Tapanuli orangutans survive only in Indonesia’s Sumatran rainforest where a mine expansion will cut through their home. Yet the mining company says the alternative will be worse

A small brown line snakes its way through the rainforest in northern Sumatra, carving 300 metres through dense patches of meranti trees, oak and mahua. Picked up by satellites, the access road – though modest now – will soon extend 2km to connect with the Tor Ulu Ala pit, an expansion site of Indonesia’s Martabe mine. The road will help to unlock valuable deposits of gold, worth billions of dollars in today’s booming market. But such wealth could come at a steep cost to wildlife and biodiversity: the extinction of the world’s rarest ape, the Tapanuli orangutan.

The network of access roads planned for this swath of tropical rainforest will cut through habitat critical to the survival of the orangutans, scientists say. The Tapanuli ( Pongo tapanuliensis ), unique to Indonesia, was only discovered by scientists to be a separate species in 2017 – distinct from the Sumatran and Bornean apes. Today, there are fewer than 800 Tapanulis left in an area that covers as little as 2.5% of their historical range. All are found in Sumatra’s fragile Batang Toru ecosystem, bordered on its south-west flank by the Martabe mine, which began operations in 2012.

When the new premier of the British Virgin Islands said he needed an armed security detail, his chief of police knew trouble was on its way

Augustus James Ulysses Jaspert, Gus for short, arrived in Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands, on 21 August 2017, just two weeks away from catastrophe. Jaspert, who was in his late 30s, had recently been appointed governor by Queen Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of the Foreign Office in London. The BVI is an overseas territory of Britain, with only partial independence, and the governor effectively acts as a backstop to the locally elected legislature. For Jaspert, a career civil servant, it would be his first hands-on experience of governing – and his first time in the British Virgin Islands. Any trepidation was outweighed by the prospect of moving to the Caribbean. “If you’re sitting in an office in London and someone says, ‘Go to Tortola,’ you look it up on a screen and think, ‘OK, I can do that,’” Jaspert told me.

While Jaspert, his wife and two sons were settling into their new life, a tropical storm gathered over the Atlantic. At first, forecasters weren’t unduly alarmed, but in the first days of September, the storm transformed into something much worse. In the afternoon of 6 September, Hurricane Irma made landfall in Tortola, which is home to the majority of the BVI’s 30,000-strong population. Irma was one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. It scalped buildings, blew out windows and removed entire floors from homes. Shipping containers smashed into the islanders’ fishing boats and the out-of-towners’ yachts.

Tapanuli orangutans survive only in Indonesia’s Sumatran rainforest where a mine expansion will cut through their home. Yet the mining company says the alternative will be worse

A small brown line snakes its way through the rainforest in northern Sumatra, carving 300 metres through dense patches of meranti trees, oak and mahua. Picked up by satellites, the access road – though modest now – will soon extend 2km to connect with the Tor Ulu Ala pit, an expansion site of Indonesia’s Martabe mine. The road will help to unlock valuable deposits of gold, worth billions of dollars in today’s booming market. But such wealth could come at a steep cost to wildlife and biodiversity: the extinction of the world’s rarest ape, the Tapanuli orangutan.

The network of access roads planned for this swath of tropical rainforest will cut through habitat critical to the survival of the orangutans, scientists say. The Tapanuli ( Pongo tapanuliensis ), unique to Indonesia, was only discovered by scientists to be a separate species in 2017 – distinct from the Sumatran and Bornean apes. Today, there are fewer than 800 Tapanulis left in an area that covers as little as 2.5% of their historical range. All are found in Sumatra’s fragile Batang Toru ecosystem, bordered on its south-west flank by the Martabe mine, which began operations in 2012.

LegCo elections have become devoid of meaningful opposition as Hong Kong has faced significant political repression and undergone major governance system overhauls in recent years

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) acts as a mini parliament that can make and amend laws for the city. However, LegCo elections have become devoid of meaningful opposition as Hong Kong has faced significant political repression and undergone major governance system overhauls in recent years.

When the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, a “one country, two systems” framework promised Hong Kong would retain its autonomy, but its freedoms and democracy have been gradually eroded.

LegCo elections have become devoid of meaningful opposition as Hong Kong has faced significant political repression and undergone major governance system overhauls in recent years

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) acts as a mini parliament that can make and amend laws for the city. However, LegCo elections have become devoid of meaningful opposition as Hong Kong has faced significant political repression and undergone major governance system overhauls in recent years.

When the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, a “one country, two systems” framework promised Hong Kong would retain its autonomy, but its freedoms and democracy have been gradually eroded.

LegCo elections have become devoid of meaningful opposition as Hong Kong has faced significant political repression and undergone major governance system overhauls in recent years

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) acts as a mini parliament that can make and amend laws for the city. However, LegCo elections have become devoid of meaningful opposition as Hong Kong has faced significant political repression and undergone major governance system overhauls in recent years.

When the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, a “one country, two systems” framework promised Hong Kong would retain its autonomy, but its freedoms and democracy have been gradually eroded.

Cricket has always been my lullaby, my shorthand for belonging. And in Starcy I have another legend to admire

Growing up in the late 1990s, I insisted my younger nephews and nieces call me Imran Khan instead of my real name – our own playful twist on traditional respect rituals. A few years later, I upgraded to Wasim Akram (naturally) and they obligingly followed. They’re all grown now, but they still call me “Mama Khan” or “Wasin Akral”- the clumsy childhood pronunciations that stuck to me the way cricket has.

Last week, witnessing the magnificent Mitchell Starc overtake Akram as the leading left arm wicket-taker, made me pause – isn’t it about time for another upgrade?

Cricket has always been my lullaby, my shorthand for belonging. And in Starcy I have another legend to admire

Growing up in the late 1990s, I insisted my younger nephews and nieces call me Imran Khan instead of my real name – our own playful twist on traditional respect rituals. A few years later, I upgraded to Wasim Akram (naturally) and they obligingly followed. They’re all grown now, but they still call me “Mama Khan” or “Wasin Akral”- the clumsy childhood pronunciations that stuck to me the way cricket has.

Last week, witnessing the magnificent Mitchell Starc overtake Akram as the leading left arm wicket-taker, made me pause – isn’t it about time for another upgrade?

Cricket has always been my lullaby, my shorthand for belonging. And in Starcy I have another legend to admire

Growing up in the late 1990s, I insisted my younger nephews and nieces call me Imran Khan instead of my real name – our own playful twist on traditional respect rituals. A few years later, I upgraded to Wasim Akram (naturally) and they obligingly followed. They’re all grown now, but they still call me “Mama Khan” or “Wasin Akral”- the clumsy childhood pronunciations that stuck to me the way cricket has.

Last week, witnessing the magnificent Mitchell Starc overtake Akram as the leading left arm wicket-taker, made me pause – isn’t it about time for another upgrade?