Zurich - There were over 200,000 applications for 2010 World Cup tickets in the first 24 hours since tickets went on sale via FIFA's online ticket portal, football's ruling body revealed Saturday.

Applications from 128 countries for 216,975 tickets had been received via the website, excluding the hard paper applications handed in by residents of host nation South Africa at the country's First National Bank (FNB), a sponsor of the tournament.

Geneva  - Shares in UBS tumbled badly Friday, a day after the United States authorities issued a lawsuit against the bank demanding that it hand over about 52,000 names of clients.

At one point in early morning trading the stocks dropped 17 per cent, and ultimately closed the day at 11 Swiss francs, down 14 per cent from its opening price.

The bank, the largest in Switzerland, said it would challenge the US lawsuit.

Berne - Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht will need several months of intensive rehabilitation and specialized treatment as he recovers from injuries in a serious downhill training crash.

"The next weeks and months will be about Daniel Albrecht recovering well enough to be able to lead a normal life," the skier's manager, Guisep Fry, said in a statement Friday.

Berne University's hospital said Albrecht, 25, would need complete peace and quiet and can only be visited by close friends and family.

Zurich - The largest Swiss Bank, UBS, would comply with the terms of a deal reached with the US Justice Department, a spokesman confirmed Thursday, in order to avoid prosecution and settle claims of conspiring to help thousands of wealthy US citizens evade taxes.

The bank would pay 780 million dollars in fines and would transfer information on accounts of clients who most likely committed fraud, said spokesman Serge Steiner.

"UBS will fully comply" with the agreement, he added.

Zurich  - Swiss Re announced Thursday net losses in 2008 of 864 million francs, mostly on investments, as the insurance giant's credit rating was downgraded, increasing its funding requirements.

In 2007 Swiss Re had turned a 4.2 billion francs net profit.

Stefan Lippe, who was appointed CEO earlier this month, said in a statement that the result was "clearly disappointing," but that January had proved to be a better month for the company.

He said the core insurance business was solid and that Swiss Re was working "to de-risk the investment portfolio." The group was also cutting costs.

The company posted a fourth quarter loss of 1.75 billion francs.

Vevey, Switzerland  - Nestle boosted its net profit by 69.4 per cent in 2008, the company said Thursday, giving it gains of 18 billion Swiss francs (15.3 billion dollars).

The group's core business, its food and beverages section, produced sales of 102.4 billion francs and was the main contributor to growth.

Sales for the company rose 2.2 per cent to 109.9 billion francs, while its organic growth was 8.3 per cent.