But the Gold Coast can also surprise even the most dedicated beach snob with its sea hazed dunes, warm waves and soft, clean sand.

BBC: Shore thing: Australia��s beach obsession

The Mussner family rebuilt the mountain lodge in 2010, using local Dolomite stone and larch wood and the affect is one of calm modernity, all clean lines and soft colours.

BBC: Five European winter boltholes

Alonso, also on the super soft tyre and on a clean run, found enough to split the Red Bulls, and with Felipe Massa in fourth, almost nine-tenths off Vettel's pace, the Spaniard appears to be the only serious threat to Red Bull's dominance.

BBC: Red Bull leave rivals trailing in Hungarian GP practice

And has PM Manmohan Singh, the soft-spoken technocrat with a clean image, lost the "moral high ground", as a critic says?

BBC: Why is India's PM Manmohan Singh under attack?

When both were younger and growing up in the same household, the dentist would prescribe special toothpaste with antiseptic and aromatic qualities, in addition to a medicinal mouthwash, and a very soft toothbrush with which he was to clean his teeth.

NPR: Somalia's Farah: Humanizing a Broken Place

Visually everything has been stripped down, with thin clean sans-serif fonts, large images and lots of soft grays.

ENGADGET: Myspace teases slick new revamp with minimalist flair (video)