Associated Press: Australia’s prime minister promised Thursday to create 50,000 “green” jobs and apprenticeships to combat climate change and unemployment simultaneously. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has prioritized environmental legislation this year even as his government forecast that Australian unemployment would rise to 8.5 percent next year from the current 5.8 percent because of the global downturn. “The government I lead will not stand idly by while thousands of young Australians have their …