Ukraine's rural resilience

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Pascale Harter introduces reports from correspondents in Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Hungary and Iraq. The destruction of Ukrainian cities like Mariupol has made global headlines, but the fighting has also blighted civilian life in rural areas. These lack even beleaguered cities’ resources for dealing with the dead, the injured and the bereaved. Wyre Davis talked to two women in southern Ukraine facing terrible risks from day to day. A series of economic failures has left Sri Lanka running out of cash - meaning there is now no money to pay for imports of food or fuel. This has led to power cuts for up to thirteen hours a day; prices rising to the point where people are having to skip meals; and some hospitals running out of medicine. Rajini Vaidyanathan says that for ordinary Sri Lankans the situation remains dire – whoever they blame for their woes. Once Viktor Orban was seen as a brave campaigner for democracy, demanding that Soviet troops leave Hungary during the Cold War. Nowadays, he’s widely seen as being more conciliatory towards the Kremlin - a matter of some concern to his European Union and NATO allies, but something they will have to continue to live with. Last week, Mr Orban won a fourth successive term as Prime Minister. Nick Thorpe has met him many times over the years, and has a few ideas about what lies behind his success and that of his Fidesz party. How can a city and its people recover from war? It’s a question the people of Mosul in Iraq have had time to consider. At various points in the past two decades it’s been fought over by US troops, the Iraqi national army, Al Qaeda, Kurdish rebels and the fighters of Islamic State. While it ruled Mosul, IS attempted to destroy much of the city’s heritage and culture – and banned secular music altogether. But on a joyful night of public music-making recently, Leila Molana-Allen heard something of a renaissance going on. Producer: Polly Hope Production Co-Ordinator: Gemma Ashman (Image: Missile lodged in agricultural fields near Kyiv, Ukraine, 06 April 2022. Credit: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)