News In Brief

Led by strong demand for airplanes and aircraft parts, orders to US factories for durable goods rose 4.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $212.9 billion, the Commerce Department reported. For the year, the indicator, which deals with items expected to last at least three years, rose 7.1 percent, matching the increase posted in 1997 and surpassing 1998's 3.6 percent.

Global One, the 65-nation voice, data, and Internet service developed four years ago for Fortune 500 companies, now is the exclusive property of France Telecom, it was announced in Paris. The state-owned company said it reached agreement to buy out its partners, Sprint Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG, for a combined $4.3 billion in cash and debt-assumption. The financially troubled Global One venture lost a reported $723 million last year, but France Telecom still estimates its value at $5.9 billion.

The company with the best-performing stock of 1999, Qualcomm Inc., announced it will buy SnapTrack Inc. for $1 billion. SnapTrack, based in San Jose, Calif., is a leader in wireless-location technology, which will be incorporated into the mobile-communications products of San Diego-based Qualcomm.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society