Mitte district at the centre of a changed Berlin Dec 3, 2009, 10:58 GMT Berlin - When Berliners recall the heady period after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it sometimes sounds a bit like grandpa's stories from the war. ....more

Matchmaking for cooks tries to find the right recipe Dec 3, 2009, 10:58 GMT Hamburg - Thomas Honold is a chef with hardly any free time. The 31-year-old works in his family's restaurant in Radolfzell, Germany on Lake Constance. As a chef, his working hours tend to be when other people are free. Nevertheless he doesn't want to give up hope on finding the love of his life. ....more

Australian school formals morph into weddings Dec 3, 2009, 10:57 GMT Sydney - An ivory Bentley takes its turn to drop off guests beside the fountain at Sydney's plush bayside Le Montage. Inside is a banquet for 190 people, so over the top that even the chair covers have chair covers with bows of contrasting colours. ....more

Pushy Hong Kong parents school 3-year-olds for 10 hours a day Nov 30, 2009, 13:24 GMT    Hong Kong - Pushy Hong Kong parents are enrolling 3-year-old children in two kindergartens at a time, schooling them for up to 10 hours a day, a news report said Monday. ....more

Germany's beloved currywurst, aged 60 and still going strong Nov 26, 2009, 10:35 GMT Munich - Herta Heuwer was stuck in her snack stall in the western Berlin district of Charlottenburg. She was finished cleaning up for the day but it was raining cats and dogs and she had no umbrella. So she started to experiment. ....more

Venice's resident population keeps sinking Nov 26, 2009, 10:35 GMT Venice - Is Venice, the lagoon city of canals and gondolas, in danger of becoming an open-air museum teeming with foreign tourists and devoid of Venetians? The fear may seem exaggerated, but it is true that the number of natives keeps sinking. In October it dipped below 60,000, according to the action group Venessia.com, which tracks the exodus daily on its website. ....more