Hamburg  - A gift of jewellery can express love, status, luxury or simply a zest for life.

But it always expresses a special emotion. That makes necklaces, bracelets and rings a favourite Christmas gift. But jewellery must match both a person's outfit and the current fashion.

While everything points to clean lines and discreet colours in fashion, jewellery by contrast is breaking away and going off in its own direction.

Hamburg  - Packing boxes will always be necessary when moving house, but there may come a time when the need to refurnish and redecorate with every move is a thing of the past.

Mobile prefabricated homes that move with their owner are seen by some as an architectural concept with potential. And these moveable structures already are available today.

Flexibility and mobility increasingly are big issues for people looking to invest in a home. Christoph Windscheif of the association of prefabricated homes in Bad Honnef, Germany, speaks of an "ambitious vision of the future" as a factor.

"There certainly are people who can imagine that type of modern nomadic life," said Windscheif.

New York  - Hit with hard economic times, US residents are once again reaching for inexpensive Spam at the supermarket.

Hamburg  - Tanning in a solarium before going into the sun provides no appreciable protection against sunburn. However, it does raise the risk of skin cancer considerably, according to information from a German cancer support association and a German dermatological prevention organization.

As ultraviolet (UV) rays penetrate deep into the skin, they also accelerate the ageing of the skin. Despite these risks, 14 million Germans use solariums, making Germany Europe's top country for artificial tanning, according to a study conducted this year and recently published by the two groups.

Vienna - Temperatures may be falling and energy prices are still high, but an increasing number of Austrians living in low-energy houses have little to worry about this winter.

Essen, Germany - No room, no apartment or house can get by without light switches and although everyone needs them and uses them, these inconspicuous devices have been reduced to their simplest function for decades.

Now designers and manufacturers are discovering that all kinds of living spaces can be perked up by replacing the self-effacing rectangular plates of cream or white plastic with something more decorative.