Stories related to: Switzerland

American victims of attacks in Israel are suing Switzerland's biggest bank for helping fund militants by providing money to Iran, Reuters reports. The lawsuit says UBS AG gave loans to Iran even though it supports Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. The plaintiffs seek $500 million in damages for some 50 US citizens who were hurt or whose relatives were killed in attacks between 1997 and 2006. More »

Switzerland faces a potato shortage just weeks before hundreds of thousands of famished European soccer fans descend on the country expecting to snack on French fries. The nation, which is co-hosting the upcoming international soccer tournament Euro 2008, is mashing the pending crisis by lifting trade barriers to import 5,000 tons of extra spuds, reports Der Spiegel. More »

The Swiss bank that sued over private documents posted on Wikileaks.org has withdrawn the motion, the AP reports. Bank Julius Baer did not say why it pulled the case, but the cease-fire brings an end to a case that raised First Amendment questions when a judge ordered the site to remove the documents. Those questions later prompted the judge to revoke the injunction. More »

As the battle to control Pakistan heats up, President Pervez Musharraf's lawyers have asked the Swiss government to prosecute Asif Ali Zardari over decade-old corruption charges. Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto and leader of the victorious Pakistan People's Party, is charged with hiding $55 million in kickbacks in a Swiss bank account. Bhutto herself faced similar charges in Switzerland before her assassination. More »

The four 19th-century paintings stolen from a Swiss museum have reportedly been found in an unlocked car parked outside a Zurich psychiatric hospital. Although police have not yet confirmed the find, Swiss media are reporting that the $168 million worth of loot—one work each by Cézanne, Degas, Monet, and van Gogh—has been recovered. The paintings were stolen by masked gunmen on February 10. More »

Thieves stole two Picasso paintings that belong to a German museum from a Swiss art gallery where they had been on display, the Guardian reports. The pilfered works, Tete de Cheval and Verre et Pichet, were on loan from the Sprengel Museum. Combined, they're worth $4.5 million, AFP reports. More »

The Davos summit, an annual retreat “where money comes to find morality and politics comes to meet money,” is the capital of capitalism—yet the world's economic crisis is only spoken of in whispers there, writes Julian Glover in the Guardian . Instead, moguls press the flesh with Middle East oil magnates and Chinese or Russian officials—anyone who can buoy the West's wobbly economy with a nod or a phone call. More »

The Swiss ski resort of Davos turns into a giant think tank tomorrow as politicians, financiers, and other masters of the universe gather for the World Economic Forum. This year's summit will eschew some of the Hollywood glamor of sessions past, the Independent reports: Emma Thompson will put in an appearance, but the current pessimistic financial mood means Davos 2008 is going back to its roots. More »

In one of the world's largest corporate bribery scandals in recent years, German industrial giant Siemens allegedly channeled millions of euros in bribes to customers in Nigeria, Russia, Libya, and other countries to win infrastructure contracts. The Wall Street Journal traces the unearthing of the Siemens case across four years of investigations in Switzerland,  Liechtenstein, and Germany. More »

eBay called off the auction of a 4,000-year-old clay tablet last week just minutes before it closed because an expert suspected the artifact had been smuggled out of Iraq, the Guardian reports. A German archaeologist alerted authorities after spotting the tablet, a business-card-size object covered in distinctive cuneiform script, on Swiss eBay. More »

After 49 years, Switzerland’s cozy form of consensus government collapsed today, when the right-wing People’s Party went into opposition, angered by the ejection of one of its members from the cabinet. “You have forced us to go into opposition, destroyed our treasured system of government and sacrificed your sworn interest in concordance, collegiality and tolerance,” the party’s head raged. More »

Cristoph Blocher, the controversial head of Switzerland's People's Party, has been ejected from cabinet in an unexpected move that could end 50 years of consensus politics. The populist leader was slated for reelection as justice minister, Bloomberg reports, but a surprise deal by the three other parties voted in another People's Party member who didn't seek nomination. MPs broke into applause after the vote. More »

World Cup finalists Italy and France will meet again: this time in Group C, the "Group of Death" of the Euro 2008 soccer championship. For Romania, it could be called "unluck of the draw" as it was selected for that group today along with another powerful squad, Holland, reports the Guardian . "I think there are coaches who are happier today," said France's manager. More »

While most countries promote tourism or business opportunities, new Swiss TV spots airing in Nigeria and Cameroon make the nation look blatantly unfriendly, writes the Independent . The ads roll up the red carpet by depicting a destitute African immigrant begging, being chased by police, living under a bridge, and calling home to pretend everything's fine. The tagline: "Fleeing does not mean starting a new life." More »

Several of the world's richest nations have forgotten about a $1.2 billion pledge to help developed countries cope with climate change, the Guardian reports. The group has doled out less than $185 million so far to help them plan for global warming, defend against floods, and boost conservation. "This represents a broken promise on a massive scale and on quite a cynical scale as well," said one analyst. More »

“We are the Switzerland of these heterogenous environments,” a Hewlett-Packard exec said by way of explaining why his company is not interested in acquiring BEA, after BEA rejected an offer from Oracle as too low. HP is a partner of BEA’s, the company's software chief said, but HP has similar relationships with BEA rivals. More »

Solar-heated pools, energy-conserving lights, composted food scraps . . . hotels aren't all bastions of consumption and waste. Travel+Leisure teamed up with Conservation International to assemble a list of 20 eco-friendly hotels: Spice Island Beach Resort, Grenada Soneva Fushi Resort & Six Senses Spa, Maldives Heritance Kandalama, Sri Lanka More »

Swiss voters delivered a new parliament on Sunday, giving the right-wing Swiss People's Party a consolidated grip on power. But they also gave a seat to the country's first black MP, who told the Times of London that he is fearful of the xenophobia that characterized the recent election, despite his pride at being "a symbol" of a non-racist Switzerland. More »

Bern was beset by rioters aiming to thwart a pre-election rally by the rightist Swiss People’s Party, expected to dominate this month's elections with its xenophobic platform. Masked protesters threw bricks and gas bombs and outwitted police by operating in small groups and destroying the party stage. The mayor admitted “impotence” in controlling the weekend riots, reports the Guardian. More »

Tired of receiving directory assistance calls on their emergency line, Swiss firefighters filmed a rap video that no one could forget. The resulting “118 Project," which clears up the  confusion, has become a YouTube sensation. “They chose rap because it is spoken and not sung,” a fire lieutenant told the BBC, “because clearly they are not singers.” More »