Geneva  - The Swiss watch group Swatch reported Thursday net income of 838 million Swiss francs (723.6 million dollars) for 2008, a drop from the previous year's earning.

The company reported 5.96 billion francs in gross sales, a record, but its income was down from 2007's net income of over 1 billion.

"A noticeable drop in demand in the last months of 2008 mainly at wholesale level reduced the momentum in most brands and markets," the company said in its report, noting that even luxury items did not escape the downturn.

Basel, Switzerland  - Roche, the Swiss drug manufacturer, has struck a deal to buy out Genentech, a United States based biotech group, the two companies announced Thursday.

The move would cost Roche approximately 46.8 billion dollars for the 44-per-cent stake it does not already have in the biotech firm.

Under the agreement, the Swiss group would pay 95 dollars a share. It was only reached after months of negotiations, which at one point led Roche to go directly to shareholders with an offer that Genentech urged them not accept. Analysts felt the San Francisco company was holding out for a better price, as it was insisting on 112 dollars a share, far above market value.

Basel, Switzerland - The overwhelming majority of Swiss citizens want to protect their country's banking secrecy laws, a poll released Wednesday showed, in spite of international pressure for change.

The survey, conducted for the Swiss Bankers Association by M. I. S Trend, based in Lausanne, indicated a drop from the previous year, when 81 per cent of those interviewed supported bank-client confidentiality.

Geneva - The former prosecutor of criminal tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia has backed a recent international arrest warrant against the president of Sudan, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The support from Louise Arbour comes despite the fact that aid groups have subsequently been kicked out of the country in retaliation for the warrant.

Arbour, who has also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said international justice has made "irreversible" progress in recent years.

Zurich  - European champions Spain maintained first place in the world football rankings issued on Wednesday by the ruling body FIFA, with Portugal back in the top

Zurich  - UBS, the Swiss banking giant, lost more money last year than originally reported, it noted Wednesday, primarily due to a large fine it had to pay United States authorities as part of a tax settlement.

In 2008, UBS lost a record 20.9 billion Swiss francs (18 billion dollars). Last month it had reported losses of 19.6 billion francs and announced job cuts. Most of the losses came from its investment banking sector.