Vienna - The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose by 0.48 dollars Friday, following the cartel's decision to meet on October 24 to discuss production cuts.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 63.82 dollars Friday, up from 63.34 dollars on the previous day, OPEC said Monday.

Vienna  - Joerg Haider was one of Austria's most divisive political figures, but his memorial service on Saturday is set up like the funeral for a national hero.

Up to 30,000 people are set to attend the public mourning in Klagenfurt, the capital of Austria's southern province of Carinthia, where Haider was governor.

Before his death last Saturday, when Haider drove drunk at 142 kilometres per hour and crashed his car, the politician was known mainly for his anti-immigrant policies, his portrayal of refugees as criminals, or calling SS veterans "respectable people."

Vienna - Applying Austria's bail-out plan for the first time, leading financial institutions and the government are stepping in to rescue Constantia Privatbank AG, which was faced with a liquidity crunch, the finance ministry said Friday.

Five major Austrian banks are set to take over 100 per cent of the private banking institution that was reportedly suffering from an outflow of capital as major customers shifted their funds to bigger institutions.

In addition, the banks decided to inject 400 million euros (538 million dollars) into Constantia, while the Austrian national bank will contribute 50 million euros.

As foreseen in the Austrian government's banking package, the state will guarantee the capital injection.

Vienna - Declining by nearly 5 dollars, the price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has fallen below 70 dollars, OPEC said Thursday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 68.58 dollars Wednesday, 4.91 dollars lower than 73.49 dollars on the previous day.

Citing the negative effect of the financial crisis on global oil demand, the cartel lowered its global crude oil demand forecast for 2009 by 450,000 barrels per day, to an average 87.2 million barrels per day.

The group's oil ministers are set to gather for an extraordinary session in Vienna on November 18 to discuss possible production cuts in reaction to falling oil prices.

Vienna - Ending over 400 years of all-male tradition, the Spanish Riding School in Vienna announced Wednesday it had accepted two women as apprentices to train with its famous white Lippizaner horses.

Now that they have passed a one-month trial period, 21-year-old Austrian Hannah Zeitlhofer and 17-year-old Sojourner Morrell from Britain will spend the next three to five years as students of the dressage troupe before they can advance to become "candidate riders."

Vienna  - Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider was drunk when he died in a car crash last Saturday, Stefan Petzner, his successor as head of the Alliance for the Future of Austria, said Wedne