A birthday party invitation posted on the popular social websites Facebook and Bebo attracted some 400 guests and gatecrashers, who destroyed and robbed the plush celebration venue in Spain. The birthday celebrator, British 16-year-old Jodie Hudson, and her mother Amanda learned too late the disaster the online invitation would cause to their luxurious Marbella vacation villa, which suffered ruined walls, destroyed carpets, and broken banisters, doors and furniture.

Abuse of government-issued credit card privileges made the headlines in the U. S. and Canada this week. A few days after the U. S. General Accountability Office reported widespread charging of unauthorized items among federal employees, a Canadian bureaucrat made news by charging $230,000 to her state-issued credit card to buy souvenir coins which she deposited in her personal bank account. Veronica Topic, 24, later withdrew the money, purchased electronic gadgets and auctioned it on eBay. The Canada Border Services Agency employee even had the gumption to have the laptops, Palm Pilots and other gizmos delivered to her office, which caused raised eyebrows among her officemates.

The latest look at shopping comes from Shermans Travel, which has put together its list of the top spots for "shopaholics. " The Thai capital Bangkok topped the list for its reputation as one of the best shopping destinations in Asia. Good finds in the city are high-quality silk, jewelry, and traditional crafts for a reasonable amount of money. Buenos Aires in Argentina is cited for its low cost leather products. Denmark's Copenhagen is among the top five for its wide-range of merchandise especially home accessories and glassware such as Holmegaard and Royal Copenhagen Porcelain.

A map obtained by police from a convicted burglar led to the discovery of buried treasure near the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Los Angeles. The unearthed treasure was a collection of antique watches, necklaces, and diamond rings, including a canary diamond ring suspected to be worth $400,000. Authorities Tuesday followed the directions on a map taken from Robert Caveda, who was imprisoned on December 18 for several charges including residential burglary. The map, police said, was hand-sketched, and had an "X" marking the area where the treasure was buried.

A chain of hotels in United Kingdom on Thursday revealed a list of odd object left in their hotels last year which include among others, an urn full of human ashes, a glass eye, lucky charms, mayoral chains and even children. Travelodge reported that in the past year, they have recovered so many unusual objects left behind by their clients.