Vienna (dpa) - The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose by 1.28 dollars on Wednesday, amid expectations that the oil cartel would not raise its output at a September 9 meeting.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at 111.79 dollars Wednesday, compared with 110.51 dollars on the previous day, OPEC said Thursday.

Vienna  - It was an expensive trip to Salzburg for human rights activist Bianca Jagger, as she lost a ring worth 200,000 euros (293,000 dollars) to the city last weekend, Austrian media reported Wednesday.

Jagger, in town for the Salzburg Festival, asked police officers to help her look for her platinum ring with a 15-millimetre aquamarine which she believes she lost near her hotel, the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper wrote.

According to Austrian law, the finder of the jewellery is entitled to a reward of 10,100 euros, or around 5 per cent of its value.

However, a staff member of Hotel Schaffenrath told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that so far, no one had come searching for the ring outside the hotel where Jagger stayed.

Vienna- Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG reported lower profits in its first business quarter of 2008 on Wednesday, as the consolidation of its specialized steel division outweighed rising revenues.

Net profit for the period from April to June was down 0.7 per cent to 240.3 million euros (352.6 million dollars), the company said.

Not taking into account the consolidation of Boehler-Uddeholm, which was acquired in 2007, first-quarter net profit stood at 304.6 million euros, up from 242.1 million euros in the same period last year.

Operating profit rose to 357.7 million euros, an increase of 13.8 per cent.

Helsinki/Vienna - Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, current chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said Tuesday that Russia "violates fundamental OSCE principles" by recognizing two Georgian separatist regions.

Condemning Moscow's decision to accept the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Stubb said "Russia should follow OSCE principles by respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia."

A special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council has been called for Wednesday, a spokesperson of the Vienna-based organization said.

Stubb also called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia immediately, and to implement the ceasefire.

Vienna  - Former boxing world champion Edip Sekowitsch died of multiple stab wounds outside a pub he owned in Vienna Monday morning, Austrian media reported.

Police said they are questioning an injured man who was apprehended near the crime scene, but it is still unclear whether he is a suspect for killing Sekowitsch, 50, with a knife.

The victim, born as Edip Secovic in Serbia, was one of Austria's most successful boxers.