A middle-aged man who is auctioning his life over the internet was celebrating yesterday as bidders fought over who would take his job, home and friends, as he seeks to start over again. The British immigrant to Australia, who said the trigger for his bold offer was the break-up with his wife, had hoped he would attract a bid of A$500,000 (€305,500).
Shortly after the seven-day auction began yesterday, a bid of A$300,100 for 44-year-old Ian Usher's Perth-based lifestyle was listed on the internet auction site eBay. By late afternoon, some 40 bids had been made with the highest offer at A$650,000.
Mr Usher has promised to introduce the winning bidder to his friends and hand over his A$420,000 house and his hobbies. The winner will also secure Mr Usher's job as a rug store assistant for two weeks initially, but this could be extended depending on the store owner's agreement.
Mr Usher will retain only his passport, wallet and the clothes on his back if the deal goes ahead.
Tiny island declares independence
The owner of a tiny island off Scotland declared its independence from the United Kingdom over the weekend, saying he wanted the territory, population one, to be a crown dependency like the Channel Islands.
In a declaration on his website, Stuart Hill, who owns the 2.5-acre island of Forvik in the Shetland Islands in the North Sea, said he no longer recognised the authority of the government or the European Union, and cited a centuries-old royal marriage dowry deal as the basis for his claim.
"Forvik owes no allegiance to any United Kingdom government, central or local, and is not bound by any of its statutes," Mr Hill wrote.
Mr Hill, 65, has lived in the Shetland Islands on the edge of the Atlantic since 2001, when his boat capsized there during an unsuccessful attempted to circumnavigate Britain. He is Forvik's only resident, and his home is a tent on the storm-battered island.
Girl takes father to court over class trip
A Quebec father has decided to appeal a decision by a judge who ruled he had no right to stop his 12-year-old daughter from going on a school trip, even though the girl has already gone on the outing.
The dispute began in May when the girl had a disagreement with her stepmother. That prompted the father to forbid the girl to go on a three-day outing with her classmates to celebrate their last year in elementary school. The girl then moved to her mother's house.
Two weeks ago, Quebec Superior Court Madam Justice Suzanne Tessier ruled the girl could attend the outing despite her father's wishes. She went on the trip last week.
Kim Beaudoin, a lawyer handling the father's case, said the judge's ruling raises unsettling questions for families. "It's dangerous to let kids play their parents. They have to learn to respect rules," she said.
Promoted for breastfeeding quake babies
A Chinese policewoman who breastfed babies orphaned during last month's earthquake has been given a better job, prompting online protests that promotions should be awarded on merit, not merely for good deeds.
Jiang Xiaojuan, 30, left her own baby with her parents and took part in the disaster relief work, breastfeeding nine babies, earning her the nickname of "the police mum" in the press.
She has since been awarded titles of "hero and model police officer" and "excellent member of the Communist Party", was appointed to the Communist Party of China Committee of the Jiangyou Public Security Bureau and became the bureau's vice commissar, Xinhua news agency said.
Jiangyou, with a population of 850,000, is a city near the epicentre of the May 12 Sichuan quake which killed more than 69,000 people with thousands still missing.
Queueing to marry on Olympic day
More than Chinese 1,000 couples queued for hours for marriage licences to wed on August 8, the date of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, state media said over the weekend.
The couples crowded marriage registration offices on Friday, the Beijing Daily said, the first day that applications to get married on August 8 were being accepted.
The number eight is auspicious in Chinese, as it is pronounced like the word "fa", which is part of the expression meaning "to get wealthy".
"Chinese people are keen to tie the knot on an auspicious date," Xinhua news agency added.
"The opening date of the Olympics adds new meaning.
"Marriage registration offices in Beijing predict more than 9,000 couples will get married on August 8 this year," it said.
Mum and daughters caught smuggling
A Mexican woman and her three American daughters have been caught smuggling $1.16 million worth of cocaine into Texas from Mexico, a rare case of a mother and her family trafficking drugs, US customs said over the weekend.
The four women stashed the cocaine under their clothes and inside their 2006 Mercedes Benz and tried to cross through the Brownsville, Texas entry port from eastern Mexico.
A sniffer dog alerted customs agents to the smell of cocaine emanating from the car and agents also noted unusual bulges under their clothes, finding cocaine packages on three of the four women.