The $5 sale on Origin is through Tuesday, August 9th, and yes it appears to be only for North America.
And it's all old stuff. Nothing to be excited about. Sims 2 and Spore? No thanks.
This is interesting...I haven't heard many people complain about Portal 2 being a low quality game. Since I haven't played it yet...I'm curious as to how this is the case.
Portal 2 felt like a step backwards. I was very disappointed with it, and you don't hear anyone talk about it anymore. Looking at Steams stats, more people are playing Gary's mod today than Portal 2.
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/7,434 Garry's Mod
2,920 Portal 2