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World Business Quick Take

■ CONSUMER GOODS

Target to miss target

Target Corp said its sales this month were coming in at the low end of the range it had expected earlier this month. It was one more sign of weakness at the second-largest US discount retailer. Target said earlier this month that same-store sales for this month would range between a decline of 1 percent and a gain of 1 percent. On Monday, Target said its results would be at the low end of that range. It said the prediction was based on actual sales at Target stores for the first two weeks of this month and its prediction for the remaining two weeks.

■ TRANSPORT

Riyadh mulls railway line

Saudi Arabia has invited Russia state-run railroad monopoly for talks on building a railway line in the Middle Eastern country, the Russian company said on Monday. The Saudi Finance Ministry sent a letter inviting OAO Russian Railways to open talks on a contract to build the 520km railway from Az Zabirah, in the north, to Riyadh's international airport, the Russian company said in a statement. The contract would be worth about US$800 million and would include construction of bridges, camel crossings and other infrastructure to support the railway, the statement said.

■ OIL

PDVSAraises investments

State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA will spend US$15.6 billion on oil-related investments this year, a 56 percent increase over last year, the country's oil minister said on Monday. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the higher investment is aimed at helping PDVSA meet its goal of increasing crude output to 5.8 million barrels a day by 2012. The government says output is currently more than 3 million barrels a day, though independent analysts estimate the true figure is considerably less. Apart from oil-related investment, PDVSA also has budgeted US$1.2 billion for social programs, Ramirez said.

■ TELECOMS

No phone before bedtime

Chatting on a mobile phone before bedtime makes for more restless nights, a Swedish researcher who headed up a study on the subject said on Monday. "If you feel you have trouble sleeping, you should think about not talking on a mobile phone right before you go to bed," said Bengt Arnetz, a professor of social medicine and stress research at Uppsala University, north of Stockholm. Arnetz said he and a team of researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in Michigan had found that mobile phone radiation appeared to cause insomnia, headaches and concentration difficulties.

■ ENTERTAINMENT

Disney phone unveiled

Disney unveiled its first mobile phones in Japan yesterday, saying the US entertainment giant is "extremely confident" in success here after learning lessons from its flop in the US market. Walt Disney Japan, the local unit of Walt Disney Co, said it would begin a new mobile telephone service, named "Disney Mobile," on March 1 together with Softbank Corp in line with their initial announcement in November. Disney Mobile will first offer three types of mobiles made by Japan's Sharp, whose outer package is covered with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse. They also feature a special online bottom that will allow subscribers to jump to Disney Web sites.