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The Sun
16 hours ago
- The Sun
Beauty queen, 30, dies in horror crash as elk smashes through Porsche windscreen and fatally injures newly-married model
A NEWLY-wed beauty queen has tragically died following a horror car crash after an elk smashed into her windscreen. Russian model Ksenia Alexandrova, 30, was rushed to hospital after the freak accident - but succumbed to her severe injuries this week. 6 6 6 6 The fatal crash occurred five weeks ago - leaving her fighting for her life at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute in Moscow. Ksenia was a passenger in the Porsche when the vehicle suddenly collided with the animal. She was a runner up in the Miss Russia pageant in 2017, representing Moscow. The beloved model was also a Miss Universe contestant in the same year. The recently married beauty queen reportedly suffered a traumatic brain injury in the collision in the Tver region. At the time of her death she was also a psychologist and psychodrama therapist. The Miss Universe pageant's official account said on social media: 'Her grace, beauty and spirit left an indelible mark on the Miss Universe family." 'May her memory continue to inspire kindness, strength and love in all those fortunate enough to have known her.' Fellow beauty queen Anna Linnikova said tragic Ksenia 'had just got married, settled down, and was happy". The late model married her partner in late March this year, according to her social media. OnlyFans model left for dead after 'Dubai Porta Potty' party breaks silence… and reveals horror aftermath of ordeal Linnikova, who was Miss Russia 2022, said: "This is a reminder to all of us that we need to appreciate every moment of life. 'You never know when an event will happen that will take away your loved ones.' The 43-year-old driver of the Porsche has not been named. But while driving the car with Ksenia in the passenger seat, they were reportedly "unable to avoid the collision". Ksenia's death was confirmed by Moscow-based modelling agency Modus Vivendis. She passed away on Tuesday, August 12, after battling for her life in hospital. The beauty queen was born and raised in Moscow, and had been modelling with the agency since she was 19. She graduated from Moscow Pedagogical State University with a degree in Psychology in 2022. In April, a European beauty queen died after tragically plunging from a bridge onto a motorway while fleeing from police. Güler Erdogan, 27, was caught drunk behind the wheel in Giresun, Turkey, and fell 50ft from the bridge as she tried to flee from cops on April 1. And in October, beauty model Samanta Villarreal Núñez died in a horror crash while she was travelling in a pickup truck. She was in the vehicle with her sister and a friend when the driver lost control of the car before smashing into a ravine. 6 6
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
The Lord of the Rings cards expected to fetch thousands in Woking
A complete set of The Lord of the Rings collection and autograph cards is expected to fetch thousands of pounds when it goes under the hammer in Auctions, in Send near Woking, said it believed its collection of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring memorabilia could reach up to £3, set comprises all 10 autograph cards, all 162 base set cards, all 10 prismatic foil cards, all checklist cards, The Legend Comes to Life cards parts one and two, both bonus foils cards and three empty booster auction currently has pre-sale bids of £1,600 and will begin at 10:00 BST on Friday. Andrew Ewbank, of Ewbank's Auctions, said: "This is quite unusual in that it's a complete set of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Topps cards, so obviously this would've taken quite a feat to collect all these cards from the vendor at the time that they came out."The autograph cards have been signed by actors including Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Sean Bean."It's a hugely popular area of collecting, it's kind of modern collectables really and the antiques of the future because a lot of people in their 30s and 40s would've bought these cards when they were children in the 1990s and early 2000s," said Mr Friday at Ewbank's is specifically for trading cards and retro video games, where one of the most special items up for grabs is a full graded set of Mars Attacks cards from the 1960s, which were criticised by parents at the time for being too are expected to fetch up to £10, Ewbank said there had been a "change in taste" as traditional antiques seem not to be selling like they once there has been a surge in popularity among more modern items, with Mr Ewbank saying he has even seen video games from as recently as the 2010s making a good profit.
Times
a day ago
- Times
Welcome to your hot-air balloon summer
There's only one truly glamorous way to dine this summer: in a hot-air balloon. Take a scroll through your Instagram feed and you're almost guaranteed to come across at least one photo of a spectacular-looking dining pop-up featuring a fleet of grounded hot-air balloons. The chicest one is at Beaverbrook hotel in Surrey, which has been running for five years, while more whimsical fun can be had at the Grove in Hertfordshire, where their Feast on Cloud 9 pop-up has a retro fairground theme. But if you really want to take things to the next level, you need to get yourself to the Netherlands. There, the acclaimed Dutch chef Angélique Schmeinck takes to the skies with what is claimed to be the world's first hot-air balloon restaurant, CuliAir Skydining, which serves a three-course meal over an hour and a half while guests drift above the clouds. The flights take place across the Netherlands, with the exact locations decided based on the weather (the middle and eastern areas in Holland tend to have the best flight conditions during the ballooning season, which runs from May until the end of September). Schmeinck — who spent 12 years cooking at the Michelin-starred De Kromme Dissel in Heelsum — launched CuliAir in 2003 as part of a course she was taking on creative thinking. 'For my final project, I had to come up with something that looked impossible,' she says. 'For some reason a hot-air balloon came to mind and I realised that it's basically just a huge hot-air oven. I wondered, 'What would happen if you put a nice fish or a good chicken in there?' I knew I had to try it out for myself.' She called a local ballooning company and explained her idea. 'Most people thought I was crazy, but I was lucky that this particular pilot loved good food, so he was intrigued by the idea. I'd never been in a balloon before but it was the most wonderful experience of my life. I knew it was too special not to just go for it.' CuliAir started with one balloon that seated ten and was mainly used for corporate entertaining, but post-Covid Schmeinck saw such a spike in bookings that she invested in another balloon, which seats eight. Both balloons were custom-made to suit her unique requirements, which include a curved kitchen from which Schmeinck prepares all her dishes and a 'Sky Bar' around the edge of the basket where guests can balance their plates and glasses of wine as they take in the view. An ingenious pulley system is used to transport white asparagus, lobster and wild sea bass to the crown of the balloon, where they're cooked at about 90C, 'low and slow', in special-purpose steel oven baskets. Tickets cost €575 per person and regularly sell out. • Read more luxury reviews, advice and insights from our experts To date, Schmeinck has carried out almost 1,000 flights, with about 80 taking off each season, and she says no two are ever the same. 'It's so difficult to explain what happens in the balloon — it's a very surreal experience. There's a special energy that happens at high altitude. My favourite flights are when we go above the clouds; it feels like being inside a painting.' Back on terra firma, the Beaverbrook balloon experience in Surrey was created in collaboration with the British homewares brand Summerill & Bishop. 'Fanning the Flame' runs until the end of September and features six balloons decked out in Summerill & Bishop's swirling Marble Fan design in a soft powder pink. The balloons are tethered to the ground and stationary, with guests dining in the wicker baskets, feasting on dishes cooked on an open-flame Japanese Yakiniku barbecue, with a cloud-inspired pudding featuring wild strawberry ice cream, pistachio and fluffy cotton candy. Up to four guests can dine at once and the set menu starts at £85 per person. The other hot-air balloon pop-up this summer is Feast on Cloud 9 at the Grove in Hertfordshire, which runs until August 31. Created by Feast Events — which has also put custom-made ski gondolas on the roof of the Berkeley for its winter Feast Off-Piste event — the pop-up features 14 hot-air balloons in a classic red and white stripe, perched on either side of the hotel's ornamental canal. The theme here is a nostalgic journey to the fairground, with dishes including hook-a-duck pâté, fillet of beef wellington served in a giant burger box and a fortune teller doughnut in a crystal ball complete with an edible tarot card. Up to six people can dine in a balloon, with afternoon tea from £65 per person and the five-course tasting menu £75 per person. Whether we can expect Beaverbrook or the Grove to take to the skies next year remains to be seen, but so far only a handful of other companies have followed in Schmeinck's footsteps — including Air Pegasus in Normandy and Hot Air Lines in Vilnius — and none to the same level. 'It's very hard to copy as it's so complicated — you need a licence, there's a lot of safety elements and then there's the uncertainty with the weather conditions,' she says. However, Schmeinck is in talks to bring the CuliAir experience to other countries, with the UK right near the top of her list. 'There's been a lot of interest from the UK, so I'd love to make that happen. I think dining with CuliAir is the most wonderful experience you can give to somebody, so I want to share that with as many people as possible.'
