PARIS, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Plumping on a lip-shaped sofa or giant foot, bedding down in a womb-room complete with bath facilities -- a ground-breaking Paris exhibition this week takes a fresh and often witty look at the inspiration behind two centuries of design.

'We have tried to approach design a little differently,' said curator Jean-Louis Gaillemin, an art historian and Paris university lecturer.

PARIS, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Recycling has long fed African and Asian markets, where cash-poor craftsmen retool tin into toys and rubber tyres into flip-flops. Now recycling is moulding design in the richer West as eco-awareness -- or eco-guilt -- shapes consumer demand.

For the first time, this week's big Paris home show 'Maison et Objet, a twice-yearly trade fair that attracts a whopping 75,000 professionals, put its spotlight on ethical issues, traceability and clean consumerism rather than froth and frivolity.

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - The Netherlands on Thursday will mark the 80th birthday of a favorite son, illustrator Dick Bruna whose iconic white rabbit 'Miffy' has charmed children worldwide, particularly in Japan.

The eponymous museum in Bruna's hometown of Utrecht, a popular destination for Japanese tourists to the Netherlands, will round off a month of celebrations for the man whose 1955 creation has since sold some 85 million books worldwide translated into 40 languages.