Features

PARIS — A crop of new tech entrepreneurs from Africa and its diaspora are hoping to bridge the continent’s growing middle-class and booming film industry in a quest to become the “African Netflix”.

On its own, the Nigerian cinema industry — known as Nollywood — generated 3.7 billion euros ($4.1 billion) in revenue and produced 2,000 films last year, whetting the appetites of Internet video-on-demand (VOD) companies.

They hope to move the business online — away from its usual outlet of street hawkers flogging pirate DVDs for a couple of dollars — making it more readily accessible to the estimated 300 million people in Africa’s middle class.

“With such a huge potential customer base, it’s not surprising that these start-ups are emerging,” said Pascal Lechevallier, a new media specialist.

One new venture is Afrostream, founded by African descendants in France in 2013, which has a catalogue of around 50 films and a dozen series such as “Before 30” — a kind of Lagos take on “Sex and the City”.

“Today, all the VOD platforms look alike. They all have the same content,” said Tonje Bakang, one of Afrostream’s co-founders, who was born in France to Cameroonian parents.

He argues that success will come from taking a different approach to the big players like Netflix and Amazon.

Competition, however, is already fierce.

Nigeria’s iRokoTV, which is well-established across the continent, pioneered the sector in 2010 before being followed by other subscription services such as Kenya’s BuniTV and South Africa’s Africa Magic Go.

“It’s good news — the more players there are, the quicker the market will establish itself,” said Bakang, adding that he ultimately wants to fund his own productions “in the style of HBO”.

Afrostream has already attracted 2,000 subscribers ahead of its launch in September. It has focused its marketing on Senegal and Ivory Coast, and their French-speaking diaspora in Europe, but has big plans for expansion.

“Although the European market remains important for us with 15 million African descendants and 10 million more fans of ‘afro’ culture, we know that the real market is in Africa, where there’s a middle class of 300 million people,” said Bakang.

Afrostream got support from French telecom giant Orange and is currently raising cash at the renowned San Francisco start-up hub, Y Combinator.

Reliance on Nollywood

With elegant, easy-to-use websites and the latest video-playing technology, these new services have nothing to envy in comparison with their Western competitors.

But they still face a number of challenges, not least of which is their heavy reliance on Nollywood, which means they may struggle to meet the varied tastes of 54 African countries.

“Nigeria might have a real film and TV industry, but it’s far from the case everywhere,” said Jean-Michel Huet, an emerging markets specialist at consultancy Bearing Point.

And while the number of smartphones in Africa is set to double in the next two years to more than 350 million subscribers, the rarity of high-speed Internet access remains a brake on the spread of VOD services. Punching credit card details into a website, meantime, is not yet the norm in many parts of the continent.

There is also the threat that the big hitters could muscle in at any time.

Netflix aims to be available everywhere in the world by 2016, and France’s Canalplay has made Africa a strategic priority.

“With a budget of $5 billion for acquiring rights, Netflix can say: ‘I will set aside $100 million for African films’ if they see that the market works,” said Lechevallier.

“And then the new platforms won’t be able to compete.”

LOS ANGELES — “Straight Outta Compton”, a biopic about the pioneering rap group N. W. A., wowed Hollywood by taking first place in the North American box office in its debut weekend.

Racing past its rivals, and past even the most optimistic of expectations, the film took in an impressive $60.2 million, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported Monday.

Yet the movie, which opened in the United States on August 14, comes off as strikingly contemporary as the nation grapples with a slew of recent deaths of African Americans in custody of law enforcement.

It was named after the 1988 debut studio album from the group that gave birth to the gangsta rap genre and launched the careers of Ice Cube and Dr Dre.

“F**k Tha Police,” N. W. A.’s heads-held-high cry of defiance against the Los Angeles Police Department, so alarmed authorities that it generated a warning letter from the FBI, and the song remains a controversial anthem in many protests.

Directed by Gary Gray, best known for his music videos, “Straight Outta Compton” traces the roots of the then-teenagers’ rage against mostly white police in their gang-ridden home of Compton and other parts of the Los Angeles area.

“What a welcome surprise and the last blockbuster blast of the season,” Exhibitor Relations box office analyst Jeff Bock told AFP.

“$60 million for an R-rated biopic featuring an ensemble of unknown African Americans — as far as I know, that’s never happened before, so it’s quite rare.”

Until the film opened in theatres, Universal Pictures had expected just $20 million in weekend ticket sales.

The studio got a major coup in more than doubling its reported budget of $29 million.

Largely African American public

Relatively unknown actors — O’Shea Jackson Jr (Ice Cube’s son, who plays his father), Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell — interpret the roles of the founding members of N. W. A., which stands for Niggaz Wit Attitudes.

Bock says biopics rarely generate such success.

“But a couple of factors went into this opening: one, there hasn’t been any studio films that cater to the African-American crowd this summer and two, this was a seminal story in music history that was long overdue,” he added.

“Any time you have a group of underdogs taking down the establishment... is always a good place to start for film success.

“This had it all, and said it very poignantly.”

N. W. A.’s story is also that over different fates, from American success stories like Ice Cube, a recognised producer and musician to Suge Knight, facing life in prison for a fatal hit-and-run.

The film comes out a year after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, killed in Ferguson last year by a white policeman.

Los Angeles is also commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Watts riots against police violence.

Rivals trail behind 

The feature sailed ahead of the number two film, “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation”, which took in $17.2 million, despite playing in nearly 1,000 more theatres than “Compton”.

The Tom Cruise action-thriller, the fifth instalment in the blockbuster franchise, has earned a total of $138.3 million in three weeks in theatres.

The other major debut of the week — “The Man from U. N. C. L. E.,” a reboot of the hit 1960s spy series — earned $13.4 million for third place.

Following in fourth was one of the major flops of the summer — the comic book action film reboot “Fantastic Four”, which took in just $8.2 million in its second week.

Psychological thriller “The Gift” starring Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall was in fifth place at $6.5 million.

In sixth place was Marvel action flick “Ant-Man” with $5.5 million in its fifth week. Its total earnings now stand at $157.5 million.

Seventh was the raunchy comedy reboot “Vacation”, about a family holiday gone awry that stars Ed Helms, Christina Applegate and Chevy Chase, with $5.2 million.

Eighth place went to animated comedy sequel “Minions”, featuring the yellow mischief-making creatures, with $5.1 million. Its total haul after six weeks in theatres is $312.9 million.

The ninth spot went to “Ricki and the Flash”, starring Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep as a rock and roller trying to mend ties with her long suffering family, with $4.6 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow’s comedy-romance “Trainwreck” with $3.8 million in its fifth week in theatres.

The rally-bred 1980s Quattro and 1990s A8 were Audi’s technical breakthrough models with their respective permanent four-wheel drive and lightweight aluminium spaceframe. It was, however, the compact 1998 Audi TT which injected the brand with a youthful sense of accessibility, fun and desirability and led the way forward with its Bauhaus-inspired circular-themed design.

Small, agile, eager and accessible, the TT was practical and easy to drive but capable coupe based on hot hatch underpinnings and dynamic sensibilities. With its third recently launched generation, the TT now gains a new high-tech platform, drivetrain and electronic infotainment suite, and is a slightly larger and more mature car with more assertive design and better handling and refinement. 

Classy compact

Built on the Volkswagen and Audi group’s versatile recently introduced aluminium-intensive modular MQB platform, the new TT is both larger yet lighter than before by slight degrees. It also features improved weight distribution owing to a 12 degree backwards engine slant and front axle set further forward, while stability is also aided by an automatically rising rear spoiler.

A clearly recognisable design evolution with trademark rakishly arced roofline and subtly bulging semi-circular wheel arches, the new TT is, however, a more tightly and assertively penned design. With more complex lines, it features a large trapezoidal grille and moodier slim squinting and browed headlights with upright LED elements, gill-like side intakes, sculpted and ridged clamshell bonnet, twin tailpipes and better-defined sills and character lines.

Sporty yet classy inside, the TT features circular vents with individual built-in controls and thick flat bottom multi-functional steering wheel. Extensively equipped with standard and optional features, the TT’s driver-focused Virtual Cockpit is particularly noteworthy. A versatile combination of instrument and infotainment screen, it can reconfigure information and satnav map displays in both foreground and background.

Eager and efficient

Powered by a 2-litre turbocharged engine, the TT 45TFSI Quattro S-tronic version driven develops 227BHP throughout a wide 4500-6200rpm band and 273lb/ft torque across a broad, responsive and consistently accessible 1600-4300rpm mid-range. With swift spooling turbo, low-end turbo lag is negligible while the TT’s muscularly broad mid-range provides versatile daily driving, responsively brisk on-the-move acceleration and overtaking ability.

Underwritten by a generous and wide mid-range, the TT’s power accumulation is perky, eager and punchy, and is delivered in a linear manner with a consistent and wide top-end, which allows one to up-shift to next gear and remain near maximum power. A light and efficient design with smooth delivery, the TT’s engine also benefits from clever thermal management features.

With tenacious four-wheel-drive traction the TT 45TFSI digs in and pounces off-the-line without wheelspin, completing the 0-100km/h dash in 5.3 seconds and onto an electronically-restricted potential 250km/h maximum. Powered through an S-tronic dual-clutch automated gearbox with odd and even gears on separate clutches, the TT’s is seamlessly swift and snappy through gears, including sequential manual shifts, through its steering-mounted paddle shifters.

Tenacious and agile

Delivering sure-footed roadholding, the TT Quattro’s four-wheel drive system is able to alter front-to-rear power distribution for enhanced performance, predictability, safety, agility, stability and grip through corners and low traction conditions. For yet further enhanced agility, the TT also features brake-based torque vectoring, which selectively brakes the inside wheels to prevent wheel-spin and better allocate power.

With four-wheel drive allocating power where needed and torque vectoring improving its’ agility, the TT is eager and tidy into corners, while its quick and direct steering allows for curt and crisp turn-in. And with low, short and wide dimensions with big footprint and short overhangs, the TT was able to tackle high-speed corners with stance a confident combination of agile manoeuvrability and planted stability.

Refined on road and focused on track, the TT’s low centre of gravity and smoothly firm suspension provide taut composure through corners, while its wide track, all-paw traction and sticky 245/35R19 tyres ensure it remains glued to the tarmac under heavy lateral loads. Tenaciously grippy and with darty agility, the TT was like a rollercoaster on rails during test drive on the Dubai Autodrome.

Compact yet comfortable

Despite its short wheelbase and compact frame, the TT drives with stability and buttoned down confidence through high speed sweepers and straights on track and is settled and poised on vertical rebound on road. Through corners on roads and chicanes on track, the TT feels alert, direct and nimble and ever-ready for sudden direction changes.

Reassuringly rigid, the TT rides on a compact and stiff frame, which better allows its suspension to provide a comfortable ride and precise handling, while also lending it a sturdy feel. Refined yet with a somewhat firm ride, the TT is smooth and focused but not harsh. Well-insulated from noise, harshness and vibrations, the TT’s refined cabin ambiance is punctuated by evocative exhaust notes when set in its “dynamic” mode. 

Compact but ergonomically spaced, the TT’s sporty and comfortable cabin features a driver-tilted console, jutting dashboard, good quality textures and construction, and stylish design. Hunkered down but with good visibility over its short bonnet and despite a low roofline, the TT’s and driving position is supportive and well-adjustable even for large drivers. Rear seats are convenient for occasional use, while boot space is generous for a sports car this small.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, transverse, turbocharged 4 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 82.5 x 92.8mm

Compression ratio: 9.6:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, direct injection, continuously variable valve timing

Boost pressure: 0.8-bar

Gearbox: 6-speed automated dual clutch, four-wheel drive

Top gear/final drive: 0.69:1/4.77:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 227 (230) [169] @4500-6200rpm

Specific power: 114.4BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 170BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 273 (370) @1600-4300rpm

Specific torque: 186.5Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 277.1Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 5.3 seconds

Top speed: 250km/h

Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined: 8.3/5.4/6.4-litres/100km 

CO2 emissions, combined: 149g/km

Fuel capacity: 55 litres

Length: 4177mm

Width: 1832mm

Height: 1353mm

Wheelbase: 2505mm

Track, F/R: 1572/1552mm

Overhangs, F/R: 884/788mm

Headroom, F/R: 993/858mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.29

Luggage volume, min/max: 305/712 litres

Unladen weight: 1335kg

Steering: Variable electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning Circle: 11 metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 312mm/discs, 300mm

Tyres: 245/35R19 (optional)

Beirut, Beirut

Sonallah Ibrahim

Translated by Chip Rossetti

Doha: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, 2014

Pp. 345

“Beirut, Beirut”, first published in Arabic in 1988, and now translated into English, is billed as “a novel of love and war”, but the bulk of the text is factual. In style and content, it showcases the most distinctive features of Egyptian intellectual Sonallah Ibrahim’s writing: his political engagement and his modernist technique. 

In the 60s and especially during the five years he spent in Egyptian prisons for being a communist, Ibrahim broke with the prevailing effusive literary style in favour of short sentences and stark descriptions of physical reality, including its most mundane details. Influenced by Hemingway, among others, he tried to convey real experience by describing it very directly and graphically, without euphemisms or circumvention. In novels such as “Zaat” (English edition, 2001), he interspersed his narrative with news headlines and reports to posit his characters’ lives in their socioeconomic context, and expose corruption, consumerism and the harmful effects of Western and Israeli intervention. 

These devices produce a “you-are-there” effect that is apparent in “Beirut, Beirut”.

The story is told in the first person by an Egyptian novelist, presumably Ibrahim himself, who arrives in Beirut in November 1980, with a manuscript he is seeking to publish, only to find that an outbreak of violence will make his task more difficult. As he moves around West Beirut and converses with old and new friends, one gets a sense of the political and security situation, and how it is to live in a war that is not over but only “managed” by those with influence. Not only is the danger of bombs and kidnappings pervasive, but there is a general lack of trust; one must always be wary, even of friends. The novelist takes all this in stride, calmly recording his impressions without emotional frills. His private moments with an intriguing woman are similarly described.

With the publishing house that he thought would take his manuscript in jeopardy, he finds another source of income, writing the voice-over for a film about the civil war. Conscientious about doing a good job, he goes through a comprehensive dossier about the causes and evolution of the war that he relates in detail, making the reader a partner in his research. In reviewing events, he highlights the class and colonial origins of the explosive sectarian system, ever aware of the costs to ordinary people as when he speaks of the number of dead and wounded: “not one of them carrying the name of one of the families that started the fight and that profits from the victims…” (p. 64). 

Though much of Ibrahim’s account is a series of quotes from various news sources, and he doesn’t editorialise, his point-of-view can be discerned from which facts he presents and how he juxtaposes them. For example, there are extensive quotes from the testimonies of survivors of the massacre in Tel Al Zaatar refugee camp. In another passage, hypocrisy is exposed when a headline quoting President Ford as saying that the US “will do all it can to preserve freedom and democracy in Lebanon” is followed by a quote from The New York Times about Western arms flowing into Lebanon to the right-wing militias. (p. 134)

“Beirut, Beirut” is the testimony of a keen observer of politics and human behaviour.

Paradoxically, though Ibrahim’s writing seems emotionally detached, one feels that he really cares about the victims of the war, i.e., his modernist style succeeds in conveying his political message. One also learns a bit about the political economy of the publishing business in Lebanon, at least at that time.

NEW YORK — Samsung unveiled two new smartphones Thursday to ramp up its efforts to win over consumers seeking large-screen handsets, and announced launch dates for its mobile payment service.

The moves are aimed at keeping the South Korean giant atop the global smartphone market and countering US rival Apple, which has made gains with its large-screen iPhone 6 and 6-Plus and its tap-to-pay feature.

At a New York media event, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S6 edge+, the latest update for its flagship device, and Galaxy Note5, its main device in the “phablet” market.

“Today, the journey continues in the large-screen category that Samsung created,” said J.K. Shin, Samsung’s head of IT and mobile communications.

The S6 edge+ and Note5 each have a 5.7-inch display, but the S6 has smaller overall dimensions and a curved “dual edge” screen that sets aside a portion of the display for contacts or other content.

The company also announced that its Samsung Pay service would roll out in South Korea on August 20 and in the United States on September 28, and that it would launch in Britain, Spain and China with partners to be named in each market.

Shin said he expects wide adoption because Samsung Pay “doesn’t cause small business to upgrade their terminals and will be accepted almost everywhere on day one”.

Samsung said its mobile service can be used with magnetic stripe terminals as well as those using updated NFC or “near field communication” contactless payments employed by Apple Pay.

Samsung Electronics Vice President InJong Rhee said: “NFC is fine technology but most stores don’t have it.”

He added that Samsung Pay will be secured by its Knox software, which creates a one-time code without transmitting credit card numbers.

Attacking phablets

Samsung has remained atop the global smartphone market even though its sales have been slipping in the past year.

With the new devices, Samsung expands from its 5.1 inch display on the existing Galaxy S6, and leapfrogs Apple’s handsets at 4.7 and 5.5 inches.

The new handsets, which have Samsung Pay and wireless charging options integrated, will go on sale in the US and Canada on August 21, Samsung said.

The Note5 is the upgraded version of the phablet which Samsung is generally credited with popularising. The new device has a new pop-out pen stylus and shares its upgraded 16-megapixel camera with the S6 edge+.

Kantar Worldpanel analyst Carolina Milanesi said Samsung trailed Apple in the phablet market — devices with screens at 5.5 inches and above — in the second quarter.

Avi Greengart at the research firm Current Analysis said on Twitter that “Note5 is a worthy upgrade, but unlikely to expand the category” and that the S6 edge+ “is pretty but hard to hold”.

Daniel Gleeson at IHS Technology said the Note5 appears aimed at professionals and business users due to its stylus and keyboard attachment, while the S6 edge+ “is a much more fashion-forward device and is likely to appeal to a younger, hipper market”.

According to IDC, Samsung led the smartphone market in the second quarter with a 21.7 per cent market share, even though sales dipped from a year earlier and its market share was below 24.8 per cent in the same period a year ago.

Apple, which briefly took the lead in the fourth quarter of 2014 with its new iPhones, saw its market share rise more than two points from a year earlier to 14.1 per cent, IDC said.

Gleeson said Samsung Pay faces challenges because of the head start by Apple and Google’s Android Pay.

“Unlike Apple which has accumulated 800 million payment card accounts associated with iTunes, Samsung lacks this critical element for its payment service to quickly gain traction,” he said in a note to clients.

“Samsung Pay’s co-existence with Android Pay is likely to create frictions in the Android ecosystem as consumers could be confused by the two payment options.”

LOS ANGELES — The Dark Side is front and centre in the latest images of villains from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" — the highly anticipated next chapter in the blockbuster space saga due later this year.

Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday released several new photos of baddies Kylo Ren (Adam Driver from "Girls"), Captain Phasma ("Game of Thrones" star Gwendoline Christie) and General Hux (British actor Domhnall Gleeson).

The Hollywood industry magazine also revealed some origin stories about the characters, who will appear for the first time in Episode VII of the mega-franchise, due out on December 18.

Kylo Ren is allied with the First Order, a remnant of the Empire, and his appearance seems heavily influenced by Darth Vader — he is clad in black and wears a mask.

He is seen flanked by Stormtroopers and striding through the ruins of a ransacked village on the planet Jakku.

Kylo Ren is not even his real name — he adopted it when he joined the Knights of Ren, director JJ Abrams — the brains behind both the new "Star Wars" film and a highly successful "Star Trek" reboot — told the magazine.

"He is not your prototypical mustache-twirling bad guy," Abrams said. "He is a little bit more complex than that, and it was a great joy to work with Adam Driver on this role."

The article hints that perhaps his parents are characters already known in "Star Wars" mythology.

Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan noted: "I've written four Star Wars movies now, and there's never been a character quite like the one that Adam plays."

Also included in the magazine's film preview are images of the black-clad General Hux, a ruthless leader of the First Order played by Gleeson, who played Bill Weasley in the last two "Harry Potter" films.

And Captain Phasma, a First Order warrior, is shown clad in full armor.

Lucasfilm and its parent company Disney have offered a slow drop of information about the film, tantalising the millions of fans eagerly awaiting a return to the "Star Wars" universe.

Those fans are hoping for a bit more information this weekend at the Disney D23 convention in Anaheim, California. But Entertainment Weekly, quoting an unnamed source, said no new trailer will be released at the event.

It may be a bit early to have a full feedback about Windows 10. After all it is now just a little more than two weeks since the new operating system (OS) was officially launched by Microsoft and made available to be downloaded and installed. Especially that not all users who booked it have been able to get their download at this date, given the high demand.

And yet, listening to the comments of those who already have had it installed on their computers is interesting, to say the least. It all comes like signs of “early warning”, to be taken carefully though and weighed against the limited time factor.

To put it simply, notwithstanding details, Windows 10 addresses most of the issues that consumers used to dislike in Windows 8, but falls short of beating Windows 7 in terms of speed and stability. In other words, if you have Windows 8 or 8.1 and are not particularly fond of it, moving up Windows 10 is recommended and will make your Windows experience more pleasurable. If on the other hand you are perfectly happy with Windows 7, Windows 10 doesn’t seem to bring much added value, unless maybe for the touch screen feature, if you absolutely need it that is.

Again, these are early signs, and perhaps Microsoft already is working on releasing updates to fix or to improve on the not-so-perfect points. So a final conclusion cannot be drawn today and it would take till the end of the year, at least, to come up with reliable, conclusive opinions.

About the details, some users have reported that Windows 10 seems power hungry and therefore laptop battery may not provide the same kind of performance that Windows 7 have brought us so far. Also, navigating through the menus and commands is friendlier than in Windows 8, but not as friendly as in Windows 7! It’s again the same comparison. Does this mean that Windows 10 is somewhere in between Windows 8 and Windows 7, “better” than the first but not “as good as” the second? Not necessarily.

Suppliers of Microsoft products in Jordan are already providing licences for Windows 10, and very soon will stop supplying any previous version. This does not mean that one must install Windows 10. In Microsoft’s fashion this means that you pay for Windows 10, but are also allowed to install Windows 8 or Windows 7 for that matter, if you prefer. This is true if you have no system at all on your machine and are starting from scratch.

On the other hand, and as it has been mentioned in this very column a month ago, upgrading from existing Windows 7 and 8 is free. This is not a minor point and perhaps users should be thankful to the company for allowing such upgrade, regardless of how great is the new system.

Some specialised websites are already publishing early reviews of Windows 10. Techradar.com gave it a good 4.5 stars out of 5 just seven days ago, calling it the make-or-break OS. Engadget.com gave it a score of 91 out of 100 and thinks that Windows 10 is “the best of Windows 7 and 8”. Trustedreviews.com gave it 4 stars out of 5 and found its “regular nagging to use Microsoft accounts” to be one of its downsides, but adds that it is “A significant upgrade over Windows 7 and Windows 8”, stressing that the fact that most users will be able to get it for free — legally — is a big plus.

Ever since I joined Facebook I don’t need to put separate reminders for myself any more because it diligently prompts me about all the appropriate dates. So, unless I am travelling out of the country and my phone is switched off in order to save on the exorbitant roaming charges, I am pretty clued on. About the birthdates, wedding anniversaries and other special occasions of my friends and relatives. 

But like any new technological invention, Facebook also delivers beyond its normal call of duty. Hence, it additionally reminds me of events that I did not even know had existed. Ever! For example, among others, it asks me to celebrate a “niece week”, and a “nephew week”, and a “sisters week” and a “cousins week”. 

I happily ignored these promptings on a regular basis but when it told me to commemorate “brothers week”, I had to suddenly sit up and take notice. 

 “If you have a brother that you love a lot, who made you cry sometimes, pulled your hair, fought with you, stood up for you, drove you crazy, watched you succeed, saw you fail [and laughed], picked you up, scolded you, made you strong and you can’t do without him, share this for the best brother in the world”. Quote, Unquote said the Facebook prompter. 

This was just the garbled kind of sentimental hogwash that I should have immediately deleted but I could not. And that is because in my case, it was true not once but twice ever since I was blessed with two hair pulling, driving-me-up-the-wall brothers, who were, in most instances, standing on me rather than standing up for me. 

When I was younger I prayed for a sister and fervently wished for my mother to get hospitalised so that she could bring home a bundled baby. I don’t know how my older brother appeared but that is the way my younger sibling entered our lives. I was six years old at the time, but I remember the scenario clearly.

However, the three of us were such a handful that despite my passionate entreaties to God, our mum stopped bringing any more babies to live with us. I was heartbroken but I had to make do with my personal quota of two brothers. I had no other choice, you see? 

And they did all of the things that the Brothers Week logo promised, and more. When they were bad they were really and truly bad. They fought with me, beheaded my dolls, saw me fall and fail while laughing uproariously, pulled my pigtails, tied my plaits to a doorknob, stole my stationary and so on. The amount of grief they gave me was immense. 

On the other hand when they were good they wiped my tears, applied band-aid on my bruises and taught me to walk on a straight line while balancing a book on my head. It was supposed to correct my posture as well as instill confidence in me. 

Also, after a big fight, whenever I disappeared into the farthest corner of the room in a huff, they sang a particularly sweet song for me. It never failed to bring a smile to my sulking face. 

“It had something to do with the sun and moon, right?” I asked my siblings when I met them recently. 

“Said all the flowers and stars of the land”, my older brother sang. 

“Our sister is one in a thousand”, joined my younger brother.

LOS ANGELES — The latest frontier in virtual reality could be closer to reality than fantasy.

While video game creators and filmmakers have recreated the likes of Middle-earth and Jurassic World in VR, activist news organisation Ryot is teleporting viewers to real-life conflict zones and disaster areas like Nepal and Syria. Ryot released an immersive short film Tuesday shot last month on the war-ravaged streets of Aleppo.

The three-minute film, "Welcome To Aleppo", features 360-degree views of abandoned areas in Syria's former commercial centre. In one scene, bullets can be heard whizzing past the device used to film the VR footage, while another catches a glimpse of four Syrians on a motorbike travelling down a ruined street. The film can be watched and controlled on a computer screen, or with a mobile VR headset, such as Google Cardboard.

For many, VR might not only reshape entertainment but also journalism.

"VR will definitely be used for entertainment, porn, video games, all of that," said Christian Stephen, Ryot's London-based global editor who filmed the video in Syria. "It can also be used to genuinely communicate stories around the world in desperate need of reaching people. The fatigue that has come with photos and videos of explosions and people crying has numbed people to the reality of the world, especially in Syria."

Stephen, who has covered conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, said capturing the VR footage with a makeshift apparatus — six cameras strapped to a 3D-printed gimbal on top of a tripod — proved much more dangerous than shooting traditional video. The cumbersome contraption had to be left unattended, and it attracted more attention than a typical camera or smartphone.

"It's an incredibly harsh environment to work in normally, but when they see you running around with a tripod and an alien device on top of it, they are going to try and kill you," said Stephen. "It looks like some sort of an odd IED. We were basically hunted for eight hours by the regime and rebel snipers. They thought I was trying to set up a bomb because I had to leave it for two to three minutes at a time to film what I wanted."

Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has killed more than 220,000 people and wounded at least a million people, according to the United Nations.

Three months ago, Ryot released its first foray into VR journalism with footage captured in Nepal after an April 25 earthquake devastated the country. Ryot co-founder Bryn Mooser said the organisation is currently working on VR projects in five countries, including the Congo, Uganda, Haiti and Iraq.

"For us, we want to distribute on every single platform," said Mooser. "We just want this story to get out there. It's not about creating a revenue opportunity for people to pay to download this footage. It's about seeing how many people can watch this as soon as possible. As the technology progresses, it'll become easier and easier for people to experience it."

Mooser noted that "Welcome to Aleppo" marks the first VR video footage to be shot within Syria's war zone. Last year, the Emblematic Group debuted "Project Syria", an animated VR experience that recreated an attack on an Aleppo street and transported viewers to a refugee camp.

MIAMI – People who eat lots of fried food and sugary drinks have a 56 per cent higher risk of heart disease compared to those who eat healthier, US researchers said Monday.

The findings in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, were based on a six-year study of more than 17,000 people in the United States.

Researchers found that people who regularly ate what was described as a Southern style diet — fried foods, eggs, processed meats like bacon and ham, and sugary drinks — faced the highest risk of a heart attack or heart-related death during the next six years.

"Regardless of your gender, race, or where you live, if you frequently eat a Southern-style diet you should be aware of your risk of heart disease and try to make some gradual changes to your diet," said lead researcher James Shikany, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Division of Preventive Medicine. 

"Try cutting down the number of times you eat fried foods or processed meats from every day to three days a week as a start, and try substituting baked or grilled chicken or vegetable-based foods."

The study included both white and African-American men and women aged 45 or older, who did not have heart disease when they began the study.

Participants enrolled from 2003 to 2007. They were first screened by telephone, then given an in-home physical exam, then they answered a food frequency questionnaire.

"Every six months, the participants were interviewed via telephone about their general health status and hospitalisations for nearly six years," said the study.

Participants fell into five different eating groups, including the Southern style eaters; those who favoured convenience foods like pasta, Mexican food, Chinese food, mixed dishes and pizza; the "plant-based" pattern which was mostly vegetables and fruits; the "sweets" pattern; and the "alcohol/salads" group which tended towards beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and salad dressings.

The Southern-style eaters were the only ones faced with a higher risk of heart disease.