* IRS has 20 Swiss banks in sights: UBS Mar 14, 2010
UBS also said Switzerland risked ending up on a blacklist of uncooperative tax havens if lawmakers refused to bless the deal, which was reached after months of tense negotiations between Washington and Bern. Swiss companies doing business in the US could then be subject to additional scrutiny by the IRS, it said. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Whats new in Germany and Switzerland Mar 13, 2010
Bern's famous bear pits have closed, and a more politically correct bear park has opened. Since 1857, Bern had been keeping its bears in big, barren, concrete pits ... In non-bear news, Bern's Historical Museum houses the new Einstein Museum, with exhibits that place this hometown boy's accomplishments in the context of his personal life and historical times. (MSNBC -- Travel)
UBS tells Switzerland that IRS has 20 Swiss banks in its sights Mar 13, 2010
UBS also warned that Switzerland risked ending up on a blacklist of uncooperative tax havens if lawmakers refused to bless the deal, which was reached after months of tense negotiations between Washington and Bern. Swiss companies doing business in the United States could then be subject to additional scrutiny by the IRS, it said. (USA Today -- Money)
Swiss uphold tax-free status for FIFA and UEFA Mar 10, 2010
BERN, Switzerland (AP) -- The Swiss parliament has upheld FIFA and UEFA's tax-free status in Switzerland. The National Council on Tuesday rejected a proposal to force the football bodies to pay taxes on profits from events like the World Cup, the European Championship and the Champions League. (SportsIllustrated.CNN -- Soccer)
Two More UBS Clients Win Swiss Court Ruling Blocking Data Transfer to U.S. Feb 27, 2010
The court in Bern said Switzerland may only lift bank secrecy rules when there is evidence of tax fraud ... If the Swiss Federal Tax Administration doesnt reconsider these 22 cases in the coming days, the Federal Administrative court will take them up and rule on them, the court in Bern said in an e-mailed statement today. (Bloomberg -- Europe)
Health insurance: Clear diagnosis, uncertain remedy Feb 19, 2010
Reforms initiated in 1996 never managed to contain costs in Switzerland, which has one of the most expensive health systems after America s. Robert Leu of the University of Bern argues that competition was not really set free. Insurers do not negotiate on tariffs with individual hospitals but with a cartel of local hospitals and the cantonal government. (The Economist)
Swiss OK asylum for 2 Gitmo inmates Feb 5, 2010
Widmer-Schlumpf told reporters in the capital, Bern, that Switzerland wasn't making any demands on Washington for taking in the Guantanamo inmates. "We assume that the United States won't hold this decision against us though," she added coyly, declining to say whether any informal arrangements were made. (MSNBC -- Terrorism)
'IPCC based ice report on student essay' Feb 1, 2010
The newspaper said the other source was a dissertation written by a geography student who was studying for a master's degree at the University of Bern in Switzerland that quoted interviews with mountain guides in the Alps. Barely a week ago, The Sunday Times, London, had reported that 00004000 the IPCC's claims of a link between global warming and rise in incidence and severity of natural disasters, including hurricanes and floods. (India Times, India)
Stratospheric Water Vapor: Warming Wild Card Feb 1, 2010
Sean Davis and Todd Sanford, NOAA/ESRL and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado; and Gian-Kasper Plattner, University of Bern, Switzerland. Email or share this story. (Science Daily)
UN climate panel based claims on student essay Jan 31, 2010
T 00004000 he newspaper said the other source was a dissertation written by a geography student who was studying for a master's degree at the University of Bern in Switzerland that quoted interviews with mountain guides in the Alps. The IPCC rejected as "baseless and misleading" a report this month from another British newspaper, The Sunday Times, raising doubts about the evidence behind its claim that global warming is linked to worsening natural disasters. (India Times)
Swiss move to save UBS tax deal Jan 28, 2010
"The discussions that we will lead may result in formal or material changes to the treaty," Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference after a cabinet meeting in the capital Bern. advertisement. (MSNBC -- Business)
Flashier Great Tits Produce Stronger Sperm Jan 21, 2010
Though human males don't display ornate natural plumage, the bird research has some parallels to people, said study leader , an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland ... To investigate whether more colorful great tits have more resilient sperm, Helfenstein and colleagues increased the parenting "workload" of 29 nesting pairs in Bern, , in 2008. (National Geographic)
HIV Therapy Linked to Fewer Suicides Jan 10, 2010
Yet despite the decrease, the suicide rate among those infected with HIV remained much higher than that of the general population, according to the study, led by Olivia Keiser, from the University of Bern. The researchers also found that the majority of people with HIV who committed suicide had been diagnosed with a mental illness. (MEDLINEplus)
OLYMPICS: Complete team rosters Jan 10, 2010
G: Peter Budaj (Avalanche) G: Jaroslav Halak (Canadiens) G: Rastislav Stana (Severstal, KHL) D: Zdeno Chara (Bruins) D: Milan Jurcina (Blue Jackets) D: Richard Lintner (Minsk, KHL) D: Andrej Meszaros (Lightning) D: Andrej Sekera (Sabres) D: Martin Strbak (HK MVD, KHL) D: Lubomir Visnovsky (Oilers) F: Lubos Bartecko (SC BERN ) F: Branko Radivojevic (Spartak, KHL) F: Martin Cibak (Spartak, KHL) F: Pavol Demitra (Canucks) F: Marian Gaborik (Rangers) F: Michal Handzus (Kings) F: Marian Hossa... (SportsIllustrated.CNN -- NHL)
Old Hay and Alpine Ibex Horns Reveal How Grasslands Respond to Climate Change Jan 10, 2010
This is where the team turned their sights to the Alpine ibex horn collection at the Museum of Natural History in Bern ... Since ibex horns also have annual rings, the grassland researchers were able to use the samples to draw conclusions about temporal changes in the grassland vegetation of the Bernese Alps where the ibex had grazed ... The Weihenstephan researchers thus determined the individual isotope composition of the grassland vegetation in both the Bernese Alps and in the British... (Science Daily)
