The only known letter to have been written on board the Titanic on the day the liner struck an iceberg is expected to fetch as much as £100,000 when it is auctioned in the UK later this month.
Written by survivor Esther Hart, but never sent, the letter had been intended to be delivered to Hart’s mother in Chadwell Heath in Essex at the end of what would have been the Titanic’s return journey to Southampton in April 1912.
The letter, and its envelope – acquired around 20 years ago by a man who has now passed it on to Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers of Devizes, Wiltshire – goes under the hammer on April 26.
Sniper kills six with only one bullet
A British sniper killed five Taliban insurgents and a would-be suicide bomber in Afghanistan with one bullet, the Ministry of Defence has said. The 20-year-old marksman, a lance corporal in the Coldstream Guards, hit the trigger switch of the device from 900 metres away, causing the bomb to explode.
The blast killed the would-be bomber and five men around him in the incident in Kakaran in December, an MoD spokesman said.
Lt Col Richard Slack, commanding officer of 9/12 Royal Lancers, told the Daily Telegraph that the unnamed shooter also prevented another major attack as a second suicide vest packed with explosives was found nearby.
Less Britons are going to the pub
Two out of five adults in Britain never visit a pub, while even regular drinkers are going to their local less often, according to a new study.
The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said it was concerned to find that more than a third of pub-goers had cut back on having a drink in a pub in the past year.
The research also showed that four out of five regulars had never received any communication from their local.
Camra chairman Colin Valentine said: “Great community pubs are not only about enjoying alcoholic drinks. They are great places to relax, socialise, eat and spend time with the family. Camra and the pub industry have to work hard to get this message out.”
World’s largest big wheel opens
The world’s largest big wheel attraction started turning as tourists took in a unique overview of the Las Vegas Strip, with wide skies and craggy brown mountains in the distance.
The 168-metre High Roller – between two stations of the Las Vegas monorail line – eclipses the 165-metre Singapore Flyer and the 135-metre London Eye, and is expected to be the tallest in the world until planned observation wheels are completed in coming years in New York and Dubai.
The Las Vegas wheel is part of a €400 million restaurant, bar, retail and entertainment development built by casino giant Caesars Entertainment, between its Flamingo, Harrah’s and renamed Quad hotel-casinos. The outdoor pedestrian mall – dubbed Linq – is across the Strip from the company’s flagship Caesars Palace resort.
Snake slithers into rugby arena
A snake slithered its way into an Australian rugby arena, grabbing the attention of fans and TV cameras as the action went on around it.
Broadcasters showed images of a brown snake about one metre long on the sidelines of the pitch at Robina Stadium, Queensland, in the first half of a National Rugby League game between Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland.
Titans forward Greg Bird said the game was so frantic he did not even know about the rogue reptile before it reportedly disappeared down a drain, but he added: “I wish it bit me – it would have given me an excuse to lay down and have a rest.”