Russian in US extradition U-turn

Yevgeny Adamov has been on hunger strike over the arrest

Former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov is to be extradited to his homeland - instead of the United States - to face corruption charges.

The US accuses Mr Adamov of embezzling up to $9m (£5.2m) it gave to improve security at Russian nuclear facilities.

Switzerland's Supreme Court overturned an earlier Justice Ministry ruling to hand him to the US.

Mr Adamov, who was held on a US warrant in Bern in May, will now face charges in Russia of embezzling $17m (£9.8m).

Moscow had filed its own extradition request shortly after the US.

It was fighting for Mr Adamov to be sent to Russia for fear his detailed knowledge of the country's nuclear weapons programme could fall into US hands.

The nuclear physicist, who was Russia's atomic energy minister from 1998 to 2001, accepts his extradition to his homeland but continues to deny the charges.