Tokyo - A 9-year-old boy drove a car about 3 kilometres without supervision in central Japan, practicing the skills he learned from a video game, because he wanted to visit his grandmother, media reports said Thursday.

Police in Gifu prefecture took him into custody at a parking lot Monday after they received a call about a car moving without a driver.

The elementary-school-aged driver was not visible through the car window because he is about 135 centimetres tall, the Kyodo News Agency said.

Hamburg - While Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One world title in the most dramatic fashion a prize for spot-on television coverage of the drama in Brazil could also go to the UK.

True to the Anglo-German set-up of the McLaren-Mercedes team, the ITV crew, along with Germany's RTL network, were among the race leaders when it came to explaining the unfolding drama in Sunday's thrilling - but for many, confusing - final laps.

Hamburg - From morning sickness to ultrasound examinations, the symptoms and medical treatment that pregnant women experience are well known.

But what about pets? What should owners do when their dogs and cats get pregnant? Firstly, they should recognize that, as in humans, pregnancy is not an illness, said Thomas Steidl, a veterinarian from Tuebingen, Germany. But at the same time, owners should not take

their pet's condition too lightly.

Buenos Aires - Half-an-hour's train ride from Buenos Aires lies the suburb of Jose Leon Suarez, with its dirt streets and homes made of wooden planks and scraps of metal.

The path passes by a river containing more rubbish than water. Here and there, the garbage piles up and the stench of burning plastic pollutes the air.

This path leads to the Vicente Catalano Centre for mothers and families.

Gottfried Stein, a correspondent for Germany's ARD radio based in South America, and his wife, Renate, opened the facility in 2007. They obtained funds from the Stuttgart-based International Network of Centres for Mothers and Families, in whose executive committee Renate sits.

Kuala Lumpur - Living in the bustling Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur can often be a lonely - and in recent years even dangerous - existence as many families lead lives far apart from those of their neighbours.

But in the past few years, a rise in crime and particularly in burglaries has forced many Malaysian neighbourhoods to resort to the benefits of a close-knit community, but with a modern twist.