DIGEST
plans to announce in New York today that it has closed a deal to join forces with state-run telephone companies in Germany and France. Officials at Sprint, the nation's third-largest long-distance telephone company, would not disclose details in advance, but the company said last week it would involve an exchange of a special Sprint stock at above-market prices. The two European phone monopolies also would get seats on the Sprint board of directors.</br></br>citing exceptionally heavy interest, has extended the comment period for six weeks on its proposal to regulate smoking in the workplace. The new deadline is Aug. 13. OSHA has received more than 5,000 comments on the proposal.</br></br>cut domestic summer fares in the latest round of discounts in about six weeks. Northwest kicked off the discounts on Sunday by cutting fares as much as 35 percent on its domestic routes for travel between July 3 and Sept. 12. Tickets must be purchased by Friday.</br></br>The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills auctioned yesterday rose to 4.16 percent from 4.15 percent the previous week. Rates on six-month bills rose to 4.55 percent from 4.53 percent. The actual return to investors is 4.26 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,894.80, and 4.72 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,770. Separately, the Federal Reserve said the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable-rate mortgages, fell to 5.16 percent last week from 5.31 percent the previous week.</br></br>in the second quarter of fiscal 1994, to the lowest level since September 1990, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said. In the second fiscal quarter ended March 31, bankruptcy filings totaled 206,565, down from 206,570 at the end of the first quarter.