Heilbronn, Germany - Today's skiing helmets sport panda patterns or fur covers. Skiers can even hit the slopes with a helmet designed to look like a watermelon, if they dare.

A helmet is an essential part of any skier's equipment. Almost every manufacturer includes them in their catalogue. Most have the same basic structure and manufacturers have learned to distinguish the subtle details of their models. But discerning customers can find differences - one model may have adjustable ear protection while another one may be particularly light.

Washington - Their children wear designer jeans, brand-name polo shirts and the finest shoes.

Wealthy parents in the United States are putting their children into the best high quality designer fashions money can buy. Whether it's a Burberry dress for 180 dollars or a coat recently seen on the catwalk for 375 dollars, price is not an issue for rich parents in the US and other places with high concentrations of wealth. As they shop for their youngsters, mothers are increasingly living out their own fantasies and turning their children into copies of themselves.

Athens - Nearly half of all Greeks believe that there is nothing much people can do to reduce one's chances of contracting cancer, according to a recent study.

The study, carried out by the Athens Medical School and the Centre for Health Service Studies, found that nearly half of the 1,490 respondents interviewed were passive about cancer, saying there is nothing they can do to avert the threat of contracting cancer.

The findings, which were published in the Greek daily Kathimerini newspaper, came as researchers indicated a 25 per cent increase in the diagnosis of cancer over the past 10 years.

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Washington - The new "working poor" in the United States have all the things expected of average Americans: a house, a car and a television. Though they work to the point of exhaustion, they cannot make ends meet. Their refrigerators are empty, their bank accounts overdrawn.

"If you keep your nose to the grind, you can get ahead in this country," so goes the motto.

For nearly 25 per cent of the US middle class, this no longer applies. Victims of the economic crisis, they have turned the traditional concept of poverty on its head.

Take Vicky Gardner, a 44-year-old geriatric nurse. Every morning she drops her two children off at school on the outskirts of Washington, D. C.

Brussels - Grey office blocks and European Union civil servants - that's the common image of Brussels.

But behind this cliché lurks a colourful scene waiting to be discovered especially for followers of fashion. A walk through downtown Brussels reveals a palette that reaches from chic boutiques to shrill trendy shops.

"Most people think of fashion only in terms of haute couture from Paris or London, but Brussels is right at their doorstep," said Anne Weger of Belgium's tourist bureau in Cologne.