Marburg, Germany  - Artificial fingernails increase the risk of a fungal infection, according to a German health organization based in Marburg.

The fingernail is especially vulnerable to infection and other changes when the artificial nail is removed. This also raises the risk of the infection spreading. Therefore, people who work in kitchens and who provide nursing care in particular should not have artificial fingernails, said Germany's Green Cross.

Hamburg  - There was a time when a sofa could have a pressed board on the back because it would never be placed anywhere except against a wall.

Trend experts say those days are over as individual rooms are blending into one another to create large living spaces that are divided only by a shelf or sofa. And this development is having an affect on other furniture as well.

"All furniture fits everywhere," is how the association for the German furniture industry describes the new trend in words.

Iserlohn, Germany  - Snowboarders are lured to snow-covered pistes in winter and they no longer have to go without the fun of having a board under their feet in summer.

Mountain boarding is latest sports trend that involves careering down expansive hills and daredevil jumps in summer.

Equipped with air-filled tyres, the boards can be used to master nearly any grassy slope. The sport started in the mid 1980s in the United States and later caught on in Britain and Germany.

New Delhi, Mar 20 : Black emerged as hot pick of the designers for Autumn/Winter season at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

Drawing inspiration from the world of sports, Bollywood stylist Manish Malhotra showcased a collection in black and gold merging sports and evening wear to come up with an assortment of dresses for both men and women.

Saris with kegs and racer backs, kurtas with zipper hood tops and guys wearing bandhgala (jackets) with track pants formed a part of this unique collection.

Doha, Qatar  - Any self-respecting family in the oil-rich Arab Gulf monarchies sends its children to study in Britain or the United States and conservative ones send their sons only. Some progressive clans also give their daughters a chance - always in the hope that after four semesters in the "sinful" West, the young women will still be marriageable back home.

As most Gulf Arabs prefer to have their daughters nearby or at least in an Islamic environment, female students outnumber males in many places in the Gulf states. At state-run Qatar University, for example, there are currently about 6,000 female students as opposed to
3,000 male students.

Sydney  - Good health, freedom of choice, political liberty, civil rights - these, along with high income, make Australians the most prosperous people in the world, found a study by the Dubai-based Legatum Institute ranking countries according to their prosperity.

The privately-funded think tank noted that there was no direct correlation between wealth and happiness. While it was true that income was a good indicator of wellbeing in very poor countries, earnings did not link with happiness in rich countries.

Study after study has downplayed money as a predictor of how we feel about our lives. It's a finding that comes as no surprise to Melbourne lawyer and academic Mirko Bagaric.