Achieving the toughest climate change target set in the global Paris agreement will save the world about $30tn in damages, far more than the costs of cutting carbon emissions, according to a new economic analysis. Most nations, representing 90% of global population, would benefit economically from keeping global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the research indicates. This includes almost all the world’s poorest countries, as well as the three biggest economies – the US, China and Japan – contradicting the claim of US president, Donald Trump, that climate action is too costly.

Australia and South Africa would also benefit, with the biggest winners being Middle East nations, which are threatened with extreme heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival. However, some cold countries – particularly Russia, Canada and Scandinavian nations – are likely to have their growth restricted if the 1.5C target is met, the study suggests. This is because a small amount of additional warming to 2C would be beneficial to their economies. The UK and Ireland could also see some restriction, though the estimates span a wide range of outcomes.(theguardian)…[+]

Yulia Skripal has said she wishes to return to Russia “in the longer term” despite the nerve agent attack against her and her father Sergei Skripal, which she described as life changing.

In her first appearance since being discharged from hospital, Yulia said that she flew to London on 3 March to visit her father, something she had done regularly in the past. The Skripals were found a day later in a comatose condition on a park bench in the centre of Salisbury. “After 20 days in a coma I woke to the news that we had both been poisoned,” she said. “I still find it hard to come to terms that both of us were attacked. We are so lucky to both have survived this attempted assassination. She continued: “Our recovery has been slow and extremely painful. The fact that a nerve agent was used to do this is shocking. I don’t want to describe the details but the physical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing.”(theguardian)…[+]