Berlin- Germany, joined by Austria and Switzerland, has sent a warning to Turkey charging that the new Ilisu dam is in breach of environmental rules.

An estimated 450 million euros (612 million dollars) in export guarantees from the three nations underpin the financing for the controversial dam in south-eastern Turkey.

The Economics Ministry in Berlin confirmed Wednesday the despatch of the warning letter.

Basel, Switzerland (dpa) - Ah, Venice! La Serenissima (the Divine Republic). Queen of the Adriatic. A city between the sky and the sea. Hardly a city has fascinated writers and artists more than Venice, the favourite of painters as early as the 18th century.

The Fondation Beyeler, in the Basel suburb of Riehen, has gathered for joint display some 150 oil and watercolour paintings of Venice by Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, JM William Turner, James McNeill

Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Edouard Manet, Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Pietro Fragiacomo, Odilon Redon, Paul Signac, and Claude Monet.

Zurich - Swiss banking giant UBS said Thursday it managed to produce a "small profit" in the just-ended third quarter of 2008 and that its financial position is steadier with no further asset writedowns foreseen.

The brief statement came ahead of an extraordinary general meeting at which shareholders will vote on new appointments to the board of directors.

UBS chairman Peter Kurer in his remarks said 2009 would be a profitable year. He said the bank's risk positions in US mortgages had been "significantly reduced" chiefly after selling mortgage- related securities.

Zurich  - Zurich's main train station was transformed into an opera hall for a special production of the opera La Traviata.

Tuesday night's three-hour production, sponsored by Swiss television, was viewed by train station patrons, but was also broadcast on Swiss television and Arte, a French-German cultural television station.

Performers and producers said they were pleased with the performance. No technical problems were reported and the audience of several thousand applauded enthusiastically.

Dover , Sept 26 (ANI): A Swiss adventurer, Yves Rossy, successfully made a 22-mile trip across the English Channel with a homemade jet on Friday.

Rossy was schedule to attempt this stunt on Thursday but due to bad weather, visibility deteriorated and he postponed it till today.

He made the trip at more than 8,800 feet from Calais in France to Dover in England in about 12 minutes.

Rossy told CBS News today that this experience was like flying an airplane without the airplane.

London - Swiss adventurer Yves Rossi, also known as Fusionman, Thursday postponed a record-breaking attempt to become the first person to fly solo across the English Channel between Britain and France using a single jet-propelled wing.

Rossy, 49, was due to jump from a plane more than 2,500 metres above ground, then fire up jets on his home-made wing and soar across the Channel from Calais in France to Dover in southern Britain.

But clouds over Dover Thursday forced the second cancellation this week of the flight. A further attempt will be made Friday.