BRIEFCASE SKECHERS MOUNTS FRENCH CONTROL.

Byline: - From staff and wire reports

MANHATTAN BEACH - Manhattan Beach-based Skechers USA Inc. announced Tuesday that it is organizing its operations in France in order to establish direct control over its wholesale distribution in that region.

Skechers next month will assume responsibility for sales in France from Broadway Sport, which has handled distribution for the past seven years.

The company's operations in France will be supported by a Paris office and showroom, both scheduled to open in mid-February.

CSC will provide Allders' systems

EL SEGUNDO - Computer Sciences Corp. announced Tuesday it was awarded an information technology outsourcing contract from U.K.-based Allders Department Stores valued at $42 million over a five-year period.

El Segundo-based CSC will support Allders' $868 million retail business by managing the company's applications portfolio and information technology infrastructure, including servers, desktops, networks and peripherals.

CSC will also support a number of IT initiatives ranging from upgrading Allders' financial systems to implementing a corporate intranet.

Black & Decker recalls mowers

WASHINGTON - Black & Decker is recalling about 1,300 reconditioned cordless electric lawn mowers because their blades can keep moving when they are supposed to stop.

Clips holding the control cable to the handle may be missing, which could cause the blade control device to fail and keep the mower running, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday.

The recalled lawn mowers have an orange deck and a charcoal black motor cover with ``Black & Decker'' and ``Cordless'' written on it. The model number CMM1000R and date codes between 0043 M.N.D.C. and 0121 M.N.D.C. are located on a silver and black label on the mower's rear door.

For more information, consumers can call Black & Decker toll-free at [phone].

Short-term T-bill rates rise again

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Tuesday's auction.

The Treasury Department sold $14 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.670 percent, up from 1.530 percent last week. An additional $13 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.735 percent, up from 1.580 percent.

The three-month rate was the highest since Dec. 31 when the bills sold for 1.710 percent. The six-month rate was the highest since Jan. 7 when the rate was 1.750 percent.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 2.03 percent last week from 2.13 percent the previous week.

Indicators show hike for 3rd month

NEW YORK - A key gauge of U.S. economic activity rose strongly in December, and the third consecutive monthly gain signaled that the nation's recession may soon be over.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 1.2 percent in December after a revised rise of 0.8 percent in November and an increase of 0.1 percent in October. It was the largest monthly gain since February 1996.

Analysts had been expecting a December increase of about 0.7 percent.

AOL Time Warner sues Microsoft

WASHINGTON - AOL Time Warner sued Microsoft in federal court Tuesday seeking damages for harm done to AOL's Netscape Internet browser, which had ruled computer desktops until Microsoft began giving its competing browser away.

Many of Microsoft's business practices, including ones in which the company encouraged computer manufacturers and Internet providers to distribute its Web browser instead of Netscape, were found to be anticompetitive by a federal appeals court last year. AOL, which bought Netscape in 1999, wants Microsoft to cease its contested business practices and pay damages.