Switzerland

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UBS Shocks With Record $17B Loss

Swiss banking giant posts worst loss in nation's history

(Newser) - UBS today announced an annual loss of $17 billion—the biggest ever by a Swiss company—despite a government bailout and a surprise tax benefit in the fourth quarter. The loss was higher than expected, but the once-mighty corporation reiterated that it would not sell off its investment banking arm,...

Cops Bust Pot Plantation With Google Earth

Swiss farmers find they can't hide crop from satellite images

(Newser) - Swiss cops using Google Earth to check out the addresses of two suspects discovered a 2-acre marijuana plantation hidden in a field of corn, reports the AP. The bust led to the arrest of 16 men, suspected of selling 7 tons of marijuana and hashish during the last 4 years....

Men Smell Like Cheese, Women Like Onion

Find an animal that smells like tomato and voila—pizza!

(Newser) - Working out at the gym may stimulate your appetite—or maybe it's the enticing scent of the person next to you. Sweaty men smell of cheese, and sweaty women smell like onion or grapefruit, New Scientist reports. Body chemistry accounts for the difference, say Swiss researchers who based their conclusions...

Female Perspective Sorely Lacking at Davos

Gender equality slow to scale the Alps forum—and everyone's the worse for it

(Newser) - Women may be the ticket out of the global recession, but World Economic Forum leaders wouldn’t know it. The predominantly male organizers have invited few women—5% of announced attendees—to the exclusive Davos forum, a misstep for a meeting billed “Shaping the Post-Crisis World,” Morice Mendoza...

Wary of Image, Financial A-Listers Ditch Glitzy Davos

Top bankers, Obama advisers to skip Swiss summit

(Newser) - The swanky Davos economic summit was once a top destination for financial and economic power players, but many are skipping the glitz this year for fear of sending the wrong message in a tanking economic climate, Reuters reports. Treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner is sitting out the resort event, as are...

Shoe-Hurler Wants Swiss Asylum

Lawyer says al-Zaidi is in danger if he remains in Iraq

(Newser) - A Swiss lawyer working on behalf of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at President Bush said today his client will seek political asylum in Switzerland. The Geneva-based lawyer said Muntadhar al-Zaidi's life is in danger if he stays in Iraq. Al-Zaidi has been detained in an Iraqi jail awaiting...

UBS Closes 19,000 US Accounts in IRS Probe

Swiss banking secrecy collapses as investors face tax evasion charges

(Newser) - Under pressure from the IRS, Swiss banking giant UBS is closing the offshore accounts of about 19,000 Americans suspected of evading taxes. UBS will transfer the clients' assets to other banks, other divisions of UBS, or the account holders themselves—creating a paper trail that the feds can examine....

Swiss Legalize Heroin Injections

But reject marijuana decriminalization

(Newser) - Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a safe-injection program for heroin addicts today, BBC reports. The referendum, backed by 68% of voters, makes permanent a 14-year-old Swiss program that allows doctors to shoot up heroin users while attending to their medical and mental health needs. Switzerland will be the first nation to...

Feds Indict UBS Exec on Tax Evasion Charges

Raoul Weil has headed wealth management division since 2002

(Newser) - The US Department of Justice indicted UBS’ head of global wealth management for enabling the Swiss bank’s American clients to avoid taxes, the Financial Times reports. Although authorities are only specifically pursuing Raoul Weil at this time, they hold that several senior UBS executives are “unindicted co-conspirators.”...

Swiss Offer UBS $60B Bailout
 Swiss Offer UBS $60B Bailout 
Oct 16, 2008 6:46 AM CDT

Swiss Offer UBS $60B Bailout

Troubled banking giant will get capital injection, offload bad debts

(Newser) - Switzerland became the latest nation to shore up struggling banks, reports the Telegraph, as it bailed out UBS to the tune of $60 billion today. The Swiss central bank will offer UBS a capital injection of $6 billion in exchange for 9% of the company, and it will allow UBS ...

Sensitive Swiss Ban Plant Humiliation

Genetic research must not violate the dignity of wheat

(Newser) - Swiss scientists eager to carry out genetic experiments on plants can’t be rash—they must first consider the how their actions make that tulip feel. Government-backed ethicists studied the effects of such experimentation on plants’ dignity; they found that it was wrong to hurt plants for no reason, or...

This Year's Not-So-Nobel Prizes

Spoof kudos for 'mad' scientist projects

(Newser) - Researchers who proved Diet Coke is an effective spermicide, a nation's declaration that plants have rights, and a study that proved dog fleas can jump higher than cat fleas have won Harvard University's annual Ig Nobel Prizes. The spoof awards recognize projects that "first make people laugh, and then...

Fraud Case Breaches Venerable Swiss Secrecy

Nation's tradition of bank secrecy imperiled by UBS investigation

(Newser) - Swiss authorities are cooperating with an American investigation into a tax fraud scandal, dealing a major blow to the nation's tradition of banking secrecy. Swiss bank UBS is alleged to have helped up to 20,000 American clients evade taxes by stashing their fortunes—collectively worth $20 billion—in undeclared...

Balky Collider Offline Into '09
 Balky Collider Offline Into '09 
Sep 23, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

Balky Collider Offline Into '09

Lengthy repair times, and necessary winter maintenance, delay Large Hadron Collider

(Newser) - A serious malfunction, and the necessarily slow progress of repairs, will keep the Large Hadron Collider from starting its first experiments until spring, the Times reports. A major problem Friday shut down the European atom-smasher, and officials said the heating, repair and recooling of the giant magnets would take 2...

Supercollider 'Beautiful' So Far, Scientists Say

Data already streaming forth from effort to find answers to Big Bang questions

(Newser) - Scientists working with the massive atom-smasher buried under the French-Swiss border have already “seen some beautiful tracks coming off” the beams of protons circling the 17-mile loop, Bloomberg reports. “Things can go wrong at any time, but luckily this morning everything went smoothly,” one scientist told National ...

Huge Particle Collider Ready for Debut

Probably won't destroy universe

(Newser) - Physicists across the world will spend the wee hours of tomorrow morning watching with bated breath as the world’s most expensive science experiment gets under way, the New York Times reports. At 3:30am Eastern, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider will switch on for the first time, sending particles...

Alps Artifacts Offer Clues to Climate Change

Ancient objects emerge as Swiss glacier melts

(Newser) - A melting glacier in the Swiss Alps has revealed hundreds of ancient artifacts, providing valuable information about both history and climate change through the ages, AFP reports. The area was walkable only during warm periods when the glacier receded. “The site itself is the most important find because we...

Swiss Pardon Europe's Last Executed Witch

Housemaid accused of casting spells was beheaded in 1782

(Newser) - It's 226 years too late to restore her head to her body but the Swiss have decided to restore the good name of convicted witch Anna Goeldi, the Independent reports. Goeldi, the last person in Europe to be executed for witchcraft, was tortured and killed after being accused of casting...

Qaddafi Cheesed at Swiss Over Son's Arrest

Diplomats, businesses under fire in Libya after Hannibal detained for Geneva assault

(Newser) - Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is waging a diplomatic, business and public-relations offensive against Switzerland, the Times of London reports, in response to the July 15 arrest of his son Hannibal in the assault of a Geneva hotel worker. Qaddafi has closed Swiss offices and expelled diplomats, apparently organizing a boisterous...

Swiss Cow Fights Are No Bull
 Swiss Cow Fights Are No Bull 
Jun 7, 2008 7:11 AM CDT

Swiss Cow Fights Are No Bull

Beefy battles are a big spectator sport in the Swiss Alps

(Newser) - In Spain, the bulls do the fighting, but the boot is on the other hoof in the Swiss Alps, Der Spiegel reports. The tough local breed of alpine cows naturally battle among themselves to become queen of the herd, and for centuries, farmers have organized cow fight tournaments. Nowadays, the...

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