Bremen, Germany  - Hiking has long since transformed from a sport for senior citizens to an activity with a cult-like following.

Thanks to a hiking club in Bremen, northern Germany, enthusiasts have a special opportunity in 2009 to practice their hobby and get rid of some of the pounds they may have piled on over Christmas.

The year-long event 10,000,000 Steps - Fit through Germany began

on January 1. Participants are taking 365 days to hike through Germany from the North Sea east to the Baltic Sea, then south through the hills in the midlands, to the Alps and Lake Constance along the southern border and then back up north to Bremen through the Eifel region.

"After one year and 10 million steps, the circle will close again in Bremen," the organization said on its website. Participants can register there to join the trek wherever and whenever they like and for as long as they want. ---

Hamburg designers create jerseys for table football figures =

Hamburg (dpa) - Football players who want to feel stylish this year can find what they need at three Hamburg designers who are selling jerseys for the stiff figures fastened to the rods of the football game table.

The shirts, which are 90 per cent cotton, are available in the style of the German national team, in the colours of World Champion Italy and in yellow and green and in the colours of Brazil's wondrous footballers. Germany's Bundesliga teams are currently represented by mini jerseys of the teams Werder Bremen, Hamburg SV and VfB Stuttgart.

For fans of the cult club FC St Pauli, there are black jerseys complete with a skull print. The designers also will print fantasy names and logos on white jerseys for players who have their own identities on the football table. The designers describe their creations as a world premiere and say they can be easily changed thanks to a Velcro fastener. ---

Candles with expensive scents attracts Paris' well-heeled buyers =

Paris (dpa) - Parisians who want to keep apace with current trends are lighting candles with sumptuous fragrances in their homes.

Hardly any well-known French luxury brand is without its own creation to serve the growing number of customers keen on scented candles. Designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Dior have brought out their fragrances in the shape of a candle. Even the traditional Paris tea house Mariage Freres is offering perfumed candles.

"Today people are perfuming their homes the way they perfume their skin," said an expert in the branch. Candles have become a stylish home accessory.

Especially popular in Paris are Diptyque candles sold at a store on the famous Boulevard Saint-Germain among other places. Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano and Jane Birkin are among the store's prominent regular customers. A candle weighing 190 kilograms costs around 50 euros (67 dollars). ---

Vendor offers spice mixtures for every occasion =

Durban (dpa) - Vendors at the traditional Indian market in the South African city of Durban are selling spices to help people through every imaginable situation in life.

Especially popular are the Mother-in-law Terminator spice combination and the Honeymoon Special mixture. Mother-in-law Terminator contains the smallest and hottest pepper and makes food very, very spicy, said vendor Logie Reddy. The Honeymoon Special makes anyone who eats it very, very randy, he added.

Reddy's fellow vendor Dennis Chetty had less success with an explosive spice mixture named Osama bin Laden. After tourists complained, it was removed from the product line-up. (dpa)