Features

WASHINGTON — Time magazine on Monday named Tesla chief and space entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, citing his embodiment of the technological shifts , but also troubling trends reshaping people’s lives.

Musk — who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this year to become the world’s wealthiest person — wields impact on Earth with his Tesla electric car company and beyond our planet with his SpaceX rockets.

“Musk’s rise coincides with broader trends of which he and his fellow technology magnates are part cause and part effect,” Time Editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote.

Among those trends, Felsenthal listed “The continuing decline of traditional institutions in favour of individuals; government dysfunction that has delivered more power and responsibility to business and chasms of wealth and opportunity.”

Time editors have previously defined the title — which last year went to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — as going to people who “embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse”.

In October, Musk’s electric car company’s valuation soared above a trillion dollars, and SpaceX has teamed up with US space agency NASA to launch various missions including a test run of protecting Earth from an asteroid.

The brash South African-born 50-year-old has seen his wealth soar during the pandemic to over $250 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.

He has also courted controversy with his provocative Twitter feed that can attack, joke and provoke — including a poll in November asking Twitter whether he should sell a 10 per cent share of his Tesla stock.

‘Wealthy, mostly 

white men’ 

Felsenthal noted Musk’s provocative vision is accompanied by a persona which is a “blunt instrument that often seems to revel in division and aggressive mockery as he gives the world access to his id through social media”.

Musk has appeared ever-present in American culture in recent years, amassing 66 million Twitter followers and guest-hosting the famed late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live in May.

Musk speaks ambitiously about his interest in colonising Mars, and plans orbital flights next year as part of SpaceX’s planned American return to the Moon.

“The goal overall has been to make life multi-planetary and enable humanity to become a spacefaring civilisation,” Musk told Time in an interview released with the Person of the Year announcement.

He has also been known to move markets and the value of cryptocurrencies with a single tweet, but his main terrestrial influence for now is with his electric vehicles.

“Our intent with Tesla was always that we would serve as an example to the car industry, and hope that they also make electric cars so that we can accelerate the transition to sustainable energy,” Musk told Time.

Time notes that in an earlier era interplanetary travel was a collective undertaking that leaders used to rally their nations, but that increasingly private companies are involved.

“To Musk, that is progress, steering capital allocation away from the government to those who will be good stewards of it,” Felsenthal wrote.

“To others, it is testament to capitalism’s failings as staggeringly wealthy, mostly white men play by their own rules while much of society gets left behind,” he added.

Bentley’ all-new opening gambit in its modern Volkswagen group era when first launched in 2003, the Continental GT was a smaller, more concisely packaged and sportier grand touring coupe packed with the then latest tech and engineering. A far cry from massively opulent Bentleys of past, the Continental GT became the British manufacturer’ defining contemporary model and in its third generation is a refocused, more advanced and overtly sportier car that that carves out a more distinctive brand character and design language.

Charismatic and contemporary

Debuting in 2018, the latest Continental GT is similar in size and style, but notably different from immediate predecessors in its use of a new platform and fresher, more stylised look and better resolved detailing, surfacing and profile to imbue a greater gravitas and air of luxury. With a heightened sense of ostentatious occasion, the new Continental’s position and brief might remain the same, but it is more athletic in character, design and engineering, with a wider, lower and more rearward stance. 

Trading its predecessors’ modified Audi-derived platform, the new Continental instead employs a more rear-oriented four-wheel-drive platform derived from the current Porsche Panamera. More luxurious in profile with its longer bonnet, longer wheelbase and shorter front overhang, the new Continental’s A-pillars meanwhile sit further back from the wheel-arches to further enhance this indulgent demeanor. Additionally, the new Continental better resolves Bentley’s current signature design of using larger inner and smaller outer front lights. At the rear, slim oval new lights are meanwhile more charismatic and classy.

Sophisticated brute

Powered by a more powerful, efficient, and smoother incarnation of Bentley’s contemporary four bank twin-turbocharged 6-litre W12 engine, the GT develops 626BHP at 6,000rpm and 

664lb/ft torque throughout a wide and versatile 1,350-4,500rpm band. Large in displacement but comparatively compact in packaging, the GT’s signature W12 drives all four wheels via a slick and quick-shifting 8-speed automated dual-clutch gearbox, and now features a dual mass flywheel, rather than torque converter. Utilising stop/start and cylinder de-activation technology, fuel consumption is meanwhile reduced to 12.2l/100km, combined.

An epic engine, the GT’s improved 12-cylinders motivate its substantial 2,244kg mass with effortless muscularity. Blasting from standstill with resolute traction, the 0-100km/h dash is brutally dispatched in 3.7-seconds and 0-160km/h in 7.8-seconds en route to a continent-shrinking 333km/h maximum. Responsive from stationary to swift, with quick-spooling turbos, the indefatigable GT is fast and flexible throughout. Soothingly silent when cruising, its acoustics harden to a well-cloaked but heavier, bass-laden urgency as revs and load increases. With deep torque reservoirs, it meanwhile punches through air resistance with disdainful ease.

Tenacious tourer

Developing tenaciously high road-holding levels on low traction surfaces and through corners, the GT’s huge staggered 265/40ZR21 front and 305/35ZR21 rear tyres dig hard into tarmac, while its intuitive four-wheel-drive system apportions power where needed. Better balanced than its predecessor, the Continental’s weighting may still be 55 per cent  front-biased, but, its four-wheel-drive is conversely more rear-biased. Diverting up to 38 per cent power to the front wheels normally, the GT delivers unexpected weight-belying nimble cornering agility, especially in ‘sport’ mode, with just 17 per cent power sent forward.

A technological showcase with advanced driver assistance and safety system, it is however the Continental GT’s sophisticated suspension system that most impressed in delivering both supple ride comfort and confidently committed handling and stability. Underpinned by double wishbone front and multilink rear suspension, the GT’s adaptive air springs and continuous damping control meanwhile provide a silky smooth ride that irons out most imperfections, yet seamlessly adjusts and adopts a sportier, more settled profile with weight defying turn-in response and cornering body control.

Opulent Chariot

Every inch true to its name abbreviated from “grand touring”, the GT is a thoroughly luxurious, comfortably cosseting, powerfully versatile and confidently composed high speed, long distance personal luxury chariot. More than just an Autobahn express, the GT avails itself admirably through twisting roads, with vice-like four-wheel-drive road-holding and 48v powered active anti-roll bars that intuitively deliver comfort over imperfections, or taut body roll control, as required. Highly reassuring, the GT’s effortless performance, sure-footed confidence and broad comfort zone make it deceptively swift.

Luxuriously appointed, the Continental GT’s lavish cabin features elegantly designed quality quilted leathers, woods and real metals, and extensive safety, convenience and infotainment equipment and tech. Indulgent inside and with a hunkered down, comfortably adjustable and supportive driving position, it meanwhile features logical layouts and exquisite attention to details – including organ stop vent controls. Rear seats meanwhile add practicality, but are not particularly spacious, while a 358-litre boot adequately accommodates weekend luggage for two, but is limited by an above floor spare tyre.

Specifications: Bentley Continental GT

Engine: 6-litre, twin-turbo, in-line W12-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 84 x 89.5mm

Compression ratio: 10.5:1

Valve-train: 48-valve, DOHC

Gearbox: 8-speed automated dual clutch, four-wheel-drive

Ratios: 1st 5.966; 2nd 3.235; 3rd 2.083; 4th 1.42; 5th 1.054; 6th 0.841; 7th 0.678; 8th 0.534

Final drive, F/R: 3.130/3.154

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 626 (635) [467] @6,000rpm

Specific power: 105.2BHP/litre

Power -to-weight ratio: 279BHP/ton

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 664 (900) @1,350-4,500rpm

Specific torque: 151.2Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight ratio: 401Nm/ton

0-100km/h: 3.7-seconds

0-160km/h: 7.8-seconds

Top speed: 333km/h

Fuel economy, combined: 12.2-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 278g/km

Fuel capacity: 90-litres

Length: 4,850mm

Width: 1,954mm

Height: 1,405mm

Wheelbase: 2,851mm

Track, F/R: 1,672/1,664mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficient: 0.29

Headroom, F/R: 1,018/933mm

Boot capacity: 358-litres

Unladen weight: 2,244kg

Weight distribution, F/R: 55/45%

Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones/multilink, adaptive air suspension, 48V active anti-roll bars

Steering: Electric-assisted variable ratio

Turning circle: 11.51-meters

Brake discs, F/R: Ventilated discs, 420 x 40mm/380 x 30mm

Brake calipers, F/R: 10-/4-pison

Tyres, F/R: 265/40ZR21/305/35ZR21

This heart-leaved moonseed is  herbaceous tropical vine that grows on trees and is native toIndia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, China, Australia and Africa. Consumed in moderation, Giloy juice is proven to help fight infections by building immunity.

Giloy properties

The stems, rootsand leaves of the Giloy plant are known for boosting immunity. Theyare a powerhouse of antioxidantsthat fight free radicals, bacteria, liverdiseases and urinary tract infections.They’re also used to treat chronic fever and to improve digestion andgut health. The powder made fromthe stem mixed with ginger cantreat shortness of breath, cough and wheezing. Since Giloy acts as a hypoglycemic agent, it can control sugar levels in people with diabetes.

Hair health

Giloy is a panacea herb in traditional Indian medicine due to its healing and protective properties, especially hair health.It rejuvenates the body, skinand hair. Due to its anti-inflammatory property and ability to counterinflammation, it can combat hair and scalp ailments like dandruff and hair loss. It is traditionally used as a detoxifier to improve the skin, a moisturiser and anti-ageing concoction in tea and hair health. In several parts of India, Giloy powder paste is applied externally on the eyelids to boost vision.

Story of Giloy

It is always a journey to the world of herbs when visiting India and getting to taste something different every season.Looking at the stem of Giloy, I was reminded of the charming asparagus but with a much harder, thicker woody stem. It is organically grown as a medicinal plant and sold in powder form by pharmaceutical companies. Giloy products are available in most health stores.

Sheela’s special tea

Mix crushed Giloy leaveswith basil leaves and boilwith ginger and pepperpowder for 10 minutes. Stirin a teaspoon of honey tomake a perfect soothing tea.The soothing effects work wonders for health and well-being.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

CHICHIRIVICHE, Venezuela — The dazzling, colorful lionfish is a must for any exotic aquarium, but it has also become a major threat to the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean.

“It’s beautiful, but you have to kill it,” says Mavi Escalona, a Venezuelan nurse and amateur spearfisher.

“It causes a lot of damage, and it’s delicious!”

The spectacular, stripey lionfish with its venemous spines is a carnivore originally from the Indian and Pacific oceans that has now become an invasive species in the Atlantic and Caribbean, posing a threat to their ecosystems.

Known by many other names such as zebrafish, tastyfish and butterfly-cod, the lionfish can now be found from Florida to northern Brazil.

And it has a voracious appetite: eggs, small fish, crustaceans, molluscs. It is at least partly responsible — alongside over-fishing, pollution and climate change — for a drop in the numbers of other fish in the area.

“It’s an invasive fish. It doesn’t have competitors or predators,” said Laura Gutierrez, a Venezuelan biologist now based in the Canary Islands of Spain but who studied lionfish for many years in her homeland.

The lionfish was first spotted in Florida in 1985.

“People that had them in their aquarium released them because they ate their other fish or it was difficult to feed them,” said Gutierrez.

“It is eating all the commercial fish, crustaceans, fish and molluscs that keep reefs and corals clean, fish that eat algae.”

What happens in an aquarium takes place on a much larger scale in the Caribbean, and could do so, too, in the Mediterranean, which lionfish have started to colonise.

“We’re not talking about eradicating them, you can’t. It’s very difficult but we’re talking about minimising their impact,” said Gutierrez.

Unprofitable 

Venezuelan authorities have organised fishing competitions and promoted eating lionfish to try to stymy their inexorable spread.

“The only ones that can control them are us: fishermen,” said Willy Alvarez, 35, a dreadlocked spearfisher in Chichiviriche de la Costa, a small village between the sea and the mountains, around 60 kilometres west of Caracas.

Alvarez, with his permanent smile, heads out to sea every day with his mask, snorkel and harpoon.

“The first time I saw one was in 2008 or 2009... I caught it to put in an aquarium,” he said after climbing back on board his boat, a lionfish skewered on the end of his spear.

“Their reproduction is incredible: 30,000 to 40,000 eggs every three to four days.”

He catches one every day and turns it into a ceviche — a marinated raw fish dish — to sell on the beach to passersby.

It’s not a very profitable business. To produce 1 kilogramme of ceviche, which sells for $20, he needs to catch 3 kilogrammes of lionfish, meaning dozens of free dives — each one lasting around 40 seconds. And then there’s the time taken to prepare the dish.

“It’s a lot of effort. I can’t live off that but one lionfish less is thousands of little fish it won’t eat. It’s satisfying to help the ecosystem,” he said.

 ‘Better than lobster’ 

A decade ago, the lionfish was still unknown off the Venezuelan coast and its sudden appearance caused fear amongst many locals.

It’s curious beauty and venemous spines that can cause sharp pain or even paralysis have contributed to the mystery around what many locals call the devilfish.

Some even think they are spirits.

Unsurprisingly, it is little eaten here.

“We have to involve the local community,” said Gutierrez.

“We have to explain what the fish is. We have to explain that it’s edible, that it’s tasty.”

The spines and skin can also be used to make jewelry.

“If we create demand, we’ll ensure more are taken out of the sea and that will help limit the population,” she added.

“Delicious” exclaimed Genesis Palma, a 20-year-old cashier, tasting lionfish for the first time in Chichiriviche.

“Lionfish is the best,” added Juan Carlos Gutierrez, one of Alvarez’s clients.

“It’s better than lobster, better than caviar!”

PARIS — Facebook misidentified tens of thousands of advertisements flagged under its political ads policy, according to a study released Thursday, which warned that the failure could lead to political manipulation. 

Researchers at Belgium's KU Leuven University and New York University examined 33.8 million Facebook ads that ran on the social media site between July 2020 and February 2021.

"This is the first known study to quantify the performance of Facebook's political ad policy enforcement system at a large and representative scale," the team said in a summary of their findings. 

Facebook imposes stricter conditions on paid advertisements that concern "social issues, elections or politics," including posts that promote particular candidates.

Ads labelled as political appear on the site with a disclaimer that explains who paid for them. Ads that are found to be political, when they were not declared as such, are taken down.

But the researchers found that in 189,000 cases when Facebook reviewed an ad to check whether or not it should be treated as political, it was wrong 83 per cent of the time. 

These included 117,000 cases when Facebook's detection system failed to flag up ads that should have been treated as political, and 40,000 ads that were mistakenly flagged as political when they were not. 

The researchers noted that Facebook's enforcement of the policy relies heavily on detecting keywords in ads under an automated system, although staff also play a role in moderating the content. 

The period studied included elections in two large Facebook markets, the US and Brazil, and the researchers warned that mislabelling the ads created opportunities for manipulation. 

"When Facebook fails to identify advertisers who do not properly declare their ads as political, those who are malicious can spread disinformation," they warned. 

"Users who see ads without a political disclaimer may not be aware that their intent is to influence them," they added. 

The team noted that the US social media giant missed a higher proportion of undeclared political ads outside the United States.

"The platform had the worst record in Malaysia, where it missed as much as 45 per cent of ads from obviously political pages or advertisers," the research summary said. 

"In Macedonia, Argentina, Turkey, Portugal, France and Serbia, Facebook missed up to one out of four ads from such pages, which were sponsored by candidates or parties." 

The study follows criticism of Facebook over a recent whistleblower scandal, including accusations that the site's ability to tamp down hate speech and misinformation has been seriously lacking outside the West.

Within the US, Facebook introduced a moratorium on political ads around the 2020 presidential election, following deep controversy over the platform's role leading up to the 2016 election of Donald Trump. 

Facebook nonetheless allowed more than 70,000 political ads to run during the 2020 moratorium, the researchers found.

AFP has reached out to Facebook to request a comment on the study.

EL GOUNA, Egypt — Alongside celebrities gracing the red carpet at film festivals in Egypt, the traditional powerhouse of regional cinema, young Arab women directors are making their mark with documentaries tackling subjects ranging from femicide to revolution.

Taking a break from networking at the El Gouna Film Festival on the Red Sea in October, Iraqi actress and director Zahraa Ghandour, 30, discussed her feature documentary “Women of my Life”.

“The main theme is the life and death of young women and girls in Iraq. It explores how Iraqi society deals with femicide as if it’s normal,” she told AFP.

Ghandour said that “in the last few years, a new generation has come to the fore born in the 90s and 2000s with a new direction”, especially after October 2019 protests calling for the toppling of the ruling class in Iraq.

“We want to break free from the stereotypes that world cinema boxes us into,” she said.

“It’s like there are trends and they [international backers] want us to fit into these funding guidelines,” said Ghandour.

“What if I want to make a horror movie? I want to make what I want as long as it’s of high quality.”

“Women of My Life”, in which she plays one of the main characters, follows the gruesome death of a young woman suspected to have been carried out by male relatives.

“As Iraqis in general, our lives are unstable but the targeted killing of women in particular... cannot be trivialised,” she said.

Rich tableau 

For Rafia Oraidi, an independent Palestinian producer, the fractured landscape of life under Israeli occupation provides a rich tableau for narratives.

Working with Palestinian-American film-maker Hind Shoufani on “They Planted Strange Trees”, the international crew has been adding final touches in post-production.

“It’s a meditative journey set in Galilee that tracks the daily life of residents of the village where the director hails from,” said Oraidi.

Oraidi points to independent Palestinian directors such as Hany Abu-Assad and Elia Suleiman whose films have won Oscar nominations and prizes at Cannes.

“Without the personal attention of film makers, patience and persistence... despite the conditions we’re living under, we wouldn’t have a single film on screen,” she said.

“We want to show there are lots of other stories in Palestine besides war, destruction and the occupation,” Oraidi said.

She said the biggest challenge for independent Arab film-makers was a lack of facilities such as custom-made studios.

This “balloons the budget and we’re forced to partner up with other co-producers to get funding”, she said.

Faring better than Hollywood 

Tunisian screenwriter and director Fatma Riahi is in the early stages of a long feature, “My Father Killed Bourguiba”, that attempts “to tell the history of Tunisia in the last 30 years through a biographical and personal narrative”.

Focused on her father, the documentary follows his role in a plan to overthrow Habib Bourguiba’s regime in a 1987 military coup and its current reverberations after the 2011 revolution that toppled his successor Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

“I hope the film... gives an alternative reading... of Tunisian history... from coups to revolutions to what we’re currently experiencing under [President] Kais Saied,” the director in her mid-thirties said.

Saied himself sacked the government and seized wide-ranging powers on July 25 citing an “imminent threat” to the country.

“For women in Arab cinema, the number of directors for example is always less than men. It’s not just a regional phenomenon but also global,” Riahi told AFP.

But Arab cinema appears to be faring better than Hollywood, where out of the 250 biggest films released last year only 18 per cent were directed by women.

A 2019 study by Northwestern University in Doha, for example, found that around 50 per cent of all film-makers in the Arab world were women.

WASHINGTON — Breath-sniffing sensors and finger-scanning detectors are central to a landmark US safety mandate to fight drunk driving that is spurring tough questions about what technology can be trusted to do.

The federal law, which will require new cars to spot intoxicated drivers in coming years, could save thousands of lives annually with the potential to expand abroad, advocates say.

Yet, the legislation signed into law this week by President Joe Biden has also left sceptics to question whether vehicles could refuse to operate due to a false positive or effectively become witnesses against their owners in criminal cases.

Ultimately it is up to American regulators to decide what could become international precedent-setting rules. They have not said much so far, but have a potentially extendable three years to work with.

The initial reaction though was euphoria for people who battle against alcohol-related crashes in the United States, which permits drivers to have a higher level of booze in their blood than many other developed nations and consistently records a death toll over 10,000 per year.

“I’m crying tears of joy today,” said Alex Otte, national president of anti-drunk-driving advocacy group MADD.

“This is the beginning of the end of drunk driving,” she wrote in a statement after Biden’s law signing ceremony on Monday at the White House.

The devil is in the details of course, and one of the best options for fielding functional technology to meet the mandate has been under development since 2008 in a collaboration between carmakers and regulators.

As part of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS), researchers have developed tiny vent-like sensors that draw in a driver’s exhaled breath and test it.

Or the driver pushes the ignition button, which measures blood alcohol levels under the skin’s surface by shining an infrared-light through the person’s fingertip.

Anti-cheat functions are built into the system, which could prevent the car from starting or keep it from moving for drivers over the .08 per cent blood alcohol limit in most US states, said Robert Strassburger, president of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), which is supported by carmakers.

‘Completely unconstitutional’ 

The DADSS initiative is a partnership between ACTS and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which did not respond to a request for comment.

“We all emit carbon dioxide as we exhale and as long as you are in a range of CO2, then we know that sample was coming from the driver and nowhere else,” Strassburger told AFP.

As for the touch system, by pressing the ignition button the driver would complete what is effectively a circuit between their seat and the system.

“If the passenger were to reach over and touch the sensor the circuit would not be completed and an [alcohol testing] measurement would not be taken,” he said.

They are considered “passive” measures, unlike the already existing devices that require drivers to pass an alcohol test by blowing into a tube before they can operate a vehicle — devices that some jurisdictions require of people convicted of drunk driving.

While some experts see the new technology as ultimately positive with proper protections and communication, others see it as a worrying erosion of privacy.

Laura Perrotta, president of the advocacy group American Highway Users Alliance, said the alcohol testing technology is a fine idea — as long as it works.

“Someone uses mouthwash and goes to turn on their car and can’t get it to start, but then someone else has one too many drinks and it doesn’t detect it,” she said. “That could be a real problem.”

Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project watchdog group, said: “It’s completely unconstitutional to have our cars commandeered to monitor us for the government.”

“This is no less illegal than if the government mandated that the phone company installed wiretaps in everyone’s home just to make sure that they don’t commit a crime in the future,” he added.

Strassburger, the ACTS president, said there are already privacy limits for other information-gathering technologies in cars and the police need a warrant to get access to them — yet he will not be the final decider of which way things go.

“Vehicle manufacturers are going to make that ultimate decision or they will be commanded by policymakers,” he said.

Introduced for the 2020 model year the latest “N18” generation Nissan Sunny takes on a decidedly sportier design and character than its predecessor. With improved attention to detail, equipment and driving dynamic, the latest incarnation of Nissan’s long-running Sunny saloon adopts a more familiar design direction. Effectively replacing both, it immediate predecessor and slightly larger Sentra in Jordan, the new Sunny better consolidates Nissan’s local compact saloon segment, and in a wider scope, is a better integrated junior to the larger, sportier and more upmarket Nissan Altima and Maxima saloons.

Launched in Jordan in recent days, the Sunny’s sportier direction seems part of a trend to make traditional 4-door, “3-box” saloons more enticing to a car buying public near endlessly enamored with taller, heavier crossover SUVs. Longer, wider and lower than predecessors, the new Sunny strikes a more athletic stance, while, a lower sloping roofline cuts a rakishly sleek profile but comes at the cost of some rear headroom for tall passengers. That said, front headroom remains generous, while rear occupants in this segment are usually children or smaller adults.   

Dramatic disposition

Sportier in dimension and shape, the new Sunny also adopt a strikingly more assertive aesthetic in it details and surfacing. Losing its immediate predecessor’s flatter flanks, small wheels and overly rounded extremities, the new Sunny’s cultivates a sense for the dramatic. It employs sharp, deep and flowing creases and character lines and a layered styling sensibility to widen its stance, reduce visual height and create a sense of dynamic momentum. Urgent in disposition, the new Sunny features slim scowling headlights and prominently aggressive and angular lower and side bumper elements.

Echoed by a lower air intake style, the Sunny’s latest familial “V-motion” grille design is snooty and sporty, with slimmer chrome details and wider black outline elements. Beneath its muscularly creased and stepped clamshell bonnet, the Sunny is powered by Nissan’s familiar, eager-revving naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine, driving the front wheels through seamlessly smooth continuously variable transmission (CVT). The sole regional engine option, the Sunny’s 1.6-litre here develops 118BHP at 6,000rpm and 110lb/ft torque at 4,400rpm, which allows for estimated 11-second 0-100km/h acceleration and low 5.2l/100km combined fuel efficiency.

Smooth and seamless

Progressive in delivery, the Sunny’s engine is as responsive from idling and versatile in mid-range as necessary to keep a good pace, but is best when reaching for its redline. Perky and eager, if not a “performance” model, the Sunny confidently carries its restrained 1,238kg mass. Refined and smooth for quiet daily driving, the Sunny’s engine is however not over-insulated at higher revs. Responsive and adequately capable even when overtaking at speed or on inclines, the Sunny’s CVT acts to seamlessly alter ratios to best exploit its moderate power and torque output.  

Adept at making small ratio changes to maintain performance and momentum or alternatively for smooth fuel efficiency, the Sunny’s CVT is one of the more intuitive such systems, and better allows the engine to rev freely when needed than more restrictive CVTs. That said, the Sunny’s CVT does not feature pre-set ratios that mimic a traditional gearbox for added driver autonomy and control, as other Nissans do. Instead, the driver can select a general “L” mode for low ratio, high rev situations and for additional steep descent engine braking. 

Eager and committed

About as sporty as its styling suggests in its driving dynamics, the Sunny is agile and light on its feet, yet, is sure-footed through corners and reassuring at speed. With quick and accurate, if somewhat clinical electric-assisted steering, the Sunny turns into sudden and sharp corners with a tidy responses, and very little sense on at the limit understeer. Eager and agile, if not quite as nimble as a smaller Nissan Micra, the Sunny dispatches successive direction changes in its stride, and delivers a higher degree of mechanical rear grip than expected.

Committed through corners with terrific lateral road-holding, the Sunny meanwhile maintains good cornering body control with little roll. Well-balancing ride and handling properties, the Sunny is smooth and comfortable in town, at speed and over most imperfections, and is firm but forgiving over sharper and  jagged bumps and cracks. Well-resolved in vertical control and rebound over bumps, dips and crests, the Sunny was settled during a long test drive, with only one brief briskly driven, roughly paved and steeply inclining stretch perhaps calling for ever so slightly firmer damping.  

Sporty sensibility

With a pleasantly, if not overtly sporty ambiance inside, the new Sunny’s cabin features pronounced circular side vents, chunky height adjustable sports steering wheel and an intuitive infotainment system. Driving position is comfortable and supportive with easy reach of all controls. It includes a slim seat-integrated armrest, but no adjustable lumbar support or rear centre armrest. Visibility is for the most part good and the Sunny is easy to park and maneuver, but one does tend to peer around the thick and steeply sloped A-pillars through briskly driven corners.

Providing decent rear legroom and generous boot space accommodating an estimated at 474-litres volume, the top specification Sunny SL is meanwhile a well-equipped, rather than over-equipped compact saloon. With a host of convenience, assistance and safety features, the Sunny SL is trimmed with fabric upholstery — better in dark colours — and features sportily subtle faux-carbon fibre interior and exterior accents. However, and most useful for busy Amman roads, the Sunny SL does come with blindspot and rear cross traffic warnings, and 360° view reversing camera and parking sensors.

Nissan Sunny 1.6 SL

Engine: 1.6-litre, transverse 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 78 x 83.6mm

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC

Gearbox: Continuously variable transmission (CVT) auto, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 118 (120) [84] @6,000rpm

Specific power: 73.8BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 95.3BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 110 (149) @4,400rpm

Specific torque: 93.2Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 120.3Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 11-seconds (estimate)

Fuel consumption, combined: 5.2l/100km (estimate)

Fuel capacity: 40-litres

Length: 4,496mm

Width: 1,740mm

Height: 1,455mm

Wheelbase: 2,618mm

Track, F/R: 1,519/1,529mm

Minimum ground clearance: 135mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.32

Head room, F/R: 1,003/922mm

Legroom, F/R: 1,130/787mm

Hip room, F/R: 1,292/1,272mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,348/1,361mm

Luggage volume: 474-litres (estimate)

Kerb weight: 1,238kg

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning circle: 10.6-meters

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs/drums

Tyres: 205/55R16

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CARRIERES-SUR-SEINE, France — Two centuries ago, French farmers revolutionised mushroom production by moving into the maze of limestone quarries underneath Paris, but today only a handful still cultivate a heritage at risk of fading away for good.

The bitter irony is that demand for traditionally grown white button mushrooms, and their more flavourful brown-capped cousins, is as high as ever.

“It’s not a question of finding clients, I sell everything I can produce,” said Shoua-moua Vang at Les Alouettes in Carrieres-sur-Seine, a short drive from the bustling La Defence business district west of the capital.

Vang runs the largest underground mushroom cave in the Paris region, spread across one and a half hectares of tunnels in a hill overlooking the Seine River.

He counts Michelin-starred chefs as well as supermarket chains and local markets among his customers, even though he deems his mushrooms “expensive” at 3.20 euros a kilogramme wholesale.

But dank trays loaded with hundreds of kilogrammes of fungi were going to waste during a recent visit, because Vang lacked enough hands to pick them all.

Just five of his 11 workers were on the job after the others called in sick — and Vang was doubtful that all of them would actually return.

“People these days don’t want to work all day in the dark like vampires,” he said, estimating that this day’s production would top out at 1.5 tonnes instead of his usual 2.5 or even 3 tonnes.

He is one of just five traditional producers of what the French call “champignons de Paris” located around the capital, along with an even smaller number in abandoned quarries north of the capital.

That’s down from around 250 in the late 19th century, when farmers flocked to a “royal” mushroom variety that the Sun King, Louis XIV, had made popular by having it grown at Versailles.

They had discovered that Agaricus bisporus would grow year-round if placed in a manure-based substrate deep underground, where temperatures and humidity could be controlled and the dark would encourage growth.

It also turned out that the caves’ earthy atmosphere, reinforced by covering the compost with ground-up limestone, imparted a nutty, almost mineral taste while preventing the mushrooms from becoming over-saturated with water.

Even the macabre tunnels of the Paris catacombs, now a top tourist attraction, were once filled with mushroom beds.

Revival in view? 

Rapid urbanisation and in particular the construction of the Paris metro began pushing growers out of the capital in the early 1900s, though around 50 were still in quarries under Paris suburbs in the 1970s, often run by new generations of the same family.

The arrival of cheaper imports from industrial hangars in The Netherlands, Poland and later China, which use peat instead of limestone to boost production rates, proved too much for most.

“It’s hard to find people who want to take over because there’s no mushroom cultivation programmes in agriculture schools,” said Muriel Le Loarer, who is working to revive the Paris mushroom tradition at the SAFER rural development agency.

Vang, for example, had worked 11 years at the quarry owned by Jean-Louis Spinelli, whose children declined to follow in their father’s footsteps, before taking over in September 2020.

“Finding people to pick the mushrooms is complicated, it’s hard to find good compost, and people don’t want to invest when you don’t know if producers are going to make it,” Spinelli said.

“We’re promoting the sector, helping to find financing and working with local authorities to open quarries back up,” said Le Loarer, noting the growing interest in local produce and the farm-to-table trend.

For now, though, Paris mushrooms are just a tiny fraction of the 90,000 tonnes produced in France each year, according to figures from the Rungis wholesale market south of the capital.

Officials say it’s too late to create a distinctive “Paris mushroom” certification under France’s AOP food appellation rules, since the name has been used generically for decades.

That means producers face a marketing challenge to ensure people realise when they’re buying the authentic, quarry-farmed fungi.

“Here our mushrooms grow naturally, I don’t boost them by spraying water because that fills them with water,” Vang said. “These mushrooms from the huge hangars are basically grown by computers.”