For months, communities across East Africa have been watching the skies with a mixture of hope and apprehension. Farmers in places like Kajiado, Machakos, and Kitui have delayed their planting, families in urban centers have braced for potential flooding, and local leaders have fielded worried questions from neighbors who are unsure whether the heavy rains they were promised are actually on their way. It is in this atmosphere of uncertainty that weather experts from seven East African nations recently convened for an online dialogue hosted by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, or ICPAC. The message…

In the autumn of 2021, Albertans opened their mail to find a ballot that asked them a question about equalization—a dry, technical phrase that most Canadians outside the province had rarely heard. But inside Alberta, the referendum was never really about a formula for federal transfers. It became a rolling argument about fairness, belonging, resentment, and, for a loud and growing minority, the possibility of a break from Canada entirely. The article behind this conversation tells us something important and uncomfortable: when it comes to why some Albertans support secession, disinformation matters more than almost anything else. That finding is…