PANAJI - Goan freedom fighters are up in arms again. They had once fought against Portuguese rule in the state and this time they are opposing grand plans to mark 500 years of the arrival of the colonisers.

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Wednesday gave former Gujarat minister Amit Shah another eight days to reply to an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking cancellation of his bail in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake shootout case.

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's parliament Wednesday passed legislation to legalise betting and gambling, saying the move would help to attract tourists following the end of the decades-long civil war on the island.

NEW DELHI - Former law minister Shanti Bhushan Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he and his lawyer son Prashant Bhushan would prefer to go to jail instead of tendering an apology for pointing to corruption in the judiciary.

BEIJING/OSLO - China's angry response to the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed activist Liu Xiaobo raised doubts Wednesday if anyone will be able to leave China to collect the award on his behalf in Oslo.