Features

By Brian Truitt

USA Today (TNS) 

While 2014 couldn’t compete with 2013’s record box office, some unexpected heroes kept it from being a disaster.

Buoyed by a late boost from Peter Jackson’s final Hobbit film, the movie industry will finish the year with about $10.5 billion in ticket sales, according to estimates from Rentrak. That’s down 5 per cent, well short of last year’s impressive $10.9 billion domestic haul.

Even though 2013 had more notable flops (The Lone Ranger), the year overall had more hits than 2014 did, says Rentrak analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Plus, high-profile movies such as the anticipated erotic drama Fifty Shades of Grey and the Colin Firth spy movie Kingsman: The Secret Service moved to 2015, and there was no Pixar hit to provide a family-friendly bump.

The year “was confounding at best and frustrating at worst”, Dergarabedian says. “It’s one of those years that will go down in the record books as very interesting but not one we’d necessarily want to repeat.”

It could have been worse: In early summer, ticket sales were down as much as 20 per cent.

Despite the success of X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla and Transformers: Age of Extinction, box office pundits knew 2014’s warm months “didn’t have the firepower that the previous summer had” with Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2 and Man of Steel, says Jeff Bock, senior analyst for Exhibitor Relations.

Still, Guardians of the Galaxy — this year’s overall domestic box-office champ with a $332.7 million take — and a rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned the tide in August.

September and October proved to be the strongest on record, with more than $1 billion in box office for a slate that included The Maze Runner, The Equalizer and Gone Girl.

Then November got shots in the arm from the animated hit Big Hero 6 as well as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1. The penultimate movie in the popular Jennifer Lawrence franchise is No. 2 overall this year with $306.7 million and counting.

“Right when we needed it, Guardians came along and blew away everybody’s expectations,” Dergarabedian says. “That was a movie where you’d think it should be released in May, June or July, but they went in August and that created a real momentum. It created a new wave of moviegoing.”

Studios as a whole got more creative with release dates, Dergarabedian adds. Summer-ready Captain America: The Winter Soldier racked up $259.8 million (and ranked third overall in 2014), helped by an early April release that allowed it to dominate for three straight weeks against lesser competition. “They’re creating a situation where the movies define the month, not where the month defines the movies,” he says.

The success of the Captain America sequel, Guardians and Angelina Jolie vehicle Maleficent — three of the top six movies of 2014 — also cemented Disney as the biggest name in Hollywood, with Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Disney Animation all under its massive umbrella.

“The studio is just untouchable right now with Star Wars looming” in 2015, Bock says. “It’s almost like now there’s one super-studio and then everybody else.

“Where there might not have been a gap before, there’s certainly one now and everybody’s playing catch-up to what Disney’s doing.”

Some surprising hits of 2014:

The Lego Movie. It might have been silly to think an animated film based on a line of building-block toys could be a blockbuster, but everything was awesome for Lego, which ranked fourth with $257.8 million. A February release date and great reviews (audiences gave it a whopping 96 per cent approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com) helped, Dergarabedian says. But for those not in the target audience, “it’s not always easy to know what’s going to be a hit and what’s not. If you’re a 12-year-old kid when you hear about Lego, you might be losing your mind”.

Guardians of the Galaxy. It would have been pretty crazy to imagine a year ruled by a movie starring a talking raccoon and an alien tree — even for those who dug the obscure Marvel Comics series that first appeared in the 1970s. That said, kids asked Santa for Rocket Raccoon action figures, and “I am Groot” is arguably the coolest cinematic catchphrase since “Show me the money”. August films just don’t rule the box office like that, Bock says. “It’ll change things — this definitely will send some ripples down Hollywood.”

The Fault in Our Stars. John Green’s young-adult novel already was a hit and the adaptation with Shailene Woodley as a cancer-stricken teen in love proved to be gold as well — an example of a fall or early year movie being put right in the middle of a heated summer, Dergarabedian says. It was another example, along with Woodley’s Divergent, of “the YA female audience again showing their box office clout and really delivering a hit”.

Hollywood looks like it will find its magic again in 2015, with new Terminator, Jurassic Park, Avengers, Fast & Furious and Star Wars films, plus Fifty Shades, Entourage and other big-time titles.

“Because we’ve had a lull in 2014, it’s going to make 2015 seem really, really good,” Bock says.

Predicts Dergarabedian: “A year from now, we’re going to be talking how we’re 5 per cent ahead of the previous year and maybe even more.”

CAIRO — Egypt's top court hears an appeal Thursday by three jailed Al Jazeera journalists as expectations of their release grew amid a thawing of Cairo's ties with Qatar, the channel's base.

Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed of the satellite news broadcaster's English service were arrested in December 2013 in a case that triggered global outrage.

Greste and Fahmy each got seven years, and Mohammed was jailed for 10.

In June, the reporters, who authorities say lacked proper accreditation, were jailed for aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood and spreading "false information" after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The Brotherhood, which saw great electoral success after the fall of long-time leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, has since been declared a "terrorist organisation" in Egypt.

"The Court of Cassation could order a retrial, issue a new verdict or acquit the defendants," said Fahmy's defence lawyer Negad Al Borai, adding that the appeal could even be dismissed.

The three, who on Monday completed one year in prison, could also be freed on bail if a retrial is ordered, he said.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday downplayed speculation of a release, saying there had been mixed signals from Egyptian authorities.

Grounds for appeal 

Greste's parents told ABC in Australia they were hopeful the three would soon be released, saying they had "confidence in the integrity of the Egyptian appeals system".

Rallies in support of the three were held in London and The Hague on Monday.

Al Jazeera's appeal cited "flaws in the arrest procedure" and "the fact that evidence presented in court did not marry with the charges".

The reporters were arrested when Egypt and the Gulf state of Qatar were at loggerheads after Morsi was removed by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi following mass protests against his one-year rule.

Ties worsened when Qatar, a key backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, repeatedly denounced Sisi's overthrow of Morsi, and Cairo accused Al Jazeera of biased coverage of the Islamist's ouster and the government crackdown that followed.

At least 1,400 people have died in the crackdown, mostly in August last year when police broke up two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo.

Thousands more have been jailed and dozens sentenced to death after often speedy mass trials.

"Their arrest was a settling of political scores between Egypt and Qatar," Borai said of the three journalists.

Thursday's hearing comes as ties between Qatar and Egypt improve following mediation by Saudi Arabia, a key Sisi backer.

Last month, Qatar joined its Gulf neighbours in supporting Egypt under Sisi in an attempt to end Doha's regional isolation over its backing for the Brotherhood.

Surprise closure 

And on December 20, Cairo told a Qatari envoy it was ready for a "new era" with Doha, as the emirate offered its "full support" to Sisi.

Two days later, Al Jazeera announced the surprise closure of its Egyptian channel, which had consistently criticised Cairo since Morsi's ouster.

"The warming of Cairo-Doha relations could be a consideration in influencing the judge's decision on Thursday," said Mustapha Kamel Al Sayyid, professor of political science at the University of Cairo.

"No one can be sure, but it is quite likely the final result will be the release of the journalists. How and when that happens is another issue," H.A. Hellyer of the Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington told AFP.

Sisi himself has said he would have preferred the journalists had been deported rather than tried.

Greste and Fahmy were arrested at their makeshift office in a Cairo hotel where the authorities said they were working without mandatory accreditation.

The same court on Thursday will also examine appeals of four Egyptian co-defendants in the case, who were jailed for seven years for belonging to a "terrorist" organisation and for "damaging the image of Egypt".

Eleven other defendants tried in absentia, including one Dutch and two British journalists, were given 10-year sentences.

KOZARMISLENY, Hungary — They were a rare sign of individuality during the grim communist era. But now Hungarians are turning their backs on their gaily-painted “Cube” houses, ashamed of the simple geometric patterns and trompe-l’oeil effects that brightened their darkest days.

In the 1960s and 1970s the “Kadar Cube” — named after the all-powerful communist leader of the time Janos Kadar — transformed the Hungarian countryside.

Some 800,000 of these simple 100-square-metre homes still dot the landscape in the country of 10 million, including in Kozarmisleny, near the southern city of Pecs.

But what makes some of them stand out are their unexpectedly cheery and modern facades, far removed from the dull greyness so often associated with communist-era constructions.

“The houses were boring, so I thought let’s figure something out,” said Istvan Pucher, a 72-year-old mason who built over 220 cube houses and individually decorated at least a tenth of them.

Pucher developed his own designs and patterns, reminiscent of vintage optical art and soon it became a trend, with neighbours wanting different designs.

“People heard of it by word of mouth,” the cheery, white-haired Pucher told AFP.

Supplies were scarce — Hungary was then part of the Soviet block — but with the limited tools, colours and techniques at their disposal, masons created false box windows and painted trapezoids, triangles and swirls in vibrant colours on these squat little homes.

At the time, the ornamentation represented a subversive desire for individuality, even if the authorities pretended that was not the case.

“Unconsciously with the individual designs people defined themselves against the homogenising efforts of socialism,” said film-maker Jozsef Szolnoki, who has helped document the very best examples with his German photographer wife Katharina Roters.

A past best forgotten

She has travelled around Hungary for 10 years seeking out the most artistic and unusual cube houses, praising what she described as an “ornamental phenomenon that has become a code, a language of its own.”

But she is one of the few to appreciate their beauty.

“Why are they interesting? I don’t see it!” said Aniko, an elderly woman passing by with her shopping bags in Ujpetre, one of the many villages boasting decorated cube houses.

Before Roters ventured out there was never any real interest in the designs.

“This was a blind spot in Hungary,” Roters told AFP.

Her husband puts it down to an unspoken bargain between the communist leadership and the people after the 1956 uprising, which was brutally suppressed by Soviet tanks and followed by massive reprisals.

In exchange for their quiet submissiveness, Hungarians were afforded higher living standards and more freedom than in the rest of the eastern bloc.

Now an uncomfortable reminder of this, the colourful houses are at best ignored, at worst despised.

“There is a lot of psychological suppression in not seeing these buildings,” Szolnoki said.

“The drama is that the houses rewrote the country’s image, yet they remained invisible.”

While there are no definite figures, a few thousand decorated cube houses still remain in Hungary.

But they are slowly disappearing as houses are renovated and owners want to erase memories of a depressing past.

“They deserve attention to remind us of that time, when we worked for simple people who were happy to have a comfortable new home,” said Pucher.

Despite the attention, he doesn’t consider himself an artist. “I just did my job,” he said.

MIAMI — European researchers said Monday they have devised the first tiny motion detector that could help find microscopic life forms on distant planets.

Until now, scientists have tried to find signs of extraterrestrial life by listening for sounds that might be emitted from an alien world, by scanning the skies with potent telescopes and by sending robotic probes and rovers to analyse the chemical fingerprint of samples from comets and planets.

But researchers in Switzerland and Belgium were interested in a new method. Taking advantage of movement, which they call “a universal signature of life”, they would aim to sense on a nanolevel the tiny motions that all life forms make.

They began to explore the possibility of searching for life with a sensor attuned to those nanoscale vibrations in microscopic organisms such as bacteria and yeast.

“The nanomotion detector allows studying life from a new perspective: life is movement,” said Giovanni Longo, lead author of the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal. 

“This means that the nanomotion detector can detect any small movement of living systems and deliver a complementary point of view in the search for life,” he told AFP via e-mail from Switzerland.

Inexpensive 

‘life detector’

Longo, a scientist at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, and colleagues at Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie in Belgium devised an instrument that is smaller than a millimetre — just a few hundred microns in length — that can sense the smallest nanoscale movements.

They tested it on a variety of living things, including E coli, yeast, as well as human, plant and mice cells in the lab.

In all cases, when living organisms were placed near the sensor, they “produced an increase in the amplitude of the measured fluctuations”, said the study.

Longo and colleagues also scooped up soil and water from the grounds near their Swiss lab and found that the sensor could detect tiny life there, too.

Researchers found they could manipulate the movements of the life forms by adding nutrients which the cells would consume, or adding chemicals that would kill them, making the motion stop.

“The detection system can be used as a simple, extremely sensitive, and weight-efficient ‘life detector’,” the study said.

Longo said a prototype would cost less than $10,000, would use very little battery power and could be contained in a 20 by 20-centimetre box.

New way to look for life

The device has not been presented yet to NASA or the European Space Agency, but efforts are under way to write a proposal and make a prototype that could travel to space on a robotic vessel or orbiter that is hunting for extraterrestrial life, Longo said.

If it had been available to the ESA’s Rosetta mission, which recently sent its Philae lander onto a comet for the first time and detected water and possible signatures of life in the form of complex carbon, it could have propelled the science one step further, “determining if these conditions are still harbouring life, in any form,” Longo said.

If the world’s space agencies find a way to use it, the detector could be used to search for life on the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, or on Mars, where it might help scientists recognise life exists in a form that they had not previously expected or understood.

The sensor could also be used to detect extreme life forms in areas that are hard to measure on Earth, such as volcanoes and the ocean floor, he said.

However, it could be years before the sensor is actually tested in space.

“It is rare that anything is ‘simple’ in the context of space exploration,” said Ariel Anbar, a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the department of chemistry and biochemistry at Arizona State University.

Nonetheless, Anbar, who was not involved in the study, described the work as “refreshing” and a “fundamentally new idea”.

“Motion-detection on such a scale has never been attempted before as an extraterrestrial life detection approach,” he told AFP.

“If it is as technologically simple to implement as the authors claim, then it could be worth integrating into future mission concepts.”

LOS ANGELES — Sony appears to have a win-win with “The Interview.” Not only did the studio score a moral victory by releasing the film in the face of hacker threats, the movie made at least $15 million from more than 2 million digital rentals and purchases in its first four days.

On Friday, it seemed unlikely we’d ever know if the simultaneous — or “day and date” — strategy paid off. Now, it’s tempting to suggest this may be the start of a brave new world of distribution. Add in the $2.8 million from “The Interview’s” limited theatrical release and things aren’t looking so bleak for the Seth Rogen-James Franco R-rated comedy.

But the story is far from over and many are divided about its outcome. For some, “The Interview’s” impressive video-on-demand (VOD) performance is an anomaly. For others, it signals a revolution.

“It’s a huge number and it’s one that is probably making the other studios salivate,” said Jeff Bock, a senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “Now there is something to put on the bulletin board that says, ‘Yes, VOD is definitely a viable option.’”

But one might also post on the bulletin board that it’s standard industry practice not to release VOD figures. That’s why the public only hears about them when they’re good. For instance, 2011’s “Bridesmaids,” which had already been released theatrically, made $24 million from VOD in four months, allowing Universal to declare it the most popular VOD release of all time. But how many VOD bombs have there been?

Also, if Sony hadn’t been hacked and this film wasn’t pushed to the centre of a national conversation, it could have easily made $20 million to $25 million on opening weekend — not unlike “Pineapple Express,” a similarly raunchy R-rated comedy starring Rogen and Franco. This would have come far closer than VOD did to paying off “The Interview’s” $40 million production budget and roughly $10 million marketing cost.

Historically, the movies that have prospered with a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release have been the ones with the smaller budgets, destined for art houses and independent theatre chains.

For example, J.C. Chandor’s Wall Street thriller “Margin Call,” a $3.5 million movie that Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions acquired for $1 million, was released in theatres and on demand in the fall of 2011 and picked up around $5.4 million from theatrical and another $5 million from VOD. Magnolia, IFC and Radius-TWC have all had similar success stories.

On the other hand, the major studios haven’t had the option to even test day-and-date strategies because it would jeopardize the 90-day release window required by big exhibitor chains. In 2011, Universal tried to release their Ben Stiller comedy “Tower Heist” on VOD for $59.99 just three weeks after its theatrical opening, but theatre owners balked and chains like Cinemark threatened to cancel their showings. Universal ended up scrapping the plan.

Sony, meanwhile, only started pursuing digital options after the major theatre chains dropped the film following hacker threats to blow up theatres.

In addition, many exceptional conditions factored into “The Interview’s” first weekend. It became an unlikely event movie, and seeing “The Interview” was akin to asserting one’s freedom of speech. That’s buzz you can’t buy.

“We don’t want to be told what we can and cannot watch,” said Rentrak’s senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

That also applies to underage teen audiences, who were suddenly able to easily and affordably access an R-rated movie.

Bock thinks that even when the extraordinary, awareness-boosting events surrounding “The Interview” are taken into account, the film’s hybrid opening still has the potential to change everything, even if it takes years.

“The truth is, the VOD obliterated the theatrical,” said Bock. “When you think about what the real future of distributing films is, it’s got to be as easy as one click. If that’s as quickly as you can get money from people, well, the studios are going to listen. It’s just economics.”

Others, like Dergarabedian, believe the old model will prevail, but with VOD growth.

“I think 2015 is going to be the biggest box office year ever in theatres and that’ll have a ripple effect in VOD. The VOD space benefits from movies doing well in the theatres,” he said.

But years down the line, this case will not be forgotten, especially if Sony continues releasing its digital numbers, including “The Interview’s” second-week performance. While it’s unlikely that we’ll ever get a day-and-date release of a Marvel blockbuster, a $25 million comedy, drama or rom-com could now become fair game, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for theatre owners.

DETROIT — When it comes to making and selling cars, the auto industry thinks and acts globally: There is near-seamless coordination between parts suppliers, factories and dealerships.

But when an unsafe car needs to be recalled, that global coordination breaks down — in part because governments do not demand it. There are no international standards for determining what’s unsafe and should be recalled, or how car owners should be notified. The consequences can sometimes be deadly.

Six years ago, Honda began recalling driver’s side air bags in the US The air bags, made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp. at a now-shuttered plant in Georgia, can inflate with too much force, spewing shrapnel into the vehicle. But it wasn’t until November of this year — after the death of a driver in Malaysia — that Honda recalled driver’s side air bags in small cars sold in Europe and Asia, even though the air bags were made at the same time in the same Georgia factory.

Governments are the safety watchdogs, but regulations vary widely and there’s little cooperation between nations. Automakers, for the most part, get to decide when and where their cars will be fixed.

Cars are global

Cars and car parts are now made to be sold and used almost anywhere in the world.

The compact Ford Focus is designed to be sold globally, with only minor tweaks to satisfy local tastes and regulations. It’s made in nine different factories.

Almost all the major automakers use air bags from Takata, which has 56 plants in 20 countries. The Japanese company makes around 22 per cent of the world’s air bags, according to Valient Automotive Market Research.

Sharing common parts saves money, but some experts question whether the rush to go global compromised safety. Auto analyst and engineer Tadashi Tateuchi says he believes that’s what happened with Takata and Honda, which is Takata’s biggest customer.

Honda responds that the air bags sold in the US were different, and more advanced, than those involved in the Malaysia crash. Even though they both ruptured, determining the underlying cause took time.

The safety gamut

Despite decades of talk, at the United Nations and elsewhere, little progress has been made getting governments to harmonise safety standards.

In Europe and Japan, cars are rigorously tested before they go on sale. In the US, automakers self-certify and cars are tested only after they go on sale. In Mexico and India, cars don’t have to meet any government safety standards at all.

Likewise, countries differ on how to treat a problem. The US requires automakers to report a safety defect within five days of its discovery, even if the cause hasn’t been determined. Other countries, like Colombia, want automakers to have a fix in place before they report a recall.

John Krafcik, the president of auto buying site TrueCar.com and Hyundai’s former US chief, says there’s also discrepancy in what’s considered a safety defect.

The lack of a cohesive system contributes to huge disparities. In 2013, there were 714 vehicle recalls issued in the US, where 28 million cars, trucks and motorcycles were called back due to safety issues. That outpaced the rest of the world. In Europe, which has around the same number of cars on the road as the US, there were 110 recalls. In Japan there were 303. China had 130.

What automakers want

Some auto executives say global standards would allow them to work from one playbook when designing cars. But low or nonexistent standards also save them money. Nissan didn’t even include air bags in the $5,000 Datsun Go it now sells in India and South Africa.

“We are starting with a world that is uneven in the distribution of safety,” says Adrian Lund, the president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance-funded group that crash tests US cars.

Nissan says the Go meets local safety standards and has other features like better brakes to help drivers avoid accidents.

Automakers can also save money by limiting or delaying recalls.

Ten years ago, the US government fined Toyota $16 million for delaying a recall of 4Runner SUVs with defective steering rods in the US. The defect was linked to three fatal crashes here.

This summer, two years after a recall in Europe, General Motors recalled the Aveo in the US because corrosion was wearing down the brakes. Meanwhile, Ford recalled SUVs with 1.6-liter EcoBoost engines in the US two years ago because of a fire risk. No recall yet in Europe and Brazil.

What might work

Krafcik says the job of alerting owners to recalls will get easier once connected cars let automakers send recall notifications directly to the dashboard. But global implementation of such technology could take decades.

In the meantime, Lund thinks getting local people involved in their own safety — instead of imposing global standards — might be the safest approach. He is a trustee with the Global New Car Assessment Programme, a nonprofit that sets up independent crash-test facilities and publicises the results. The group has established vehicle testing programmes in Southeast Asia and Latin America over the past four years, and it’s working on a programme for India.

“What you want it for everyone to be educated about safety, and learn that people are being injured and killed and don’t need to be,” he says.

With accelerated model development and update cycles, Kia is becoming ever more responsive to customer requirements and changing trends, and has blurring the lines between a mid-life facelift and an all-new model. Though longer than the car it replaces, the 2015 Kia Sorento at first seems like an update.

However, subtle but extensive mechanical, technological, design and interior enhancements go as far as a new bodyshell and add up to a considerably better vehicle. And with markedly improved ride, handling, refinement and luxury, the 2015 Sorento more accurately constitutes an all-new car that goes from an also-ran when relaunched as a 7-seat crossover SUV in 2009 to a world-class vehicle.

More than skin deep

Gaining 95mm in length, of which 80mm constitute a longer wheelbase, the new Sorento benefits from improve ride quality, cabin space and being 10mm lower and 5mm wider, gains a greater sense of road presence. Re-engineered to utilise 52.7 per cent ultra-high tensile steel and 10.1 per cent ultra-strong hot-stamped steel compared to its predecessor’s 24.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent, the new Sorento offers a 14 per cent improvement in torsional rigidity for improved refinement, handling and safety.

In addition to a stiffer core structure being notably improved at the wheel-arches, pillars, tailgate, the new Sorento also receives a 29 per cent thicker dashboard, improved transmission tunnel sound-proofing and larger engine and gearbox mounts for added refinement and 3-6 per cent noise reduction. 

Evolutionary in spirit, the new Sorrento’s styling however seems significantly sportier and more up-market. Dominated by a new front-end with moody wrap-around headlights with LED elements and upward far-side kinks, the 2015 Sorento’s wider, hungrier interpretation of Kia’s “Tiger Nose” corporate face includes a diamond honeycomb pattern similar to the 2013 Kia Cross GT concept.

A bigger bumper with metal skid plate-like lower panel, large trapezoidal fog-lights and wide lower intake combine with a clamshell bonnet with scalloped edges for a more powerful road presence. Similarly, the longer Sorento features a lower roofline and higher waistline, but retains its thick D-pillar. More conservative rear lights and sportier bumper design look more elegant.

Smooth delivery

Offered with two petrol engine choices in Jordan, the driven top-of-the-range 3.3-litre V6 with conventional multi-port fuel injection develops 266BHP at 6400rpm and 234lb/ft torque at 5300rpm. Driven through a 6-speed automatic gearbox, the Sorento’s ‘over-square’ engine can haul the 1,733kg family SUV to 100km/h in 8.2-seconds, onto 210km/h and returns 10.5l/100km combined fuel efficiency.

Reflecting the Sorento’s primary role as a refined on-road car-like crossover SUV, its high-revving V6 is progressive in delivery and power build-up, and allows for responsive throttle control to dialling in exact power increments as required. The 3.3-litre engine has also been improved to yield more low-end torque for improved flexibility in daily driving and on inclines.

Smooth-shifting with responsiveness and shift points altered depending on which of three driving mode settings one chooses from economy to sportiness, the Sorento’s 6-speed automatic can be sequentially shifted through the gear lever, but there are no steering-mounted buttons or levers.

Well-spaced ratios served well for performance and economy, but on particularly high and steep inclines, one felt that a little more low-end torque, or a slightly more aggressive second gear ratio would have aided momentum through tight briskly driven corners, but by no means essential. Larger drivers might find the gear lever set slightly close on the centre console, especially when using sequential “manual” shift mode with lever angled towards driver.

Composure and comfort

Offered in front- or part-time four-wheel drive versions as driven during the Sorento’s regional launch held in Jordan last month, torque is ostensibly sent to the front wheels, with rear wheels receiving more torque as required for to maintain traction, grip and balance.

At low speeds, 50:50 four-wheel drive can be locked for improved ability and predictability, while an Advanced Traction Cornering Control (ATCC) system transfers more torque to the outside rear wheel while braking the inside wheel for enhance grip through hard corners. Designed to operate before the electronic stability controls step in, the Sorento’s ATCC system allowed for fluency and natural handling characteristics, when driven on a gravely low traction rally stage.

With better ride and handling, the new Sorento’s longer wheelbase lends itself to greater highway stability and cornering grip. Retaining its predecessor’s front MacPherson and rear multi-link suspension set-up, the new Sorento’s larger dampers — vertically located behind the rear axles — and larger sub-frame bushes provide better ride compliance and body control.

Through rough rural switchbacks the new Sorento cornered more confidently and with better poise and weight transfer control, while road imperfections were dispatched with buttoned-down composure on rebound. Faster and with more feel, the Sorento’s modified electric-assisted steering turns in with more positive, quick and direct feel, and is fluently weighted and assisted, but is also reassuringly stable at speed.

Space and refinement

Turning in and holding cornering lines tidily, the new Sorento is agile and keen for its segment. Highway stability is reassuring and refined, and benefits from low CD0.33 aerodynamic drag and underfloor cover. Comfortable in most situations with the largest alloy wheels and lowest profile 235/55R19 tyres, the Sorento was firmly smooth over all but the harshest potholes.

More pliant standard 235/65R17 or optional 235/60R18 tyres should provide even more comfortably supple ride qualities. Spacious inside, the new Sorento features improved headspace for all three rows, with the longer wheelbase mainly translating into added middle row legroom and longer seat sliding versatility. Luggage room improves from 258-litre minimum and 2052-litre maximum to 320-lires and 1066-litres respectively.

Practical, convenient and refined inside, the new Sorento features a more aesthetic interior design themed to emphasise its width, while upholstery and materials are also improved, with soft textures covering the most important areas occupants interact with.

Well-kitted, the Sorento features extensive standard and optional creature comforts including an automatic opening tailgate, 10-way adjustable driver’s seat, panoramic roof and 7- or 8-inch infotaiment screen with around-view parking assist cameras. Scoring a maximum five-star EuroNCAP safety rating, the Sorento’s numerous safety features include modern active driver-assistance systems like adaptive cruise control, lane departure and assistance systems, blind-spot warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, which warns of other cars driving behind when parking.

Technical specifications

Engine: 3.3-litre, transverse V6-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 92 x 83.8mm

Compression ratio: 10.6:1

Valve-train: 24-valve, DOHC

Gearbox: 6-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive

Gear ratios: 1st 4.651:1; 2nd 2.831:1; 3rd 1.842:1; 4th 1.386:1; 5th 1:1 6th 0.772:1

Reverse/final drive: 3.393:1/3.320:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 266 (270) [199] @ 6400rpm

Power-to-weight: 153.5BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 234 (318) @ 5300rpm

Torque-to-weight: 183.5Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 8.2-seconds

Top speed: 210km/h

Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 245g/km

Length: 4,780mm

Width: 1,890mm

Height: 1,690mm

Wheelbase: 2,780mm

Track, F/R: 1,633/1,644

Ground clearance: 185mm

Approach/ramp/departure angles: 16.9°/18°/21°

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.33

Legroom, 1st/2nd/3rd row: 1048/1,000/805mm

Luggage volume, min/max: 320/2,066-litres

Kerb weight: 1,733kg

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Lock-to-lock: 2.87-turns

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link, coils, anti-roll bar

Brakes, F/R: 320mm ventilated discs/305mm discs

Tyres: 235/55R19

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison

Piper Kerman

New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2011

Pp. 326

With persuasive logic, an acute sense of irony, and a keen eye for injustice, Piper Kerman hosts the reader for a year in a minimum security federal prison. It is not exactly what she expected, neither the fact of being incarcerated, nor the reality of inmates’ daily life. Warned by almost everyone, especially the staff, to watch out for the other prisoners, she initially keeps to herself.

However, as she looks around her and cautiously opens up, Kerman finds in a large number of her fellow inmates an amazing degree of humanity, generosity and caring that sustains her and gives her a new perspective on life.

Kerman was both very atypical and very typical of the other women at the prison in Danbury, Connecticut, which she entered in 2004. Being white, with a relatively affluent background and college degree, set her apart from the others — mostly women of colour, poor, with limited education.

Both prison staff and inmates repeatedly expressed surprise at her being there. Searching for adventure after graduating from Smith College, Kerman forged relationships that led her into a world of high living financed by drug smuggling, whereas most of the others had fallen into crime by default, having few other economic opportunities.

Despite these differences, Kerman’s conviction for non-violent drug offences placed her in the majority at Danbury, and in the federal prison population as a whole. Her memoir is tantamount to an indictment of what she terms “the labyrinth of the US criminal justice system”. (p. 21)

When it came to sentencing, differences again emerged: “It was hard for me to believe that the nature of our crimes was what accounted for my 15-month sentence versus some of my neighbours’ much lengthier ones.” (p. 138)

She is well aware of her privileged status, having an excellent lawyer and unlimited family support. Her critique of the prison system, however, doesn’t stop there. Without ranting, she questions the logic of incarcerating such a vast number of non-violent offenders from the viewpoint of public funds wasted, lives devastated and prisons not preparing prisoners to re-enter society. 

Kerman reserves the harshest critique for mandatory minimum sentencing without regard for the circumstances of a case, part of the guidelines adopted in the “War on Drugs” and “the primary reason that the US prison population has ballooned since the 1980s to over 2.5 million people, a nearly 300 per cent increase. We now lock up one out of every hundred adults, far more than any other country in the world.” (p. 23)

From her perspective of similarity and difference, Kerman carefully observes the prison’s functioning — the often arbitrary rules, unequal power relations and harassment that seem to serve no other purpose than to humiliate and disempower; the sluggish bureaucracy that can deprive an inmate of a much needed phone call or family visit; and the total lack of privacy. “In such a harsh, corrupt, and contradictory environment, one walks a delicate balance between the prison’s demands and your own softness and sense of your own humanity.” (p. 121)

Kindness is not a quality one associates with prison, but it features prominently in Kerman’s account of her experience with women inmates. Though having failed in the “real” world, most of them are remarkably savvy in dealing with their situation, and avoiding the ultimate punishment of being sent to the isolation block or maximum security facility next door.

Kerman’s stories about how women inmates dealt with and circumvented the rules and regulations are sometimes amusing and always instructive, from how they stepped forward to give her personal hygiene items on her first day, to the elaborate birthday parties they arranged for each other.

In a system where giving a hug to someone who has received word of a family death or similar tragedy is forbidden, every little compassionate act stands out. “Small kindnesses and simple pleasures shared were so important… they brought home to me powerfully that I was not alone in this world…” (p. 292)

Kerman writes very well, but it is her honesty that distinguishes this book, whether in telling about prison as it really is, or facing up to the wrongness of her involvement, however peripheral, in the heroin trade which has killed and devastated so many individuals and even communities.

Others have written about the injustice and cruelty of the prison system, but her account stands out for telling the stories of the women of all types and ages, some of them mothers and grandmothers, who struggle to survive its vicissitudes. 

“Orange Is the New Black” is available at Readers/Cozmo. 

ZIMNICEA, Romania — On the 25th anniversary of the execution of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, life in the small Romanian port town of Zimnicea is defined by poverty, corruption and, remarkably, a yearning for communist days.

This industrial city of 15,000 symbolises the fortunes of the EU’s second poorest country as it has tried to rebuild since Ceausescu was killed by a firing squad on December 25, 1989, after a popular rebellion pushed him from power.

Though the revolution that ousted the dictator and claimed 1,000 Romanian lives ended more than four decades of brutal and repressive rule it also ushered in an era of mass economic suffering.

“Nineteen-ninety marked the beginning of a national tragedy, with many workers left unemployed and factories shut down,” the town’s Social Democrat Mayor Petrica Parvu told AFP.

Zimnicea once bustled with 8,000 workers in its factories, but now only 3,500 people have jobs.

“Under communism people had jobs and earned enough money,” 56-year-old babysitter Elena Bolboroc told AFP, echoing other nostalgic residents.

That changed after Ceausescu’s regime fell.

“The industrial zone was destroyed: the pipe and ribbon factories, the sugar refinery,” said Viorica Ghicea, a 69-year-old pensioner. “Before 1989 people got paid every two weeks, students got free books.”

Like other Romanian cities, Zimnicea was the victim of “irrational development” before 1989, said economist Otilia Nutu. Dependent on government subsidies, the town’s companies were “doomed to bankruptcy after the fall of the regime”, she added.

Today the economic future of the city is in the hands of Ioan Niculae, the richest man in Romania and a native son of Zimnicea who is dogged by allegations of shady dealings.

The billionaire’s agro-industrial conglomerate InterAgro is omnipresent in Zimnicea and many here work for him, mostly earning the minimum wage of 200 euros ($240) per month.

The godfather

Niculae, who is the godfather of the mayor’s daughter, acquired two old factories in town for a pittance, according to his detractors.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are investigating him on suspicion of money laundering, echoing other recent high-profile cases including a graft probe against ex-president Traian Basescu’s brother.

If the investigation of Niculae leads to a conviction it will be more bad news for Zimnicea.

“Yes, the city depends to a large degree on Mr Niculae,” admitted Parvu. “But it’s a good thing, because his group pays taxes.”

The town certainly needs the money, as it is still rebuilding from a devastating 1977 earthquake that was made even worse by the deceit of a communist official.

The local first secretary had exaggerated the extent of the quake damage, garnering a generous rebuilding grant from the government.

Ahead of a visit to the town by Ceausescu, the official sent in bulldozers to knock down homes that had survived the quake in order to make his claims appear true, according to information that emerged after the regime fell.

Yet to this day the reconstruction of Zimnicea’s city centre has never been totally completed. For stay-at-home mother Mariana, who did not provide her full name, one of the town centre’s unfinished buildings is home.

In the apartment she shares with her husband and son there is no hot water and they heat their home with an improvised woodburning stove.

“Life is hard, but other families are even poorer,” she said, holding some rags her husband had picked up in the street “hoping they could be used for something”.

LONDON — British scientists have developed a new use for 3D printing, putting it to work to create personalised replica models of cancerous parts of the body to allow doctors to target tumours more precisely.

The initiative is the latest example of medicine harnessing the rapidly emerging technology, which has already been used to manufacture some medical implants.

3D printing makes products by layering material until a three-dimensional object is created. Automotive and aerospace companies use it for producing prototypes as well as creating specialised tools, mouldings and some end-use parts.

In healthcare, 3D printers are used by dentists to create replicas of jaws and teeth, as well as some finished dental implants, while orthopaedic surgeons have tested them to make customised hip replacements. And last year US scientists grew human ears from cow cells with the help of a 3D printer.

The new cancer work involves printing 3D “phantoms” of tumours and organs based on CT scans taken of patients during treatment. These plastic moulds can be filled with liquid, allowing experts see in detail the flow of so-called radiopharmaceuticals.

Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs containing radioactive material that may be injected into a vein, taken by mouth or placed in a body cavity. The challenge is to give a dose that is high enough to kill cancer cells, without causing excessive collateral damage to healthy tissue.

Glenn Flux, head of radioisotope physics at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, believes accurate modelling will allow doctors in future to fine-tune dosing, resulting in the likely routine use of such 3D printouts.

“If we personalise treatment according to the radiation dose delivered to the tumour, then we should have a better outcome,” he said. “I think it will have a huge impact.”

Flux and colleagues published a technical paper on their process in the journal Medical Physics in July, showing the models can accurately replicate the shape of a patient’s tumour and the surrounding organs, and are now looking to confirm the benefits in larger studies.

Radiopharmaceuticals are used to treat a number of different tumours, including thyroid cancer, cancers of nerves cells in children and certain tumours that have spread to the bones. Interest in the field has been fuelled by the recent launch of Bayer’s prostate cancer radiopharmaceutical Xofigo.

The team in London used a 3D printer from Stratasys , one of the leading suppliers of high-end machines.

In October, Stratasys executives said the global 3D-printing market was expected to swell from $3 billion last year to $21 billion by 2020, according to industry research.