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Swiss drug maker Novartis AG reported a 47 percent drop in its fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday, citing a slate of exceptional costs from the ending of clinical trials to manufacturing problems and layoffs.
Swiss National Bank chief Philipp Hildebrand resigned Monday, acknowledging he could not prove his innocence amid a public uproar over his private currency deals.
Michel Frene vividly recalls his childhood on a farm in Courtelary, a village in the foothills of Switzerland's Jura mountains. There were cows, lush fields, even a nearby chocolate factory.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG said Tuesday it will cut 2,000 jobs as drug prices come under pressure from governments seeking to reduce health care budgets.
One current and one former employee at the Swiss private bank Julius Baer have been indicted in the United States in a $600 million tax evasion case.
Colleagues and relatives of a nuclear physicist detained in France since 2009 on suspicion of associating with members of al-Qaida's North Africa branch expressed hope Tuesday that the case against him would be dropped, even as they voiced anger over the two years Adlene Hicheur has already spent in prison without trial.
The U.N. human rights office called Tuesday for Israel to stop Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, accusing the army of failing to restrain settlers while being quick to use force against Palestinians.
A U.N. expert on freedom of speech called Monday for Thailand to tone down laws that prohibit defamation of the country's royal family, saying the legislation and punishments involved may violate an international rights treaty.
The U.N. human rights office on Friday questioned the fairness of a Bahrain court that sentenced an anti-government protester to death and gave lengthy prison sentences to medical staff who treated the injured during the country's uprising.
UBS chief executive Oswald Gruebel has resigned over a $2.3 billion loss caused by rogue trading at its investment division, which is to be restructured now to prevent similar incidents in future, the Swiss bank said Saturday.
The chairman of a Swiss regional bank caught up in a fresh tax evasion spat between the United States and Switzerland says he regrets taking on American clients after U.S. authorities forced rival UBS AG to hand over the names of suspected tax cheats.
At least 2,600 people have died in the six months of unrest that has swept Syria, the U.N.'s top human rights official said Monday, as a panel was named to investigate abuses in the Arab country.
People in the tiny principality of Liechtenstein vote next week on whether to legalize abortion — but they know their voice may count for nothing.
A leading human rights group on Wednesday urged the United Nations to launch an independent investigation of alleged atrocities committed in the final stages of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war, saying the country's own probe into the matter was flawed.
The U.N. refugee chief has called on countries to end the plight of some 12 million stateless people caught in what he described as "limbo," denied basic human rights because no country will grant them citizenship.
Swiss food and drink giant Nestle SA posted a drop in half-year earnings Wednesday, blaming volatile markets, rising commodity prices and particularly the strength of the Swiss franc for dragging down profits.
The World Food Program says it has no plans to reduce aid to Somalia following allegations that international food shipments there are being diverted.
Switzerland has a balanced budget, low unemployment and a strong currency.
Swiss bank UBS AG lowered its annual earning forecasts and announced fresh job cuts Tuesday after posting sharply diminished second-quarter net profits of 1.02 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion).
An author cited in the Norway massacre suspect's rambling, 1,500-page manifesto expressed regret Monday that her writing might have served to inspire his rampage.
The head of the world's largest ecumenical group accused Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik of blasphemy Monday for citing Christianity as a justification in his murderous attack on government buildings and a youth camp that left dozens dead.
The president of the World Bank criticized the United States on Monday for its lack of leadership in pushing through a new global trade agreement that he said would boost economic growth.
Widely used blood tests to detect tuberculosis are "dangerous" to patients because they are unreliable and can produce wrong results, the World Health Organization warned Sunday.
Nestle SA, the world's biggest food and drink company, took another big step into the Chinese market Monday with the announcement that it is to buy a majority stake in candy maker Hsu Fu Chi for 2.1 billion Singapore dollars ($1.7 billion; $1.4 billion Swiss francs).
Four-fifths of the world's 15.4 million refugees are hosted in poor countries, where their prospects for citizenship are slim and economic opportunities are limited, according to a U.N. report released Monday.
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