Irish engineering students have devised expandable pod-like shelters with roll-out roofs, some of which can be erected in just 40 minutes, which could help refugees fleeing conflict or famine around the world.

Although windy autumn weather affected sea crossings from Turkey over the past few days, refugee arrivals in Greece continue to climb and are expected to reach the 400,000 mark shortly. Greece remains by far the largest single entry point for new sea arrivals in the Mediterranean, followed by Italy with 131,000 arrivals so far in 2015.