Vienna  - Although the Danube is getting cleaner, the lack of sewage systems in Central and Eastern Europe continues to strain Europe's second longest river, a new study says.

In the upper stretch of the Danube in Germany and Austria, wildlife is disappearing because of river regulation, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) said in its survey which it presented in Vienna on Thursday.

The study shows that the river is less polluted by chemicals than it was during an earlier study in 2001.

Vienna - Mohamed ElBaradei will not seek a fourth term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an agency spokesman confirmed in Vienna on Thursday.

Last week, IAEA Board members were informed about the decision by Director General ElBaradei, whose term in office runs out in November 2009.

The 66-year-old diplomat, who has led the UN nuclear agency since 1997, received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the IAEA in 2005.

Vienna - OPEC oil fell bel

Vienna - The price for crude oil produced by OPEC members continued to slide ahead of their meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, but Saudi Arabia signalled there was no need for production cuts.

One barrel of crude produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stood at 101.08 dollars Monday, 13 cents less than on the previous day, and 39.75 dollars less than the record price set on July 3.

Ali al-Naimi, the oil minister of OPEC's largest producer Saudi Arabia, said Tuesday that the market was in balance.

Vienna - A cave explorer could face charges of attempted murder after he built a potentially deadly trap to keep a rival from a cave in the Austrian Alps, police said Monday.

The 68-year-old suspect placed large rocks onto a rope that would have come crashing down on anyone using it in the cave on Dachstein mountain, police said.

The trap was discovered last month by an amateur caver who attempted to abseil into the mountain two days after he was told by the suspect not to explore the cave.

The suspect was arrested last Thursday. He is also suspected of scratching cars of other cave enthusiasts.