Climate change will drive a huge increase in the number of migrants seeking asylum in Europe if current trends continue, according to a new study. The number of migrants attempting to settle in Europe each year will triple by the end of the century based on current climate trends alone, independent of other political and economic factors, according to the research. Even if efforts to curb global warming are successful, the number of applications for asylum could rise by a quarter, the authors predict.

Wolfram Schlenker, professor at the school of international and public affairs at Columbia University in New York, and lead author of the study, said: “Europe will see increasing numbers of desperate people fleeing their home countries.” Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who was not involved with the report, told the Guardian the results should be taken seriously by policymakers, though current forecasting models frequently fail to take such factors into account.(theguardian)…[+]

An interpreter for Ukraine’s prime minister who was photographed with Theresa May inside Downing Street has been arrested on suspicion of working as a Russian spy.

Ukraine’s SBU security service arrested Stanislav Yezhov on Wednesday evening in the capital, Kiev. Video showed two officers leading him away. Yezhov had worked “for the enemy state [Russia] for a long time,” the prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, declared on his Facebook page. The arrest is embarrassing for the Ukrainian authorities. Yezhov was based inside the cabinet of ministers and had regular high-level access to sensitive information. He travelled on high-profile trips to the west, including to London and Washington. The alleged Russian spy visited Downing Street in July when Groysman held talks with the prime minister. In June 2016 he visited the White House and interpreted for Groysman during a meeting with the then US vice-president, Joe Biden.  The SBU said in a statement that Russian intelligence had recruited Yezhov during a “long-term foreign mission”. It supplied him with “special equipment” which was used to collect information about the “activities of [Ukrainian] government structures”.(theguardian)…[+]

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved over USD5 million in funding to support the Anguilla Electricity Company Limited (ANGLEC) with the complete restoration of its transmission and distribution system, which was damaged during the passage of Hurricane Irma in September.

The severe weather event destroyed poles, transmission lines and transformers, causing notable disruption to Anguilla’s electricity supply. The outage also interrupted the island’s water supply and resulted in the cancellation of numerous hotel bookings.

The Director also noted the need to address Anguilla’s vulnerability to climate change, and build the country’s resilience to its impacts.

“This project will also include a climate vulnerability and risk assessment that will provide recommendations to improve the climate resilience of Anguilla’s electricity network. The Bank will also support the preparation of a business continuity plan to help ANGLEC recover better and faster after a disaster event,” he said.

Under the project, the transmission and distribution system will be rebuilt in accordance with current installation standards, and ANGLEC will use the opportunity to introduce measures to correct some pre-existing issues. These include improving the anchoring and staying of new poles and re-routing power lines. In addition to a loan from CDB, the project will be supported through USD61,000 in grant resources provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to CDB under the EIB Grant Facility for Climate Action Support, and counterpart financing from ANGLEC.(CDB)…[+]