Tokyo - Humanoid robot guides are being used at a shopping mall in the Japanese city of Osaka to give consumers "a helping hand".

Standing 114 centimetres tall, "Robovie II" whirrs up to customers with tips on where to shop. It can tell from the way they walk whether shoppers have gone astray or are hesitant about entering a particular store, said Takaati Akimoto. He heads the ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories in Seika, which developed the droid.

Rome  - Handiwork is making a big comeback in the Italian capital as the global financial crisis pinches pocketbooks, the La Repubblica newspaper reported.

Johannesburg  - Santa Claus has arrived to open the Christmas season in Johannesburg, but on a Harley Davidson motorcycle rather than in a reindeer-driven sleigh.

An estimated 38,000 people on more than 23,000 motorcycles took part in South Africa's 26th annual Toy Run from Pretoria to Johannesburg on the first Sunday of Advent.

Vienna - A Vienna woman, Ellen Mueller, is offering "laughter-yoga" seminars to help Austrians cope with the global financial crisis. She has also written a book on her exercise method.

"Laughter yoga is a wonderful way to achieve a cheerful prevailing mood and thus better cope with everyday challenges," Mueller said. The trick, she explained, was simply to draw up the corners of one's mouth to cheer up, even when things were most dismal.

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.