A postbox installed outside the home of Charles Dickens in the 19th century has been restored and put back into service.
The author suggested a postbox should be placed near his house in Gads Hill Place, Kent, from where he wrote thousands of letters.
It was officially reopened by his great-great-granddaughter Marion Dickens, who said: “In our digital world, handwritten letters are more appreciated than ever. Being able to post mine in the letterbox regularly used by my great-great-grandfather makes me feel thrillingly close to him.”
Mucky mix-up by Scottish theatre
A theatre has apologised after pornographic DVDs were accidentally sent to children and their parents.
Families were expecting to receive recordings of summer school performances from the Edinburgh Playhouse but some DVDs with “highly inappropriate” sexual content were sent instead.
Bosses said the “horrifying” error was made in the duplication process of the DVDs through a third party company which has also apologised for the mistake.
Surprise party for veteran at 100
A Second World War veteran was given a 100th birthday to remember after Welsh Guardsmen turned up at his house for a surprise party.
Eric Antwerp Jones was all smiles when three soldiers dressed in the regiment’s red tunics and bearskins called round to his home in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales.
His children, Linda and Hywel, got in touch with Army chiefs to see if they could play a part in the former coal miner’s centenary celebrations.
Cattle hunt: rustlers suspected
More than 150 cattle valued at about $350,000 have been reported missing in Idaho and authorities are not ruling out modern-day cattle rustling as beef prices have soared.
Three ranchers say round-up searches in recent weeks on the remote summer range where the cattle graze have come up empty. Police say they have little to go on because it is not clear when the cattle might have disappeared.
US cattle industry officials say beef prices are at record highs due to a combination of factors which include past droughts that caused cattle numbers to shrink and increased demand for beef on a global scale following the recession.
Baby boy is born on flight to LA
A Southwest Airlines flight landed in Los Angeles with one more passenger than when it took off.
A woman gave birth shortly after Flight 623 took off from San Francisco and the Phoenix-bound jet diverted to Los Angeles International Airport. She was assisted by the flight crew and medics who were on board before being taken to hospital, the airline said.
Passengers said they had heard the call for a doctor, but nothing about what the medical emergency was.
“The captain announced congratulations for the arrival of this new baby boy,” passenger Aarti Shahani told KTVK. “So we all started applauding, but it was confusing because we thought someone was going to die, not be born.”
Festive sweater for missing sheep
A sheep wearing a festive red-and-green sweater which was found wandering around Omaha in the US has been reunited with his owner.
Nebraska Humane Society said someone reclaimed the sheep, named Gage, after he was found on Sunday evening. His owner said she does not know how he got loose and that he shares a shed with two chickens when he is not in her house.
She learned about his whereabouts from Facebook and had several photos of Gage to prove he was her pet. The sheep is used to walking on a lead and does not seem to mind that the holiday apparel he donned appears to have been designed for a dog.