Cork, Ireland - The back-to-school period is a trying time for parents worldwide and as Ireland grapples with recession and rising unemployment, the concept of "free education" flies in the face of tight household budgets.

The daunting prospect of having to buy yet another school uniform for growing offspring, the soaring costs of school books, clothes and class equipment is dampening spirits as well.

A mother of two, Fiona Dobbin, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: "I have spent around 800 euros (1,180 dollars) so far on fitting out my children, aged 10 and six, for the next school year."

Buenos Aires - Buenos Aires is considered one of the most beautiful cities in South America and it attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world every year.

However, when it comes to environmental protection, the changing city governments perform badly. And the problems are as big as the metropolis of some 13 million people on the Rio de la Plata.

While people across the globe have slowly developed a growing consciousness of climate change, hardly any of that can is evident in the Argentine capital.

Anyone who brings their own fabric bag to a supermarket instead of using one of the free plastic bags on offer will probably be brushed off as crazy.

Bremen, Germany - University studies can be strenuous. Since Germany's recent adoption of bachelor's and master's degree programmes shortening the time allowed to master the curricula, students, too, are now having to deal with considerable psychological stress.

"Some students are almost displaying signs of burnout syndrome already," remarked Elisabeth Medicus-Rickers, deputy chief of the psychotherapeutic counselling centre in the University of Bremen's student services department.

Hamburg - Two international research teams have compiled a genetic map of Europe, revealing little genetic diversity between the various nationalities and closely resembling geographic boundaries.

The data, published by Classic Biology, reveal a genetic barrier between the Finns and the rest of Europe. This is not surprising because the relatively small Finnish population for generations lived nomadic lives almost isolated from the rest of Europe.

The researchers found that the genetic map closely resembled the pattern of three major human migrations mainly from the south.