Geneva - A Geneva-based semiconductor company said Monday it won a ruling by a US body ordering Credit Suisse to pay damages worth about 406 million dollars for unauthorized investments.

STMicroelectronics filed arbitration against the bank last winter, on the grounds that Credit Suisse bought auction rate securities, including collateralized debt obligations, "instead of the federally guaranteed student loan securities that had been specifically mandated by the company for purchase."

Geneva  - A man of Tamil origin c

Geneva  - Having concluded on Friday the fourth session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the United Nations said that 64 countries have had their rights record publicly scrutinized.

"We are one third of the way to reviewing all of the 192 UN members states," Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, the president of Human Rights Council told reporters.

The session saw 16 states reviewed, including so-called "heavyweights" such as China, Russia, Mexico and Germany.

Geneva - Charles Aznavour, the ageing French singer, will take up a new role as the Armenian ambassador to Switzerland, media reports said Friday.

Aznavour made the announcement on Armenian TV, saying he was honoured to have been given the position.

The Armenian diplomatic mission in Geneva could not confirm the appointment.

Geneva - The United Nations' Human Rights Council announced Friday will hold a special session next week to address the financial crisis.

Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, the Nigerian ambassador to the UN in Geneva and the president of the HRC, said the special session would focus on the protection of human rights in difficult economic times, particularly defending the most vulnerable.

Geneva, Feb. 11: The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has claimed that fierce fighting in Pakistan's tribal areas could drive over 600,000 people away from their homes within a few weeks.

"Latest estimates put the number of displaced people in the region at around 450,000, but the UN believes more than 600,000 could be displaced within weeks," UNHCR spokesman, Ron Redmond was quoted by The Nation, as saying.

Redmond said UN High Commissioner for Refugees would ramp up its relief work in northwestern Pakistan, where security has deteriorated sharply since last year.