U. S. and Swiss researchers have said that Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, a commonly used inject-able contraceptive, is linked to a higher risk of bone fracture.

DMPA, a progestin-only long acting reversible hormonal birth control drug which is injected every 3 months, is associated with higher bone fracture risk when used alone and not in combination with estrogen, researchers at the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland and the Boston University Medical Center have said.

Geneva - The Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt has banned a political campaign poster it deemed to be racially prejudiced against Muslims, local media reported Tuesday.

The poster, part of a campaign by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) to forbid minarets across the country, shows a veiled woman, standing next to a Swiss flag which is pierced by menacing- looking towers.

"Stop! Yes for the ban on minarets," is written next to the image, in French- and German- language posters.

The Swiss will vote on a referendum to ban the construction of minarets, put forward by the SVP, on November 29.

Basel decided the posters violated a local law banning posting items which contain racist or discriminatory content.

Geneva  - The day came and went, but the result from the timeline Switzerland's president promised for the return of two nationals being held in Libya to the Alpine land never happened.

After the president, Hans-Rudolph Merz, issued an apology to Libya for the arrest of Moamer Gaddafi's son and daughter-in-law in Geneva last summer, the two Swiss businessmen being held in Tripoli were expected to be put on a plane back home by September 1.

Geneva  - Google Inc met Wednesday with Swiss governmental officials in order to sort out privacy issues the company's Street View programme has raised in the Alpine land.

According to a statement from the Swiss Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Information, Google representatives presented proposals for improvements to Street View, particularly in regards to issues like people's faces and license plates.

Sensitive sites in Switzerland, including international organizations in Geneva, can be seen on the service, but it blocks zooming in for close-up snapshots.

Geneva  - The US tax agency on Monday filed with Swiss authorities for administrative assistance on information related to 4,500 bank accounts, following a deal reached between the two governments earlier this month.

The out-of-court settlement required that the country's largest bank UBS AG hand over to US authorities information on accounts that are believed to belong to clients who hid their assets from the Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying taxes. Swiss confidentiality laws generally mandate that banks are not allowed to divulge client information.

Zurich  - Usain Bolt beat fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell to win the 100 metres at the Golden League meeting in Zurich Friday in 9.81 seconds.

The world and Olympic champion, who set a world record 9.58 seconds 12 days earlier in Berlin, appeared to ease up as he crossed the line.

Bolt and Powell were neck-and-neck over 70 metres but Bolt powered ahead over the last 30 metres, leaving Powell - who had equalled a then-world record of 9.77 in Zurich three years - second on 9.89.  (dpa)

Zurich  - Russian Yelena Isinbayeva set a world record 5 metres 6 centimetres in the women's pole vault at the Golden League meeting in Zurich on Friday.

Isinbayeva, who did not clear a height when failing to win a third successive title at the world championships in Berlin, stays on course for at least a share of the Golden League 1-million-dollar jackpot. (dpa)

Geneva  - The city of Zurich began to block Wednesday its employees from accessing the social networking Website Facebook using office computers.

The move, local media reported, came after the municipality had given employees a "last chance" in April to reduce the time spent on the site and the number of visits. When that condition was not met, the city moved to block access altogether.

Reportedly, while the number of visits initially dropped, the slow summer months sent more traffic from Zurich's workers to the site.

Washington  - A former UBS banker who helped uncover a tax evasion scandal at the Swiss banking giant was sentenced to 40 months in prison Friday by a Florida judge, the US Justice Department said.

Bradley Birkenfeld served as an informant in 2007 for US authorities investigating UBS AG, which has since admitted that its employees helped American clients evade billions of dollars in taxes.

Birkenfeld was sentenced for his own role by a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was arrested in 2008 and pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States.

Washington  - A Swiss bank executive and lawyer have been charged in the United States with helping wealthy American clients hide their assets from US authorities, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

The charges are partly connected to the long-running scandal involving Swiss banking giant UBS AG, which has admitted to helping some US clients avoid paying taxes.

Geneva  - Shares in UBS AG closed up Thursday on the Zurich exchange, a day after it was announced the bank would divulge information to US tax authorities on 4,450 accounts and the Swiss government said it would exit its investment in the bank.

The stock closed at 17.50 francs, up 4.54 per cent on the day.

The Swiss government, meanwhile, exited its investment in the bank, selling off the roughly 9-per-cent stake in UBS it obtained last year as part of a bailout for the troubled institution.

Geneva - Cement giant Holcim announced Monday it would acquire Cemex Australia for 1.77 billion Swiss francs (1.62 billion dollars).

The deal will also include a 25 percent stake in Cement Australia, in which Holcim already has a 50 per cent stake. The purchase would be financed entirely with equity, Holcim said.

In a statement the Swiss company said the "acquisition enables the group to move into the aggregates and concrete business in an attractive mature market."

Geneva - The Swiss financial regulator FINMA said Wednesday that it would be looking to reduce the risk of instability at financial institutions by making sure bonuses awarded to employees reflect long-term profitability.

"Financial institutions will have to structure their variable remuneration packages (bonuses) on a sustainable and long-term basis in line with economic profit while taking into account the costs related to all risks entered into," FINMA said in a statement, adding that it was proposing to regulate the bonuses.

Zurich - Football's governing body FIFA late Thursday gave Nigeria a month to get the stadiums for the under-17 world championships in order or face the risk of losing the right to host the tournament.

The competition is to be played in the African country from October 24 to November 15, but FIFA has expressed concerns that the majority of stadiums to be used are not yet ready.

In a statement issued after an inspection visit of the facilities to be used for the competition FIFA noted a significant delay in the preparations.

Geneva - Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis announced Wednesday it is to purchase the Austrian specialty generics business EBEWE Pharma in a bid to improve the reach of its own generic drug division, Sandoz.

Novartis said it had reached an agreement to pay 925 million euros (1.2 billion dollars) in cash for EBEWE Pharma and its portfolio that includes oncology medicines.

EBEWE Pharma's separate injectable neurological products business was not part of the deal.

Geneva  - A rare blue diamond fetched a world record 9.3 million Swiss francs (8.4 million dollars) at an auction by Sotheby's in Geneva on Tuesday.

The cut and polished gem weighing 7.03 carats was sold by Cullinan Mine in South Africa to an as yet unknown telephone bidder, who will also pay a buyer's premium.

The diamond was cut from an original blue diamond of 26.58 carats and was naturally coloured and internally flawless, Sotheby's said. (dpa)

Zurich - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said Friday it made 4.83 billion Swiss francs (4.28 billion dollars) in profit in the first quarter of 2009.

In a statement, Switzerland's central bank said the main factors behind the result were the rise in the price of gold and exchange rate gains. The valuation gains from gold stood at 4 billion.

The SNB has been taking steps to devalue the franc, particularly against the euro, in part to help the Alpine nation's exporting industry, a major backbone of the economy.

Geneva - The World Health Organization has increased the number of laboratory-confirmed infections of influenza (H1N1) in humans to 2,371 cases in 24 countries.

In a posting to its website late Thursday, the organization said Mexico had 1,112 confirmed human cases of infection, including 42 deaths and the United States had 896 cases with two deaths. Canada had 201 infections.

In Europe, Spain remained hardest hit with 81 cases followed by Britain with 32.

Zurich- The Swiss banking giant UBS confirmed Tuesday it lost nearly 2 billion francs (1.75 billion dollars) in the first quarter of this year, mostly on exposure to risky positions and continued outflow of capital.

UBS said in a statement that the losses were on positions the bank was exiting or had already closed.

Net new money outflows totaled 39.6 billion francs at the wealth management in Switzerland and the Americas. Outflows in global asset management reached 7.7 billion francs, which UBS saw as a positive slow-down.

Geneva - A man who recently returned from Mexico has been confirmed as having Switzerland's first case of swine flu, medical officials said Thursday.

The announcement about the 19-year-old man's condition, which was deemed stable, was made by a hospital in the canton of Baden overnight following a laboratory confirmation.

The case had initially been misdiagnosed earlier in the week, media reports said, and the man was sent home from hospital only to return.

He was being held in isolated and treated with the anti-viral Tamiflu.