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Pascale Harter introduces analysis, reportage and personal reflections from correspondents around the world.

This week the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, was selected as ‘Person of the Year 2020’ for Africa Oil and Power – awarded for several multibillion dollar gas projects. It’s these projects, in part, which take us to Southern Africa - but not for any celebration. As Andrew Harding reports, there is now a growing insurgency ravaging large areas of northern Mozambique, threatening a fruitful future.

In Lebanon, a new government still hasn’t been formed after the previous one resigned in response to public outrage following a massive chemical explosion in a storage depot at the port in Beirut. Some two hundred people died and thousands were injured. But it’s not just the blast; a devastating economic crisis has seen the value of the currency plunge and the pandemic lockdown forced nearly a third of businesses to close, leaving thousands jobless. Leila Molana-Allen assesses if Lebanon is now a sinking ship as people are leaving in droves.

Next to the Philippines where this week President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at Facebook after it took down more than 200 accounts accused of promoting pro-Duterte propaganda. Opposition politicians, human rights activists and journalists have reported receiving threatening posts. But a group was formed, to stand up to the abuse: The Troll Patrol. Our man in Manila, Howard Johnson, went to meet one of them.

Chile, which stretches along South America’s Pacific coast, is famous for its fruit and wine. The grapes are grown in the country’s central region, which has been getting so dry over the past ten years, that scientists call it a ‘mega-drought.’ But how do you farm without water? Jane Chambers visited the Til Til region, northwest of the capital Santiago, to find out how the residents are coping with the agricultural crisis.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Bethan Head
Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Soldiers from the Mozambican army patrol the streets following attacks from suspected Islamists in Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique. Credit: Adrien Barbier/AFP via Getty Images)