UNITED NATIONS - The world needs to act urgently to avoid a global water crisis due to increased population, rising living standards, dietary changes and more biofuels production, the United Nations warned on Thursday.

GENEVA - Much like over-exposed banks, many countries have ignored big risks from natural hazards and must now take urgent steps to protect people from disasters, a United Nations official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Visibility on clear days has declined in much of the world since the 1970s thanks to a rise in airborne pollutants, scientists said on Thursday.

They described a "global dimming" in particular over south and east Asia, South America, Australia and Africa, while visibility remained relatively stable over North America and improved over Europe, the researchers said.

New York: The world

The world's population will hit seven billion early in 2012 and top nine billion in 2050, with the vast majority of the increase coming in the developing countries of Asia and Africa, according to a new UN estimate, The Associated Press reported from the United Nations, New York.

Washington: Two colossal black holes appear to be orbiting one another in sort of a cosmic minuet at the center of a faraway galaxy formed when two separate galaxies collided, US astronomers said on Wednesday.

Washington: A new study has determined that global warming may have hit a speed bump and could go slow down for decades.

Earth

Rock As Big As 10-Storey Building Comes Within 72,000Km

Paris: An asteroid of a similar size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed close past Earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday.