The world is aging so fast that most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people, according to a global study being issued Tuesday by the United Nations and an elder rights group.

The report ranks the social and economic well-being of elders in 91 countries, with Sweden coming out on top and Afghanistan at the bottom. It reflects what advocates for the old have been warning, with increasing urgency, for years: Nations are simply not working quickly enough to cope with a population graying faster than ever before. By the year 2050, for the first time in history, seniors older than 60 will outnumber children younger than 15.

Books about Margaret Thatcher, Roman Britain and bumblebees are among finalists for Britain's leading nonfiction book prize.

Charles Moore's "Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography," Charlotte Higgins' portrait of ancient Britain, "Under Another Sky," and "A Sting in the Tale" by bee conservationist Dave Goulson are on the shortlist for the Samuel Johnson Prize.

"Who Asked You?" (Viking), by Terry McMillan

Terry McMillan treads familiar territory in her latest novel, "Who Asked You?" Four sisters and their families struggle through life, love and real-world crises.

Jews in the United States are overwhelmingly proud to be Jewish, yet nearly one in five of them describe themselves as having no religion, according to a Pew Research Center survey published Tuesday.

The gap is generational, with 32 percent of Jewish Millenials identifying as Jewish on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture -- compared with 93 percent of Jews born in 1914-27 who identified on the basis of their faith.

A Bhutanese film directed by a monk opens Asia's largest cinema festival in South Korea on Thursday, a selection organizers say celebrates the diversity of talent in a region where box office takings are overshadowing Hollywood.

"Vara: A Blessing" directed by Khyentse Norbu -- who will miss the festival because he is taking part in a silent mountain retreat -- is the first of 301 movies to be screened at the 18th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

Poland's powerful Roman Catholic church on Monday hailed a Vatican announcement that its own John Paul II would be one of two late popes to be made saints next April.

"It will be a great day for the whole church worldwide, for Poland's church and for our country," episcopate spokesman Father Jozef Kloch told reporters Monday in Warsaw.

Israel has posthumously honored an Egyptian doctor for his role rescuing Jews during World War II, the first time a citizen of the Arab country has received the award.

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial authority in Jerusalem, awarded Dr Mohammed Helmy the honor of "Righteous Among The Nations," which is given to non-Jews who stood up to the Nazi genocide during the war.

Afghanistan on Monday began two days of official mourning for people killed by the communist regime in the late 1970s after a list of thousands of the dead was released.

The names of nearly 5,000 Afghans tortured and killed in 1978 and 1979 by Afghan intelligence officials were published this month by the Dutch prosecutor's office as part of a war crimes investigation.

With melons that sell for the price of a new car and grapes that go for more than $100 a pop, Japan is a country where perfectly-formed fruit can fetch a fortune.

An industry of fruit boutiques has defied Japan's sluggish economy to consistently offer luscious and lavishly tended produce for hefty prices -- and it is always in demand.

France has awarded the U.S. writer Philip Roth its highest decoration, the Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honor), with the country's foreign minister bestowing the award in New York.

At a ceremony on Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, in the Big Apple for the United Nations General Assembly, praised Roth's prolific career as one of the leading men of American letters.