Herford, Germany - "Anyone can be lucky!" "Winning is wonderful!" These are the kind of lines used by video arcades, betting offices and casinos angling for customers.
Though most people realize that the operators just want their money, many bite. In Germany alone, there are as many as 400,000 gambling addicts, according to the Gambling Addiction Association (FAGS).
The consequences of the addiction are severe. "Gambling is the most costly addiction of all, often ends seriously and has the highest suicide rate," noted Ilona Fuechtenschnieder, the chairwoman of FAGS, which is based in the German town of Herford and looks after the interests of gamblers and their relatives.
Hamburg - When internet furniture dealers lure buyers with bargain basement prices for alleged design classics, consumers often end up with fakes, an interior design magazine in Germany reported recently.
When the internet price is as little as one-third of the store price, the buyer can assume that a knockoff will be delivered.
Often the furniture never even gets to the buyer because the maker of the copied, brand-name furniture finds out about the deal and catches the transport truck at the border.
Berlin/Mannheim - The lucky ones need only change their e-mail address or return goods they did not order. At worst, however, cyberstalking victims end up with a ruined reputation or a plundered bank account.
Cyberstalking takes many forms. And the abuse of personal data on the internet to play tricks on people or exert pressure on them is growing, experts say. Cultivation of one's web image and more careful use of personal data can help prevent trouble, however.
Hamburg - A necessary evil, a burdensome duty or simply a source of stress - cleaning house is not everyone's favourite topic.
And hardly anyone would think mops and rags could be combined with a wellness programme. But there is another way of thinking about cleaning, experts say. It just depends on the right attitude.
Mexico City - Mexico made an important contribution to world kissing culture with singer Consuelito Velazquez's song "Besame, besame mucho-".
However, if Guanajuato Mayor Eduardo Romero Hicks had his way, the "mucho" (a lot) would be struck from one of the best-known songs in the Spanish language.
The right-wing, municipal leader supported an edict banning among others "Olympic kisses" - that is, all physical contact beyond a normal "beso" or kiss as well as obscene gestures in public. Violations were to be punished with up to 36 hours in jail and a fine of 1,500 pesos (107 dollars).
Sydney - Alex Bellini fell just 65 kilometres short of his bid to row the 18,000 kilometres of Pacific Ocean between Lima and Sydney.
After nine months at sea, and almost in sight of Australia's east coast, the Italian activated his EPIRB, or emergency beacon, in December and the rescue cavalry was called out.
It wasn't a difficult, dangerous or costly rescue, but it fed into a debate in Australia and New Zealand about curbing the limits of solo seafaring.
Hamburg - When internet furniture dealers lure buyers with bargain basement prices for alleged design classics, consumers often end up with fakes, an interior design magazine in Germany reported recently.
Berlin/Mannheim - The lucky ones need only change their e-mail address or return goods they did not order. At worst, however, cyberstalking victims end up with a ruined reputation or a plundered bank account.
Hamburg - A necessary evil, a burdensome duty or simply a source of stress - cleaning house is not everyone's favourite topic.
Sydney - Alex Bellini fell just 65 kilometres short of his bid to row the 18,000 kilometres of Pacific Ocean between Lima and Sydney.
