DIGEST
said it selected General Motors' Electronic Data Systems as the vendor for its global information management operations. Their agreement, valued at an estimated $4 billion, is expected to cover data center operations, worldwide voice and data telecommunications, desktop systems support and business-support applications.</br></br>will test interactive technology developed by EON of Reston. The test will involve "hundreds of households in Fair Oaks and Reston" and is part of ongoing trials of EON's interactive system, EON said. WJLA is the first broadcaster to sign up to test EON's service. Specific programs have not been selected for the trial.</br></br>may dislodge Japan as the second-largest market for U.S. exports thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, Labor Secretary Robert Reich said. He made the remark at a news conference after labor ministers from Canada, Mexico and the United States met to work on setting up a Commission for Labor Cooperation that would monitor labor issues. Mexico, meanwhile, plans to let 20 to 25 foreign banks back into its highly protected banking system this year as part of the NAFTA process, a Mexican Finance Ministry official said. The officials also said Mexican banks will be looking to expand into the United States.</br></br>The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills rose to 3.61 percent from 3.57 percent at the previous week's auction. Rates on six-month bills rose to 3.90 percent from 3.85 percent. The actual return to investors is 3.70 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,908.70, and 4.03 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,802.80. Separately, the Federal Reserve said the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 4.31 percent last week from 4.28 percent the previous week.</br></br>idled 2,500 natural-gas powered pickup trucks across the country after two tanks exploded while being refueled.