Noting that tax evasion is not a criminal offence in Switzerland, a senior Swiss official has acknowledged differences with India on what can be made public about Indians having unaccounted money parked in Swiss banks.

US Open champion Martin Kaymer sank an eight-foot birdie putt at the first extra hole to beat Bubba Watson in the four-man PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on Wednesday.

Controversy hit the Asian Games boxing competition after India's L Sarita Devi (60kg) had to settle for a bronze medal despite dominating her semifinal bout in Incheon on Tuesday.

An outraged Indian boxing contingent lodged a protest and demanded a review of L Sarita Devi's semi-final bout at the Asian Games after the veteran pugilist lost despite a dominating performance against home favourite Jina Park.

'We had not seen any fighting, but we could hear guns and bombs exploding.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com and Reuben N V/Rediff.com traveled to Kerala to meet some of the nurses who have returned from civil-war ravaged Libya.

Alstom is accused of paying bribes to Indian public officials to secure Delhi metro contracts.

The UK subsidiary allegedly paid bribes to win train infrastructure orders for the Delhi Metro, the Serious Fraud Office said in a filing.

Relief writ large on their faces, 44 Indian nurses working in strife-torn Libya arrived in Kochi on Tuesday morning from Dubai even as four others are bound for different destinations in the country.

The first batch of 44 Keralite nurses, stranded in strife torn Libya, would arrive in India on Tuesday. The nurses, working in various hospitals in Libya, had reached Tunisia, from where they will be reaching Dubai to take the scheduled flight to Kochi and arrive Tuesday morning, chief executive officer of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs department P Sudeep said.

Fifty-eight Indian nurses from Libya are on their way back home, the government said today while making a fresh appeal to all the Indians in the strife-torn nation to leave in view of deterioration in situation with a promise to make all arrangements for evacuation.

In the first phase of evacuation of Keralite nurses from strife-torn Libya, 50 of them are expected to be moved to Tunisia by road on Thursday as per the plan worked out by the ministry of external affairs.

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday slapped a money laundering case against former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and 20 others in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal to probe alleged kickbacks of Rs.360 crore.

Iraq is on the verge of collapsing and foreign military intervention is inevitable. But for those who follow the developments in Iraq and the Middle-East will understand the current situation is nothing but a culmination of US and western policies toward the region, says Dr Waiel Awwad

Substitute Lionel Messi scored his 38th goal for Argentina as they breezed past Slovenia 2-0 in their final World Cup warmup on Saturday.

Investors believe Indian is a tough place to do business with.

Suggesting police highhandedness contributed to the Arab spring, Rahul Gandhi made a strong pitch for police reforms as he interacted with street vendors.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has started fresh questioning of the cousins of former IAF chief SP Tyagi in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal in light of claims by alleged middleman Guido Haschke that he had paid money to them.

Read the full transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday at the US Capitol in Washington.

A disparate global network of violent fundamentalist Islamic groups threatens India's eastern flank as much as the north and west with a real possibility of these spilling over into our borders, says Shyam Saran.

The Indian Spring represented by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, which has culminated in the Aam Aadmi Party's impressive electoral debut in New Delhi, began around the same time as the Arab Spring in 2011 but they led to different outcomes in India and the Arab world, says Ramesh Ramachandran.

Midfielder Jean Makoun scored twice as Cameroon qualified for the World Cup finals after beating Tunisia 4-1 in Yaounde on Sunday to win their two-legged playoff tie and book their place in Brazil next year.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has sent a letter to the Indian embassy in Italy seeking details on the arrest of Guido Ralph Haschke, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, by Swiss authorities.

Swiss authorities have arrested Guido Ralph Haschke, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, on charges of bribery, Italian media reported.

Cameroon goalkeeper Charles Itandje made several sparkling saves to help his side force a 0-0 draw in Tunisia on Sunday in the first leg of their World Cup playoff.

Its promise has fallen short before the onslaught of the votaries of the old order and ruthless extremist forces, notes Talmiz Ahmad.

India has received a fresh tranche of crucial documents from Italy in connection with Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal which is likely to help Central Bureau of Investigation in expediting the probe into the bribery scam allegedly involving the then Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi.

A special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly will mark Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18, honouring the South African anti-apartheid leader's contributions to democracy, racial justice and reconciliation.

Ethiopia, Togo and Equatorial Guinea are facing disciplinary proceedings for allegedly fielding ineligible players in the World Cup qualifiers, FIFA said on Sunday.

Ethiopia ended the hopes of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa from making next year's finals in Brazil after a dramatic round of African group stage qualifying matches on Sunday.

India has been made a party in the VVIP chopper scam trial in Italy which is expected to begin in the third week of June. The Indian side is in the process of hiring a law firm there to present its case in the Italian trial procedures, government sources said.

A Delhi court has allowed the plea of two family members of former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi, accused in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam, to defreeze their bank accounts subject to certain conditions.

Rediff.com takes a look at the most dramatic events that unfolded across the globe in the last 24 hours.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has received transcripts of telephone conversations between Italian middlemen and officials of a defence firm, in which the Italy government has a 30 per cent stake, and others in connection with the VVIP helicopter scam. The transcripts of the telephone calls were handed over to the defence ministry, which has been made an "affected party" by the Italian prosecutors, official sources said on Monday.

Though Antony did not name the IAF chief in his reply, former Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi's role in the deal is being inquired by the CBI. Tyagi's bank account was recently frozen by the investigative agency and he was also questioned by them.

Two men accused of hatching a terror plot, backed by Al Qaeda elements in Iran to target a passenger train on the New York-to-Toronto route, have denied allegations against them in Canadian courts.

Agency sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday that "certain bank accounts of all the Indian accused" named in the FIR have been frozen by CBI.

Aeromatrix Info Solutions private limited, an accused firm in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam, has moved a Delhi court seeking defreezing of its bank account for paying salaries to its employees.

Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday admitted that "somebody has taken money" in the AgustaWestland chopper deal that is mired by bribery allegations.As the Central Bureau of Investigation probes the bribery allegations into the controversial Rs 3,600 crore deal for the supply of VVIP choppers by the Anglo-Italian firm, Antony vowed that no mercy would be shown to anyone who has taken bribes. It is alleged that the deal involved Rs 362 crore in kickbacks.

Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday said "somebody has taken money" in the controversial AgustaWestland helicopter deal and no mercy would be shown to those involved. He also said that CBI is "vigorously" pursuing the matter.