Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Barack Obama before concluding his visit to the country.

Mr Obama said after the meeting that much of the discussion had focused on the upcoming climate conference in Paris.

Mr Modi added that the two sides had set “ambitious national agendas” to tackle climate change.

Experts say India’s position is key if a climate change deal is to be signed in Paris later this year.

India is the world’s third largest carbon emitter, after China and the US.

‘Development aspirations’

This is the fifth meeting between Mr Obama and Mr Modi since the latter swept to power in India in May 2014.

“What I indicated to the prime minister is that I really think that India’s leadership in this upcoming conference will set the tone not just for today but for decades to come”, Mr Obama said in a statement after the meeting.

Mr Modi’s statement said that while both leaders shared “an uncompromising commitment on climate change”, he was careful to mention that this was “without affecting our ability to meet the development aspirations of humanity”.

India argues that more than 20% of its population has no access to electricity and they have a right to development.

Earlier this year, India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told that India would not follow China’s lead to announce a target year for its carbon emissions to peak.

However, Mr Modi reiterated his commitment to “clean and sustainable energy” and announced plans to include “not just a plan to add 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, but a development strategy that will enable us to transition to a more sustainable energy mix”.

The statement from the Indian side added that Mr Modi had sought US help to bring about “UN reform” under which India is seeking a permanent seat on the security council.

Ousted Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he is confident he would have led his Liberal party to victory, if not replaced by Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Abbott was unseated by Prime Minister Turnbull after losing a party room ballot by 54 votes to 44.

During his first radio interview after being overthrown, Mr Abbott said he could pull off a come-from-behind win like the UK’s Cameron government.

He said lagging polls do not always translate to ineffective government.

“You can be not especially popular in these personal approval ratings and at the same time lead a very effective political operation,” Mr Abbott told 2GB radio in Sydney.

“It’s difficult to do the right thing by the country when you have ‘death by polls’.”

Mr Abbott urged Canberra to stop the leadership revolving door, saying politicians who are watching their backs are going backwards.

With five prime ministers in as many years, Canberra has solidified its reputation as the coup capital of the democratic world

He said no policy has changed since the change of leadership two weeks ago.

“If you listen to the prime minister and treasurer they are even using exactly the same phrases Joe Hockey and I were using a fortnight ago,” Mr Abbott said.

He did not reveal his plans for the future, but said he would decide around Christmas time.

“I’m too young to retire, I’ve still got something to contribute to public life,” Mr Abbott said.

Is it snowing in India’s tropical southern city of Bangalore?

The picture above would certainly make you think so.

Unfortunately, the reality is quite different: what looks like snow is actually harmful snow-white froth that floats up from the city’s largest lake and spills over into neighbouring areas.

Over the years, the 9,000-acre Bellandur lake in India’s technology capital has been polluted by chemicals and sewage.

IT professional Debasish Ghosh has been taking pictures of the lake of “harmful snowy froth” for months now. Here is a selection of his pictures.

Mixing with storm water coming out of two outlets into the lake, pollutants form a toxic snowy foam that covers the water and rises so high it flows into the surrounding areas.

The situation gets worse during the rains. When the wind blows, it carries the foam in the air

The foam usually covers a key road connecting the airport to the border town of Hosur

The Nepalese government is considering banning anyone deemed too young or too old or with a severe disability from climbing Mount Everest.

A spokesman said under new proposals, no-one younger than 18 or older than 75 would be allowed to climb.

The ministry of tourism could also insist that all climbers have previous mountaineering experience.

Nepal makes millions of dollars every year from the Everest industry but has been criticised for poor management.

In 2014, the mountain was closed after 16 Sherpas (guides) died in an accident.

And earlier this year, the climbing season was called off after a massive earthquake triggered an avalanche that killed 18 climbers.

Over the past decade many people have sought to establish world records on the world’s highest mountain, a practice the government wants to discourage.

The youngest person to climb Mount Everest was 13 and the oldest 80.

Mr Karki also said the government was considering only issuing permits to climbers who have already scaled another mountain above 6,500m (21,300ft).

Over the years, Everest has attracted many climbers aiming to overcome their disabilities.

Last week, Japanese mountaineer Nobukazu Kuriki, who had previously lost nine fingers to frostbite, abandoned his attempt to climb the mountain.

In 2006, New Zealander Mark Inglis, who had lost both legs to frostbite, became the first double amputee to reach the 8,848m (29,029ft) summit.

Five years earlier, US climber Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to reach the top of Everest.

From calling her a “big mouth” to making Monica Lewinsky jokes, China has reacted furiously at US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s recent comments about China’s record on women’s rights.

Mrs Clinton said in a tweet on Sunday that Chinese President Xi Jinping was “shameless” for hosting a United Nations conference on women’s rights that day.

Mr Xi has come under fire for hosting the summit as several women’s rights activists were held earlier this year for planning a demonstration against sexual harassment on public transport.

Rights groups say several female human rights activists remain in detention.

Mrs Clinton has made women’s rights a signature part of her campaign.

‘Rabble-rouser’

Chinese state media have taken care to cultivate an affable and lovable image of President Xi Jinping. Calling someone “shameless” is also a particularly bad insult in Chinese culture, which abhors “losing face”.

State media on Monday thus unsurprisingly reacted with fury, with a strongly-worded editorial by The Global Times put out in both English and Chinese and carried widely in other local media outlets.

It accused Mrs Clinton of aping Republican candidate Donald Trump – who has himself made provocative remarks about China – in an attempt to gain votes through China-bashing.

In its English editorial, Global Times called her “a rabble-rouser” engaged in “ignonimous shenanigans” – but in Chinese it was even blunter: “It looks like Hillary is in a panicked frenzy, her eyes have turned red… She has started to copy Trump’s speaking style and allowed herself to become a fierce big mouth.”

Trump talk? Chinese media compared Mrs Clinton to Mr Trump

News outlets also widely covered a response by the Chinese delegation in New York, that said the women’s rights activists “were not arrested because they were advocating women’s rights issues, but because their behaviour flouted Chinese laws”.

‘Lewinsky’s in your bed’

Online, the reaction was more divided. Riled-up patriotic netizens on microblogging network Sina Weibo called her “an old witch” and made references to Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern who had an affair with Bill Clinton.

“Hillary you should quickly rush home, Lewinsky is already in your bed with Bill. Why don’t you mind your own business instead of talking rubbish about China,” said user Lewubianzhong.

Blast from the past: netizens referenced Ms Lewinsky whose affair with former president Bill Clinton led to his impeachment trial

But others took her side, decrying the detention of the activists and the state of women’s rights in China.

Said user wbxxxhhh: “Hillary wasn’t criticitising the arrests of the activists, but instead was criticising their arrests on cooked-up charges.”

“Chinese women don’t even have the right to reproduce, let alone women’s rights,” said Te_leinijiangtui, in a reference to China’s one-child policy.

It is not certain whether Mrs Clinton has taken note of the Chinese brouhaha yet – if she has, she has yet to give a direct response.

Her campaign team meanwhile continues to press on. One of their latest tweets stressed the importance of women’s rights.

Two people have been killed by a powerful typhoon which swept Taiwan on Monday night.

About 1.8 million homes lost power during Typhoon Dujuan, which brought gusts of up to 227km/h (141mph).

Thousands of people had been evacuated from vulnerable areas ahead of the arrival of the storm, and tens of thousands of troops were on standby.

Some areas received more than 900mm of rain in just one day, about one third the average annual rainfall for Taiwan.

Dujuan weakened as it headed over China’s south-eastern Fujian province on Tuesday morning.

Gig cancelled

In addition to the elderly person and construction worker who died, more than 300 people were injured in Taiwan.

Schools have remained closed for a second day while air and rail transportation are disrupted. Authorities have warned there is still a risk of mudslides and high waves in coastal areas.

The storm forced US rock band Bon Jovi to cancel their gig in Taipei for a second night.

The two gigs would have been the band’s first in Taiwan in 20 years – the Tuesday night performance had only been added after China abruptly cancelled the Beijing leg of their tour.

Around 3,000 people, mostly tourists, were evacuated from Taiwan’s Green Island and Orchid Island on Sunday, with around 4,000 more moved from vulnerable areas on Monday.

Some of those were transported from the hot spring town of Wulai, near Taipei. Wulai was badly hit by Typhoon Soudelor in August and the Weather Bureau warned that rubble left over from that could cause more damage this time.

Soudelor, the most powerful storm of the season so far, killed at least eight people in Taiwan and a further 21 in China

Cuban President Raul Castro has told the UN that normal relations with the US will only be possible if America takes a number of measures including the abolition of its trade embargo.

He said it was also necessary for the US to return the military base at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay and end anti-communist broadcasts to the island.

US President Barack Obama also called for the trade embargo to be lifted.

He said that he was confident that the US Congress would do so soon.

The two leaders are expected to meet later on Tuesday in New York.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Monday, President Obama said he thought the Republican-held Congress would inevitably lift “an embargo that should not be in place anymore” despite its reservations over the administration’s support for it.

He said that while the Cuba policy of the US had “failed to improve the lives of the Cuban people”, human rights remained a concern in relations with Havana.

His words evoked a positive applause from the 193-nation UN General Assembly.

The embargo has been in place since 1960 and remains a contentious issue in relations between Cuba and the US.

President Castro for his part said that now that diplomatic ties were back in place, the overall normalisation of relations “will only be achieved with the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba”.

It was President Castro’s first address to the UN since succeeding his brother Fidel in 2006. Like President Obama, he received sustained applause.

The White House announced on Sunday that President Obama would hold talks with his Cuban counterpart on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

It will be their second meeting following on from their first historic get-together in Panama in April.

The UN General Assembly is set to discuss a new draft resolution criticising the US embargo at a meeting next month.

The assembly has voted every year since 1982 in support of a resolution calling on the US to end the embargo.