BEIJING (AP) — China issued an upbeat but vague promise Wednesday to carry out a tariff cease-fire with Washington but gave no details that might dispel confusion about what Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed to in Argentina.

TOKYO (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach and other International Olympic Committee members are calling Tokyo the best prepared host city in memory.

Still, there are obstacles ahead for the 2020 Games, though small by the standards of the corruption-plagued Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

John Coates, the head of an IOC inspection team, wrapped up three days of meetings in Tokyo on Wednesday and said the city’s summer heat is a growing worry.

5 Dec 2018; AFP: Global emissions of carbon dioxide mainly from fossil fuel burning will rise 2.7 percent in 2018, scientists said Wednesday, signalling a world "completely off course" in the fight against climate change.

Last year, CO2 pollution increased by 1.6 percent after a three-year hiatus that raised hopes manmade greenhouse gas emissions had finally peaked despite an expanding world economy.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to cut taxes and boost France’s growth. A year and a half after he came into power, he is facing violent protests over rising taxes, a high cost of living and policies criticized by some as favoring the rich.

The country’s economic indicators don’t always match the public’s perception of how the country is doing, but do help understand the popular anger.

Here is a look at the taxes that have become central to the so-called “yellow vest” protesters’ claims.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After several years of little growth, global emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide experienced their largest jump in seven years, discouraging scientists.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s hugely important services sector is struggling in the face of Brexit, a closely watched survey showed Wednesday, as Prime Minister Theresa May strives to get the support of Parliament for her deal with the European Union.

In a monthly survey of a sector that accounts for around 80 percent of the British economy, financial information firm IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply found activity levels at their lowest since July 2016, just after the country voted to leave the European Union.

5 Dec 2018; AFP: A Turkish prosecutor has demanded that arrest warrants be issued against two Saudi nationals close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Turkish source close to the investigation said Wednesday.

Khashoggi, 59, was killed shortly after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain paperwork for his upcoming marriage.

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) The Election Commission Wednesday ordered the removal of returning officer of Khurai assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh after some electronic voting machines and paper trail machines reached the strong room 48 hours after the elections were held.

These machines were meant as reserves and were not used in polling.

Assistant returning officer of Khurai Rajesh Mehra has already been placed under suspension.

Lucknow, Dec 4 (PTI) A 35-year-old Uttar Pradesh woman succumbed to burn injuries Tuesday, days after she alleged being set ablaze by five men on resisting harassment by them, police said.

According to a complaint filed by the woman's mother, she was returning home on November 24 when the men attacked her in Shahjahanpur's Tilhar area.

The woman was taken to a hospital in Bareilly where she succumbed to injuries Tuesday.

The police said it has registered a case against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Raipur (CG), Dec 5 (PTI) A contractor engaged in mining-related work was killed by Naxals who slit his throat Wednesday before torching his SUV in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, the police said.

The incident occurred at around 11 AM near Kamaloor railway station under Bhansi police station limits, around 450 kms from here, Dantewada superintendent of police Abhishek Pallava told PTI.

The officer said the deceased Ganesh Naidu was engaged by Jindal company for carrying out a prospective survey work for iron ore mining in Pandewar area near Kamaloor.

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Police say a Pennsylvania man released from jail immediately stole a car from its parking lot.

Westmoreland County Prison officials say that moments after 36-year-old Thomas Lee Williams was released, he attacked a woman in the parking lot Tuesday evening and stole her car with the victim’s 1-year-old in the back seat. The Tribune-Review reports Williams crashed about 15 minutes later and ran into the woods, where he was apprehended.

Bengaluru, Dec 5 (PTI) India's heaviest satellite GSAT-11, that would boost broadband services in the country, was successfully launched by an Arianespace rocket from the French Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Blasting off from the Ariane Launch Complex at Kourou, a French territory located along the northeastern coast of South America at 02:07 am (IST), the Ariane-5 vehicle injected GSAT-11 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 33 minutes.