Geneva - Holcim, a Swiss cement supply company, said Monday it had opened international arbitration proceedings against Venezuela, after the South American government failed to pay compensation for the nationalization of its branch there last year.

Along with two other foreign-owned cement companies, Holcim's assets were seized by Caracas in the summer, the company said in statement.

In violation of an agreement between the company and Venezuela, the Swiss firm was never compensated and the government cut off all contact by October.

Nyon, Switzerland - The only Premier League club remaining in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City, were on Friday drawn into a quarter-final clash against Bundesliga side SV Hamburg.

The draw conducted in Nyon saw the other remaining German team in the competition, Werder Bremen, having to take on Serie A's only remaining club, Udinese.

The two remaining French sides were both given Ukrainian opposition, with Paris Saint-Germain facing Dynamo Kiev, while Shakhtar Donetsk face Olympique Marseille.

Nyon, Switzerland - Holders Manchester United and FC Porto were drawn against each other in the Champions League quarter-finals in Friday's draw made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

German champions Bayern Munich face a much sterner task in the form of Spanish Liga leaders Barcelona while last year's finalists Chelsea take on English Premier League rivals Liverpool in a European competition for the fifth season in succession.

Geneva - The United Nations top rights official, Navi Pillay, issued a call Friday denouncing racial discrimination, ahead of an event marking the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa nearly five decades ago.

"Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are insidious, corrosive and sometimes explosive forces that devastate the lives of many individuals and, if left to fester, can undermine societies as a whole," said Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Right.

Geneva - Switzerland saw double-digit drops last month in its exports, a backbone of the economy, statistics released Thursday showed.

Exports declined to just over 14 billion Swiss francs (12.5 billion dollars), a 16.3 per cent drop in real terms, while imports fell 6.7 per cent, bringing the trade surplus to 731 million francs.

While all sectors saw declines, the metals industry was hit hardest and its exports fell over 36 per cent while textiles experienced a drop of 30 per cent.

Zurich  - The Swiss bank UBS said Thursday it has made a tender offer worth up to 1 billion euros (1.34 billion dollars) to buy back bonds in an attempt to raise its Tier 1 regulatory capital ratio.

The offer pertains to four lower tier 2 bonds with maturity dates between November 2015 and September 2019 and a notional value of around 7 billion Swiss francs (6.15 billion dollars).

The bank said in a statement that the bonds were currently trading at a significant discount to their original issuance price.

Tier 1 capital ratio is a regulatory measure of a bank's financial stamina.