India is the next great frontier for global retailers, a $500 billion market growing at 20 per cent a year.

Significant market size in these countries would help in biz expansion

Recent cases have put the spotlight on the safety of women travellers around the world.

Guatemala have been warned they could be suspended by FIFA after three internationals, including two of the country's most-capped players, had life bans for match-fixing overturned.

We present images from around the world of giant holes caused by heavy rains, earthquakes and a meteorite crash.

Among households headed by someone who entered the US since 2000, only one-fourth were owned.

Though Indian-Americans have the distinction of being the highest-per capita income group among ethnic communities, they lag far behind their European counterparts when it comes to owning a house in the US.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has reinstated its chief and four other leading officials suspended over a match fixing scandal involving the national team, saying they were improperly removed from office.

Rediff.com brings you a list of the happiest nations in the world.

Memorable comments by sports stars in 2012.

An investigation carried out by Tehelka, the Narendra Modi regime gave away a 10 per cent participating stake in an expansive gas field it had won in a bidding process to a company named GeoGlobal Resources that existed only on paper and was controlled by a Guatemala citizen named Jean Paul Roy. The company, incorporated in Barbados, had a capital of just $64.

The United States advanced to the final round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup finals with coach Juergen Klinsmann having discovered several new faces to add to his expanding list of options.

The United Nations General Assembly will vote on Thursday to elect five new non-permanent members of the Security Council who will replace India, Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa whose terms at the powerful UN body end in December this year.

Landon Donovan, the US national team's all-time leading goal scorer, was named in the 24-man squad on Monday for the next CONCACAF region World Cup qualifiers after shaking off a knee injury.

Canada and Mexico took big steps towards the next phase of World Cup qualification after wins in the CONCACAF region on Friday while Jamaica tasted victory over the United States for the first time.

The Indian men's and women's teams cruised to identical 4-0 victories over Wales and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia respectively in the first round of the 40th Chess Olympiad at the Wow Hotel and Convention centre in Istanbul.

Indian shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu fared dismally and finished 25th out of 34 competitors on Day 1 of the qualification round of the men's trap event at the Olympic Games and has extremely slim chances of making it to Monday's finals. At the end of three rounds, Manavjit -- in his third Olympics -- totalled 70 points out of a possible 75, with rounds of 24, 24 and 22, at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

India's K T Irfan finished a creditable 10th in the men's 20km walk, setting a new national record in the process, at the London Olympics, on Saturday. He clocked 1:20.21s in a field of 56 walkers, bettering the old national record of 1:20.35s, which stood in the name of Gurmeet Singh.

Olympics-bound Parupalli Kashyap lost in the first round, as Indian shuttlers endured a mixed opening day at the Singapore Open, on Wednesday. Kashyap, who shocked top seed Chen Long of China in straight games to make the last eight of the Indonesia Super Series before losing in the semis, was beaten 12-21, 18-21 by second seed Hyun Il Lee of Korea in 37 minutes.

On a high after clinching the Thailand Open title last week, Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier with a thrilling three-game victory over Japan's Sayaka Sato in the women's singles competition in Jakarta.

The United States and Mexico both opened their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaigns with 3-1 wins while Honduras suffered a surprise loss in the opening fixtures of the third round.

Meet Soros Fellow Victor Roy, whose grandfather's dedication to healing the poor and ailing for over six decades has set him on the same path.

An estimated 240,000 Indian immigrants are among 11.5 million foreigners living illegally in the United States without proper immigration documents, according to latest official figures.

"Sri Lanka is our next door neighbour. Geography bounds us. We have overwhelming trade ties with them. India is their biggest trade partner and the largest investor in Sri Lanka. Every fifth tourist in Sri Lanka arrives from India. Both countries' bilateral relation are so intertwined that both of us will soon take India's vote against them in the United Nations Human Rights Council in their stride."

Philippines might have emerged as the new capital for call centre works, but the country still has a long way to go to match India in the overall business process outsourcing (BPO) segment not just in terms of size of the industry, but also in terms of range of services.

Microsoft's interactive self-service assets (client, people and technologies) are to be merged with 24/7 Customer, to be now known as 24/7 Inc.

France's Teddy Riner (right) challenges Guatemala's Darrel Castillo in their +100 kg preliminary round at the Paris International Grand Slam judo tournament.

At least 73 people were killed and 1,000 injured in a riot at a soccer match in the Egyptian city of Port Said on Wednesday, the worst disaster in the country's soccer history, government officials said. Here is a look at some of the major disasters in soccer stadiums in the last 30 years:

Pakistan on Sunday joined the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the powerful world body, which also has India among its 15-member states.

This year's Rhodes scholar Anand Habib volunteered for a halfway house for immigrants who had risked their lives to come to America through the Mexican border during his high school days. He shares his journey here.

Adding yet another feather to its cap, India has been re-elected to a key United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, more than a week after securing membership of the powerful Joint Inspection Unit, the only external oversight body of the United Nations.

This year's Rhodes scholar Anand Habib volunteered for a halfway house for immigrants who had risked their lives to come to America through the Mexican border during his high school days. He shares his journey here.

The new batch of Rhodes scholars includes South Asians. The prestigious international scholarship is awarded to high academic achievers who are also active in sports and community work.

Islamabad, which was elected on Friday along with Morocco, Guatemala and Togo for a term beginning on January 1, 2012, had voted for India to be included in the 10-nation non-permanent club last year. New Delhi began its two-year tenure in January this year.

Here are some of the best images from across the globe in the last 24 hours.

The Miss Universe 2011 pageant is fast approaching on September 12. In a countdown to D-Day, we'll be introducing you to all 89 contestants from around the world.

Saina Nehwal's quarter-final jinx at the World Badminton Championships continued, as the ace Indian shuttler suffered a straight-games defeat to world No 3 Wang Xin and bowed out of the women's singles at Wembley Arena, London, on Friday. Jwala Gutta and Ashiwni Ponnappa, however, scripted history, becoming India's first-ever women's doubles pair to make it to the semi-finals of a World Championships.

Colombia coach Hernan Dario Gomez apologised on Monday for punching a woman who insulted him by criticising his work at the helm of the national team.

Fifth seed Chen Long of China tumbled out of the World badminton championships on day one, beaten by little-known Kevin Cordon of Guatemala, at Wembley Arena on Monday. In a 74-minute thriller, world number 36 Cordon clinched victory on his fourth match point 21-19, 8-21, 27-25.

Within days of the release of the names of 30 individuals, including eight South Asians, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Arshad Muhammad, a Pakistani, was arrested in Mississauga, Canada