Switzerland's criminal investigation into a fire in a bar in the ski town of Crans-Montana should be broadened to include local authorities, a lawyer acting for some of the victims said, adding he would seek millions in compensation.

A Swiss court on Monday ordered that the co-owner of a bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana that caught fire on New Year's Day, killing 40 people, must remain in custody.

The co-owner of the fire-gutted Swiss ski resort bar where 40 mostly teenage New Year revelers were killed in a fire has been held in custody.

Switzerland’s federal government says it's ready to commit $250 million toward the Alpine nation organizing the 2038 Olympics and Paralympics.

Jacques Moretti has been placed in pretrial detention for at least three months. He and his wife, Jessica Moretti, are under investigation over possible negligence.

The couple have expressed their grief over the fire and said they would cooperate fully with the investigation.

A Swiss court on Monday ordered three months of pretrial detention for a manager of a bar that burst into flames during a New Year's Eve celebration, killing 40 people — mostly young revelers — and injuring 116 others, many seriously.

The request came after hours of questioning of the bar’s co-owners. Some 40 people died in the fire that broke out during a New Year’s celebration.

UBS has criticised the Swiss government for failing to properly consider less stringent bank capital reforms, with the lender arguing that proposals to significantly increase its capital requirements have already cost its investors nearly $40bn.

A lawyer for victims' families hopes police questioning the Swiss bar's French owners means "a welcome resurgence of the investigation" into the deadly blaze.

The co-owner of a Swiss bar which went up in flames during New Year celebrations has been placed in preventive detention for three months, a regional court said on Monday.- 'Procedural' - The Wallis Cantonal Court of Compulsory Measures (TMC) said in a statement Monday it had "ordered the preventive detention of (Jacques Moretti),

Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose books on the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him both fame and scorn, has died at age 90.