Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the need for urgency in pressing ahead with the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon, speaking to the German parliament hours before a key EU summit that wil

Frankfurt  - Lightning isn't only an outdoor hazard. In houses without adequate lightning protection, it can turn bathing or showering into a dangerous undertaking.

Hamburg  - The consequences of a night of drinking often show the next day around the eyes. They can be bloodshot and shadows can appear on the skin around the eye sockets.

Hamburg  - Dresses, blouses, skirts and pants in bright orange, pink and yellow - the colours of summer 2008 - have been hanging in boutiques and department stores since early this year.

Hamburg - Some hikers need only a space on the floor where they can spread out their sleeping bag in the evening.

But there are other types of hikers who belong in a different class, and it's one that has grown over the past few years. These hikers value luxury and don't want to spend the night in a youth hostel or small private room.

Professor Heinz-Dieter Quack of the European Tourism Institute in Trier, Luxembourg, separates hikers into the "old" and the "new."

Stuttgart  - Lounging on the beach is one way to spend the summer holidays. Too boring?