Valuation has always been an elastic concept in anything touching Bernard Madoff. But even the notorious Wall Street fraudster might have balked at the lofty prices paid for his personal belongings by souvenir hunters.

More than 500 people filled the ballroom of Manhattan's Sheraton hotel yesterday for an auction of 200 items of property seized by the US Marshals Service from Madoff and his wife, Ruth, following the exposure of the disgraced fund manager's $65bn Ponzi scheme.

For those willing to get out their cheque books, it was an opportunity to buy a slice of the couple's lavish lifestyle. Lots under the hammer included jewellery to artwork, silverware and china. And there were more prosaic offerings such as the family dog bowl, surf boards and personalised Post-It notes from Madoff's desk. The sale raised more than $1m (£600,000).

As bidders gathered in front of a stage shrouded in red velvet, it became clear that this was no ordinary auction. The first Madoff-related lot, a seaside-themed charm bracelet, had a guide price of $700 to $1,000 - but went for $3,000.

Anything connected to the jailed financier fetched many times more than the estimated value set by the auctioneers, Gaston & Sheehan. A pair of diamond earrings worn by Ruth Madoff fetched the biggest price of $70,000, more than quadrupling its estimated value.

Robert Enke's death has sparked a public outpouring of grief in Germany. Sunday's memorial service was held at Hanover's football stadium with some 40,000 fans, players and officials bidding farewell to the Germany goalkeeper who died earlier this week. 

 

The 32-year-old Hannover 96 player committed suicide on Tuesday by throwing himself in front of an oncoming train.

His widow, Teresa, went on national television a day later to say her husband had been suffering from depression for six years but that he had not wanted it to become known.

 

Football is not everything

 

The president of the German football association Theo Zwanziger said at the memorial service that the best way to remember the goalkeeper would be to recognize the fact that football should never be everything.

 

"I think that Enke would have called on the fans to show more humanity and more civil courage, they should stand up to oppose the taboos that still exist in our professional sport," Zwanziger said.

The ban was handed down by Fifa in Zurich following a three-hour meeting tonight and a 40-minute appearance from Maradona himself. The world governing body said that it had taken into consideration Maradona's apologies and "sincere regret" but the subsequent ban was still more severe than had been expected. Maradona will not be allowed to have any formal involvement in football until 15 January 2010 - less than six months before the start of the World Cup. He was also fined 25,000 Swiss francs (£15,000).

The punishment follows Maradona's remarks after Argentina reached the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uruguay in their final qualifying match on 14 October. He told journalists they "take it up the arse", grabbed his crotch and insisted the world's media should "suck it and keep on sucking". Fifa punished him according to Article 57, which relates to "offensive gestures or language". He has been warned a repeat will lead to even stronger sanctions.

The Argentinian Football Association is expected to stand by the coach but no appeal is expected. Julio Grondona, the president of the AFA, is also vice-president of Fifa and was aware of the deliberations being made by football's governing body. In view of his coming in for severe criticism himself, it suits him for the media to focus more on the national team's coach than their president. Maradona is also a hugely lucrative draw, if not a particularly successful man, to have in charge.

She is the political wife who bucked tradition. When scandal struck her husband, the governor of South Carolina, she did not stand by his side. Instead, Jenny Sanford packed up her things and their four children and moved out of the governor's mansion for the family's home on Sullivan's Island.

On Thursday she issued a letter supporting another "principled, conservative, tough and smart" woman in the crowded Republican primary to succeed Mark Sanford. (You may recall that the governor, who once had presidential aspirations, went AWOL last summer, telling his staff he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail while he was actually in Argentina visiting his mistress.)

Jenny Sanford's pick for South Carolina's next governor, state Rep. Nikki Haley, was once a strong ally of Gov. Sanford, but in the wake of the scandal over his disappearance and his affair, she distanced herself, removing his photo from her campaign website.

This is one endorsement that could actually carry some weight. Jenny Sanford, a former Wall Street executive, was instrumental in managing her husband's campaigns, and has a network of supporters around the state.

Martin Sonneborn beleidigt Chinesen

La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.

Veteran actor Edward Woodward has died aged 79, his agent has confirmed.

The Croydon-born star had been suffering from various illnesses including pneumonia and died in hospital, said Janet Glass.

Woodward is most famous for his roles in the cult 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, alongside Christopher Lee, and US TV series The Equalizer.