Features

LEAMINGTON SPA, United Kingdom — Charles Bloch remembers well the cold and wet December day seven years ago when he met his guide dog Carlo and they went on their first walk.

“I could see the benefits straight away. And I thought this will change so much for me,” Bloch, who is registered blind, told AFP at a theatre in Coventry, central England, where he works.

Since then, the yellow Labrador-Golden Retriever cross has become “like my right-hand man”, the 29-year-old said, describing his companion as “a bit cheeky” but “very much a hard worker”.

Nine-year-old Carlo, however, is nearing the time to hang up his harness and go into retirement in the next couple of years.

Other guide dog owners retiring their dogs now are looking at a long wait for a replacement. 

The Guide Dogs charity, the largest trainer of guide dogs in the UK, says a halt in puppy breeding and training during the pandemic has caused a “big backlog” of people waiting for a new animal.

“We couldn’t train dogs. We couldn’t train people. And then eventually, we were allowed to restart but in a very much phased, slow way,” said Tony Murray, operations manager at the Guide Dogs centre in Leamington Spa, near Coventry.

He added that, as in other sectors, their staffing was affected following Brexit and certain roles, like guide dog trainers, are not easy to recruit for because what they do is “very unique”.

Now the average wait for a guide dog is at least a year, “but probably more like 18 months and, in some cases, two years”, he said.

Restricting

For Bloch, Carlo’s retirement would mean going back to using a white cane.

“With Carlo it’s just a simple breeze of a walk. I don’t have to worry about stuff very much. I will tell him ‘turn left’, he’ll turn left,” he said.

When they are walking, Carlo, his harness on, navigates Bloch away from obstacles, lets him know when they approach a staircase or arrive at a road crossing.

Bloch, who still has some of his sight, said he would be able to get around with a cane, even if it will make him “a bit more limited”.

But for those with no sight at all, losing their guide dog can be “very restricting”, he added.

“They do feel like they are somewhat quite closed off from the world anyway,” he went on. 

“So not having a dog makes them feel even more that they would have to change their whole entire life and be a bit more of a recluse.”

Murray said that their “ultimate aim” is to have a replacement waiting when a guide dog retires but they “can’t just manufacture a dog on demand”.

He said he is “very confident” that they’ll be able to get back to where they were pre-pandemic but it will take time.

Rewarding

Breeding and training a guide dog is a months-long process. 

At just a few weeks old, the puppies go to live with volunteers, who socialise them and give them their basic training.

When they reach the age of 12-14 months, the dogs start their formal training, which takes around 22 weeks.

If they are successful — and the average success rate is currently at around 55-60 per cent — they are matched with a guide dog owner.

At the Leamington Spa centre, trainee guide dog Monte skilfully leads his handler, Zoey Scott, through an obstacle course of plastic road blocks and traffic cones. 

The black 18-month-old dog taps his chin on a chair, indicating there is a place to sit down. 

He is rewarded with a treat and praises of “good boy” for his hard work.

Scott said it takes “a lot of mental energy” from the dogs to go through the training but you “couldn’t be prouder” when they nail a task. 

And seeing the guide dog partnerships that are created is “really rewarding”.

“Having met some of the guide dog owners that my training dogs have gone to, it’s been really lovely to see how they’ve made a difference and being able to see the smiles on their faces,” she said.

Bloch recalled that he felt “cut off from the social aspect” of university before he had Carlo and there was a “big barrier” to meeting new people. 

“But having Carlo, that was that barrier knocked down pretty much in days because everyone wanted to say hello, everyone wanted to chat”, Bloch said. 

He said that he also improved his grades and graduated with first-class honours.

They walked on stage together during graduation.

“So that was the top tier, like I’ve done this because of Carlo,” he said. 

As the trend for more complicated and ever heavier electric and hybrid cars and high-riding crossovers and SUVs grows, small, lithe and light sports cars are in turn sadly fast becoming a rare commodity. An uncomplicated recipe, the small sports car’s lightweight ethos is one that requires ever lighter parts, materials and engines to deliver efficiency, affordability, manoeuvrability, performance, driver engagement and a fun factor that cannot be replicated by piling on more and more power, technology and equipment.

Caterham Seven 170

An ultra pared down and back-to-basics addition to the already lightweight and minimalist Seven range utilising a tiny and modern Suzuki-sourced engine, Caterham’s entry-level Seven first arrived in 2014 and was revised as the 170 in 2021, to reflect a mild power increase. Offered in road-biased S and track-oriented R variants, the svelte, long-nosed and bug-eyed Seven 170 might likely spawn classically styled editions, harking back to the original 1957 Lotus Seven.

A car that perfectly demonstrates that a fast and fun sports car needn’t be overwrought and over complicated, the Seven 160 doesn’t have or require power-steering or power-brakes and uses slim tyres, solid disc brakes and live axle rear suspension, rather than more sophisticated Seven versions’ De-Dion set-up. It nevertheless delivers superb handling characteristics, with double wishbone front suspension and a classic front-mid engine, rear drive layout providing perfect within-wheelbase weighting and balance.

Promising nimble agility and an engagingly connected and viscerally rewarding driving experience, the “Kei”-compliant Seven 170 is significantly lighter than other small sport cars on this list, with base variants weighing just 440kg. Also more powerful, its turbocharged 660cc 3-cylinder engine develops 84BHP at a peaky 6,500rpm and 86lb/ft at 4,500rpm in a more linear and sporting style of delivery, for brisk 6.9-second 0-100km/h acceleration and a 170km/h top speed.

Specifications

Engine: 0.7-litre, in-line turbocharged 3-cylinders

Gearbox: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 84 (85) [62.5] @6,500rpm

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 86 (116) @4,500rpm

0-100km/h: 6.9-seconds

Top speed: 170km/h

Length: 3,180mm

Width: 1,470mm

Height: 1,090mm

Wheelbase: 2,225mm

Weight: 440kg

Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones/live axle

Tyres: 155/65R14

Daihatsu Copen

First launched in 2002 as a tiny Japanese market “Kei” segment sports car, the S660 featured “cute” and rounded styling reminiscent of the more athletic Audi TT and much larger Lexus SC430, and a then fashionable and new folding metal roof mechanism. The Daihatsu Copen soon spawned export variants in its first iteration, while a little changed in dimensions, performance or concept, the second-generation follow-up arrived 2012 with a more contemporary design.

Despite its disarming design, convenient roof system and un-sporting optional continuously variable transmission, the original Copen nevertheless promised plenty of hot hatch-like fun and agile go-cart style driving characteristics. With its low weight, eager front-drive platform, big footprint within tiny dimensions and standard 5-speed manual transmission, the Copen could be as much of nimble corner-carving sports car as it was a manoeuvrable, convenient and efficient low cost fun city car.

Sharper, and more contemporarily aggressive with its jutting lines and creases, big grille and slip headlights, the second generation Copen, however, remains in production, and is also offered in more rounded, retro variants. Powered by a small transverse turbocharged 660cc 3-cylinder engine driving the front wheels, the Copen produces 63BHP at 6,400rpm and 68lb/ft torque at 3,200rpm, and is estimated to carry its 850kg mass through 0-100km/h in 11.5-seconds and onto 170km/h.

Specifications

Engine: 0.7-litre, transverse turbocharged 3-cylinders

Gearbox: 5-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 63 (64) [47] @6,400rpm

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 68 (92) @3,200rpm

0-100km/h: 11.5-seconds (estimate)

Top speed: 170km/h (estimate)

Length: 3,395mm

Width: 1,475mm

Height: 1,280mm

Wheelbase: 2,230mm

Weight: 850kg

Tyres: 165/50R16

Honda S660

A Japanese market gem that most of the world lost out on, the Honda S660 was probably the most interesting and “pure” sport model since the demise of the high-revving S2000. Harking back to Honda’s small 1960s “S” series sports cars, the S660 was launched in 2015 as simple but modern miniature mid-engine two-seat targa-top sports car adhering to Japan’s low tax ‘Kei’ car size, weight and displacement restrictions.

The antithesis of the much heavier and more complex Honda NSX hybrid super sports car launched the following year, the diminutive and uncomplicated soft-top S660 shares a similar design ethos in its big grille, slim headlights and wide, low stance. Weighing just 830kg, with rear-centre weight bias, the S660, however, promises superbly agile handling, balance, adjustability and razor sharp reflexes for turning into and negotiating sharp, narrow and successive corners.

Powered by a tiny transversely-mounted turbocharged 660cc 3-cylinder engine, the S660 develops 63BHP at 6,000rpm and 77lb/ft torque at 2,600rpm to power is larger rear wheels. Driven through a standard 6-speed manual gearbox for more driver engagement and authenticity, or an optional automatic continuously variable transmission for greater convenience and in-town ease, the S660 is estimated to be capable of 0-100km/h in 11-seconds and an unrestricted top speed of 170km/h.

Specifications

Engine: 0.7-litre, mid-mounted turbocharged 3-cylinders

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

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 63 (64) [47] @6,000rpm

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 77 (104) @2,600rpm

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

Top speed: 170km/h (estimate, unrestricted)

Wheelbase: 2,285mm

Weight: 830kg

Tyres, F/R: 165/55R15/195/45R16

AMMAN — An investigative book by Italian environmental and science journalist Rudi Bressa, titled “Trafficanti di natura: Il commercio illegale di specie selvatiche che minaccia la biodiversità”, which in English translates to “Nature traffickers: The illegal wildlife trade that threatens biodiversity”, has hit stands.

The book provides valuable insight on the workings of the illegal trade of wild species and delves into the significant threat it poses to the planet's biodiversity. Second only to drug and weapons trafficking, the trade in wild species has an estimated annual value of $10 billion and is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, said a statement from the author.

Tigers, elephants, hawks, seahorses, donkeys, turtles, teak and orchids – these are just a few of the many species threatened by this illegal trade that Bressa discusses through interviews with experts, recent data and studies, news reports and investigations.

Trained as a naturalist, Bressa currently collaborates with various national and international publications. He has led several investigations into species trafficking in collaboration with international teams.

By Sonia Salfity
Desperate Dieter

If you’ve ever watched the Olympic Diving team, then you understand how precise the athletes have to be.

It is not enough that they know exactly when to push off the diving board, but they must keep a perfect form and enter the water without making a big splash.

I’ve always found it fascinating to observe the minute details that play into this sport. There are so many factors in play that would not be evident to the average viewer like you and me. Unless you were one of the judges, you wouldn’t know what details to look out for. What may look perfect to you may actually have many flaws.

Diving into our daily lives

I like to apply this concept to our own efforts to be healthy. After all, we desperate dieters have been training all our lives in this category. Sometimes I think we should get a gold medal for never giving up!

We dive into our daily lives with good intentions and good form. We have the right equipment on hand whether it’s healthy food in our kitchen pantry or a treadmill in our gym or living room. We start off like any athlete with all the desire in our hearts to do our best and hopefully reach our goal. We begin the process so encouraged that we even dare to go for the gold and not just the silver or bronze medals. Yet, like any athlete, without the mental focus, we will never reach our goals.

Mental focus

The older I get, the more I appreciate how essential mental focus is. It can make or break us, and like any good athlete, we learn from our failures more than from our successes. This means failure is part of the journey. It’s part of what makes us more resilient human beings who are willing to get back up on our feet only to find ourselves stronger than our previous attempts.

Keep moving on

It is during this cycle that we discover that we actually do have the grit it takes to keep moving forward and never giving up. The only difference is we are competing with our own selves. We each have a choice as we listen to our inner critic. We either get crushed when failures are revealed or we use the experience to learn from our mistakes. That’s the only way we could ever improve. 

Keep in mind that judges normally assign their numbers to many different categories and higher numbers are given to the more difficult athletic routines thus giving the athlete a higher ranking.

This means that when we observe our own efforts, we too need to look at all the different categories and understand that the harder the effort we make, the bigger the reward we receive.

For example, I might get a 10 out of 10 as far as eating within my daily caloric range, but I might get a five out of 10 for my efforts to drink enough water. I might get a nine for getting my cardio workout in and a seven for fitting in my weight-bearing exercises. I might give myself a six for getting enough greens in my daily intake, but not enough servings to make it a 10 out of 10. 

A quest to live healthier

The reason I like to separate these categories in my quest to live healthier is because it shows me that at any given time there are many moving parts. These parts are always fluctuating and ever so often I’ll get a 10 in each category, but the reality is that none of us can be perfect most of the time.

We slip. We fall. We cry. We get back up on our feet and fight like any good athlete. We are in this for the long haul so we’d better get used to brushing the dust off and trying over and over again. With each time, it will get easier because our bodies are resilient when our minds are focused.

The resilient mind

The opposite is also true. Our minds are resilient when our bodies are focused. When we eat healthier and move our bodies we notice the mental clarity that replaces the mental fog. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you’re probably not a desperate dieter! All it takes is to eat some junk food and not only will you feel zoned out, but your brain will hardly focus on anything and your body will feel sluggish and as slow as a turtle.

No disrespect to turtles, as I love these precious creatures! Speaking of turtles, I believe it was the tortoise that won the race against the hare. Yep! The slow turtle never gave up while the rabbit thought it would take a nap since its opponent was as slow as they come. I’ve always loved that children’s story because the older I get the more I feel like that turtle.

Advancement on the scale or in my wardrobe department seems to progress ever so slowly. It’s like watching a movie in slow motion! But friends, as long as we’re making improvements in the right direction, then let’s keep going regardless of how excruciatingly slow the process can be. Here’s to a stronger, more resilient you and to the grit it takes to be in this journey for the long haul!

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

MEXICO CITY — Voice actors around the globe are mobilising against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate and clone human voices that they fear poses a threat to their livelihoods.

“We’re fighting a very big monster,” said Mario Filio, a Mexican artist who has done voiceovers for Hollywood star Will Smith, the Obi-Wan Kenobi character in Star Wars and the party-loving lemur King Julien in the animated movie “Madagascar”.

Campaigning under the slogan “Don’t steal our voices”, more than 20 voice acting guilds, associations and unions from Europe, the United States and Latin America have created the United Voice Artists coalition.

It represents the faceless voiceover artists and narrators of commercials, movies, audiobooks and video games who fear that their voices will be replaced by machines, or even cloned by artificial intelligence without their consent.

“The undiscriminating and unregulated use of artificial intelligence is a risk that could lead to the extinction of an artistic heritage of creativity and wonder, an asset that machines cannot generate”, according to the group, which says its members include the US National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) and Latin America’s Organisation of United Voices.

“Our voices are our livelihood,” NAVA vice president Carin Gilfry said in a statement last month.

“And if we don’t have control over how those voices are used, we can’t make a living,” she added.

Voice artists were already competing with text-to-speech technology that turns written words into synthetic voice.

Now artificial intelligence has brought a new threat.

Thanks to machine learning, software can compare a voice sample with millions of existing ones, identifying patterns that generate a clone.

“It’s fed by voices that we’ve been providing for years,” said Dessiree Hernandez, president of the Mexican Association of Commercial Announcers.

“We’re talking about the right to use your voice without your consent,” she added.

‘Adapt or disappear’

Platforms offer human sounding text-to-speech services for a fraction of what professionals would charge. 

One, revoicer.com, says that it does not intend to replace human voiceovers, but to offer a quicker and cheaper alternative.

Although they continued to be hired, voice actors suspect that companies are using their voices to build up their archives.

The artists are seeking tools to track their voices in the face of sophisticated piracy.

They want laws to prevent recordings of their voices being used to develop AI without their consent, and also support setting quotas for human voiceovers, said Colombian voice artist Daniel Soler de la Prada.

In the future, audiences could hear a famous actor’s voice in several languages but with the intonation of a dubbing artist, Filio said.

While that could generate employment and benefits for the public, voice artists “need to charge what’s fair,” he added.

Mexican voice artist Maclovia Gonzalez said that she would only sign a contract with an AI company if it provided enough information about how the content would be used.

“I want to be part of this revolution, but not at any price,” she said.

Art Dubbing, a company that has received several requests from clients to use synthetic voices, faces a dilemma: “adapt or disappear,” said its Mexican founder, Anuar Lopez de la Pena.

Filio for his part said that he stopped recording for many clients for fear of hurting his colleagues’ livelihoods.

But he is sceptical that artificial intelligence will replace voice actors completely because the machines have “no soul,” he added.

LOS ANGELES — French videogame titan Ubisoft is eyeing artificial intelligence and virtual reality as the next big things in gaming, its chief executive said, especially ahead of the release of Apple’s new mixed reality headset.

Ubisoft has long been known to take chances on new gaming innovations — the company launched an early partnership with Nintendo on its 2006 sensation the Wii console.

Now, ahead of next year’s release of Apple’s Vision Pro headset, Ubisoft Chief Executive Yves Guillemot is ready to make another bet on the future of gaming — that virtual reality is around the corner.

After a decade that saw the revolutionary rise of free-to-play smartphone games and titles streamed directly from the Internet cloud, Guillemot thinks VR is likely to be the next major industry disruptor. 

“VR is eventually going to happen,” he told AFP at a company showcase event in Los Angeles.

“Apple investing massively in the field is fantastic for all of us,” he added. 

With Vision Pro, Apple joins Facebook’s Meta, which had been the driving force behind VR video games, in lobbying studios to adapt versions of hit titles for its virtual reality Quest device.

“Apple’s commitment and investment will take that industry to a new level,” said Guillemot, and Ubisoft “for sure” envisions developing games for the Vision Pro one day.

“It’s going to come,” Guillemot said, as soon as enough of the $3,500 headsets are in users’ hands.

Expanding horizons

Designing games for new platforms “doesn’t always work out perfectly”, warned consumer behaviour analysis firm Circana’s executive director of videogames Mat Piscatella.

“But, by supporting new market entrants, Ubisoft is usually well-positioned should that new product or service type succeed, and placing many bets seems to have generally worked out pretty well for the company over the years,” the analyst said.

And in an era of consolidation in the game industry, Piscatella praised Ubisoft’s diversification strategy as the company broadens its entertainment offerings.

CEO Guillemot said Ubisoft would continue to expand into film and TV streaming content.

Ubisoft is behind the AppleTV hit “Mythic Quest”, a comedy series set — naturally — in a video game studio.

And on Monday, the company announced that its animated series “Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix” will debut on Netflix later this year.

The series is set in “a dystopian, cyberpunk version of 1992” and features versions of characters from Ubisoft games.

“The goal here is to make sure that our brands can reach more players all over the world,” Guillemot told AFP.

“Being on Netflix or Amazon Prime or other networks can make those brands better known and let everyone in the world participate in our creations.”

At the Los Angeles event Monday, Ubisoft also announced a free-to-play version of its blockbuster “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, along with a virtual reality version of the game compatible with Meta’s Quest gear.

In addition, Ubisoft teased a video game spun off the blockbuster “Avatar” movies as well as a “Star Wars Outlaws” title made with LucasFilm.

AI games

Also on deck to shake up the world of video games is artificial intelligence, said Guillemot.

He said he sees generative AI as a “fantastic opportunity”, especially given how eagerly users have taken to the technology since the Microsoft-backed ChatGPT bot was released late last year.

“It’s like inventing the mouse for the personal computer, it changed everything,” Guillemot said.

“Games are going to be more intelligent; as creators of games, we have to see how close we can get to what exists in real life.”

For example, a game might use generative AI to tap into computing power stored in the cloud, giving every character in its universe a spontaneous life of its own — players could encounter these personalities the same way they might meet a stranger on the street in the real world.

“Video games [are] a $200 billion industry today because we’ve always surprised gamers with new things,” Guillemot said.

“Gen AI and VR and cloud will make the industry even more attractive and fun.”

GENEVA — Around one in every six adults experiences infertility, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently estimated as it called for an urgent increase in access to fertility care.

The WHO determined that around 17.5 per cent of adults worldwide are affected by infertility at some point, and found little variation between regions and wealthy and poorer countries. 

“Globally, an estimated one out of every six people are affected by the inability to have a child at some point in their life,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the foreword to a fresh report on the issue.

“This is regardless of where they live and what resources they have.”

Across their lifetime, 17.8 per cent of adults in high-income countries and 16.5 per cent in low- and middle income countries were affected by infertility, it found.

Tedros said the report — the first of its kind in a decade — revealed “an important truth: infertility does not discriminate”. 

The WHO designated the issue a “major health challenge globally”, but stressed the difficulty of comparing the situation in various regions due to a lack of data from a number of countries.

‘Jury still out’

Infertility is classified as a disease of the male or female reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.

The report did not examine the causes of infertility, and did not seek to determine trends over time, or infertility differences between the sexes.

Instead, it provided a first estimate of the global and regional prevalency after experts ploughed through piles of studies conducted around the world between 1990 and 2021.

The WHO warned that there were significant variations in the data gathered, including some countries only including adults up to a certain age, and others with no age cut-off, insisting on the need for better data.

“We cannot, based on the data we have, say that infertility is increasing or constant... The jury’s still out on that question,” James Kiarie, head of the WHO’s Contraception and Fertility Care unit, told reporters.

Tedros agreed.

“Infertility affects millions,” he said, lamenting that “even still, it remains understudied, and solutions underfunded, and inaccessible to many, as the result of high costs, social stigma and limited availability”.

Stigma, inequity

Pascale Allotey, head of the WHO’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research division, also highlighted the stigma associated with infertility and the inequity in access to treatment.

“The cost of fertility care is an immense challenge for many people,” she told reporters, warning this is “a serious equity issue and very frequently a medical poverty trap”.

At the same time, “procreation comes with a significant societal pressure”, she said, pointing out that in many countries “pregnancy remains critical to the perception of womanhood and... of a couple”.

“Failure is often met with stigma,” Allotey said, pointing out that people with infertility often suffer “anxiety and depression, with ramifications for people’s mental and psychosocial wellbeing”.

There is also “an increased risk of intimate partner violence associated with infertility”, as relationships are tested,” she warned.

The WHO is calling on countries to include infertility treatment as part of their reproductive health policies, services and financing.

“We want to make sure that we break the silence on infertility,” WHO fertility research scientist Gitau Mburu told reporters.

Tedros also insisted that “the sheer proportion of people affected show the need to widen access to fertility care and ensure this issue is no longer sidelined in health research and policy”. 

“Safe, effective, and affordable ways to attain parenthood [must be made] available for those who seek it.”

CAPESTERRE-BELLE-EAU, France — Jose Viator was hoping tourists would flock to his beachside bar on the French archipelago of Guadeloupe, but he has been forced to close because of stinky brown seaweed.

“It’s a nightmare,” the 61-year-old said.

The pristine sand and turquoise Caribbean waters of his coastal village are usually a magnet for tourists at this time of year.

But a thick carpet of potentially toxic sargassum algae has washed up on the beach of Capesterre, filling the air with the smell of rotten eggs as it decomposes and keeping visitors at bay.

It is just one part of the Caribbean to have tackled excessive seaweed influx in recent years, in a phenomenon that has been linked to pollution and global warming.

More than a third of the sargassum washing up in Guadeloupe over the past 12 years has landed in Viator’s village.

“We make a living from tourism, but we’re forced to close several months a year” because of the stench, he said.

The fumes also damage nearby houses and other property by eating away at metal, but insurance companies will not reimburse the damage, he said.

A digger ploughed up and down the beach nearby, scooping up clumps of the rotting seaweed so that a truck could ferry them away.

Jean-Fernand Diabangouaya, a 54-year-old convenience store employee, said people were resigned to the influx of brown algae.

“We’re used to it. It’s been 12 years now,” he said.

Since 2011, 40 per cent of the sargassum washing up in the Guadeloupe archipelago has landed in Capesterre, according to the authorities.

“We have always known sargassum, but since 2011 it’s really got worse,” Sylvie Gustave-dit-Duflo, the vice-president of the Guadeloupe region in charge of environmental affairs, told AFP.

The decomposing algae emits around 30 gases in total, she said.

Among them, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) causes the rotting egg smell and is thought to have negative health effects if inhaled in large quantities.

Since mid-April local authorities have recommended “vulnerable people” move away for the area after measuring H2S concentration in the air.

Prolonged exposure to slightly higher levels can cause headaches and problems in some asthma patients, while a 2022 study has linked the rotting seaweed to an increased risk of pregnancy complications in women living on the coast.

Scientists believe global warming, deforestation and runoff water full of sewage, agricultural waste and other nutrients have all contributed to sargassum choking Caribbean beaches in recent years.

“It’s probably linked to several factors: nitrate and potassium being flushed into the ocean, whose temperature is rising,” said Gustave-dit-Duflo.

Sargassum, whose brown branches are dotted with bubbles that keep it afloat, has existed for centuries in the north of the Atlantic Ocean.

But huge mats of the algae have started to appear in the south Atlantic in recent years, likely fed by the nutrient-rich runoff of the Mississippi, Amazon and Congo rivers.

The so-called Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt contained about 13 million tonnes of seaweed by the end of March, according to the University of South Florida.

Sargassum may provide a rich habitat for marine fauna at sea, but it harms coastal wildlife when it washes up on land.

And removing it from the coastline also costs millions of euros, says Gustave-dit-Duflo.

“We’re having to manage a curse that we did not cause,” she said, calling for international action to solve the problem.

Local authorities are aiming to set up a marine barrier made up of nets and buoys to protect the village’s beaches from the brown seaweed by June, Mayor Jean-Claude Maes said.

Until then, the only option to get rid of the rotting algae is to spread it out across acres of isolated land until it fully decays and dries out.

But even that is not ideal.

When it decomposes, the algae leaks heavy metals into the ground, according to a 2022 government report.

A more refined take on Lada’s classic, compact and uncomplicatedly capable Niva SUV line, the Niva Travel is a more comfortable, quiet and well equipped sister model to the better known classic Niva.

Complementing the 3-door Niva as a more modern and practical vehicle with 5-door utility and contemporarily rugged styling, the Niva Travel might lack some of the original and iconic Niva’s charms, but is by no means toned down or compromised in its extensive off-road abilities, and shares the same engine, drive-line and suspension design as the former.

A different take

Launched in 2021 by the now wholly Russian-owned and independent automaker Avtovaz/Lada, the rebranded and re-styled Niva Traval is in effect and evolution of the VAZ 2123 compact SUV first launched in 1998 and later marketed as the Chevrolet Niva as a joint venture collaboration with General Motors. Slotting in between 3- and 5-door versions of the classic Niva — now afforded the Legend moniker — the Niva Travel may share much of the same mechanicals, but distinctly differs in design from the uncluttered older model’s clean lines.

Different in design from the enduring Niva Legend and its beautifully proportioned and uncomplicatedly boxy design, the Niva Travel’s more modern styling themes include a big, wide and hungry trapezoidal grille flanked by slim, scowling and heavily browed headlights. It also employs trendy touches like more contoured and bulging surfacing, lower black cladding, black B- and C-pillars, stylised rear lights, and a more swept back windscreen. Its spare tyre is, meanwhile, repositioned from the Legend’s under bonnet location to external mounting on the side-swinging rear tailgate.

Compact and capable

Comparatively narrow and tall for manoeuvrability through off-road routes, the Niva Travel’s design, however, differs from more modern SUV in its low waistline and big glasshouse, which provides excellent road visibility for manoeuvring and accurately positioning it on- and off-road, and when parking. A compact 4.1-metre long mountain goat style off-roader, the Niva Travel rides high at 220mm above the ground and features short 749mm front and rear overhangs, which allows it generous off-road angles and the ability to transverse rough and inhospitable terrain.

Powered by a marginally detuned version of Lada’s familiar, long-running and uncomplicated longitudinally-mounted 8-valve 1.7-litre four-cylinder engine, the Niva Travel develops 79BHP at 5,000rpm and 94lb/ft at 4,000rpm. Giving away just 3BHP and 1lb/ft, but gaining 200kg compared with the lighter Niva Legend, the bigger and better equipped and insulated 1,485kg Niva Travel is nevertheless only slightly slower. Accelerating 0.2-seconds later through 0-100km/h at 19-seconds, the Niva Travel is capable of a 140km/h maximum, and returns 10.2l/100km fuel economy on the combined cycle.

Reassuringly rugged

Little changed in headline statistics, the Niva Travel’s additional weight over the Legend is, however, more noticeable on the move and in how it feels slightly blunted and less responsive. Requiring one to hold gears to higher revs to build enough power and momentum before up-shifting on steeper inclines, one is tempted engage the Niva Travel’s low gear ratio range for more robust low speed performance for certain on-road circumstances and topographies. That said, the engine is nevertheless smooth and rewardingly linear in operation and character.

Driving its permanent four-wheel-drive system through a 5-speed manual gearbox, the Niva Travel offers plenty of traction for sure-footed off-road driving. Riding on front double wishbone and rugged live axle and coil spring rear suspension, the Niva Travel’s extensive off-road abilities also include long wheel travel to traverse big obstacles while maintaining ground contact, and a locking centre differential and low gear ratios for demanding inclines and low traction conditions. Fording 500mm through water, it can, meanwhile, be optionally fitted with a high A-pillar mounted intake snorkel.

Comfort and composure

A small manoeuvrable SUV with reassuring road holding, the Niva Travel is an authentic, yet, rugged off-roader with terrifically unexpected refinement. If anything, it is its very refinement that detracts from sort of loud, visceral and ultimately engaging charisma of the older, lighter Niva Legend. That said, the Niva Travel proved stable and settled on the road, soaking up imperfections with forgiving composure. Turning in tidily but leaning somewhat through corners owing to its comfortable suspension, the Niva Travel’s steering and braking were meanwhile accurate and natural in motion.

Quiet and comfortable, the Niva Travel’s cabin provides a high but supportive and ergonomic driving position with its user-friendly controls and terrific road visibility. Its gear lever motion is crisp, clear and satisfyingly precise, and clutch intuitively precise.

Well packaged despite a narrow and compact frame, it offers decent legroom and generous headroom at the rear, while luggage space is well sized. Finished with honest well-built materials, the Niva Travel is comparatively modern and well equipped, and features a powerful A/C and clever driver’s armrest that rotates to alternatively serve as a rear cupholder.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 1.7-litre, in-line 4-cylinders
• Bore x stroke: 82 x 80mm
• Compression ratio: 9.3:1
• Valve-train: 8-valve, SOHC
• Gearbox: 5-speed manual, four-wheel-drive
• Driveline: low gear transfer, locking centre differential
• Final drive: 3.9:1
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 79 (80) [58.8] @5,000rpm
• Specific power: 46.7BHP/litre
• Power-to-weight: 53.2/tonne
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 94 (127.4) @4,000rpm
• Specific torque: 75.4Nm/litre
• Torque-to-weight: 85.8Nm/tonne
• 0-100km/h: 19-seconds
• Top speed: 140km/h
• Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined: 13.4-/8.5-/10.2-litres/100km
• Fuel capacity: 58-litres
• Minimum ground clearance: 220mm
• Cargo volume, min/max: 320-/650-litres (estimate, to waistline)
• Kerb weight: 1,485kg
• Gross weight: 1,860kg
• Towing capacity, braked/unbraked: 1,200/600kg
• Suspension, F: Double wishbones, coilovers, anti-roll bar
• Suspension, R: Live axle, coil springs
• Steering: Power-assisted re-circulating ball
• Brakes, F/R: Discs/drums
• Tyres: 215/65R16
• Price, on the road: JD16,500 (with comprehensive insurance)