Argentines flood banks ahead of new currency

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Cash-hungry Argentines flooded banks by the thousands on Friday, forming long lines and shouting for their money after the government eased a five-day banking holiday that shut off most routine financial transactions.

Interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa moved to finalize a congressional bill authorizing the creation of the "argentino" -- a new money he says will breath new life into an economy suffocating under four years of recession.

Scheduled to debut on Jan. 15, the argentino will circulate alongside the peso and dollar as Argentina looks to print money as a way out of a cash crunch brought on by a prolonged economic crisis.

Death toll from Ebola outbreak rises to 21

MEKAMBO, Gabon -- A 5-year-old boy died Friday in an improvised isolation ward as the death toll from an outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease rose to 21 in two Central African nations.

Adamou, who only had one name, was the fifth member of his family to catch the highly contagious disease in the remote town of MeKambo in northeastern Gabon, near the border with Republic of Congo. His mother, a nurse, died after treating an Ebola patient. The disease then spread to her mother, brother and another child.

Medical officials have identified 17 Ebola cases in Gabon, of whom 15 have died since the outbreak began in late October. Twelve more suspected cases have been identified in Republic of Congo, where six people have died.

OPEC confirms cut in crude production

CAIRO, Egypt -- OPEC agreed Friday to carry out a planned 6 percent cut in its official oil output after crude producers outside the cartel promised to make reciprocal cuts in a display of unprecedented -- but fragile -- solidarity.

Oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided in an emergency meeting to slash the group's production target by 1.5 million barrels a day beginning Jan. 1 in a bid to bolster sagging world oil prices. The cuts are to last for at least six months.

The decision appears unlikely to have a major impact on the prices consumers pay for gasoline or heating oil. OPEC approved the cut in principle back in November, and energy markets have already factored it into current prices for crude and refined oil products.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham noted OPEC's decision but would not comment on it in detail.

Three extremists sentenced to death

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A judged sentenced three Muslim extremists to hang and 16 others to life in prison Friday for waging an armed revolt to overthrow Malaysia's government and replace it with an Islamic state.

High Court Judge Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, who on Thursday had found all 19 defendants guilty of waging war against the king, sentenced the leader, Mohamed Amin Mohamed Razali and his two right-hand men, Zahit Muslim and Jamaludin Darun, to death.

Sect members posing as army officers in July 2000 stole more than 100 assault rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers from military armories. The cultists later killed two hostages before surrendering .

Appeals to a higher court are automatic.

-- From wire reports