Fribourg, Switzerland  - Calls by Al-Qaeda extremists to attack Switzerland and Austria during Euro 2008 are being taken seriously by authorities, a senior Swiss security official said.

Messages on "sos minbar" and "As-Sahab", two internet sites favoured by the terrorist group and calling for attacks on the two host nations, had multiplied in recent weeks, the official was quoted as saying by La Liberte daily published Thursday.

"We are taking these threats seriously," he said.

Zurich/Lausanne, Switzerland - Police and anti-capitalist protestors

Basel, Switzerland  - Swiss scientist, Albert Hofmann, who discovered the mind-bending drug LSD that paved the way for the 1960s acid culture, has died, it was announced Wednesday. He was 102.

Geneva  - The luxury brand Infiniti is extending its model range in Europe with the downsized V6 FX37 that will be on sale from October together with the G37 limousine, G37 coupe and the FX50 that

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to raise the contentious issue of tax evasion and Swiss bank secrecy when she visits Berne this week, the official government spokesman said Mond

New Delhi,