Australia experienced its third-driest September on record, with large parts of Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania getting very little rain. The chance of a drier than normal October is 70%, with the probability rising to 80% in Victoria where the government is attempting to find ways to get water to parched areas in the west. While summer is the time associated with the highest bushfire risk in the southern states, bushfire seasons are starting earlier and lasting longer. Many people living in high-risk bushfire areas are still under-prepared and ill-informed on the dangers and the preparations needed. El Niño is a climatic event. In Australia it is associated with reduced rainfall and higher temperatures. The current El Niño, which will last throughout Australia’s summer, is one of the top four on record in terms of strength.

Residents in South Carolina's Lowcountry were warned that water from days of flooding across the state was moving in their direction and was going to have major impacts. Already seventeen people have died since the rain began a few days ago. Eleven dams have failed and thirty-five dams are being monitored. 400,000+ state residents are under a ‘boil water advisory’ affecting sixteen water systems. Now Lowcountry residents are sandbagging homes, businesses and tourist attractions as they prepare for the surge of water heading their way. Though some areas have already dealt with flooding from the initial event, authorities said some areas that didn't see flooding may get swamped before all the water moves out to sea. High waters are still a very dangerous reality. Rescue crews went door-to- door in the capital city of Columbia as officials freed residents trapped by floods that swamped virtually the entire state. See also http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/06/us/south-carolina-flooding/

The country has been in the grips of violence and political problems since the majority-Muslim Séléka group drove out President Francois Bozizé in a coup two years ago. About three-quarters of CAR is Christian. Thousands have been killed and thousands more displaced since 2013 and now extremists have attempted to murder a Christian in CAR who is heavily involved in civil war peace efforts there. The attackers looted and burned down the house of Revd Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou, the chairman of CAR's Evangelical Alliance. The chairman wasn't in at the time and his family managed to escape before they were attacked. The armed gunmen murdered two other people taking refuge in the house. The attack was part of ongoing sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in the country, after the body of a Muslim man was found in Bangui earlier this year. 100+ people have died in the fighting and around 30,000 are currently displaced as the result of current and previous political and religious fighting.