Features

VIENNA — Just in time for a weekend devoted to the dead, Vienna’s unashamedly morbid Funeral Museum is now closer to the action: The Austrian capital’s huge Central Cemetery.

In a city with a singular attitude to kicking the bucket — “Death himself must be a Viennese”, one local song says — the “Bestattungsmuseum” was the world’s first of its kind when it first opened in 1967.

This month it reopened, updated for the digital age, in new premises at the Zentralfriedhof, the second-largest cemetery in Europe by surface area. But with some 3 million “inhabitants”, the graveyard is the biggest by number of interred.

The stepped entrance to the subterranean museum takes people literally down into the underworld of undertakers from centuries past, “into the realm of the dead”, museum director Helga Bock told AFP.

Some 250 items are on display, many quite opulent, showing how for the Viennese having a good send-off — or as they say a “schoene Leich” or “beautiful corpse” — is important, no matter what the cost.

“For nobles, and especially the imperial court, funerals were opportunities to demonstrate power. And people adopted these customs, which is why Vienna developed such a specific mourning culture,” Bock said.

The many eerie items include death masks, death notices and various coffins.

But among the more bizarre is a bell that was placed above ground, attached to the corpse by a string, to ring if you were buried alive by mistake — and a special “Herzstichmesser” knife to pierce the heart to make doubly sure you weren’t.

Another curiosity is a reusable wooden coffin with a hinged door underneath instigated in 1784 by Emperor Joseph II in order to save money, but withdrawn a year later.

Totally inappropriate

But unlike at the old museum, visitors can no longer lie in a coffin — some even wanted the lid on — as they used to be able to do once a year during Vienna’s annual Museum Night.

“The management decided... it was totally inappropriate,” Bock said.

The still-operating Central Cemetery itself is a huge draw for visitors, and not just for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day — November 1 and 2 — when thousands of Viennese lay flowers at their relatives’ graves.

Many locals and tourists take the tram there at weekends — “Taking the 71” is a euphemism for dying — to see the tombs of the likes of Beethoven, Brahms and even Austrian pop star Falco, he of “Rock Me Amadeus” fame.

The number buried here is double the current population of Vienna and at 2.5 square kilometres is “half the size of Zurich but twice the fun”, the local saying goes.

Austria is largely Catholic, but the cemetery has sections for Protestants, two for Jews — one partially destroyed by the Nazis — one for Muslims, and another for Buddhists.

There is a special area too for those who bequeath their bodies to science, one for the victims of the Nazis, a section for stillborn babies and another where urns can be buried among tree roots.

Imperial entrails

All in all in Vienna, death is never far away.

Other cemeteries include one for pets, a number of Jewish graveyards, one dating back to the 16th century, and a “cemetery for the nameless” for suicides and cadavers washed up by the Danube River.

The Imperial Crypt in Vienna’s Capuchin Church, meanwhile, was from 1633 the last resting place of Austria’s Habsburg dynasty, containing the bones of 145 royals.

But not all of them. Habsburg tradition dictated that the hearts went into urns in one church, the intestines into copper containers in Vienna’s main cathedral, St Stephen’s, and only what was left to the Capuchin Church.

Visitors can also take guided tours through the catacombs at St Stephen’s and see, together with the Habsburgs’ guts, the bones of some 1,000 Viennese chucked in during a 1735 plague outbreak.

“The Austrians are known for their worship for the dead,” impressed Swiss tourist Benjamin told AFP at the Funeral Museum. “The dead are almost as famous as the living.”

NEW YORK — Hotels don’t want guests to have to linger at the front desk — or even stop by at all.

New programmes are helping speed up the check-in process for busy travellers, or in at least one case, letting them go straight to their rooms by using their smartphone to unlock doors.

The innovations are still being tweaked as hotels scramble to catch up to airlines. Fliers today use their phones to check in, select seats and as a boarding pass. Hotels envision a similar relationship, with guests ultimately ordering poolside drinks via an app.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts on Monday became the first chain to let guests unlock doors with their phones. The feature is available at only 10 Aloft, Element and W hotels but will expand to 140 more properties in those brands by the middle of next year.

Hilton Worldwide is the only other hotel chain to publicly acknowledge plans for mobile room keys — which it plans to roll out at the end of 2015 at some US properties. Hilton won’t say how many hotels will be included, except that the service will be available at four of its brands, Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and Canopy.

“Guests want this because it makes their lives simpler,” says Mark Vondrasek, who oversees the loyalty programme and digital initiatives for Starwood. “The ability to go right to your room, gives them back time.”

Other hotel companies are finding other ways to streamline the arrival process.

Marriott International launched the ability to check in through its app at 330 North American hotels last year. By the end of this year, the programme will be live at all 4,000 hotels worldwide. When a room becomes available, a message is sent to the guest’s phone. Traditional room keys are pre-programmed and waiting at the front desk. A special express line allows guests to bypass crowds, flash their IDs and get keys.

At Hilton, all 4,000 properties worldwide will have a similar check-in by the end of the year. The one added feature: Guests can use maps on the app to select a specific room.

InterContinental Hotels Group is testing express check-in at 60 hotels.

The services are geared toward road warriors who don’t want to slow down, even for a second. Guests who like personal interaction can still opt for a more leisurely check-in, and hotel companies say the move isn’t about cutting jobs.

“If you’re at the end of a long day, you might want a little less of a chatty experience. But if you’re showing up at a new resort, you may want to know what the pool hours are,” says Brett Cowell, vice president of information technology for Hyatt, which is testing permanent keys for frequent guests at six hotels.

The push isn’t just about avoiding frustrating check-in lines. Hotels are trying to get more travellers comfortable using their mobile apps to interact. In some cases, that means using an iPad to request a wakeup call. But ultimately hotels would like to see people purchasing suite upgrades, spa treatments and room service though their phones and tablets — and at some point wearable devices like smartwatches.

Marriott guests made $1.25 billion in bookings last year through its mobile app, according to George Corbin, senior vice president of digital for the company.

Switching to smartphone room keys won’t be easy. Starwood’s app communicates using a Bluetooth data connection. Each hotel room needs to have a new lock that can communicate with phones.

The top 15 hotel companies have more than 42,000 properties worldwide with a combined 5.2 million rooms, according to travel research firms STR and STR Global. Many hotels have made updates over the past few years, but they remain the minority.

Then there is the issue of security. If there is knock on the door late at night and a guest goes to the peephole to see who is there, nobody wants the phone in their pocket to accidentally unlock the door. That’s why Starwood requires the phone to actually touch a pad on the outside of the door to open it.

Finally, only one phone can be linked to a room at a time. So if two people are staying in the room, they still need to get a traditional key for the second traveller.

Marriott says it is holding off on smartphone keys until all the potential bugs can be resolved.

“If there was ever a moment that matters,” Corbin says, “it’s the moment when you go up to your door and the key doesn’t work.”

But for the frequent business traveller, this might just be the time-saver they are looking for.

Bruce Craven spends about 100 nights a year on the road, travelling between his California home and New York where he does executive training programmes and teaches at Columbia Business School. He’s been testing Starwood’s smartphone room key since March.

“If you’re travelling all the time, little things can take on a symbolic importance,” Craven says. “This is one less thing that I need to think about.”

PARIS — Drink lots of milk to strengthen your bones and boost your health, doctors say.

But a study in The BMJ medical journal recently said Swedes with a high intake of cow’s milk died younger — and women suffered more fractures.

The findings may warrant questions about recommendations for milk consumption, although further research is needed, its authors said, as the association may be purely coincidental.

A Swedish team used data taken from 61,000 women aged 39-74 and monitored for about 20 years, and more than 45,000 men aged 45-79 followed for 11 years.

The volunteers gave details about diet and lifestyle, body weight, smoking habits, exercise frequency, education level and marital status.

By the end of this long study period, 25,500 of the group had died and 22,000 had suffered a fracture.

Higher milk intake was not accompanied by a lower risk of fractures but “may be associated with a higher rate of death”, the study said.

Among the women, 180 per 1,000 in the group which drank three glasses of milk or more a day died during a 10-year period, compared to the group average, independent of milk consumption, of 126 per 1,000.

Among those who drank a glass or less per day, the rate was 110 per 1,000, co-author Karl Michaelsson of Uppsala University told AFP.

The figures for hip fracture was 42 out of 1,000 women who drank a lot of milk, 35 per 1,000 on average, and 31 per 1,000 of women who drank the least milk.

“Women who consumed three glasses or more per day had a 90 per cent higher risk of death, 60 per cent higher risk of hip fracture and 15 per cent higher risk of any fracture compared to those who drank less than a glass,” said Michaelsson.

For men, the difference in death rate was less pronounced: 207 per 1,000 among the three-glasses-a-day group over 10 years, 189 per 1,000 on average, and 182 per 1,000 among low consumers. There was no difference in fracture rates.

“The higher risk of mortality was evident with all types of milk: full-fat, half-fat and skimmed milk,” Michaelsson added — and started from a daily intake of about two glasses of milk.

At a lower consumption of half a glass to one glass per day, “there was a tendency of slightly reduced hip fracture risk” compared to zero intake, but the same was not true for mortality risk.

The team found that fermented milk products like cheese or yoghurt were associated with lower mortality and fracture rates, particularly in women.

One reason, the authors speculated, is that milk, but not cheese, is high in D-galactose, a type of sugar that in animal studies was shown to hasten ageing and shorten lifespan.

Caution

The researchers said it was impossible to draw any conclusions or make recommendations on milk consumption until further work is carried out.

The results may not apply to people of other ethnic origins with different levels of lactose tolerance, they said.

Milk also has different nutrient levels that depend on factors like food fortification and cow diet.

And the results could be skewed by a phenomenon called “reverse causation” — osteoporosis sufferers at high risk of a bone break increase their milk intake, which then gets blamed when they suffer a fracture.

In a comment, Mary Schooling of the City University of New York School of Public Health said “the role of milk in mortality needs to be established definitively now” as consumption would rise with economic development.

Other experts noted shortcomings in the study, including that milk consumption was self-reported, often a flaw in dietary research.

Nor did the authors define the type of physical activity the men and women did — whether it was weight bearing and, therefore, bone strengthening, or not.

The study “creates more questions than provides answers”, said Catherine Collins, principal dietician at St George’s Hospital in London.

Being positioned towards the high end of the mainstream European automotive market, Peugeot is also aggressively taking on emerging markets with specific models designed for global tastes.

Making its European debut at the Paris Motorshow last month, the latest face-lifted 508 is Ostensibly a European market model, but one which in saloon guise is expected to sell very well in developing markets, especially given that China has already accounted for 36 per cent of sales for the 508 range, since 2013.

The more practical and arguably better looking 508 SW estate body version should however have greater appeal in the Western European market, where estates outsell saloons in this segment.

Practical elegance

Essentially a replacement for both the large 607 saloon and the former 407 European mid-size saloon, the 508 reflects a more luxurious direction in the segment, but the last Peugeot estate bearing the “5” numeral was the 8-seat 505 Break/Familiale, which outlived the European saloon by three years, until 1992.

A different car to the tall, high riding and hugely spacious 505 Break/Familiale work horse, the contemporary 508 SW may be less utilitarian, but is a stylish, elegant executive D-segment car that retains its saloon sister’s dimensions and dynamic ability, and with its gently sloped roofline and more flowing and contiguous estate style, even improves on its design.

Freshened up for a more assertive and elegant look, the revised 508 features a more upright front and horizontal bonnet, with pronounced sheet metal definition. A classier new corporate face features revised chrome-ringed hexagonal grille, flanked with new all-LED headlights, incorporating a moody upper LED strips that bridge the grille with the side crease lines, while fog lights are deeper-set.

Repositioned from a concave groove on the bonnet, the Peugeot lion badge in locate within the grille, while The Peugeot emblem is relocated from its formerly concave bonnet groove to the grille. From the rear the 508 features more horizontal light elements and defined bumper.

Smooth operator

Powered by a retuned version of Peugeot’s familiar 1.6-litre direct injection turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the 508 SW THP165 gains 9HP on its predecessor, while concurrently meeting more stringent Euro 6 emissions requirements and returning improved fuel efficiency.

Developing 163BHP at 6000rpm, the revised THP165’s torque output is unchanged, with 177lb/ft available by just 1400rpm. Fitted with a stop/start system, the 6-speed manual gearbox 508 SW THP165 delivers frugal 5.7l/100km fuel efficiency and 131g/km emissions ratings.

Reasonably quick on paper, with 0-100km/h in 8.8-seconds, 80-120km/h in 10.4-seconds in fifth and a 210km/h maximum, the manual gearbox 508 SW is however quicker and more versatile in real world driving.

Smooth, economic and gutsy, the 508 SW THP165’s motor is refined, quiet and quick to spool its turbo. With little turbo lag, the THP165 pulls meaningfully from under 2000rpm, becoming lively by 2500rpm, with a muscular and consistently flat mid-range torque curve providing flexible on-the-move responses and underwriting top-end power build-up. 

Best mated to the manual rather than automatic gearbox available, the 508 SW THP165’s clutch pedal is light, with an intuitive biting point. The 508’s gear bulbous lever may not be a short-throw sports car action, but has a satisfyingly precise and mechanical movement, as it clicks quickly through ratios, with the right amount of resistance.

Rhythm and flow

Losing nothing in dynamic ability to its saloon sister, the 508 SW however more rewarding during the revised model’s recent global launch event in Mallorca, Spain owing to it being the manual gearbox version. More engaging and involving with manual gearbox, the 508 SW version was also the more fluent and intuitive drive. 

Gelling brilliantly with its chassis, the manual gearbox version allowed one to better modulate power and avert unnecessary stability and traction control intervention through briskly driven and winding mountain switchbacks. One also chose desired gears with greater autonomy and held them with more commitment through corners, while the manual gearbox drive-train felt more refined.

With terrific highway stability, handling poise and ride refinement the face-lifted 508’s chassis goes unchanged, with its suspension and 215/55R17 tyres finding a happy compromise between comfort and control. Over diverse Spanish roads, the 508 was forgivingly supple over but the worst potholes over imperfect tarmac. 

In its comfort zone over sprawling country roads, the 508 SW soaks up ripples, smoothes out roughness and rebounds with sure-footed control. Neat and predictably benign through winding switchbacks, the 508 SW was quite agile, and with smooth settled ride, tidy turn-in and light but reasonably intuitive steering feel cornered with unexpected flow and covered ground quicker than anticipated once one finds its rhythm.

Classy and cavernous

A distinctly European cabin features classy design, materials and textures above the segment standard, with stitched leather upholstery and supportively comfortable contoured front seats with lumbar support and even optional massaging function, while the rear bench features a useful armrest. Well-spaced the 508’s seat and steering adjustability provide a good driving position.

The estate version provides better rear headspace, which further improves by avoiding the panoramic sunroof option. Visibility is generally good, but one tends to look around the thick rakish nearside A-pillar in tight corners. Generously spacious, the 508 SW accommodates a minimum 660-litre luggage volume, which with split rear seats folded expands to 1865-litre maximum.

Well-kitted with user-friendly layouts, the revised 508 features an improved, intuitive “7” touchscreen to access infotainment and various systems, and includes shortcuts, to facilitate a now de-cluttered dash and console. Enhanced connectivity utilises Peugeot Connect Apps. Standard and optional equipment includes manual side rear window screens, powered tailgate and cargo net.

Tech features include HUD display with small retractable smoked screen to not hinder visibility, keyless entry and start, reversing camera, parking sensors, quad-zone climate control, automatic headlight dipping, tire inflation warning and blind spot warning system, depending on trim level. Less high tech but important are all-round three-point seatbelts and rear Isofix childseat latches.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.6-litre, turbocharged, transverse 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 77 x 85.8mm

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, direct injection

Gearbox: 6-speed manual, front-wheel-drive

0-100km/h: 8.8-seconds

80-120km/h, 5th/6th: 10.4/13-seconds

0-1000-metres: 29.5-seconds

Maximum speed: 210km/h

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 163 (165) [121] @ 6000rpm

Specific power: 102BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 114.8BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 177 (240) @ 1400rpm

Specific torque: 150.2Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 169Nm/tonne

Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined: 7.3-/4.8-/5.7-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 131g/km

Fuel tank: 72-litres

Length: 4829mm

Width: 1828mm

Height: 1487mm

Wheelbase: 2817mm

Track, F/R: 1579/1552mm

Overhang, F/R: 1001/1011mm

Boot capacity, min/max: 660-/1865-litres

Headroom, F/R: 916/914mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1430/1379mm

Kerb weight: 1420kg

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

Brakes: Discs

Tyres, F/R: 215/55R17

Love Made Visible: Scenes from a Mostly Happy Marriage

Jean Gibran

US: Interlink Books, 2014

Pp. 215

Despite the subtitle, this is more than a memoir of a marriage, for both Jean and Kahlil Gibran are/were such remarkable people, so deeply engaged in the arts and their community. Coming from a conservative New England family, Jean faced much opposition to her marrying a “foreigner” (who was US-born), but she took it all in stride.

Obviously quite versatile, she embraced a completely different life style and entered Kahlil’s artist circles, yet continued her work as a schoolteacher. Kahlil Gibran — not to be confused with his cousin, the poet Gibran Kahlil Gibran — grew up near what is now Boston’s Chinatown, the son of Lebanese immigrants. Undeterred by the prevailing racism against Arab immigrants, he gracefully straddled multiple cultural milieus, long before “multiculturalism” became fashionable.

Partially self-taught, a leading light in Boston Expressionism, Kahlil was a modern-day Renaissance man, whose work ranged from sculpture to crafts and inventions. As Jean recalls, “Sculpting, drawing, crafting musical instruments, restoring an ancient object — it didn’t matter, making beauty made him strong and happy.” (p. 18)

His favourite line from his cousin’s famous book, “The Prophet,” was “Work is love made visible,” inspiring this book’s title. 

Theirs was more than a marriage; it was an ongoing collaboration: “Living a studio-centred — often meagre — existence, we took daily walks, shared workspaces, and constantly engaged in dialogue about our mutual projects.” (p. 65) Besides arranging numerous art exhibits and events, and restoring and selling antiques and artefacts, one of their major joint projects was writing a biography of the poet, “Kahlil Gibran: His Life and World”. (Interlink Books, 1974, 1991) 

As art historian Charles Giuliano remarks in the foreword, “Love Made Visible” is not the book he anticipated. Rather than beginning at the beginning, Jean begins at the end of Kahlil’s life. One is almost immediately whisked into the emergency room, sharing Jean’s disbelief, her agonising over decisions she had to make, her difficulty in accepting Kahlil’s death, and how her daughter helped her work through her shock. While this can be somewhat disconcerting, it has the effect of drawing one very intimately into the emotional fabric of the Gibran’s relationship. By the time one reaches midway in the book and begins to learn about their families, childhood, education, how they met, married, etc., one feels one already knows these people — and the author’s writing becomes steadily more lyrical.

Meeting Kahlil heaved Jean out of her middle-America background into a more culturally and ethnically diverse world. As she remembers her first visit to his studio: “The moment that I entered and inhaled waves of unfamiliar scents I left my known world.” (p. 97)

But she didn’t stay long that day. After listening to his detailed descriptions of his work techniques, “Exhausted by so much information, overwhelmed by his extravagant energy, I need to escape… Leaving, I shook hands as though thanking an esteemed older personage, someone fascinating but completely removed from my monochromatic universe.” (p. 98)

Luckily, Kahlil pursued her, for one can’t help but think that many people’s lives were enriched by the fruitful partnership they established. “It took me a while to realise that I was on the threshold of a marvellous realm, a way of looking at things that was full of riotous colour and exquisite form. But when finally I did, I entered eagerly, despite the consequences.” (p. 99)

In recalling the half century that she spent with Kahlil, Jean creates a rich tapestry of the Boston art scene from the 1950s onwards — the people, the exhibitions, the friendships and collaboration among artists, photographers and critics. Most of all, there was the excitement of being involved in something new as American art developed beyond traditional strictures. There are also charming descriptions of the city of Boston, especially the South End, where the avant-garde artists congregated. Pictures of family, friends and Kahlil’s sculptures, as well as listings of his works and the exhibitions in which he participated complement the narrative.

Besides having an engaging writing style, Jean Gibran strikes a good balance between the personal and the public aspects of their life together. “Love Made Visible” is also an exploration of the creative process, of spirituality as related to art, of loss and healing, and of how opposites attract and enrich each other.

Who survives Ebola and why? Health workers treating patients in Sierra Leone, including some who died doing that work, have published the most detailed report yet on medical aspects of the epidemic. The research suggests young people are less likely to perish, fever is the most common symptom when victims first seek care, and early help is crucial.

The report, published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, is from 47 doctors, nurses and others who cared for 106 patients at Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, one of the West African countries hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic.

Their work adds new knowledge about the disease, which has killed more than 5,000 since early this year, the largest outbreak ever of Ebola, said one study leader, Dr John Schieffelin, an infectious diseases specialist from Tulane University School of Medicine.

In particular, it shows the advantage of youth — the fatality rate was only 57 per cent for patients under 21, but a whopping 94 per cent for those over 45.

“They’re more resilient and younger and tougher,” Schieffelin said.

“This is definitely the most detailed analysis” of symptoms and factors related to survival, he added.

One striking factor was how devastating the severe diarrhoea is from the disease.

“It requires a lot of intensive fluid therapy,” and replacement of body salts called electrolytes, to help people survive, he said.

Key findings:

— It can be hard even in an outbreak setting to tell who has Ebola. Of the 213 people initially tested for signs of a haemorrhagic fever, about half, or 106, turned out to have Ebola.

— The estimated incubation period was 6 to 12 days, similar to what has been seen elsewhere in this outbreak.

— Fever was the most common symptom — 89 per cent had it when diagnosed. Other symptoms were headache (80 per cent), weakness (66 per cent), dizziness (60 per cent), diarrhoea (51 per cent), abdominal pain (40 per cent) and vomiting (34 per cent). Only one patient had bleeding, one of the most gruesome symptoms, but researchers say other cases may have been missed through incomplete record-keeping. Patients with weakness, dizziness and diarrhoea were more likely to die.

—  Those with more virus in their blood when they sought medical care, indicating more advanced infections, were more likely to die than those who got help when their illness was less far along.

Seven of the 47 study authors died — six of them from Ebola and one from a stroke. They included Dr Sheikh Humarr Khan, a doctor who led Sierra Leone’s battle against Ebola until his death in July.

ODRZYCHOWA, Poland — At the foot of the wild Carpathian mountains in Poland near the Ukraine border, both countries are working to protect the Hucul pony, a small native horse breed that was on the brink of extinction just 70 years ago.

“When we began reintroducing the Hucul here about 40 years ago, there were barely 100 mares in all of Poland,” Wladyslaw Brejta, who runs the stud farm that spearheaded the EU-sponsored Polish-Ukrainian breeding programme, told AFP.

“Today, there are nearly 1,500 [in Poland], which represents 60 per cent of the population of this breed in Europe,” he said, adding that the remaining population is very sparsely distributed through Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Native to the eastern Carpathian mountains south of Kolomyya in Ukraine, the small, stocky breed was used to do everything from tilling fields to hauling logs and even carrying ammunition during both world wars.

After 1945, special breeding programmes like the one run by Brejta staved off extinction.

Polish farmer Stanislaw Dudek marvels at a herd of 40 ponies from the Odrzychowa stud farm, a village in Poland’s southeastern Carpathian foothills, skirted by forests.

“They’re happy here, they have everything they need: grass, water and space.

“They’re fearless: Bad weather doesn’t bother them, nor do wolves. When in danger, they stick together to attack a wolf. All it can do is run away, if the poor thing manages,” he told AFP

Marek Gibala, chairman of the Poland’s Hucul supervisory commission, says the sturdy ponies are well equipped for the many challenges of mountain terrain.

“The Hucul has a strong, bony head, expressive eyes and a muscular neck.

“It has a strong frame and joints. It needs them to move around mountainous terrain, to clamber up and down steep slopes, sometimes very steep slopes,” he says.

Ride’em cowboy

Adapted to tough living conditions, the hardy Hucul is also satisfied with little food and requires no special care.

Having been replaced by tractors on the farm, Huculs are now an attraction for tourists. They are even-tempered, easy to mount and happy to clamber through streams on long treks through the countryside.

“It can walk for several days, clocking dozens of kilometres a day, like on your typical trek through the Polish-Slovak mountains,” says Gibala.

Riding instructor Magdalena Boron lauds the Hucul for its intelligence and coping skills.

“If it gets tired, it just stops, or slows down. Quite often my horse will just stop in the middle of a climb to catch its breath. It starts moving again once it does,” she says.

The Hucul is versatile: good for both leisure and a range of equestrian sports, including horse-breaking, show jumping and trick riding.

Huculs are also used in Poland for riding therapy, which helps people with disabilities to develop physically and behaviourally.

But while it is thriving in Poland, instability in neighbouring Ukraine means it could take some time before the breed makes a comeback farther east.

“Given the current political and economic climate in Ukraine, you can only hope that their number won’t go down,” says Brejta.

“If the situation stabilises, we’ll finally be able to think about returning them to their homeland. There’s a lot of interest, especially at national parks. Unfortunately, you need money and that’s what Ukraine lacks.”

The head of the stud farm is responsible for a Polish-Ukrainian Hucul reintroduction programme that is backed by around 1.5 million euros ($1.9 million) in EU funding.

“Today, the Hucul is no longer threatened with extinction in Poland,” says Brejta.

“But the challenge of reintroducing it into its native land is a battle that’s far from won.”

WASHINGTON — Fiery failures are no stranger to the space game. It’s what happens when you push the boundaries of what technology can do, where people can go. And it happened again to Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.

In the past decade, the space industry has tried to go from risky and government-run to routine private enterprise — so routine that if you have lots of money you can buy a ticket on a private spaceship and become a space tourist.

More than 500 people have booked a flight, including Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and little known space scientist Alan Stern.

But it all depends on flying becoming safe and routine. This week hasn’t helped.

Three days after a private unmanned Orbital Sciences rocket taking cargo up to the International Space Station blew up six seconds into its flight, a test flight of SpaceShipTwo exploded Friday over the Mojave Desert with two people on board, killing one crew member.

The developments reignited the debate about the role of business in space and whether it is or will ever be safe enough for everyday people looking for an expensive 80-kilometre-high thrill ride.

“It’s a real setback to the idea that lots of people are going to be taking joyrides into the fringes of outer space any time soon,” said John Logsdon, retired space policy director at George Washington University. “There were a lot of people who believed that the technology to carry people is safely at hand.”

The question for space tourism might be, “if it survives”, Logsdon said. But he thinks its momentum in recent years will keep it alive.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson expressed the same view Saturday after arriving in Mojave, California, to meet with the project workforce reeling from the accident.

“We would love to finish what was started some years ago, and I think pretty well all our astronauts would love us to finish it, love to go to space,” he said. “Millions of people in the world would love to one day have the chance to go to space.”

Federal estimates of the commercial space industry — only a little of it involving tourism — exceed $200 billion. NASA is counting on private companies such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to haul cargo to the space station. They are also spending billions to help SpaceX and Boeing build ships that will eventually take people there, too.

Internet pioneers Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have gotten into the space game. Aviation entrepreneur Branson and others are pushing a billion-dollar space tourism industry.

The Virgin Galactic and Orbital accidents have nothing in common except the words private space, Stern said. Still it raises issues about the space industry.

Some experts said they worry that private industry may just not be as safe as the government when it comes to going into space.

Jerry Linenger, a former astronaut who narrowly survived a 1997 fire on the Russian space station Mir, said private industry lacks the experience and the advocates for safety that NASA had when he was launching into space. He pointed to former moonwalking astronaut John Young, who NASA encouraged to raise safety issues and slow things down.

Watching the Orbital Sciences accident on Tuesday, Linenger said, “it was blatantly obvious that it is a dangerous operation that is very nearly on the edge,” yet private companies talk of doing it better, faster and cheaper. Then they find out that was naive, he said.

American University space policy professor Howard McCurdy, who wrote the book “Space and the American Imagination”, said NASA in the 1990s and private companies tout lean management to get things done faster, better and cheaper in space. But he said that leaves no margin for error and “is like flying an airplane without a qualified pilot. You really need to do it right.”

McCurdy pointed to all the Silicon Valley whiz kids in space and worried that they come with the same Microsoft attitude of pushing a product out and fixing it on the fly.

“I’m not sure that works for rocket ships,” McCurdy said. “That may work for cellphones, smartphones and computer programmes.”

With space, he said, “you’re working much closer to the edge.”

Logsdon said he wouldn’t fly on commercial space flights now, but Virgin Galactic customer Alan Stern said he had no qualms about it: “Let’s not be Chicken Littles,” he says.

He recalled the early days of aviation or the early days of jet test piloting in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, when people died pushing the boundaries of technology.

McCurdy said the private space industry seems to be having the same growing pains and failures that NASA and the military had when the first astronauts watched a rocket blow up in front of them.

It seemed that in the first five years of US rockets, one blew up every other week, but it wasn’t quite that bad, said Roger Launius, associate director of the National Air and Space Museum. This week seems a lot like those old times, he said.

Launius wonders if the public will support private efforts despite the visible failures, and can the for-profit companies tolerate the risk that comes with space and accidents. Orbital’s stock price has dropped 13 per cent since Tuesday’s accident.

For Stern the answer is obvious.

“I want to be part of the opening of this future frontier,” the former associate administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. “I want to make that better future a reality.

“No frontier has been one without the risk of life and limb,” he added. “I stand with the brave pioneers of space who do this for all mankind.”

THE HAGUE — The powerful Dutch dairy industry is scrambling to cash in on exploding demand for whey, a cheese by-product once used mainly in cattle feed now turned global nutritional hit.

Over the last decade whey powder, produced when milk separates into curd during the cheese-making process, has become a multibillion-euro industry.

Analysts say research has proven that whey, once the ugly step-sister to its more widely-consumed sibling, cheese, is in fact one of the planet’s best sources of natural protein.

From bodybuilding supplements to infant formula and fortified meals for the elderly, demand for whey has skyrocketed over the last five years, with even non-dairy companies wanting a piece of the action.

And analysts predict that is likely to keep growing, driven by a taste for imported dairy products from Asia’s growing middle class and the expanding ranks of elderly around the world.

Last year, whey powder and proteins represented a global market of 7.6 billion euros ($9.8 billion), up 36 per cent from 2011, said Tage Affertsholt, dairy market specialist at the Danish-based 3A Business Consulting Group.

By 2017, the market will have expanded to 9 billion euros, Affertsholt predicted.

The demand for whey “just keeps growing, irrespective of the relative poor performance of the global economy,” he told AFP.

“Some people used to say whey is a by-product. Today, cheese has become something of a by-product.”

Investment in the whey industry since 2012 has topped 3 billion euros globally, including 2 billion euros in Europe.

“At one stage whey was worth pretty much nothing, only good to go into cattle feed,” Rabobank senior dairy analyst Kevin Bellamy told AFP.

“Today, whey forms a major part of many dairy companies’ profits.”

A ‘hot product’

The Dutch dairy industry, renowned for its top-quality cheese, is fighting for its stake in the rapidly expanding market.

The Netherlands is already one of Europe’s top producers of demineralised whey powder — a key ingredient of baby formula — and Dutch companies are investing heavily in the research and development of whey-based products.

“All the major dairy companies in the world are squaring up for control of the liquid whey industry,” added Affertsholt.

One of the world’s largest dairy cooperatives, FrieslandCampina, now produces over 350,000 tonnes of “whey dry matter” a year.

“Whey is a ‘hot product’ that resonates with the consumer,” Fraser Tooley, FrieslandCampina’s business developer, told AFP.

FrieslandCampina has invested some 600 million euros to improve technology, processing capacity and quality systems at its plants, including whey production.

Last year, it opened an innovation centre at Wageningen University in the central Netherlands, staffed by around 320 researchers, many focused on whey.

Tooley said the centre is developing a range of new whey-enhanced products — including high-protein products for the elderly — but declined to go into more detail.

“Whey plays a core part in the company’s future strategy,” said Tooley.

Sights set on China

The world’s top dairy exporter, New Zealand’s Fonterra, is also building a huge whey processing plant next to a cheese factory in the Netherlands’ northern Friesland province.

Fonterra plans to export whey from there to the massive half-billion-euro Chinese market, said Jan Willem van der Windt, the company’s European financial director.

“Whey is not available [in China] because there’s no cheese production. We need to source this in Europe, where the cheese market is,” he said.

The Dutch dairy industry, which produces popular cheeses like Gouda, is therefore well-positioned to tap into rising demand for imported children’s milk formula among Chinese consumers, who are mistrustful of local products after several food scares.

“The demand for dairy products has shot up, particularly in developing countries like in Asia and in China,” said dairy analyst Affertsholt.

“You have a growing middle class, disenchanted with the quality of local products, who look towards countries like the Netherlands to fill the demand, especially when it comes to products like infant formula,” he said.

The popularity of whey has been further boosted by a global health trend towards fortified foods and drinks, which has seen companies like Coca-Cola and others bring out whey-based drinks or snack bars.

AMMAN — Jordanians and Koreans held a joint fashion show on Friday, showcasing Jordanian, Palestinian and Korean traditional costumes in a bid to foster cultural exchange and raise awareness of their traditions, ancient heritage and values.

Organised by the Jordanian-Korean Friendship Association (JKFA), in cooperation with the embassy of South Korea in Amman, the fashion show introduced the audience to a vast collection of elegant embroidered Jordanian and Palestinian dresses, known as thawb, depicting the heritage of several cities.

It also introduced them to the beauty of the “hanbok”, the word used today to refer to the traditional Korean dress, which dates back as far as the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC — 668 AD). 

Models from both Jordan and Korea showed different types of the hanbok, with the first part of the hanbok show, focusing on traditional ones that were worn by Korean royalty and nobles in ancient times while the second part showed modernised versions of the hanbok, including the special one used at weddings.

Despite the long history of the hanbok, its basic composition has remained fairly constant through the ages, a JKFA representative explained.

“The fact that this costume survived so many social, political and environmental changes within Korea for so many centuries attests to the Korean people’s deep loyalty and respect for tradition,” she noted.

Each element of a hanbok holds deep symbolic significance. In the past, different colours revealed specific information about the wearer. Purple ribbons were worn only by married women, whose husbands were still alive, whereas dark blue cuffs on the sleeves showed that the woman had sons. 

Among the most important symbols that appeared on the hanbok, that was designed for Kings is that of the dragon, the mythic, sacred animal, that was believed to be the master of both land and sky. 

The entire nation of the Koreans wore the hanbok on a daily basis up to the early 20th century, when the effects of Westernisation started to root it out, she added. 

A short briefing was given about the costumes, their origin, patterns and uniqueness as Jordanian, Palestinian and Korean models took the stage at the show, whose proceeds   are going to the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF).  

Palestinian and the Jordanian dresses were mainly from Hebron, Beersheba, Jaffa, Jericho, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, Salt, Ajloun, Irbid, Umm Qais and Aqaba with the models wearing beautiful head scarves that were very common in the past days and cultures were identified with them. 

“We are showcasing traditional dresses, everything from the past… our heritage, and we are trying to make them last, so that new generations will embrace them,” Ola Nahar, a contributor who was working with the models depicting the Jordanian and Palestinian dresses before going on stage told The Jordan Times. 

Addressing the attendees, JKFA Chairman Ramzi Khouri highlighted the importance of the show as a venue for cultural interaction, focusing on fashion, beauty and harmony. 

Jung-Hyun Lee, Korean fashion expert, who was helping models dress up, said: “I think the most important part of the show is introducing Korean traditional costumes to the people of Jordan. I guess all the dresses are extraordinary. Now, in daily life, we have new designs but we can mix and apply the traditional hanbok on modern styles. Today, we have modernised hanbok so people have started wearing in modern times.”

Commenting on common features between the hanbok and the Palestinan and Jordanian thawb, Lee said:” I was impressed by the colours, and the embroidery. I think there is a similarity in colours.” 

Expressing her pride in her first modelling experience, Minas Abu Al Halaw, who is also a 5th year University of Jordan pharmacy student, wore a Jerusalem-style Palestinian dress.

“I highly appreciate traditional clothes and today, we are displaying both the Jordanian and Palestinian dresses, which are really beautiful,” she told The Jordan Times.

Adding more liveliness and richness to the fashion show, two Korean children, an eight-year old girl, named Bohye and her brother Joo-ahn Lee, seven,  participated in the show depicting traditional clothes of Korean children that are nowadays only put on for very important occasions.

“I am kind of nervous,” Bohye said ahead of the show. “We want to take part because we want to show Korean culture, she said, while her father explained that the traditional clothes are made of fine fabric, mainly silk, and they are colourful and beautifully ornamented. Also, there was special footwear the children were wearing.

Korea’s Ambassador to Jordan Choi Hong-ghi said the fashion show was the “final event” of Korean Cultural Week, expressing hope that it has helped bring the Jordanians and the Koreans closer.

“I sincerely hope it will lead to bringing the people of the two countries closer and advance our relations.  Also, I am pleased to see the Jordanian and the Palestinian dresses.  I noticed their diverse and beautiful costumes. This has raised my awareness of their traditions.”

The event included several Korean musical performances and dances to further acquaint the audience with the Korean culture. 

Korean Cultural Week, which concluded on October 31, included several activities, including Korean Film Week and the Korean speech competition that was held at the University of Jordan.

Their Highnesses Prince Mired and Princess Dina Mired, director general of the KHCF, attended the fashion show, as well as, several senior Jordanian and Korean embassy officials.