OPEC decided in Vienna Wednesday to increase its official

OPEC decided in Vienna Wednesday to increase its official
output by one million barrels per day from November 1 in a signal
to the markets that it would continue pumping at near full
capacity, ministers said. "We have decided to raise the quota by
one million barrels per day from Nov. 1," Algerian Oil Minister
Chakib Khelil said here at the close of the cartel's ministerial
meeting. -- AFP

U.S. rebukes S. Arabia
over religious freedom

The United States on Wednesday accused Saudi Arabia of severe
violations of religious freedom in a rare official rebuke of a
close ally and key oil supplier that potentially could lead to
sanctions. "Freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia,"
the U.S. State Department said in an annual report on religious
freedom around the world that included the kingdom for the first
time among a list of eight countries "of particular concern." --
Reuters

Former Niger
president dies at 58

Col. Daouda Malam Wanke, a military commander who ruled for eight
months after a 1999 coup in this West African nation Niger, died
on Wednesday of cardiovascular trouble, family members said. He
was 58. Wanke died at his home in Niger's capital, Niamey. Wanke
had been in poor health for years, suffering from high blood
pressure, his family told The Associated Press. He had recently
traveled to Libya, Morocco and Switzerland to seek treatment. --
AP

Sudan rejects draft
Darfur resolution

Sudan on Wednesday rejected a U.S.-sponsored Security Council
draft resolution to punish it over the conflict in the remote
Darfur region, saying it was unfair and lacked balance. The
United States has modified its call for UN sanctions against
Sudan, but kept up the threat of punitive measures if Khartoum
did not act against atrocities committed in Darfur. "This is
imbalanced, unfair and we are rejecting it as we rejected the
first draft," Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told
a Cairo news conference on Wednesday. -- Reuters