Lugano, Switzerland - The southern Swiss city of Lugano, on the shores of Lake Lugano in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, blends grandezza and la dolce vita with Swiss precision. In spring, snow-capped Alpine peaks and Mediterranean palms are mirrored side by side in the lake. So, too, do the city's languages, cultures and mentalities merge in a way that is truly unique.

"Signora" Lugano is, in short, a study in contrasts: modern and narrow-minded, industrious and indolent, effervescent and drowsy, and, despite some architectural eyesores, still beautiful.

Suven Life Sciences, a Drug Discovery and development company, has finished the phase I clinical trial for its new molecule, SUVN 502 in healthy volunteers.

In a filing, Suven Life Sciences said, “The company has completed its Phase I multiple ascending dose study of SUVN-502 in healthy volunteers.”

Geneva  - Warning of political unrest and social instability owing to the economic crisis, two economists said Thursday that some developing nations would need to built better regional cooperation regimes to ensure their futures.

"There is a need for more regional integration, because we are seeing low intra-African trade," economist Mustapha Sadni Jallab said.

While West Africa had an alliance between several countries, he said there was a need to expand this to cover more of the continent.

Bern/Washington  - The Swiss government Wednesday pledged 10 billion dollars to the International Monetary Fund Wednesday to boost its lending capacity to countries under threat from the global recession.

The Swiss Federal Council, the government's executive branch, announced the support, and the final decision to dole out the money lays with parliament.

Geneva  - Libya has filed a civil lawsuit against the Canton of Geneva for arresting last year the son and daughter-in-law of the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafi, the Swiss TSR channel reported Wednesday.

The lawsuit, for over 500,000 francs (437,000 dollars), alleges the manner of the arrest was disproportionate and violated international regulations related to diplomacy.

In July last year, employees at a Geneva hotel called the police to complain about the abuse of two servants at the hands of their foreign bosses, Hannibal al-Qadhafi and his wife.

Bern  - Switzerland will reopen negotiations with the US on their bilateral taxation agreement, the Swiss Federal Council confirmed Wednesday - but warned any new treaty may be subject to a referendum.

The first meet is set to take place on April 28 in Bern.

The move follows Switzerland's announcement last month that it would relax its notorious banking secrecy laws and adopt more international standards on taxation and transparency in response to an international crackdown against so-called tax havens.