Kia Sorento rebuild kicks it

Well, the Koreans just keep doing the unexpected and consumers are benefiting from it.

The 2014 Kia Sorento SX AWD SUV has had a mid-cycle rebuild and I think this may now be a better car than its popular brand mate the Hyundai Santa Fe for about the same money.

The Sorento had been taking a bit of a beating from consumers and critics for its poor handling and modest adornments. Hyundai/Kia listened and responded loudly. With a new engine, rebuilt suspension and more refinement in style and substance, you've got a contender for the your crossover dollar.

In the past few years, Hyundai/Kia's hallmark has been bang for your buck and the '14 Sorento fills the SUV side of the equation nicely. Starting at base MSRP of $24,900, the Sorento offers a high-quality and stylish interior with the easy-to-use and intuitive UVO infotainment system. It has sleek textured interior panels with some soft touches and wood accents along with comfortable and high-quality leather-trimmed seats. Our AWD SX is not quite top of the line, but is jam-packed with goodies.

The $36,700 SX package includes the panoramic sunroof, blind-spot monitoring, backup camera and sonar warning, power folding side-view mirrors, three driving modes, along with features you'd expect such as cruise control and power lift gate.

Under the sheet metal is where Kia has made significant changes.

Earlier Hyundai/Kia cars we've tested have had vague, underwhelming steering and suspensions.

This extensive re-engineering of the 2014 chassis includes stiffening of the front suspension, adding larger rear suspension components and constructing a more rigid frame. Add in the new electric steering and all lead to better handling than earlier models.

Combine the 3.3 liter, 290-horsepower, V-6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission and you've got a really powerful crossover on your hands. The V-6 and AWD can be a bit thirsty, but only give up a couple of miles per gallon fewer than the base model, testing to about 18 in the city and 24 on the highway. I averaged 21 mpg, right in the middle of the range.

The V-6 provides plenty of power, brisk acceleration and a quiet ride. Whether it's a supermarket or dump run or a cruise along the highway, the new handling characteristics make this a comfortable car to drive. Pick your favorite from one of the three Flexsteer modes — comfort, sport or normal — and feel the responsive, taut command of the car missing in other models.

The SUV includes third row seating — the Mitsubishi Outlander is the only other in class to do so — but it robs from the cargo area. Although the Sorento is larger in all dimensions than its class rivals, the Honda CRV and Ford Escape, the third-row seats are still a snug fit. I preferred to keep them stowed and make use of the full deck space.

The simple-to-use and high-tech UVO infotainment center combines all your wireless connectivity and audio needs without endless drill-down menus. It works smartly with voice command and the sound system is excellent. The 8-inch navigation screen was easy on the eyes and a snap to use, too. It's a marked improvement over earlier models.

If you're worn out with the legion of bullet-shaped competitors in this class, then this may be your vehicle. The body styling is more traditionally truck-like and Kia has some nice tweaks with wrap-around lights and body accents.

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Boston TV stations pull out the stops

A tension-filled day gave way to a night of celebration, relief and even revelry on the streets of Watertown as a suspected Boston Marathon bomber was apprehended and the local TV stations — WBZ, WCVB, WFXT, WHDH and NECN — tracked every moment.

As breaking news banners flashed updates on suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's location — a boat in a Franklin Street backyard — stations kept their cameras trained on the neighborhood as darkness fell. After it was confirmed that Tsarnaev was in custody and on the way to a local hospital, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd gathered near the site.

As the suspected terrorist remained on the loose for much of yesterday and with much of the Boston area under unprecedented lockdown, local TV stations responded with unparalleled wall-to-wall coverage.

Probably no one had a more harrowing day than WHDH's Adam Williams, who arrived with his cameraman in Watertown early yesterday morning and found himself pinned down as the two brothers, Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, exchanged about 200 rounds of gunfire with police.

"It was not a good position to be in," Williams stoically told viewers last night.

The most oft-repeated footage was supplied by a viewer: Against a backdrop of flashing blue lights, the Watertown shootout with rat-a-tat gunfire that left Tamerlan dead and an MBTA police officer critically injured seemed to last hours.

The stations scrambled to mute the raw audio, but the video was terrifying.

With long stretches of time to fill, the stations worked overtime to profile the alleged killers and convey a sense of the Boston area under what seemed like martial law.

"The entire city looked like a scene out of 'I Am Legend,' " commented David Gerzof Richard, professor of social media and marketing at Emerson College, referring to the 2007 post-apocalyptic film starring Will Smith. "Empty streets. It's the first time I can ever remember an entire city that was shut down."

T.J. Winick, former WBZ and ABC news reporter and now a media relations consultant in the Boston area, gave high marks to the stations' efforts.

"These are scenarios you can work 30 years in local news and never be put in," he said. "I think the reporters and the anchors did an incredible job keeping their composure and providing the very latest information" under trying circumstances.

Part of every local station's mission is public service, and that often gets overlooked, Winick said, but here the news desks kept the public updated on the search for a dangerous suspect in real time.

Because of their dogged efforts, "You'd have to be living in a cave not to know what's going on."

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Automakers target Chinese buyers at Shanghai show

SHANGHAI — Global and Chinese automakers showcased family-friendly sedans and SUVs targeting coveted urban buyers at China's biggest auto show Saturday as competition intensifies in this huge but crowded market.

China's vehicle sales rose 13 percent in March, blistering growth by Western standards but down from 45 percent in 2009. With sales weak elsewhere, global companies that see China as a key part of their future are pouring money and technology into fighting for market share, squeezing each other and new but ambitious local automakers.

"It is a very, very competitive market," said Bob Socia, president of General Motors Co.'s China arm.

The Shanghai auto show, held in alternate years, has grown into one of the global industry's most prominent events, especially after China passed the United States in 2009 as the biggest auto market by number of vehicles sold.

Organizers say exhibitors at this year's show, which opens to the public after Saturday's press preview, will display more than 800 vehicles, from mass-market compacts to minivans to hand-built sports cars with price tags of more than $1 million.

GM is displaying 53 models from its Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet units as well as its local Baojun and Wuling brands. GM says it will launch 17 new and refreshed models in China this year and wants to expand Cadillac's share of the country's booming luxury market.

Ford Motor Co. unveiled a new version of its Mondeo sedan and the sport model of its smaller Focus ST aimed at prosperous, family-conscious Chinese buyers. Marin Burela, the president of Ford's main Chinese joint venture, said the Mondeo is aimed at luring Chinese buyers with "affordable luxury."

The Mondeo "rivals vehicles priced well beyond this segment," Burela said.

Italy's Fiat SpA, trying to catch up after launching its first China venture just three years ago, unveiled a version of its Viaggio sedan and a SUV, the Freemont, based on the Dodge Journey. Fiat said the Viaggio, with a smaller 1.4-liter engine than models sold elsewhere, was its first vehicle designed for the China market.

China's auto sales last year topped 19 million. Industry analysts and automakers say they expect rapid growth to continue, rising to annual sales of as much as 32 million vehicles by 2020 — the equivalent of the United States and Europe combined.

"China really is in the infancy of industry development," said David Schoch, Ford's president for Asia and the Pacific. Ford expects 60 to 70 percent of its sales growth to come from the Asia-Pacific region in coming years, he said, "and most of that is driven by the China engine."

Schoch said Ford plans to double the size of its China dealership network to more than 800 outlets.

Despite rapid sales growth that has left Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities choked on traffic and smog, competition has been brutal, forcing fledgling Chinese automakers to merge in hopes of competing with bigger global rivals.

Ford's local partner, Chang'an Automotive Group, swallowed rivals Changhe and Hafei and a series of smaller producers. Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp., which assembles vehicles for GM and VW, absorbed Nanjing Automotive.

Still, the market is fragmented among more than 100 brands and some domestic producers have sales of just 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles a year.

Germany's Volkswagen AG is China's biggest single auto brand with a 14 percent market share. GM is second with 7 percent for cars, plus its truck and minivan sales. Ford, Honda Motor Co. and leading Chinese brands such as Chery Inc. and Geely Holding Group, which owns Sweden's Volvo Cars, have shares of 2 to 4 percent.

The squeeze on independent Chinese brands has worsened as global automakers target their core low-cost market with new economy models.

Chinese automakers were stunned last year when GM unveiled a version of its Sail sedan priced at just 56,800 yuan ($9,100). GM says it also exported more than 60,000 Chinese-manufactured Sails last year to other developing markets.

Chery's sales plunged 10 percent last year. It responded last week by announcing an overhaul that will eliminate two of its three brands and slim down its product range from 20 models to 10 or 11.

"It's already survival of the fittest," said analyst Namrita Chow of IHS Automotive.

One Chinese brand that has bucked the trend is Great Wall Motors Co. Its profit jumped 65 percent last year, driven by sales of its popular SUVs, which are exported to 80 countries including Australia, Italy and Russia.

On Saturday, Great Wall unveiled two new SUVs, the H6 and the H7, as well as a sedan and a pickup.

On the strength of those new products, CEO Wang Fengying said this year's sales might rise 30 percent.

"We put a lot into research and development — really, a lot," said Wang, the only female chief executive of a major Chinese auto brand. "We hope we know just what customers want and trust."

Also Saturday, Japanese automakers that are struggling to come back from a sales slump displayed models they said were restyled to suit Chinese tastes.

Toyota Motor Co. showed a Yaris sedan and other models it said were modified for China after market research. Honda and Nissan Motor Co., which have hired Chinese designers, showed models they said were created to meet local demand.

Sales of Japanese brands plunged last year during a dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea and continue to wane even though the tensions have abated.

Japanese automakers suffered a combined 17.8 percent sales decline in March, according to Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Speaking at the show, Toyota vice chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, stressed friendship with China. He noted that Toyota has produced its hybrid Prius in China since 2005, the first manufacturing site for the vehicle outside Japan.

"For me, China is a cherished neighbor," he said.

China's failure to follow its neighbors Japan and South Korea in creating at least one global auto brand has frustrated communist leaders.

They see auto manufacturing as an industry that will create higher-paid jobs in fields from electronics to chemicals. They have spent two decades giving producers subsidies and other help.

Despite that, industry analysts say China is years away from creating a globally competitive brand.

Already, a handful of foreign automakers including VW and GM are developing such a commanding market position that they will be hard to dislodge, according to Yale Zhang, managing director of Automotive Foresight, a research firm.

Five years ago, eight automakers had vehicles among China's 10 most popular, according to Zhang. Last year, the Top 10 group had shrunk to just three brands — VW, GM and the Korean duopoly of Hyundai and Kia.

"The next five years really will be the last window of opportunity for local car makers" to develop competitive brands, said Zhang.

"Only one or two probably will be successful," he said. "Most of them will really see serious trouble within five years."

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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama and AP researcher Fu Ting contributed.

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Iran seeks to export oil to North Korea

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's oil ministry says the country is considering exporting oil to North Korea as a way to improve its battered economy.

The official IRNA news agency quoted on Saturday Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi as saying talks are underway between Tehran and Pyongyang on oil exports.

An oil deal would bring the two nations deeply at odds with the U.S. and the West closer together. In September, they signed a scientific and technological cooperation agreement. A delegation from North Korea's oil ministry is currently visiting Iran.

Iranian and North Korean officials have said in the past that their nations are in "one trench" in the confrontation with Western powers.

But Iran has denied a U.N. report saying the two have exchanged ballistic missiles, components and technology in violation of U.N. sanctions.

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Experts: Mass. economy won’t sprout in spring

The Bay State could soon hit a "spring stall" when it comes to recovery and growth as federal budget cuts and European economic weakness threaten to choke off job opportunities, experts said yesterday.

"I don't see a whole lot of oomph out there to get job growth in Massachusetts," said Robert Nakosteen, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Isenberg School of Management.

Massachusetts lost an estimated 5,500 jobs last month even as the state's unemployment rate dipped a tenth of a point to 6.4 percent, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

"There's nothing inherent about spring except this one has the sequester and the payroll tax increase and continuing uncertainty about the debt limit and budget deals," Nakosteen said. "All of those extract a price."

Nakosteen added the state could expect to see "fairly flat" job growth for the duration of the year as residents start to feel the pinch of automatic federal budget cuts, which will also cut unemployment insurance assistance by nearly 13 percent for close to 45,000 residents collecting benefits for more than 26 weeks.

Before March's jobs plunge, Massachusetts had only added 500 jobs in February.

While the state's education and health services, and leisure and hospitality sectors added 2,200 and 300 jobs, respectively, last month, Massachusetts' professional, scientific and business services sector took a big hit — losing 3,400 jobs in March.

"That sector has been growing quite strongly in recent years, fueled by the innovation economy here," said Michael Goodman, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, who called March's jobs figures "clearly disappointing."

"The decline in professional and business services is consistent with what one would expect from the kinds of cuts that have been taking place at the federal level," he said.

Northeastern University economist Alan Clayton-Matthews added that unrest in Europe has continued to be "a drag" on the state's economy.

"I expect to see slower job growth over the next several months, but I do not expect to see continued job losses of this magnitude," he said.

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UMass cites Harvard flaw

News that a UMass Amherst graduate student had uncovered significant flaws in an influential paper by two eminent Harvard University economists roiled the profession this week, raising questions about the policies it influences at home and abroad.

Thomas Herndon, a 28-year-old doctoral student in economics, discovered what he saw as glaring omissions in the spreadsheets used for Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff's 2010 study, which had asserted that economic growth slows sharply when government debt exceeds 90 percent of annual economic output.

The study was widely cited by policymakers worldwide, including former Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, to justify cutting spending. So when a working paper by Herndon and two of his professors, Michael Ash and Robert Pollin, pointing out the errors was posted on the UMass Political Economy Research Institute website this week, it quickly went viral.

"It really indicates the profession needs to question its own methods and standards," said Barbara Alexander, an economist and visiting lecturer at Babson College. "Published research needs to be audited and cross-checked, and the data needs to be freely available. ... It's really disturbing because the results in this case have been used to support policies that have been extremely painful for many people in this country and around the world."

In a joint statement, Reinhart and Rogoff said they were "grateful" to Herndon, Ash and Pollin for pointing out a "coding error," but they maintained there is a correlation between high government debt and slow economic growth.

"It is sobering that such an error slipped into one of our papers despite our best efforts to be consistently careful. We will redouble our efforts to avoid such errors in the future," they said. "We do not, however, believe this regrettable slip affects in any significant way the central message of the paper or that in our subsequent work."

Herndon and his professors disagree with that conclusion.

"People argue that spending cuts are a bitter medicine you have to take to get out of a recession," he said, "but we provide strong evidence that disputes that."

Ash, a professor of economics and public policy, said it is "quite likely" that high public debt is not a cause of poor economic performance, but an effect.

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Poll: Public pessimism on economy is increasing

WASHINGTON — For the third year in a row, the nation's economic recovery has hit a springtime soft spot. Reflecting that weakness, only 1 in 4 Americans now expects his or her own financial situation to improve over the next year, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows.

The sour mood is undermining support for President Barack Obama's economic stewardship and for government in general.

The poll shows that just 46 percent of Americans approve of Obama's handling of the economy while 52 percent disapprove. That's a negative turn from an even split last September — ahead of Obama's November re-election victory — when 49 percent approved and 48 percent disapproved.

Just 7 percent of Americans said they trust the government in Washington to do what is right "just about always," the AP-GfK poll found. Fourteen percent trust it "most" of the time and two-thirds trust the federal government just "some of the time"; 11 percent say they never do.

The downbeat public attitudes registered in the survey coincide with several dour economic reports showing recent slowdowns in gains in hiring, consumer retail spending, manufacturing activity and economic growth. Automatic government spending cuts, which are starting to kick in, also may be contributing to the current sluggishness and increased wariness on the part of both shoppers and employers.

Overall, 25 percent of those in the poll describe the nation's economy as good, 59 percent as poor — similar to a January AP-GfK poll.

Respondents split on whether this was a "good time" to make major purchases such as furniture and electronic devices, with 31 percent agreeing it was, 38 percent calling it a "bad time" and 25 percent remaining neutral.

The economy's recovery from the severe 2007-2009 recession has been slow and uneven. Even so, most economic forecasts see continued economic growth ahead, even if it is sluggish and accompanied by only slowly improving levels of joblessness. Another recession in the near future is not being forecast.

In the new poll, few say they saw much improvement in the economy in the last month. Just 21 percent say things have gotten better, 17 percent say they've gotten worse and 60 percent thought the economy "stayed about the same." And the public is split on whether things will get better anytime soon, with 31 percent saying the national economy will improve in the next year, 33 percent saying it will hold steady and 33 percent saying it will get worse. Further, about 4 in 10 expect the nation's unemployment rate to climb in the next year.

And the public's outlook for its own financial future is at its worst point in three years. Just 26 percent think their household economic well-being will improve over the next year, 50 percent think it will stay the same and 22 percent expect it to worsen.

About 27 percent of those with incomes under $50,000 are the most likely to expect things for them personally to get worse in the next year compared with fewer than 2 in 10 among those with higher incomes.

Democrats, who typically rate the economy better under the present Democratic president than do Republicans, have become less optimistic about their financial prospects since January. Then, 41 percent of Democrats thought their finances would improve in the next year while only 30 percent feel that way now.

Jeremy Hammond, 33, of Queensbury, N.Y., a Web programmer, says Congress should focus on "the incredible debt and lack of spending control." For instance, he said, it's absurd for Congress to try to force the Postal Service to continue Saturday mail delivery — an effort that has so far failed — when the agency says, "We can't afford it.' Hammond, who considers himself a political independent, said he voted for Obama in 2008 but not in 2012.

Obama's overall job approval in the poll is at its lowest point since his re-election, at 50 percent, with 47 percent disapproving. His approval among Republicans is just 10 percent; among independents, 49 percent disapprove.

But, if it's any solace to the president and his supporters, Congress fared even worse. Thirty-seven percent approve of the performance of congressional Democrats, while 57 percent disapprove. For congressional Republicans, 27 percent approved of their performance and 67 percent disapproved.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted April 11-15 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. It is larger for subgroups.

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AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and writer Charles Babington contributed to this report.

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Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

___

Online:

http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

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Reports: Boeing Dreamliner could fly next month

WASHINGTON — Published reports say Boeing's grounded 787 jetliners could soon be flying again.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Aviation Administration is set to approve Boeing's fix for the ion-lithium batteries. The 787 Dreamliner has been grounded since mid-January because of smoldering batteries that in one case caused a serious fire.

The Journal says the FAA is expected to announce Friday that Boeing's redesigned batteries are safe. The fix includes more heat insulation and a battery box designed to vent any hot gases from the batteries outside the planes.

There was no immediate comment from the FAA and a Boeing spokesman declined to comment on the report.

The New York Times, which also reported the development, says the aircraft could be back in service next month.

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GM says diesel Chevrolet Cruze gets 46 mpg

DETROIT — General Motors Co. says the new diesel version of the Chevrolet Cruze gets 46 miles per gallon on the highway, making it more efficient than some hybrids.

GM announced the U.S. EPA's fuel economy numbers for the diesel Cruze Wednesday.

At 46 mpg, the diesel Cruze matches the highway fuel economy of the Toyota Prius C subcompact. But the regular Prius hybrid still does better, at 48 mpg.

The Cruze beats its closest competitor, the diesel Volkswagen Jetta, which gets 42 mpg on the highway.

The diesel Cruze goes on sale next month in Baltimore, Milwaukee and other markets where diesels are popular. It arrives in the rest of the U.S. and Canada this fall.

It starts at $25,695. That's $7,755 more than the base price on a gas-powered Cruze.

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Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez dies at 94

MEXICO CITY — Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez has died at the age of 94.

Ramirez Vazquez designed some of Mexico's biggest landmark modernist structures, including the new Basilica of Guadalupe, the Anthropology Museum and the Azteca Stadium, all in Mexico City.

Mexico's National Arts Council said Ramirez Vazquez died late Tuesday of pneumonia. He is survived by four children. No burial plans have been announced.

The sweeping, curvy lines of the basilica and the cantilevered central pavilion of the anthropology museum became hallmarks of Mexico's modernist architectural boom, led by figures like Luis Barragan from the 1940s to the 70s. He also designed a low-cost, pre-fab rural school.

While less well-known than Barragan, architects such as Ramirez Vazquez and Mario Pani designed the biggest projects of the era.

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Yahoo adds 2 more applications to mobile arsenal

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo is taking the next step in its effort to make some of its most popular services more appealing and accessible to the growing audience connecting to the Internet on smartphones and tablets.

The mobile push being orchestrated by CEO Marissa Mayer has hatched Yahoo's first email application for Apple Inc.'s iPad and other tablet computers running on Google Inc.'s Android software.

Yahoo also has created a new weather app for Apple's iPhone that will provide forecasts on top of slideshows feature pictures of landmarks in the cities chosen by a user.

The free apps are being released Thursday morning.

Like many other Internet companies, Yahoo Inc. is pouring more engineering talent and money into developing mobile applications as people spend more time on consuming content on smartphones and tablets.

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Markets recover poise ahead of run of US earnings

LONDON — Markets, particularly those in Europe, recovered their poise Thursday, ahead of another run of U.S. corporate earnings and hopes that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates soon to give the euro region's moribund economy a lift.

A number of financial assets have been under pressure over the past few days amid growing evidence that the U.S. and Chinese economies, the world's two biggest, may not be quite as robust as some investors had originally thought.

Commodities have also suffered in the more cautious market environment, with the prices of gold and oil experiencing a rocky few days. European stocks have also underperformed amid concerns over many economies in the cash-strapped region.

"Investors have seen enough selling in the short term and are sniffing around for some bargains," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor. "Despite this, the gloom continues with a wave of poor Q1 earnings from the U.S., so we don't expect a stampede for stocks at current levels."

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.4 percent at 6,269 while Germany's DAX rose 0.6 percent to 7,549. The CAC-40 in France was 0.9 percent lower at 3,632.

The euro also recovered somewhat, trading 0.2 percent higher at $1.3057. On Wednesday it took a battering after a hint from Jens Weidmann, the head of Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, that the ECB could lower interest rates. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Weidmann said the ECB may "adjust rates" if data merits it.

"The market reaction was more pronounced than usual due to the fact that while other ECB board members have gone on record as suggesting rates might need to be lower, at no time has Weidmann ever suggested he might also lean in that direction," said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets.

"For that reason alone, this is an important development and could well signal a rate reduction in the next couple of months, and a possible softening of position on the part of Germany and the Bundesbank," he added.

Commodities also steadied, with the benchmark New York crude rate up 76 cents at $87.44 a barrel and an ounce of gold 0.3 percent higher at $1,387.

Wall Street was poised for a solid opening too, with Dow futures up 0.2 percent and the broader S&P 500 futures 0.3 percent higher. How U.S. stocks actually open could hinge on a run of corporate earnings due before the bell, including Morgan Stanley and PepsiCo. Google and Microsoft will take pride of place after the close when they report first-quarter numbers.

"As quarterly earnings news continues to disappoint, Wall Street is still struggling its way through the week," said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets.

Earlier, Asian stocks dropped, with investors in Hong Kong still feeling cautious due to a bird flu outbreak in eastern China and the rapid rise of Chinese government debt. The Hang Seng shed 0.3 percent to 21,512.52. Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1.2 percent to close at 13,220.07, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.2 percent to 1,900.06.

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Hancock donates $1M to new victims’ fund, other cos. also commit

Hub business leaders have joined Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino to announce the formation of The One Fund Boston, a mega-fund for bombing victims' families kicked off by a $1 million commitment from principal Marathon sponsor John Hancock.

"John Hancock is honored to contribute to The One Fund Boston, aiding those who were affected by this terrible event," said President Craig Bromley.

Other individuals and corporations making commitments to The One Fund Boston include Hill Holliday co-founder Jack Connors; John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction; Brian Moynihan, president and CEO of Bank of America; Paul Grogan, president of The Boston Foundation; Steve Pagliuca, managing director of Bain Capital and co-owner of the Boston Celtics; Larry Lucchino, CEO of the Boston Red Sox; and Mike Sheehan, CEO of Hill Holliday, and Karen Kaplan, president of Hill Holliday.

Boston law firm Goodwin Procter has volunteered to organize the fund and donations can be made at onefundboston.org.

According to Menino, support from the business community was immediate. "Within an hour, I had calls from business leaders and local philanthropists who, like me, were heartbroken by the impact this hideous tragedy has had on individuals, their families and friends. And they want to do everything they can to help these people physically and psychologically in the future."

Greater Boston restaurants and retailers are also stepping up to the plate to support victims of the Marathon bombings. A growing list of restaurants will donate from 10 percent to 25 percent of tonight's sales to the Greg Hill Foundation.

"All of the donations will go directly to the families," Greg Hill, a WAAF (97.7/107.3 FM) radio morning host who started the foundation in 2010 to respond to the immediate needs of families touched by tragedy, said in a statement. "There is no red tape, and we can give the donations out immediately."

Boston restaurants participating include Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse, Cafeteria, Bella Luna, the Milky Way Lounge, Piattini Wine Cafe, and Salvatore's Restaurants in the Seaport and Theatre districts.

Meanwhile, Boston men's clothing retailer Ball and Buck will donate 10 percent of next Monday's sales from its Newbury Street and online stores to aid the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Paul Guzzi said the attack will not be a "permanent scar" on the city. "The spirit of this community is very strong," he added.

"There is clearly a sense of trying to get back to normal," Pat Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said yesterday. "Twenty-four hours ago was just so horrific. We were filled with anger and shock. But it seems the city really has come together."

Marie Szaniszlo and Ira Kantor contributed to this report.

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Social media spurs character-building acts of kindness

In the chaotic aftermath of Monday's fatal marathon bombings, Jarrett Goetz was on his way to his South End home when a friend called and asked if Goetz would give him, his girlfriend and a stranded runner they had found a ride.

Goetz did, and was on his way home, again, when he saw two sisters — also marathoners — who looked cold and lost, and offered to give them a ride and spare jackets he kept in the trunk of his Land Rover.

By the time he finally arrived home some four hours after he left work, he had given rides to five runners, two marathon volunteers and one bystander, updating his Facebook status about it along the way.

By last night, 237 of his friends had "liked" it and many had offered to give people rides themselves or places to spend the night.

"It was a chain reaction of free taxi services," said Goetz, 37, who works for a technology startup. "But really, it's about grace under pressure. You've got to put yourself in other people's shoes and rise to the occasion. And if you do it, it makes you feel good and inspires others to do the same."

And so it went on social media Monday, as the news outlet of first resort for many morphed into a mirror of the soul.

Twitter saw 180-day peaks in use of the words "donate," "volunteer" and "help" as people heralded the heroic first responders at the scene of the two fatal bombings and searched for ways they could be of use themselves.

"What was really great was word spread very quickly, so that people were able to slow and stop marathoners from running into what was essentially a war zone," said David Gerzof Richard, professor of social media and marketing at Emerson College.

Afterward, Google set up a Boston Marathon Explosions page in Google Person Finder to help people look for and find loved ones who might be missing.

New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola tweeted that he'll donate $100 for every reception and $200 for every drop in the 2013 season to a Boston Marathon relief fund.

And then there was the dark side of social media in the form of a Twitter account with the handle @_BostonMarathon, which claimed it would donate $1 to victims of the explosions for every retweet it received. The account racked up more than 65,000 retweets before Twitter suspended it.

"I don't know what their motives were," Gerzof Richard said, "but it takes a lot for Twitter to turn someone's account off. You have to do something atrocious."

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Toyota's hybrid vehicle sales pass 5 million

TOKYO — Toyota's global sales of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles have surpassed 5 million in a milestone for a technology that was initially greeted with skepticism.

The Japanese automaker, which said Wednesday it had sold 5.125 million hybrid vehicles as of the end of March, started selling the Prius, the world's first mass produced hybrid passenger car, in 1997. Gas-electric hybrids deliver fuel efficiency by switching back and forth between a gasoline engine and electric motor depending on speed and other driving conditions, and recharges as it travels.

"What an achievement for this technology to have grown this widespread," said Vice Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, known as "the father of the Prius" for having led the team that developed the hit model. "I believe there is a lot more room for this technology to grow," he told reporters at Toyota's Tokyo office Wednesday.

Toyota's hybrid vehicles now account for 14 percent of its global sales and 40 percent of its sales in Japan. Toyota Motor Corp. sells 19 hybrid passenger car models and one plug-in hybrid, and is promising 18 new hybrids from now through December 2015.

Uchiyamada recalled that expectations had been low for the hybrid to catch on.

The production plan had called for barely 1,000 cars a month, he said, and he had to beg to raise it to that from 300 a month. But when the Prius was announced, people were flocking to dealers in Japan to place their orders. And there wasn't even a sample model to check out yet in the showrooms.

When the Prius was launched in the U.S., it was again met with enthusiasm, by people Uchiyamada called "opinion leaders," including Hollywood stars.

It was almost all too good to be true, he recalled, as marketing experts had warned that Americans would likely not want a car like the Prius because gas prices were then relatively low.

Since then, gas prices have skyrocketed and nations around the world are grappling with pollution and global warming.

After the March 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in Japan, hybrids found a new use, helping deliver electricity during blackouts in disaster zones.

The hybrid has been so successful the only obstacle for Toyota may be that many rivals are in the game now.

"Toyota has led the world on cost-effective fuel-saving hybrid technology for more than a decade, but the competition is really heating up," said David Friedman, senior engineer and deputy director of the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.

The organization thinks that Honda Motor Co., Toyota's Japanese rival, overall offers greener cars, despite Toyota's hybrid success.

"To stay ahead of the pack on hybrids," he said, "they will need to focus their hybrids on boosting fuel economy further and cutting costs, while picking up the pace in innovation in their conventional and electric cars."

The big growth in auto sales is coming these days from emerging markets, where hybrids have yet to catch on because of higher prices compared to gasoline-powered autos.

Uchiyamada acknowledged that costs will have to come down. But he said such nations were also growing concerned about energy efficiency and emissions and they need to offer incentives, or subsidies, for consumers so they can buy hybrids.

"Hybrids have now become a core technology," he said.

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Global markets mostly drop amid growth concerns

LONDON — Stock markets mostly fell on Wednesday as upbeat U.S. corporate earnings reports failed to ease investors' concerns over fading global economic growth.

Economic indicators have been mostly negative in recent weeks, particularly in Europe. Investor confidence in Germany has fallen, a sign of growing fears over the resilience of Europe's largest economy.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lowered its outlook for the world economy this year, predicting that government spending cuts will slow U.S. growth and keep the euro currency countries in recession.

But analysts said the biggest reason for the market's drop was probably speculation that Germany could suffer a credit rating downgrade. Though several economists said it was unlikely, the rumor seemed to have been enough to batter European stocks.

By midday in Europe, Germany's DAX was down 1.2 percent to 7,588.69 while France's CAC-40 lost 1 percent to 3,652.17. The euro was down 0.1 percent against the dollar to $1.3156.

"Once again, fear rather than optimism is the overriding factor affecting European traders, and early market rumors of a German debt downgrade have seen the DAX lead the way lower," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 was 0.5 percent lower at 6,271.89 after Tesco, the country's largest supermarket operator, reported a sharp drop in profits. The company blamed costs at its Fresh & Easy U.S. operations, which it is trying to sell. It also sounded negative about Asian markets, announcing it would pull out of Japan and take a more measured approach to growth in China.

Labor market figures for the U.K. were also negative, showing unemployment rose by 70,000 in the three months to February. The number suggests the British economy is unlikely to stage a significant recovery in coming months.

Wall Street was headed for losses as well. Dow Jones industrial futures were down 0.3 percent to 14,635 while the broader S&P 500 futures shed 0.5 percent to 1,561.70.

Looking ahead, investors will keep an eye on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a regular report that is expected to show that activity in the world's largest economy is still only gradual.

Corporate earnings reports, which have been one of the few bright spots for markets so far this week, will also be in focus. Bank of America, American Express and eBay are among the bigger names to report earnings on Wednesday.

Earlier, Asian stock markets mostly closed higher thanks to gains in the U.S. the day before.

Coca-Cola, the world's biggest beverage maker, reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts. As of Monday, 34 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 had reported earnings and 20 had exceeded analysts' expectations.

U.S. home construction numbers were also positive, with builders starting construction on 1 million homes last month, the highest level since June 2008.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.2 percent to 13,382.89 as the yen weakened again, helping its many exporting companies. The dollar was up 0.4 percent to 97.96 yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.5 percent to 21,569.67. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.1 percent to 5,004.60. Benchmarks in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines also rose. South Korea's Kospi rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,923.84.

Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 79 cents at $87.93 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 1 cent on Tuesday.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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The Ticker

$13B buy eyed for Thermo

Thermo Fisher Scientific is close to buying Life Technologies Corp, a genetic testing equipment maker, for nearly $13 billion, reported Reuters last night.

Reuters reported that the sale price per share would be close to $75, putting Life Technologies' value at just about $13 billion. The sale could wrap up as early as today, according to the report. The sale, if successful, would mark Waltham-based Thermo Fisher's largest acquisition since the $12.8 billion merger in 2006 of Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific International.

TODAY

 Citigroup Inc. reports quarterly financial earnings.

 The National Association of Home Builders releases the housing market index for April.

TOMORROW

 BlackRock Inc., Intel Corp. and Yahoo! release quarterly financial results.

 The Labor Department releases the Consumer Price Index for March.

 The Federal Reserve releases industrial production for March.

 Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has hired Pranav Mehta, left, to serve as senior vice president for product development. Mehta most recently served as vice president of marketing and president of Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, a subsidiary of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.

 Rocket Software of Waltham has hired Paul Walsh as vice president and chief financial officer and Richard Morgan as vice president of human resources. Morgan most recently worked as vice president of human resources for Dassault Systemes Americas Corp., while Walsh most recently served as CFO at Silicon Laboratories.

 HopeHealth, a nonprofit health care organization based in Hyannis, has appointed Lawrence Capodilupo as chair of its board of directors. Patricia Cahill, who served as board chair from 2010 to 2012, remains on the board as immediate past chair.

 Clean Harbors Inc. has hired Jim Buckley as senior vice president of investor relations and corporate communications. Buckley previously served as executive vice president and partner at communications strategic advisory firm Sharon Merrill Associates.

 Winthrop Realty Trust of Boston has announced the resignation of Peter Braverman as executive vice president. He has taken the position of president of Winthrop Management, the entity that provides property management services for the company's properties as well as for specified third parties.

 Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge has hired James "Jim" Gemmell as chief human resources officer. Gemmell has held several senior executive HR positions at Cisco Systems for the past 13 years, most recently holding the role of chief human resources officer.

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GM, Ford to collaborate on new transmissions

DETROIT — General Motors and Ford are putting aside their longstanding rivalry to work together to develop a new generation of fuel-efficient automatic transmissions.

The companies said Monday that their engineers will jointly design nine- and 10-speed transmissions that will go into many of their new cars and trucks.

When transmissions have more gears, engines don't have to work as hard. That saves fuel. As long as the shifting is smooth, most customers don't give much thought to their transmissions.

The fierce rivals, which rank first and second in U.S. auto sales, say they'll save millions of dollars that can be spent on areas that set them apart from other automakers such as quieter rides and nicer interiors.

Neither would estimate exactly how much they'll save, but each said transmissions cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop. The more gears a transmission has, the more complex and costly it is to develop and build.

"While we still can be really competitive, we can collaborate where it makes sense," said General Motors Co. spokesman Dan Flores. "We will still fight every day in the marketplace over every sale."

The savings also will help the companies keep their prices competitive. Neither would say when the new transmissions will show up in cars and trucks, although design work already has begun. A previous venture to jointly design six-speed transmissions took about three years.

The companies will manufacture transmissions separately. They'll likely order parts from the same companies, saving millions more dollars, said David Petrovski, an analyst for IHS Automotive who specializes in transmission forecasting.

Generally, transmissions with more gears are more efficient because they allow engines to do less work to keep cars and trucks moving, while still having the power needed for acceleration. The maximum number of gears that Ford and GM transmissions now have is six.

Industry analysts say if engineered correctly, a nine-speed automatic transmission can raise gas mileage five to 10 percent over a six-speed model. For a Chevrolet Cruze compact, for instance, that would equal at least 2 mpg above the current estimate of 38 on the highway.

Currently, Ford and GM are behind in the transmission speed race. Several other automakers such as Chrysler and Land Rover have nine-speed coming out soon. Many automakers already have eight-speed transmissions on the road. Both GM and Ford said the joint research would help them develop the transmissions faster.

All three Detroit automakers had to cut transmission development when they ran into financial problems back in 2008, said Kevin Riddell, an engine and transmission analyst with LMC Automotive, a Detroit-area forecasting firm.

"The joint development is really going to help them out and get back onto an even playing field," he said.

This isn't unchartered territory for the two Detroit automakers. They began working on six-speed gearboxes in 2002. So far the companies have produced 8 million jointly-developed transmissions.

It's not unusual for automakers to work together on big ticket items such as engines or hybrid gas-electric powertrains, but working together on transmissions is less common, Petrovski said.

The companies don't expect any anti-trust issues to arise even though together they control one-third of the U.S. auto market. Lawyers reviewed the 2002 agreement and the federal government didn't raise any issues with it. A Justice Department spokeswoman wouldn't comment on the new deal.

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World military spending drops in 2012

STOCKHOLM — Global military spending dipped last year for the first time since 1998 as defense outlays shrank in the West but rose in Russia, China and the Middle East, a Swedish-based arms watchdog said Monday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the world spent $1.75 trillion on its armed forces in 2012, down 0.5 percent from the year before.

The fall, driven by spending cuts in the U.S. and other NATO nations, was partially offset by increases elsewhere. Military spending rose by 7.8 percent in China and by 16 percent in Russia, while Oman's 51-percent boost was the biggest percentage increase in the world, SIPRI said.

"We are seeing what may be the beginning of a shift in the balance of world military spending from the rich Western countries to emerging regions," SIPRI researcher Sam Perlo-Freeman said in a statement. The drop in the West was linked to austerity policies and the drawdown in Afghanistan, he added.

SIPRI's report showed the U.S. remains way ahead of all other countries, accounting for 39 percent of global military spending in 2012. But it was the first time the U.S. share of global military spending dropped below 40 percent since the Cold War, the institute said.

"The U.S. of course is still far and away the No. 1, but the ratio between the U.S. and China has gone down from 7-1 a few years ago to 4-1 in 2012," Perlo-Freeman told The Associated Press.

He stressed that the gap was larger when it comes to actual capabilities, noting that the U.S. has 11 aircraft carriers while China has one.

"It takes time for changes in military spending to translate into sustained changes in military capabilities," Perlo-Freeman said.

SIPRI gave no dollar figures for spending by countries including Iran, Syria and North Korea, citing a lack of transparency and uncertainties regarding currency exchange rates.

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Dish Network offering to buy Sprint in $25.5B deal

NEW YORK — Dish Network is offering to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal it values at $25.5 billion, saying its bid is superior to that of Japanese phone company SoftBank.

Sprint's stock jumped in premarket trading Monday.

SoftBank Corp. is seeking approval from U.S. authorities for its $20 billion purchase of a 70 percent stake in Sprint Nextel Corp. that would be Japan's biggest foreign acquisition ever. Sprint previously said that it expected the deal with SoftBank to close during the summer.

The transaction, which was announced in October, was looked at as a way to position Sprint as a stronger competitor against rivals AT&T and Verizon.

Dish, an Englewood, Colo., satellite television company, said Monday that its proposed transaction includes $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock.

Sprint stockholders would receive $7 per share, which is a 13 percent premium to its Friday closing price of $6.22. This includes $4.76 per share in cash and 0.05953 Dish shares per Sprint share.

Dish said that the cash portion of its bid is an 18 percent premium over the $4.03 per share implied by the SoftBank offer, while the stock portion represents about 32 percent ownership in a combined Dish/Sprint company, as compared with SoftBank's proposal of a 30 percent interest in Sprint alone.

Dish Network Corp. said that its offer is a 13 percent premium to the existing SoftBank offer. The company also said that its proposal would result in estimated cost savings of $11 billion.

In a letter sent to Sprint Chairman James H. Hance Jr., Dish Chairman Charles Ergen said that the company would fund the cash component of its bid with $8.2 billion of cash on its balance sheet and additional debt financing.

The letter also said that Dish would have preferred holding confidential talks with Sprint about its proposal, but that the existing agreement with SoftBank and impending deadlines related to its shareholder vote prompted Dish to confirm its offer publicly.

Shares of Sprint rose 68 cents, or 10.9 percent, to $6.90 before the market open.

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Going ape over new gadget for wallet

Some people have monkeys on their backs. Zootility Tools founder Nate Barr wants consumers to have monkeys in their wallets.

In fact, Barr has already sold 5,000 "PocketMonkeys" worldwide to date. The stainless steel tool, which is the same size and thickness as a credit card, serves 12 functions in one, including bottle and letter opener, ruler, screwdriver and banana nicker.

A successful Kickstarter campaign netted Barr's creation more than $27,500, at least six times what he initially asked for. Now, the 31-year-old Somerville resident is thinking mass production, having placed an order for another 5,000 PocketMonkeys with a California manufacturer to keep up with growing demand.

"I've never had an idea take off so well, so I've been surprised in that regard," Barr told the Herald. "We've been selling it faster than we can make it."

Barr, a former mechanical engineer and part-time user interface engineer at Jumptap, hit upon his concept after locking himself out of his apartment twice.

"It's always with you. You never have to think about it," Barr said. "The real catch is it's technically difficult to engineer something as thin as a credit card but strong enough to do the functions you want it to do."

PocketMonkey, which sells for $12, is also compliant with Transportation Safety Administration rules, Barr said.

"I wasn't trying to develop something to be used in a bar fight," he said. "I think by meeting TSA guidelines you develop a pretty innocuous product."

PocketMonkeys can be purchased online, but Barr said his goal is to market the tool to more retailers nationwide, including big-box stores that can "place orders for 100,000 of these at a time." PocketMonkeys are currently sold in stores as varied as Davis Squared in Somerville and San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art gift shop, Barr said.

"It'd be awesome to have it make enough money to sustain a lifestyle of trying new ideas, but even if it just lets us learn how to do this stuff, then the next idea can be even more powerful and happen even more quickly and be more efficient," he added.

Barr is also at work on another TSA-compliant tool called KnifeNinja, which will get its own Kickstarter campaign in the near future.

As Zootility tries to keep up with orders, Barr said he is seeking another manufacturer that can produce thousands of PocketMonkeys at a time.

"What's compelling is how many things are packed into such a small package," he said. "We differentiate ourselves on the personality of our tools, that people see it as a premium brand over perhaps some cheap knockoffs. Other people try to imitate the intention, but not the execution."

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Babson holding food boot camp

Budding food entrepreneurs hungry to cook up their own businesses can learn the key ingredients during a one-day culinary boot camp at Babson College on Wednesday.

Sponsored by the Wellesley-based school's Graduate Student Council, "Small Bytes and Apps" will tackle such topics as the emotional components of starting and owning a food business; permits needed to set up shop; the landscape of food and tech businesses; and marketing and branding.

Event speakers told the Herald the purpose of the event, which is free to veterans and Babson students, is to motivate participants to tinker with their ideas even if they risk failure, given that the food industry has become more influenced by youth and technology.

"We're trying to inspire people who might be currently sitting on the sidelines who have a great idea but are scared and do not know the first step to starting their own business," said local "popup entrepreneur" and chef Wheeler del Torro, 32, of Jamaica Plain. "When I started my first culinary business, I was 16 years old and I had no idea what I was doing."

Del Torro said the Babson boot camp stems from his startup Farmacie, which caters motivational lunches for tech startups and corporations and is comprised of not just entrepreneurs with MBAs, but MFAs as well.

"For us, the creative side is a lot more important than having a fail-proof business plan. The business stuff you can always learn," del Torro said. "Creativity is a very hard thing to pick up."

Despite a growing influx of food trucks and businesses throughout the city, the food industry can scare younger people thinking about opening a business because of Boston's high cost of living, del Torro added.

Yet Rayna Verbeck, owner of 3 Scoops Cafe in Brighton and a second-year Babson graduate student, said now is an opportune time to open a food business, despite the sluggish economic outlook.

"It's a great time for people to create their own jobs and innovate in as many ways as possible," she said. "With the growth of food trucks and cafes and Internet connections, you don't have to worry about reaching the whole country with food right away."

Verbeck, who will discuss paperwork, agencies and legal and insurance issues involved in starting a food business, said technology, particularly social media, can influence a brand's success in ways that seemed impossible years earlier.

"I bought 3 Scoops three years ago when I was 24. I did not have it all laid out in front of me. Any new entrepreneur, no matter what stage or experience coming in can use as much knowledge as possible and as many guiding steps as possible," she added. "These are tips I would have given me three years ago."

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Milan show mixes design, fashion, architecture

MILAN — Bathrooms that beg indulgence. Tiles that reduce pollution. Lighting that mimics a rainbow.

Extravagance, social consciousness and innovation are strange, but alluring, bedfellows at the Milan Furniture Show and the myriad side events dedicated to design that wrap up Sunday, ending a weeklong celebration of domestic bliss in its many forms.

The burgeoning event was originally conceived to promote Italian furniture making, which is withstanding the recession better than many industries, and now encompasses also design, fashion and architecture.

And as all these disciplines converge, so does utility. More and more, pieces can be shifted from room to room, and from home to office.

Global sales of luxury furnishings last year rose 3 percent to 18.5 billion euros ($24 billion), according to a study by Bain&Company for the Altagamma association of luxury designers. That's behind the 10 percent growth of the luxury industry as a whole, largely because emerging markets like China still haven't gotten around to redecorating their interiors, which Bain says gives great growth potential to the sector.

The sprawling event gives ample space for everyone from established designers like Phillipe Starck and Ingo Maeur to unknown newcomers to showcase their new creations.

LIGHTING

Inside a darkened room, tiny LED lights create halos that seem to bend when a hand reaches through. The effect is one of a rainbow, this one manmade with by the Tokyo/Milan design studio IXI with technology by Toshiba. Here, crystals mimic water droplets and the LED lights the sun. The one-off installation created for design week is called "Soffio," Italian for breath.

Lighting fixtures remain a central theme during design week, from the elegant to the fanciful.

The prestigious French crystal maker Baccarat engaged some of the industry's luminaries to interpret lamps, chandeliers and lighting fixtures for this year's furniture show.

Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana incorporated rattan, bamboo and silk in a series of exotic lamps. For their Fusion collection, the encased a greenish blue crystal bulb within bell-shaped rattan shade that suggests the Maghreb. And a clear crystal bulb nests within bamboo cocoon in a table lamp that evokes Asia. Phillipe Starck designed a series of elaborate 24-light chandeliers, one featuring three glass deer heads in full antlers, while Arik Levy created a modernist 4-level frozen pattern chandelier.

Munich-based Ingo Mauer had a wholly modern interpretation on the chandelier. His "Flying Flames" evoke floating candles fashioned from red or black circuit boards with an electronic flame rendered in LEDs, each suspended from the ceiling. The 32-light creation was shown spectacularly in front of a reproduction of Leonardo's Da Vinci's "Last Supper."

BATH

No more is the bathroom strictly utilitarian. Increasingly, it is a sanctuary for indulgence, more spa than pit stop on the way to the office or out for the evening.

Design firms are taking note of trend, and have begun to enter one of the fastest-growing luxury furniture sectors, worth 2.8 billion euros globally last year.

Kartell, the Italian design leader, launched its first-ever collection intended for the bathroom, teaming up with the Swiss fixture maker Laufen and designers Ludovica and Roberto Palomba.

"I noticed more than two years ago that the bathroom is becoming more and more important," said Kartell president Claudio Luti. "Now, people want to find the comfort there that you have in the rest of the house. It becomes total living."

The Palomba design team used Laufen's latest technology, a ceramic called SaphirKeramik that is 30 percent lighter and easier to shape, to create graceful bathtubs and washbasins and sanitary fixtures.

The tub and sinks are freestanding and floor-mounted for a clean and spare look. Overflow drains can be hidden, and Kartell has designed colorful disks that fit over external faucets to incorporate utility.

The fixtures are paired with transparent cabinets, shelves, stools and towel racks in Kartell's signature transparent plastic — also in warm colors like orange and blue — that allow many configurations to customize the space.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Design is getting more ecological. Consider that it may not be the family car that is contributing the most to pollution. Buildings are responsible for 40 percent of energy consumption and one-quarter of carbon gas emissions, exceeding industry and transport sectors when it comes to pollution.

Architect Mario Cucinella has been pushing the agenda of sustainable buildings and this year presented a conceptual project with tile-maker Marazzi aimed at focusing attention on the importance of clean air. Titled "Pure Air," the 6-square-meter (7-sq. yard) cube installed at Milan's state university was filled with purified air and covered with hexagonal black stoneware tiles produced with an energy efficient process. Inside, both air and noise pollution are filtered out.

Cucinella said he wants to promote the idea that new architectural materials — like tiles that absorb humidity — can help tackle the growing problem of pollution.

"For me the idea is to say, 'Come to breath pure air,' " Cucinella said. "I am not interested in making an extravagant building to show off my architectural ego."

For those not looking to build or embark on major remodel, the design week offered other stylish, sustainable solutions.

Bologna-based designer Alessandro Israelachvili set up a temporary store filled with furnishings made from recycled objects: lamps shaped from a 1970s desk telephone, an old-fashioned electric iron and even a washing machine centrifuge.

NEWCOMERS

A group of young designers from Serbia presented creations based on their interpretation of a "memory box," an exercise meant to reflect on Serbia's drive for EU membership while confronting its role in the 1990s Balkan wars. The theme was the basis for a national contest promoted by Serbia's investment and export agency to promote young Serbian designers abroad. Each of the winning creations was inspired by necessity and had a spare simplicity in both the design and execution. Most were made from wood, a resource plentiful in Serbia.

Sasha Mitrovic created "Matrioshka," a system of seven nesting wooden storage units that recall the Russian doll of the same name. From a container measuring 110X86X63 centimeters (43X34X25 inches), which can easily fit in even a compact car, emerge smaller cabinets, drawer and shelf units with painted facades that stack together to create a wall unit.

Mitrovic said he was inspired by the ingenuity of the matryoshka dolls. "You open the door, and don't know what to expect," he said.

Stevan Durovic, 25, showed off a switch-less lamp shaped, a large sphere that turns on and off when rotated. The light has a full-moon effect, accentuated by a spare dark base that recedes into the darkness. And Ana Babic, 26, was inspired by the Ferris wheel to create a whimsical, rotating storage unit consisting of five tool boxes.

DESIGNERS

Versace Home collaborated with the Haas brothers from Los Angeles to create black leather furnishings with golden accents that ooze the Versace DNA, evident in the names: The Stud Club and The Bondage Bench.

An armchair is covered with studs, reflecting Donatella Versace's rock 'n roll spirit, while a bench is wrapped in belts, which the collection notes say "plays with the sexuality of fashion and design." The legs of the pieces are clad in honeycomb-shaped brass for a flashy look even in a darkened room.

For the show, Roberto Cavalli created a melange of tableware incorporating his animal prints, while Bottega Veneta commissioned American artist Nancy Lorenz to create 25 unique boxes inspired by the cosmos. The pieces are covered in the high-quality Bottega Veneta leather, and Lorenz used materials such as gold, silver leaf and mother of pearl to create abstract images that recall outer space.

CROSSOVER DESIGN

The lines between design, fashion and architecture continue to blur.

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas shifted scale to create 11 pieces of furniture for the U.S. industrial design house Knoll. The "Tools for Life" pieces, meant for home or office, include a dynamic counter — a stack of three horizontal beams that can be transformed from a screen-like unit to cantilevered shelves and benches that invite people to sit, climb and lean in. The end result is a social/intellectual romper room.

Italian eyewear maker Safilo engaged architect Michele De Lucchi, who created a natural pinewood structure fitted with plaster casts of ancient figures wearing eyeglasses. Safilo CEO Roberto Vedovotto said the company's participation in the design fair is meant "to underline we are fully part of the world of design."

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London School of Economics denounces BBC tactics

LONDON — The renowned London School of Economics denounced the BBC for using a student-organized trip to North Korea as "cover" for a reporting trip to the secretive communist country.

The LSE said in a statement Saturday the BBC put students at risk by having at least one of a team of three journalists pretend to be affiliated with the university to gather material for a TV program set to be broadcast Monday.

The university says it has tried and failed to convince the BBC not to air the program.

The BBC's John Sweeney, who LSE officials say posed as a post-graduate LSE student, said Sunday it was "entirely wrong" for the university to try to prevent the broadcast from going forward.

LSE blamed BBC for not being forthcoming about its reporting plans in North Korea, where foreign reporting crews usually have to operate under strict supervision.

In an email sent to staff and students, the university complained that the BBC "Panorama" program was "produced using as cover a visit to North Korea which took place from 23-30 March 013 in the name of the Grimshaw Club, a student society at LSE."

It said the group included Sweeney and journalists Alexander Niakaris and Tomiko Sweeney.

"In advance of the trip, it was not known to the rest of the party that they were three journalists working for or with the BBC," the email said. Their purpose, posing as tourists, was to film and record overtly during the visit in order to produce the Panorama program."

The school said the students would have been in "serious danger" if the scheme had been uncovered while they were in North Korea.

The BBC has faced intense criticism in the last year for its handling of an investigation into alleged sexual abuses committed by the late Jimmy Saville, one of its star presenters.

The broadcaster did not respond immediately to requests for clarification of its position on the North Korea documentary, but Sweeney defended the BBC on one of its programs Sunday morning. He said the LSE's version of events is not accurate.

A BBC story about the trip says Sweeney and a two-person crew that included his wife spent "eight days undercover" in North Korea.

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