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  - A wedding dress should be festive, and a close look at the current bridal collections reveal more than just classic styles and fabrics.

The trend is toward details such as jewellery elements that are placed sparingly on the dress. This is an example of how bridal designers have been inspired by casual wear.

"It's all about inconspicuous elegance - the new style isn't loaded down or opulent," said designer Christiane Wirth of Ilsenburg, Germany, who designs her own bridal gowns.

Sydney  - With Australians now buying more bicycles than cars, you would think that cycling to work would be accelerating at a similar rate.

It's not.

Of the commuting done in Sydney, only around 1 per cent is by bike. In comparison, in some Scandinavian cities the proportion of those cycling to work is around one-third.

Statistician and avid cyclist Dorothy Robinson has pondered this conundrum. She reckons that repealing laws passed in the 1990s requiring cyclists to wear helmets would get bikes out of garages and onto the roads.