Mirs, an Israeli manufacturer, has created a mobile phone that blocks sex numbers, images, and other "worldly temptations." The phones do not have text messaging, videos, or a camera.  The company, a subsidiary of Motorola, has sold 20,000 of them. They were originally intended for Orthodox Jews who scorn television and radio but see mobile phones as a modern necessity.  Arabs have expressed interest in the phones, via Jordanian businessmen, also for religious reasons, though they are not of the same religion.  Jordan is one of the few Arab countries that has a peace treaty with Israel.
French company Alcatel said this weekend that it will buy Lucent Technologies for $13.4 billion.  The merger will cut costs by dropping 8,800 employees, approximately 10% of their combined workforce. Lucent's CEO Patricia Russo will serve as the CEO of the new company, to be based in Paris.  Russo said that research and development costs are a primary reason for the merger.
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Wikinews:Briefs/Business/April 3, 2006