GENEVA (AFP) -- Surging levels of carbon dioxide sent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new record in 2013, while oceans, which absorb the emissions, have become more acidic than ever, the UN said on Tuesday."We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels," said Michel Jarraud, the head of the World Meteorological Organization that released a report on the issue on Tuesday."We must

Organisers are confident a "frugal" and unflashy Asian Games can put South Korea's Incheon on the map despite low ticket sales raising the prospect of swathes of empty seats.Days before the start, only 10 percent of tickets had sold for the Olympic-style event, which has mainstream sports as well as niche pursuits like sepak takraw and kabaddi.Interest has not been helped by North Korea's decision not to send their squad of 350 well-drilled cheerleaders, who proved a big attraction at previous e

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) -- The death toll from devastating floods in India and Pakistan rose to 400 on Tuesday with hundreds of thousands more stranded, some "neck-deep" in water, authorities said.A huge rescue effort is under way in the divided mountainous region of Kashmir after monsoon rains submerged hundreds of villages, in the deadliest flooding there in over half a century.Rajesh Kumar, police inspector general for the Jammu region on the Indian side, said Tuesday the toll had risen to arou

CAIRO (AFP) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Arab foreign ministers in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as he bids for a broad coalition against the Islamic State, a senior Egyptian foreign ministry official said.The talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, which will continue into Thursday, will be attended by ministers from Egypt, Jordan and the six Gulf Arab states as well as Iraq, the official told AFP.The ministers "are going to meet Kerry on Wednesday and Thursday in Jeddah as part of

South Korea's central bank is expected to freeze the key interest rate in September as it monitors the impact of last month's rate cut and the government's stimulus measures, a survey showed Tuesday.The Bank of Korea lowered the base interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25 percent last month in a widely-expected move to join the government's efforts to spur the economy, but a clear majority of market watchers didn't expect a rate cut for a second month in a row. According to the surv

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Opposition politicians and industry groups in Australia demanded clarity from the government Tuesday over reports that it could buy a new submarine fleet from Japan rather than build them at home.Australia needs to replace its fleet of diesel and electric-powered subs, which date from the 1990s. Before the conservative government was elected last year, it said up to 12 new vessels would be constructed in South Australia, potentially with Japanese technology.But The Australian new

SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- Amazon launched their answer to the smartphone earlier this summer to much fanfare. Touting features other phones don't have, like Firefly that will allow users to photograph barcodes on products instantly placing them on a shopping list. Firefly can even recognize music, movies, artwork on a wall and even TV shows.Fast-forward a few months, and Amazon has slashed the price of it's much lauded phone to .99 cents. That price is with a two-year contract with AT&T, the exclus

South Korea's new committee on national unification is hoping to recruit Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, as its special international adviser, a government official said Tuesday."The international advisory group under the unification committee is trying to recruit a high-profile figure who has interest in Korean affairs and has influence," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.  "Former Secretary Kissinger is under consideration."It wasn't certain whether Kissing

SYDNEY (AFP) -- The world is facing a global jobs crisis that is hurting the chances of reigniting economic growth and there is no magic bullet to solve the problem, the World Bank warned on Tuesday.In a study released at a G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Australia, the Bank said an extra 600 million jobs needed to be created worldwide by 2030 just to cope with the expanding population."There's little doubt there is a global jobs crisis," said the World Bank's senior director fo

BEIJING (AFP) -- Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao has slipped further down the Communist Party rankings, state-run media said Tuesday, as his successor Xi Jinping consolidates his authority in the one-party state.The ranking of officials is highly sensitive and closely watched in China as it often indicates power changes.Hu had been listed after members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's most powerful body, in official media news reports since the country's once-in-a-decade power transi

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India for the first time to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the world’s most populous nations look to resolve border disputes and trade imbalances. Xi will visit India, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan from Sept. 12-19, China’s Foreign Ministry said today. This will be his first trip to India as head of state, and comes after Modi won the nation’s biggest electoral mandate in 30 years. Xi will skirt Pakistan, where he was due to sign $34 billion of investmen

MONROVIA (AFP) -- The World Health Organization warned Monday that Liberia is set to see a huge spike in infections from the Ebola epidemic ravaging west Africa, with thousands of new cases imminent.The UN agency said the country, worst-hit in the outbreak with almost 1,100 deaths, faced "many thousands" of new infections in the next three weeks."WHO and its director-general will continue to advocate for more Ebola treatment beds in Liberia and elsewhere, and will hold the world accountable for

BEIJING (AFP) -- European businesses in China on Tuesday warned the Communist Party urgently to implement promised reforms or risk seeing growth in the world's second-largest economy plummet and incomes stagnate."The 'golden age' for business in China is drawing to a close," the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said."China is nearing the end of its window of opportunity to create the framework to rebalance the economy," it added in its annual European Business in China Position Paper.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Ukraine's last cease-fire collapsed quickly. This one may last -- because it's in Russian President Vladimir Putin's interests.Putin's goal of keeping Ukraine in Russia's orbit remains the same. But recent battlefield gains by pro-Russia rebels mean that Moscow has the upper hand in peace talks that will help determine Ukraine's future. From the onset of the Ukrainian crisis, Putin's objective has been to secure enough autonomy for Ukraine's Russian-speaking east that the region c

BEIJING (AP) -- China and the U.S. need to avoid incidents that complicate relations between their militaries, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Tuesday following a recent close call between air force planes from the two sides.Rice made the comments on the second day of a two-day visit to pave the way for a trip to Beijing in November by President Barack Obama, which will include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Rice was to meet with Xi later Tuesday. "Military-to-milita

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple is poised to reveal its next big thing Tuesday in a crucial attempt to prove its technological tastemakers still have the power to mesmerize the masses.The trend-setting company is expected to rouse the still-slumbering market for wearable computers with a smartwatch or bracelet equipped to monitor health, help manage homes and even buy merchandise.Apple is a late arrival to this relatively new niche: several other companies already sell smartwatches that are being gr

BEIRUT (AP) -- Stitching together a broad coalition to tackle the extremist Islamic State group hinges on overcoming the reluctance of U.S. allies in the Middle East who are deeply frustrated with a White House they believe has been naive and weak on Syria's civil war.Key Sunni Arab states, Saudi Arabia chief among them, have wanted the U.S. to do more to provide robust support to mainstream Syrian rebels in their war against President Bashar Assad. The result is hesitation to answer President B

TOKYO (AFP) -- Emperor Hirohito, the demi-god at the apex of the Japanese state when it waged bloody war across Asia, cautioned against conflict but celebrated military success, according to the long-awaited official history of his reign, released Tuesday.The mammoth 61-volume set, which has taken 24 years to compile at a cost to the Japanese taxpayer of 230 million yen ($2.2 million) reveals little new hard evidence about one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century.But it offers a

South Korea has shown the most extreme demographic shift in the last four decades with its population aging at the fastest pace among advanced economies, data showed Tuesday. Koreans aged 65 or older accounted for 12.2 percent of the total population of about 50 million, the 30th-highest proportion among the populations of the 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to an analysis by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. But in terms o

TALLINN, Estonia (AFP) -- Russia's arrest of an Estonian policeman has sparked fears that Moscow is using the incident to test NATO's resolve to defend its small Baltic allies as the crisis in eastern Ukraine rumbles on.Moscow detained officer Eston Kohver on Saturday in what Russia claims is a spying probe. Prosecutors say he was arrested in possession of a pistol, ammunition, 5,000 euros ($6,500) and "special equipment to carry out covert recordings".But Tallinn alleges Russia kidnapped Kohver