KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO took over eastern Afghanistan from U.S.-led forces today, assuming control of 12,000 American troops and extending its military role to the entire country.

The commander of the NATO-led force, British Gen. David Richards, who was promoted to a four-star general today, called the move "historic" in a ceremony also attended by President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry.

With about 12,000 troops, the U.S. is the biggest contributor to the 31,000-strong NATO mission. Britain has 5,200 troops and Germany has 2,750 troops in the 37-nation force.

ABUJA, Nigeria — With oil prices recently dipping to seven-month lows, OPEC's president said today that the group is considering an emergency meeting to discuss the possibility of cutting output."We are toying with the idea of an emergency meeting," said Edmund Daukoru, a Nigerian oil minister who is also serving as president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.A Financial Times report today said OPEC has informally agreed to cut output 4 percent in coming weeks to defend the $50 to $55 per barrel price range. It cited an unnamed OPEC official.Dow Jones Newswires said OPEC ministers agreed to cut 1 million barrels a day from its current oil production levels, with Saudi Arabia cutting 300,000 barrels per day, effective as soon as possible.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Prosecutors could charge two American pilots of an executive jet with manslaughter following the high-altitude collision with a Brazilian jetliner that apparently led to a crash Sunday that killed all 155 people aboard, federal police said Wednesday.Police seized the passports of pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, both from New York. They were not arrested, but cannot leave the country.Lepore and Paladino were piloting the Brazilian-made Embraer Legacy 600 when it collided with a brand-new Boeing 737-800 above the Amazon rain forest near Peixoto de Azevedo in Mato Grosso state.The airliner crashed, killing all 155 aboard. The Legacy was damaged, but landed safely at an air force base.