Hong Kong - Hong Kong's struggling Disneyland theme park, the smallest Disney park in the world, is to be expanded in an effort to lure more visitors, a news report said Wednesday.

Disney plans to fund the expansion of the loss-making 120-hectare theme park after persistent criticism that it is short on attractions and does not have enough rides to occupy a full day.

Riga - Parex Banka, the Latvian bank recently nationalized by the government of the Baltic state, stepped up its attempts to balance its books Monday by issuing an appeal to bondholders to negotiate new terms for their investments.

After running into liquidity problems, Parex is already trying to renegotiate terms on two large syndicated loans worth 984 million dollars that fall due next year.

Seoul - Angered by Seoul's harder line against its neighbour, North Korea is restricting access to a jointly operated industrial zone near the border, as both sides suffer the effects of politics and external economic factors.

Pyongyang put new limits on the number of South Korean workers who could be employed in factories at Kaesong, which has contributed to a decline in orders received by South Korean-owned firms that are suffering from currency depreciation at the same time.

As the future of the 88 South Korean factories at Kaesong darkens, Pyongyang is itself faced with the problem of how to keep the
37,000 North Korean workers employed if the special industrial zone shrinks, or fails.

Stockholm - Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux on Monday said it was to cut some 3,000 jobs worldwide after a drop in sales and lowered its full-year outlook.

The group has noted a "sharp market decline" since mid-November with weak demand in Europe and North America.

Electrolux said that it had revised its outlook for full-year 2008.

Algiers/Paris  - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) must decide on a "drastic" cut of oil production during its next meeting, OPEC president Chakib Khelil, told Algerian radio on Thursday.

The next meeting is scheduled for December 17 in Oran.

"The Oran meeting must decide on a drastic (production) cut to establish an equilibrium between supply and demand," Khelil said during an interview on Radio Algerienne. Khelil is also Algeria's energy minister.

PARIS, Dec. 4 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday unveiled a $33 billion economic stimulus plan aimed at jump starting France's economy.

The stimulus measures include support for the construction and car industries as well as for small businesses, The Financial Times reported.

Sarkozy said the stimulus package would "make a massive effort on investment" rather than boost consumption.