Lausanne, Switzerland - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the lifetime ban for doping offences imposed on Austrian nordic skiing coach Emil Hoch to 15 years Tuesday.

Hoch was the trainer of the Austrian cross-country ski team at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin when the team9s accommodation was searched by Italian police and medical items which could be used for blood doping and blood manipulation were found.

The Liechtenstein national was subsequently given a life ban by skiing's ruling body FIS for possession of a prohibited doping method and assistance/complicity in doping.

Geneva - Warning that the cholera crisis in Zimbabwe had surpassed the initially estimated "worst case scenario," the International Federation of Red Cross Societies said Tuesday that it was also concerned the outbreak would spread more aggressively to other countries.

"We have reached more than the worst case scenario for Zimbabwe," said John Roach, the head of the IFRC's Africa division, noting that the number of suspected cases was on the verge of the 70,000 mark.

Geneva - UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, announced restructuring plans on Tuesday after reporting losses of 8.1 billion Swiss francs (6.9 billion dollars) in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The bank's total 2008 losses amounted to more than 19.6 billion francs, going beyond the expectations of many analysts. The bank said it would cut an additional 2,000 jobs at its investment wing.

"UBS has had an encouraging start to the year," the bank reported in a statement, saying that it had positive net new money. "However, financial market conditions remain fragile as company and household cash flows continue to deteriorate."

Geneva  - Though the biggest issue of Sunday's Swiss referendum was the open market and free movement agreements with Europe, other issues were also at stake, including a proposal to scrap a unique tax break for wealthy foreigners in Zurich.

Local media reported Monday that some 53 per cent of voters in Zurich, the financial hub of the Alpine country, voted to do away with a system that enabled wealthy foreigners to pay taxes as a lump sum, based on their home expenses and not their income.

Geneva - China received praise Monday for economic growth, during a Uni

Geneva  - Swiss voters overwhelmingly supported a government- backed motion to extend cooperation with the European Union in a referendum on Sunday.