She’s a Foot Soldier in America’s Losing War With Chronic Disease
In places like Mingo County, W.Va., where working-age people are dying at record rates, a nurse learns what it takes to make America healthy.
Why Congo’s Vast Army Is Struggling to Fight M23
The latest conflict in eastern Congo has exposed endemic weaknesses in the country’s military, long known for corruption, extortion and abuse.
As Musk Consolidates Power, His Mother, Maye, Is in Demand
Maye Musk, a model and a public speaker, recently headlined a government conference in Dubai and endorsed a slew of products in China.
Bukavu hospital patients tell of being shot in chaos of Congolese withdrawal
Widespread shooting and looting preceded arrival of M23 rebels, overwhelming city’s poorly resourced facilities
Patients at hospitals in the second-largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have described how they sustained serious injuries during the chaotic withdrawal of the Congolese army and its allies in the days before Rwanda-backed M23 rebels marched in.
Widespread shooting and looting preceded the arrival of the rebels in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, on 14 February, overwhelming the city’s poorly resourced hospitals.
Continue reading...‘This will cost lives’: cuts to UK aid budget condemned as ‘betrayal’ by international development groups
Widespread alarm at Keir Starmer’s decision to slash funds, amid warnings of dire consequences for world’s poorest
Keir Starmer promised at the UN last September that the UK would “be a leading contributor to development”. Just five months later few expected an announcement that could result in UK aid spending falling to its lowest level this century.
Overseas development aid will fall from 0.5% of the UK’s gross national income to 0.3% – a cut of about £6bn – in order to pay for increased defence spending.
Continue reading...Light of Passage – a mesmerising meditation on loss, grief and hope
Royal Opera House, London
The Royal Ballet’s dazzling interpretation of Crystal Pite’s triptych sends our emotions soaring and swooping
An accidental Crystal Pite festival sprang up last week, following Figures in Extinction, the results of an exceptional four-year collaboration with Simon McBurney and Nederlands Dans Theater with a revival of Light of Passage, made for the Royal Ballet in 2022.
It’s a sweeping, powerful piece, combining three separate points of departure into its 90-minute running time, all set to Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, conducted by Zoi Tsokanou and sung with passion and poise by Francesca Chiejina.
Light of Passage is at the Royal Opera House, London, until 12 March
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