Activists at the World Social Forum, where Microsoft is viewed as a corporate bogeyman, urged developing nations yesterday to leap into the information age with free, open-source software.

John Barlow, a lyricist for the Grateful Dead, told a gathering that poor nations can't solve their problems unless they stop paying expensive software-licensing fees.

Open-source software includes programs that are not controlled by a single company. The software can be developed by anyone, with few restrictions. The best known such software is Linux, which can be downloaded free from the Internet.

"Already, Brazil spends more in licensing fees on proprietary software than it spends on hunger," said Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a cyberspace civil-liberties group.

The World Social Forum has drawn tens of thousands of people to an annual protest against the World Economic Forum, a gathering of world leaders under way in Davos, Switzerland.

Vienna, Austria

OPEC signals that oil prices aren't too high

A key OPEC committee recommended yesterday that the 11-member oil cartel keep its current output quota unchanged, its president said, signaling that oil producers believe current prices near $50 a barrel are not too high.

Kuwait's oil minister, Sheik Ahmad Fahd al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who heads the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said the recommendation to keep the quota at 27 million barrels a day was made by the group's Ministerial Monitoring Committee. However, the group currently produces about 29.6 million barrels a day.

"We believe that we [will] continue with the ceiling, but at the same time [need] to comply with the [existing quota]," he said, adding that some cuts had already been made.

The decision could heighten U.S. consumer concern about heating-oil prices this winter, although one analyst said prices likely will remain stable for now.

Spinboldak, Afghanistan

9 Afghan soldiers killed in explosion

A land mine exploded near a pickup truck carrying Afghan soldiers close to the Pakistani border yesterday, killing nine soldiers and seriously wounding another, an Afghan commander said.

The Taliban, run out of power in Afghanistan in late 2001 by a U.S-Afghan coalition, claimed responsibility for the blast. A spokesman said militants detonated the mine by remote control, then opened fire on the soldiers.

Port Sudan, Sudan

Rioters, police clash, leaving 14 dead

Police clashed with rioting tribesmen yesterday in the Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan, leaving at least 14 people dead and 16 injured, a government official said. A tribal representative claimed 23 people were dead and 100 were wounded.

The rioting by Beja tribesmen appeared to be economically motivated, Red Sea Governor General Hatim al-Wasilah said. The casualties occurred when police tried to stop looting and vandalism, he said, adding that the situation was under control.

Aamir Tahir, a political leader in the Beja tribe, said Sudanese security forces fired on demonstrators.

Poverty-related illnesses, including tuberculosis, are common in the Beja area of Port Sudan, and illiteracy is a major problem.

Tripoli, Libya

3 U.S. companies win Libya contracts

Libya awarded its first contracts to U.S. companies in 18 years yesterday, handing oil- and gas-exploration licenses to three American firms. The United States eased its trade embargo on oil-rich Libya last spring as a reward to Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi for giving up nuclear-weapons programs.

A total of 15 licenses were offered for onshore and offshore blocks in one of the world's exploration hotspots. Libya produces about 1.6 million barrels per day and hopes to raise this to 2.1 million by the end of this decade.

The U.S. bid winners were Occidental Petroleum, Amerada Hess and ChevronTexaco.

Che, Congo

Militiamen attack in eastern Congo

Militiamen killed 16 people and kidnapped at least 34 girls in attacks last week in eastern Congo, a U.N. spokesman said yesterday.

U.N. peacekeepers arrived in the area by helicopter yesterday to protect the population from further violence, U.N. spokesman Christophe Boulierarch said.

Residents told the U.N. that Che residents were murdered by armed ethnic Lendu militiamen. The area has long been the scene of savage fighting between ethnic Lendu and Hema militias.