The home and auto industries are two of the hardest hit sectors in the U. S. Rising foreclosures mark the housing sector, while closing car manufacturing plants are common in the auto plant. Given the parallel routes these two industries pass through, it is not surprising to hear American couples throwing in a used car as a freebie, just to unload on the market a debt-ridden home.

Thousands of American homeowners are losing this houses to foreclosure proceedings because they have been late by several months on their mortgages. But Sonya Capri Ramos, a resident of Salt Lake City, lost her home because of an unpaid $68 dentist fee. Ramos' three-bedroom home was sold by the sheriff in 1996 to Jarmacc Properties for $1,550, court documents said. The amount represented the unpaid bill, penalties and interest.

The French fashion industry led fashion houses, advertising firms and media outlets signed on Wednesday a charter to fight anorexia among models in magazine advertisements and catwalks. The anti-anorexia drive in the world's fashion capital was led by Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot along with groups in other countries worldwide. This will put an end to the display of ultra-skinny bodies of fashion models.

A gray seal was spotted Saturday morning, walking along the streets of eastern Maine, passing in front of several houses and a horse pasture, then wondered onto one of the highways. Suspected to have come from Whiting Bay, the seal reportedly got on Route 189 in Washington County. It then ran into trouble upon getting on the highway, with its body shape preventing it from proper mobility on the asphalt. Drivers who spotted the animal stopped.

An error caused by a satellite navigation system sent Army tanks looking for their barracks to a tiny village in Shropshire. Residents of Donnington were dumbfounded upon seeing rows of Army tanks entering their peaceful village.