Mary Josephine Ray, a sports-loving card-player who was the oldest person living in the United States, died on Sunday at the age of 114.
Mrs Ray, who was born before Henry Ford built his first car or Marconi patented the radio, died at Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, where she had lived since the age of 101.
Mrs Ray outlived her husband, Walter Ray, by more than 40 years and is survived by two sons, eight grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren. (Reuters)
Hot seat
One man died and several were injured in a crush caused by tens of thousands of people applying for police jobs in India.
Police said more than 30,000 people turned up for 1,000 jobs and crowds forced their way into the Mumbai recruitment centre to collect application forms.
A stampede last week among thousands of poor villagers hoping for free food and clothes at a commemorative event killed 63 people at a Hindu temple in northern India. (PA)
High street
The average cost of a home in the most expensive street in England and Wales has soared by £300,000 during the past year, research showed.
Chester Square in Belgravia, London, held on to its title as the most expensive place to live in 2010, with the average property there costing £6.6 million, according to housing information website Mouseprice.
The group said the majority of homes changing hands there sold for around £7 million, while in 2008 there were four "mega-sales" with properties selling for between £12.2 million and £19.7 million. (PA)
'Kangaroo' sightings in Japan
People in a Japanese mountain region have reported a number of kangaroo sightings, and journalists are now trying to stalk the marsupials.
The descriptions given by the apparent eyewitnesses seem close enough. For years they have spoken of a beige animal with large ears, one to 1.5 metres tall, that stands by the roadside and then hops away. The sightings were all reported in the Mayama mountain district of Osaki city in Miyagi prefecture, a community of 441 households, north of Tokyo. The city has received about 30 reports.
Rumours about kangaroo sightings started about seven years ago, and TV crews and newspapers have set up hidden cameras in the district, but have so far failed to capture an image of a kangaroo. (AFP)
Seal meat on Parliament menu
Canada's parliamentary restaurant will be serving seal meat tomorrow in a gesture of defiance aimed at a European Union ban on imports of seal products.
Canada's Conservative government says it will fight the EU ban, which was imposed last July on the grounds that the annual seal hunt off the east coast was cruel and inhumane.
A dish of double-smoked bacon-wrapped seal loin in a port reduction will be on the menu, the office of Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette said yesterday.
"All political parties will have the opportunity to demonstrate to the international community the solidarity of the Canadian Parliament behind those who earn a living from the seal hunt," she said in a statement.
Ottawa says the hunt provides valuable income for Atlantic fishing communities. The seals are either shot or hit over the head with a spiked club called a hakapik. (Reuters)
Nuclear bunker auctioned off
A Cold War nuclear bunker has been sold on eBay for more than £20,000.
The underground bunker in Derbyshire's Peak District went on sale on the online auction site with a starting price of £500, but was sold for £20,600 after more than 40 bids.
The bunker was built in 1959 and operated by the Royal Observer Corps as a post from which nuclear fallout could be monitored. (PA)
Welly good
Hundreds of Polish schoolchildren are being given free wellingtons because the surrounding area is being churned up by the building of new sewage pipes.
Civic official Jerzy Wolski said the city of Jarocin persuaded the construction company to pay £5,000 for the footwear, saying it was just a fraction of the project's £10 million cost.
He said the boots were meant "to give the children some joy and make their lives easier". (PA)