Vienna - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) scheduled a special meeting in November, as the cartel's crude price remained below 80 dollars for the second day in a row on Thursday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 78.25 dollars Thursday, rising 0.87 dollars from 77.38 dollars on the previous day, according to figures released by the cartel on Friday.

Vienna - The Vienna Stock Exchange won anti-trust regulators' approval to take over Slovenia's main bourse, the Austrian operator said Thursday.

Wiener Boerse agreed in June to buy an 81.01-per-cent stake in the stock exchange of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, beating an offer from Greek Hellenic Exchanges.

Slovenian anti-trust authorities have now cleared the deal, the Vienna exchange said in a statement.

Vienna - Using quantum physics, researchers said they communicated for the first time via a completely tap-proof telephone network in Vienna on Wednesday.

Scientists involved in the SECOQC project, funded by the European Union, found a way to create an encryption key based on the polarisation of photons, subatomic particles that carry light.

"Classic keys can be hacked by supercomputers, but not in this case," said Anton Zeilinger, a quantum physicist at the Vienna University.

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.

Vienna - The Austrian government decided Wednesday to provide unlimited protection for private savings and to guarantee bank liquidity, according to Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer.

By doing away with the 20,000-euro (27,100-dollar) limit on savings guarantees, Austria was following the lead of Germany, which announced Sunday it would introduce unlimited protection.