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Vienna - The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has dropped below 110 euros per barrel, OPEC announced on Wednesday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at 109.09 dollars Tuesday, 2.19 dollars lower than the 111.27 dollars recorded on the previous day.

The price drop came on the same day that the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported oil production by OPEC countries in July had increased by 145,000 barrels to 

Vienna  - Fred Sinowatz, whose time as Austrian chancellor from 1983 to 1986 was overshadowed by several crises, died at the age of 79 on Monday, Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said in a statement.

Sinowatz was head of government when Kurt Waldheim was elected as Austrian president in 1986. As head of the social democratic party at that time, Sinowatz was involved in the campaign against Waldheim, who had kept silent about his past in the German Wehrmacht during World War Two.

Vienna  - As the price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped 2.35 dollars Friday, the cartel's oil price fell by

Vienna  - Joerg Haider, the notorious right-wing politician, is set to reenter Austrian national politics after his Alliance for the Future of Austria designated him as party leader on Friday, weeks before general elections in September.

Haider withdrew from national politics in 2000, when he stepped down as head of the Alliance to concentrate on his job of governor of Austria's southern province of Carinthia.

Vienna - Werner Faymann, expected to be chosen as Austrian Social Democratic leader later Friday, said he is focussing on social issues to win voters and alienated party members.

At his party's convention in Linz, Transport Minister Faymann sought to sharpen his social policy profile by announcing tax cuts in 2009 and by seeking support from trade unionists.

"The social democratic model of a just and fair society with equal opportunities is as valid as it has been in the past," he said.

As party chairman, Faymann would succeed Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who had alienated the strong trade union wing of the party by diminishing their influence in parliament and by making concessions to the coalition partner.