A fire at a shopping centre in the Siberian city of Kemerovo has left at least 64 people dead, many of them children. Russia’s emergency ministry said that six people are still trapped in the rubble of the smouldering Winter Cherry shopping centre in Kemerovo.

The fire broke out at the shopping centre on a busy Sunday afternoon and quickly engulfed the top floor of the building, spreading through a children’s ice-skating rink, play centre and a two-screen cinema. Images from the scene showed thick black smoke pouring from the white-and-yellow tile shopping centre, as firefighters continued to battle the flames after nightfall from four storeys up. It is still unclear what sparked the fire, which was put out on Sunday evening. Authorities on Monday said four arrests had been made in connection with the fire.(theguardian)…[+]

The former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is to appear in court following his arrest in Germany, which triggered a wave of protests in Catalonia where thousands of separatists confronted police. Puigdemont, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Brussels since October, was travelling in a car on the way from Finland to Belgium on Sunday when he was detained, having visited Finnish lawmakers in Helsinki.

German police arrested him after he crossed the border from Denmark, under a European arrest warrant reactivated on Friday by Spain, where he is wanted on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds.

Puigdemont, who has been held in prison in the town of Neumünster since his arrest, will be brought before a German judge on Monday afternoon to confirm his identity and decide if he is to remain in custody. The state court in Schleswig-Holstein will rule at a later date on whether to put Puigdemont in formal pre-extradition custody on the basis of documents provided by Spain. German government officials have stressed that the case is a matter for the judicial system, but declined to say on Monday whether the government could ultimately overrule a court decision.(theguardian)…[+]

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will provide a grant of GBP974, 000 to the Government of Jamaica, to prepare a feasibility and design study for the development of an agriculture project for communities in the parishes of St. Catherine and Clarendon. The St. Catherine and Clarendon Agricultural Development project is being funded through a grant from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF), which is administered by CDB.

“The agriculture sector plays a significant role in Jamaica’s socioeconomic development, and provides employment opportunities for rural residents. In St. Catherine and Clarendon, there are large areas of land which are being underutilised, and which could provide opportunities for expanding the sector. The plans and designs developed under this feasibility study will lay the groundwork for a project to enhance the productivity of farmers in these parishes,” said Andrew Dupigny, Head of Infrastructure Partnerships, CDB.  The feasibility study will establish capacity for an agriculture project, including an irrigation system and associated production and marketing systems. Challenges for the agriculture sector in Jamaica include irregular rainfall patterns and an increase in the frequency of droughts. Clarendon and St. Catherine were among six areas identified for the development of major irrigation systems in Jamaica, of which three have been completed. One is being financed through a previously approved UKCIF grant. UKCIF provides grant financing to eight Caribbean countries eligible for Overseas Development Assistance, and UK Overseas Territory, Montserrat.

This project is consistent with CDB’s strategic objective of supporting inclusive and sustainable growth and development, as well as CDB’s corporate priority of supporting agriculture and rural development.(CDB)…[+]