Minden / AFP Airbus completed a test flight of a glider set to eventually travel to the edge of space, in a pioneering step into the stratosphere. The Perlan 2’s flight, from an airstrip in the western US state of Nevada, took place two hours after the planned start time due to heavy rain. It lasted just a few minutes …

  Venetia Mine, South Africa / AFP Proof that diamonds are getting harder to find can be seen in the South African bush, where one of the world’s largest mining companies is spending $2 billion tunnelling beneath a vast open-pit mine. De Beers spent 25 years digging a 450-metre (1,500-foot) deep by one-kilometre wide hole to access diamond-rich rock from the …

  Washington / AFP The smartphone revolutionised how people live and work, but the technology world is now struggling to see what comes next. As smartphone sales have peaked in most major markets, Apple, Samsung and others are being forced to rethink their business models to keep growing and connecting with consumers. The trend in smartphones appears to follow similar peaks …