Our world is dominated by news stories of those in power – economic, military and, ultimately, political power. From the historic Ottoman Empire to the US and China today, great powers have always been measured by their resources, their armed forces, the size of their territory and so on.
But there’s another kind of power that plays a part in how we see the world, and it’s the power of stories. Two recent examples illustrate the power of some stories to make us sit up and pay attention, while other stories and news reports remain merely a kind of background noise.
Story one is the battle for the soul of the US Republican Party in this presidential election year. This story is not just about Donald Trump. In the US Congress, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to keep the federal government functioning. A group of zealots within his own party threatens a government shutdown. The story of what’s at stake involves numbers that are almost unimaginable. In the 2023 fiscal year, the government spent more than $6 trillion.
Trying to grasp what a multi-trillion-dollar US government shutdown might mean is impossible for most of us to comprehend. But while the Republican-led House of Representatives wants to cut budget spending on the American people, those same politicians decided to spend $40,000 on new identification pins for themselves. These pins are small metal badges put on the clothing of House members to identify them and signify their importance. The old pins were green. The new pins are blue and gold.
Stories have power when we understand how they relate to our ordinary lives
The story about the trillions of dollars in the US government budget is difficult to explain. The story of $40,000 to change green pins to blue while politicians talk of cutting government spending is easy to grasp. It caused an outcry.
Something similar happened in the 1980s. President Ronald Reagan spent almost unimaginable amounts of public money on the US Defence Department. He refused to countenance any military cuts. Billions were spent, some on ambitious high-tech projects. But Pentagon documents were leaked showing the Defence Department also spent $640 on a new lavatory seat and $7,600 on some kind of coffee pot. Most Americans had no idea how much a state-of-the-art air force bomber should cost, but everyone in the 1980s knew that $640 was a very bad price for a toilet seat.
Stories, in other words, have power when we understand how they relate to our ordinary lives. And that brings us to the second story – one that has rocked Britain this month.
Every British town has a local post office. Over the past two decades, hundreds of people running British post offices were prosecuted for stealing money. More than 900 were wrongly convicted of theft. Lives were ruined, in what was a huge miscarriage of justice. But nothing much changed until this month.
A British TV drama demonstrated the power of stories by telling the story of one postmaster: Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The programme humanised the miscarriage of justice and made clear that computer software failures and the post office leadership were to blame. The result has been such a significant public reaction that the government has done more in a week than it achieved in the past decade to put right this terrible miscarriage of justice.
The key point in these wildly different stories is not so much about the facts. It’s about how stories provide empathy and understanding. When journalists tell human stories in ways that engage and matter to readers or TV viewers, those stories can change societies and political decisions. Budget shutdowns in America, miscarriages of justice in Britain, famine and war and killings from Sudan to Gaza and Israel, Yemen and elsewhere all matter. But simply to be informed of the statistics of suffering is pointless until those stories also have a human face.
Like most people, I have no idea what to do about the US federal budget, but I do know that spending $40,000 on giving members of Congress shiny new jewellery to wear on their business suits does sound crazy in supposedly hard times. Similarly, the story of 900 people convicted of cheating the Post Office in Britain was, for years, mostly just a headline without a human face. Once the story was not merely about numbers, but about a man called Mr Bates, every British TV viewer could imagine what it must have been like for him, his family and that community to go through the injustice he suffered.
The same is true for the death and suffering we hear about from around the world every day. Newspapers need to report statistics. But every story – from Gaza to the local British post office – only has a significant impact when it has a human face. Once a story has a human face, that story also has a voice, and then the world may listen.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Scoreline
Syria 1-1 Australia
Syria Al Somah 85'
Australia Kruse 40'
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
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THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
Results
6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 I 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 I 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 I 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm The Entisar Listed I Dh250,000 I 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
9.25pm The Garhoud Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,200m I Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
10pm Handicap I Dh160,000 I 1,600m I Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
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Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
