages.
Two child spectators expressed excitement at seeing the baby elephant take her first steps.
Head of the Mammals Department Yevgeny Davydov said that it was rare for Asian elephants to breed in captivity.
"Asian elephants are hard to breed in captivity," he said.
The Zoo management hopes to organize a contest among city locals to come up with a name for the new elephant, who was born on the 23 of April.
-CBS
2009-05-26
Dozens of daredevils chased a giant cheese down a steep slope on Monday as part of a bizarre traditional contest in Cooper's Hill, near the English town of Brockworth.
It has been an English tradition since the early 19th century.
Thousands gathered to watch mad-cap contestants risk life and limb by throwing themselves down the 200-ft drop in an attempt to catch the eight-pound Double Gloucester wheel of cheese.
The seven pound chunk of Double Gloucester cheese can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour
and many of competitors suffer bruises, sprains and even broken limbs.
The first competitor to arrive at the bottom of the hill claims the cheese.
Brockworth man Chris Anderson, 21, claimed his fifth and final victory on the slopes in the first race.
Steve Beavan, celebrated a win and his 28th birthday in another.
Several contestants were treated by St John ambulance workers with one having a possible spinal injury.
The Cooper's Hill Cheese Roll includes seven races in total, four downhill.
-CBS
2009-05-25
A California pet store is showing off a very unusual snake.
Check out this new addition to the "Reptile Room". It was born Wednesday night (5/20), in a litter of baby red tail boas.
To everyone's surprise, one of the babies arrived with two heads.
Both heads are breathing and flicking their tongues.
Experts say two-headed snakes are rare, and usually don't have a long life expectancy.
-CBS
TX Students Re-Enact Civil War
2009-05-22
Hundreds of Texas students have a new appreciation for historic battles.
More than 300 New Middle School students marched in battle to re-enact the Civil War.
The Mesquite, Texas students spent weeks learning about the Civil War in preparation for the battle.
The 8th grade soldiers dressed in blue and grey uniforms and pelted each other with flour grenades dyed red.
Those marked with spots had to report to a mock medical tent for assessment.
-CBS
2009-05-21
The Indy 500 is this Memorial Day weekend but some real heavyweights hit the track today.
Two giant Aldabra tortoises vied for bragging rights in the Zoopolis 500 at the Indianapolis Zoo. "Lyn St. James" and "A.J." raced from winter holding to their summer exhibit. The two tortoises competed to reach the checkered flag and a full plate of fruit.
"A.J.," who was named for Indy 500 legend A.J. Foyt, weighs in at about 485 pounds.
The female "Lyn St. James" weighs in at 148-pounds.
Native to Aldabra Island between the coast of Kenya and the northern tip of Madagascar, these giant tortoises have a life expectancy of more than 100 years.
-CBS
Caught on Tape: Standoff in CA Ends in Dog Bite
2009-05-20
It was a dramatic end to a standoff with an armed robbery suspect near Los Angeles, California Tuesday night (5/19).
Police in Montebello surrounded the man, barricaded in his car for several hours.
A Los Angeles County SWAT team came to the scene to assist.
And just before ten at night, the standoff came to an end.
You can see the SWAT team shoot tear gas into the car. The suspect stuck his head out the window, trying to get fresh air.
Then, in came the police dog. The man and the German Shepherd dog fight for awhile. You can see the dog actually going into the car in the fight.
The SWAT team then moves in and uses a Taser to take the man into custody.
The man was taken into custody. No one was injured, including the police dog. Media reports say the dog was wagging its tail as it left the scene.
-CBS
2009-05-20
The latest stars of Berlin Zoo were unveiled on Tuesday; three young jaguar cubs.
The two male and one female triplets were born five weeks ago and zoo staff say they are developing well.
Keepers have named them Jumanes, Atiero and Valdivia.
The cubs remain in an enclosure with their mother, Anafi, who is feeding them without the help of bottles.
"Further development depends on the behavior of the mother. We will try to bring them together as a family to stay here in the zoo for the next few years," said Christian Kern, the zoo's curator.
The trio are expected to be strong enough for outdoor public appearances in the coming days.
-CBS
Falling tree just misses woman in trailer
2009-05-19
KREM 2's Othello Richards reports on how high winds knocked down a tree in Airway Heights, just missing a woman sleeping inside her trailer.
2009-05-19
It?s spring in Colorado and that means it is a season of change weather-wise. Snow is more or less out of the question for communities near Denver, but this is also the time intense thunderstorms can rock the area.
Monday evening, storms fired up south of Denver, Colorado and while they were not packing a lot of rain, the storms did put on an impressive light show for those who could see it.
Lightning illuminated the skies for several hours at the end of a day that was very hot for this time of year in Colorado.
Forecasters say there is a chance for some more severe weather there on Tuesday, but bigger changes, cooler and wetter, are in the forecast for later in the week.
-CBS
Loan officer catches ducks jumping from bank
2009-05-18
KREM 2's Lee Stoll reports on how a loan officer from Sterling Savings Bank in downtown Spokane caught ducklings jumping from their second story nest and helped parade them through downtown Spokane to Riverfront Park.
Duck family parades through downtown Spokane
2009-05-18
Raw video, courtesy of Jim Bolser of Peak Video, shows Amelia Duckheart and her ducklings jumping from their awning nest at Sterling Savings and parading through the streets of downtown Spokane before crowds gathered for the Armed Forces Torchlight Parade Saturday on the ducks' way to the Spokane River.
Principal camps out on school's roof to make good on promise
2009-05-18
The principal of Westgate Christian School in Nine Mile made good on her promise to camp out on the roof of the school if a school fundraiser reached her goal.
Strange light caught on tape above Cheney
2009-05-18
A woman shot home video of a strange blue light above Cheney on Sunday night, which according to spaceweather.com, was the International Space Station.
2009-05-18
The fifth and final spacewalk for the Atlantis crew has gotten underway.
Running ahead of schedule, astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel stepped out for their final walk, which is expected to last six hours.
Their mission is to equip the Hubble Space Telescope with a second three-battery power pack, a refurbished fine guidance sensor and fresh equipment bay insulation panels. One panel was deferred from a spacewalk Sunday when the crew ran out of time. Grunsfeld and Feustel plan to install it today if time is available.
Barring a future mission to drive Hubble safely out of orbit at the end of its life, this is the last time any astronauts will touch the space telescope and the end of today's spacewalk promises to be an emotional moment for Grunsfeld, an astronomer-astronaut and self-described "Hubble hugger" making his third visit to the iconic observatory.
-CBS
Kangaroo rescued from sea in Australia
2009-05-15
An Australian man has plucked a drowning kangaroo from the Queensland surf, as the panicked animal fought against a rip current pulling it out to sea.
The extraordinary tale has turned business speaker Neil McCallum into a media sensation following the 6am rescue on the Gold Coast's Kirra Beach.
The 48-year-old was returning from a early morning run with his 15-year-old son Jazz on Tuesday when a young kangaroo bounded across their path and straight into the water.
McCallum said he was immediately concerned for the kangaroo, given recent shark activity in the area.
The part-time surfer ran home and grabbed his longboard, sparing only enough time to tell his wife what was happening before heading back to the beach and plunging into the surf.
His wife Amanda, still dressed in her pajamas, came along and captured the entire rescue on camera.
He eventually herded the frightened animal back to the shore, where it bounded off.
McCallum said he had never before seen a kangaroo around Kirra, a built-up suburb about 20 km (12 miles) south of Surfers Paradise, although reports of swimming kangaroos elsewhere are not unusual.
-CBS
Cell phone video of huge food fight
2009-05-14
Huge food fight at Mill Creek school caught on cell phone video, 15 students expelled.
2009-05-14
One woman is dead and dozens of buildings are leveled after violent tornadoes hit northern Missouri. The city of Kirksville took a beating with 30 to 40 homes demolished.
Police Det. Sgt. Ron Celian said an auto dealership sustained significant damage. Sullivan County Emergency Management director Rick Gardner said a woman was killed when what appeared to be a tornado struck a mobile home east of Milan.
Julie Adolphson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Pleasant Hill, said a tornado hit Kirksville and Novinger, both in Adair County.
-CBS
2009-05-14
It's final project time for students at Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin, and two students have created a robot... that rocks.
Chee Lor and Mike Teigen built this robot that plays Guitar Hero for their Automated Manufacturing Systems class. The robot uses a camera for an eye to read the notes on the screen. These inventors hope their project will lead to jobs.
Most of the equipment used to build the robot was donated. Student Chee Lor says otherwise, it'd cost about $8,000 to build one.
-CBS
Best video from 3 alarm apartment fire
2009-05-13
Best video from the three alarm fire that burned the Regal Ridge Apartments on Spokane's South Hill near 53rd and Regal.
2009-05-13
A rare 7.03-carat blue diamond sold for 9.3 million Swiss francs (more than 8.4 million US dollars) on Tuesday, the highest price ever for a gem of its kind, according to auctioneers Sotheby's. Including commission, the successful bidder will pay around 10.5 million francs (9.5 million US dollars).
The anonymous telephone bidder has yet to name the diamond, said David Bennett, head of jewelry for Sotheby's Europe and Middle East.
The gem, which is smaller than a dime, shaped like a cushion and one of only a few blue diamonds ever found, was among 346 lots auctioned on Tuesday in Geneva.
Only 266 lots sold, indicating that the economic crisis is keeping some buyers away.
On average, the rings, bracelets and necklaces on offer sold for almost 10 percent less than expected. However, Bennett said there had been a "huge amount of interest" in the blue diamond leading up to the auction.
"For people who are looking to buy something that nobody else has, or somebody who wants something that is beyond beautiful, a blue diamond is going to be very difficult to find, so when they appear on the market, you have to have a go," Bennett said.
Sotheby's toured the diamond around the far East, Europe and America.
Bennett admitted he was a little concerned the diamond may end up "locked away in some vault."
He hoped whoever purchased the ring, would make use of its beauty and wear it.
"It's a very suitable size, 7 carats is perfect for a ring stone, it's not too ostentatious, too big," he said.
The gem was discovered last year in South Africa and has been graded highly for its vivid color and clarity, Sotheby's said.
-CBS
2009-05-12
Crews in Franklin County, MO have a big clean-up on their hands. The Franklin County Sheriff?s department confirms that there has been a train derailment.
It happened around 6:00 a.m. at Highway 100 and Highway 185. The train is reportedly not blocking the road there; the train is on the riverbank. There are no reports of any injuries at this time.
No word yet on what caused the derailment.
-CBS
2009-05-11
One of the biggest and most prestigious shows for the world's smallest horses takes place in Katy, Texas every year. The 23rd annual miniature horse show kicked off Friday at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center.
Judges watched the miniature horses jump, prance, drive and even dance. About 100 horses from the American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) competed for titles in 122 classes. Horses stand anywhere from 16 inches to a maximum of 34 inches tall.
This club has one of the largest amateur and youth groups that show horses. The AMHA has nearly 160-thousand horses registered and 12-thousand members in 37 countries.
-CBS
2009-05-11
Daredevils from around the world braved high winds on Sunday as they walked a 1km-long (0.62-mile-long) tightrope across a Seoul river as part of the two-day World High-Wire Championships.
The contestants were each given an hour to complete the walk across the high wire stretching over the Han River.
Safety nets were used under sections of the wire stretching over the river banks, but there was no netting under the rest of the tightrope and a number of competitors ended up in the river below.
It was the third time the championship was held as part of the 'Hi-Seoul Festival', organized by the capital's authorities.
This year's winner in fastest-crossing event was Switzerland's Alfred Nock Junior, who made it to the other side in 10 minutes and 17 seconds.
He was the only competitor to cross the river without a pole.
China's Abudusataer Wujiabubla missed out on victory.
-CBS
2009-05-08
Traffic and New York City go hand in hand, but one car company thinks it?s found a cure.
A new car hit the Big Apple on Thursday, but it?s very small on mileage. In fact, it?s so small that it?s not street legal in the City.
The car only weighs about a hundred-fifty pounds and the Peel Car Company dropped one off at the Ripley?s Believe Or Not exhibit.
The Peel Car Company thinks its little car could revolutionize traffic in New York, while being eco-friendly as well.
This battery-powered machine has more than a few people skeptical. Also, this low rider vehicle doesn?t come cheap. It will cost you about 20-thousand dollars.
-CBS
