The insurgency that was started in late 2017 in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province by a group known as Al-Shabaab has grown in scale, frequency and brutality. In the most brazen and deadliest attack to date, the insurgents last week attacked shops, banks and a military barracks, killing dozens of people in the town of Palma. Theo Neethling offers insights into the dynamics of the area. These include a commitment by multinationals to invest billions to exploit rich reserves of liquefied natural gas off the coast. And a local community that feels aggrieved at the way they’ve been treated since the multinationals moved in, compounding decades of neglect by the central government in Maputo.

Australians are used to living in a land of extremes. This month it was New South Wales’ turn, when colossal rains inundated the state. But as Earth hurtles towards a temperature rise of 3℃ this century, how much worse will it get? A group of eminent Australian scientists has examined that question. And the answer is terrifying. As Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and Lesley Hughes write, this is not an imaginary future dystopia. It’s a scientific projection based on current emissions trajectory.