World in brief: Shooting exercise leaves 16 wounded

A military shooting demonstration in southeast France on Sunday left 16 people wounded, including children, when real bullets were used instead of blank ones, officials said.

Four of the wounded were in serious condition, including a 3-year-old child, said Bernard Lemaire, chief of the regional administration in Aude. Fifteen of the injured were civilians.

A Defense Ministry official said the incident occurred during a demonstration of hostage-freeing techniques at the Laperrine military barracks. The official said investigators will look into why real bullets were used.

The soldier who fired the shots has been detained, Lemaire said. He said the injuries were likely an accident but that it could have been a “criminal act.”

PERTH, Australia

Man auctions life to get fresh start

A man who auctioned his life – his house, his car, his job, even his friends – on eBay said today he is disappointed with the selling price: almost $384,000.

Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, put everything he owned as well as introductions to his friends on the site after a painful breakup with his wife prompted him to want a fresh start.

Bidding closed Sunday and reached nearly $384,000 – an amount Usher said his house in the western city of Perth was worth on its own.

Usher said he had hoped to get at least $480,000 for his life – his house and all its contents, car and a motorcycle, a personal watercraft, skydiving gear, an introduction to friends and a trial period in his sales job – but that the final result was enough for him to make a new start in life.