IN BRIEF (Page 16)
Oil climbs
Oil jumped more than $1 to above $95 a barrel yesterday, as the dollar fell and some OPEC members pushed for action to stem their declining purchasing power.
US light crude for January delivery new front-month contract, rose $1.21 to $95.05 a barrel by 07:22 GMT, adding to Friday's nearly 2 percent gain.
Doha talks
Talks on a deal to free up world trade in the Doha round could be completed before an election in the United States next year, the top US trade representative said yesterday.
The Doha round of trade talks, launched six years ago, has been deadlocked, with the US and the EU calling on developing countries to open up their markets for manufacturers in return for cuts by rich countries to trade-distorting farm subsidies.
Fees halved
Sony halved the fees it charges for a software development kit for the PlayStation 3 video game machine yesterday to encourage outside designers to make more games for the struggling console.
Sony Corp's gaming unit, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, said prices for the development package for the PlayStation 3 will be reduced to $10,250 in North America and 950,000 yen ($8,600) in Japan.
Fewer employees
The number of employees at Samsung Electronics has fallen for the first time in five years, the company said yesterday, although it emphasized the reductions were not part of any broader restructuring.
Samsung had 1,630 fewer workers as of September 30 compared with the total six months earlier, Samsung spokeswoman Lee Eun-hee said, citing figures reported last week to South Korea's financial regulator.
Agencies
(China Daily 11/20/2007 page16)
