An Australian billionaire has announced plans to build a replica of the Titanic that will make its maiden voyage from England to New York in 2016.

Commemorations begin this weekend to mark the centenary of Titanic's tragic maiden voyage. Scores of events will take place; many are well meaning while others appear to be little more than a cynical cash-in on a disaster in which 1,514 people died.

A rare handwritten letter by the second in command on the Titanic is expected to fetch between £25,000 and £30,000 when it goes under the hammer later this month.

When Scotland goes to the polls, don't be surprised to see Babcock International cheering on Alex Salmond. If the leader of the Scottish National Party gets his way and breaks up the union, then – according to City scribblers – the defence group could be one of the beneficiaries.

The Royal Navy's next generation of support tankers is to be built in South Korea, it was announced today.

As sure as the sun shines and the wind blows, marine renewable energy is part of our industrial future. This is a tide which no amount of nuclear nostalgia can turn back. Wave and tidal energy cuts carbon emissions and boosts energy security, and tidal power is highly dependable. But these technologies have big economic benefits too, and the race is on to be the industry leader.

Midweek View: The Coalition has done far more than its predecessors to put manufacturing at the top of the agenda

The Independent on Sunday: 99p Stores family mulls sale with a £60m tag

Janey Buchan, who died at the weekend, was not a professional politician as we now know them but an old-fashioned political activist of the kind who always had a cause to fight and never allowed herself to be put off by the possibility of defeat or failure. Those who knew her learned not to be surprised to receive a telephone call out of the blue, which would last a good long time as she unburdened herself of whatever had excited or angered since the last call. Alternatively, it could be a hastily written letter, sometimes containing an unexpected gift such as a book that she thought deserved a bigger readership. She held strong opinions, but not easily predicted, of everyone she met. She was a Scot but had no time for the late John Smith; a left-winger who held a low opinion of Tony Benn; a lover of political folk music who thoroughly despised Bob Dylan.

Many artists have a "career record", a song which becomes so well-known that it swamps anything else they do. With Billie Jo Spears, it was her 1975 single, "Blanket on the Ground", a song which suggested putting the romance back into a marriage. "It became controversial," said Spears, "as many of the listeners thought I was singing 'sleep around' instead of 'slip around'. The country fans thought it sounded like a cheating song, and they don't like girls who sing cheating songs." With a few more plays, everyone realised what the song was about and it became an international bestseller.

The 100th anniversary of the Titanic's launch has been marked at a commemorative event in Belfast.

“Best reinvention of a de-commissioned dockyard" – I’m not sure if there is such a prize, but if there is, then I have no doubt of the winner. One good reason that Britain ruled the waves (mostly) from Elizabethan times to the Second World War was Chatham Dockyard, a place of tremendous energy and innovation. HMS Victory was just one of the ships that was launched here.