Sydney - Westfield Group founder Frank Lowy, whose two great loves are making money from building shopping malls and running the game of football in Australia, reckons the global recession will hit professional sport hard.

Attendances will be down, the dollar-value of television broadcast contracts will fall and clubs will struggle to survive as the turnstiles spin more slowly.

"There's only so much money to go around," the country's richest man and the chairman of its Football Federation said. "I think the world will have to contract, so will sport have to contract, it's as simple as that."

But, as other recessions have shown, it's not as simple at that at all.

Sydney - Some are calling sleep the new s

Sydney - Old people with pets live longer and are healthier than those who don't share their home with a dog or a cat.

Sadly, research by the Australian National University's Ruth Paslow has exposed this commonly held view as a myth.

After interviewing 2,551 Australians aged 60-64 she reluctantly concluded that pet owners were more likely to be depressed and to take painkillers than the pet-free.

"I would've been happier finding that pets are good for you," Paslow said, "but I wanted to do research that's reliable and statistically sound."

On the other hand, children who grow up in a home with a dog are less likely to be overweight.

Berlin - An eyeliner pencil that is too hard can be softened by holding it over a flame or simply by blowing on it, said the Berlin branch of Germany's consumer product testing organization.

The organization tested 16 black eyeliner pencils, including one that has to be sharpened and those with an in-built, automatic mechanism for sharpening. Five of the eyeliner pencils were rated good in a report by the organization's monthly magazine. The remainder were rated satisfactory, including an 18-euro eyeliner -

the most expensive among the tested products.

Heilbronn, Germany - Today's skiing helmets sport panda patterns or fur covers. Skiers can even hit the slopes with a helmet designed to look like a watermelon, if they dare.

A helmet is an essential part of any skier's equipment. Almost every manufacturer includes them in their catalogue. Most have the same basic structure and manufacturers have learned to distinguish the subtle details of their models. But discerning customers can find differences - one model may have adjustable ear protection while another one may be particularly light.

Washington - Their children wear designer jeans, brand-name polo shirts and the finest shoes.

Wealthy parents in the United States are putting their children into the best high quality designer fashions money can buy. Whether it's a Burberry dress for 180 dollars or a coat recently seen on the catwalk for 375 dollars, price is not an issue for rich parents in the US and other places with high concentrations of wealth. As they shop for their youngsters, mothers are increasingly living out their own fantasies and turning their children into copies of themselves.