Entertainment: Unique film and website expose Bush`s rush to war in Iraq

Unique film and website expose Bush's rush to war in Iraq as conflict enters 6th year
LEADING TO WAR -- available for free internet viewing in 19 languages

Boston (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - LEADING TO WAR is a new documentary film that reveals the Bush administrations 14-month campaign to persuade the public to support an invasion of Iraq. Constructed from carefully selected television news footage of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and other officials, the film is available for free viewing on the internet, subtitled in an unprecedented 19 languages.

The film, along with the extensively researched website www.LeadingtoWar.com, provides a potent new resource that examines Bushs path to war.

LEADING TO WAR, praised by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "a staggering film," highlights how Bush officials presented claims of imminent danger to rush the United States to war. This calculated strategy included warnings of nuclear peril and terrorists with biological weapons. Without narration or commentary, the film documents the rhetoric that roused the American people to support a military invasion, despite worldwide opposition.

The film includes footage from press conferences, interviews and speeches.

Award-winning director Barry Hershey began the project in 2005. He realized that the extraordinary events that led to war could best be shown by presenting Bush officials in their own words.

Reflecting new trends in media, the film is available for free download or streaming at www.LeadingtoWar.com and is subtitled in 19 languages: Arabic, Bahasa, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional Simplified), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish (Latin American/Castilian), Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

"For those not subjected to Bushs media campaign -- people in other countries, and future generations this footage will be especially revealing," said Hershey.

"With the perspective of history, and the compression of 14 months into a concise 72 minutes, the film provides a unique opportunity to see how a government sells a war to its people."

LEADING TO WAR's release coincides with the war in Iraq entering its 6th year -- with violence continuing, hundreds of thousands maimed or killed, and 4 million Iraqis having fled their homes. The film and website, http://www.LeadingToWar.com, are supported on a worldwide network of 20,000 servers to provide enhanced quality for international viewers.

Filmmaker interviews: Aaron Lavallee at 301-887-1060 or aaron@kelleycampaigns.com

SOURCE: LeadingtoWar.com
CONTACT: Aaron Lavallee, +1-301-887-1060,
aaron@kelleycampaigns.com, for LeadingtoWar.com
Web site: http://www.LeadingtoWar.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Business: Asia Pacific videoconferencing makes a comeback

Singapore (BUSINESS WIRE) - The Asia-Pacific videoconferencing endpoints market recovered strongly from an anemic performance in 2005, turning in robust growth over the last two years. Revenues grew 20.3 per cent and 17.6 per cent in 2006 and 2007 respectively, driven by stronger capital expenditure in IT against a backdrop of sturdy economic growth and FDIs (foreign direct investments) in the region.

New analysis from global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan (http://www.conferencingandcollaboration.frost.com), Asia Pacific Videoconferencing Endpoints Market CY2007, finds that the market - covering six sub-regions (14 countries) in Asia-Pacific - earned revenues of US$297 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach US$647.7 million by end-2014, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 11.8 per cent (2007-2014).

Greater China was the single largest market accounting for 56 per cent (or US$166 million) of the revenues in 2007, followed by Japan (19 per cent), Australasia (10.4 per cent) and India (7.7 per cent).

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides service providers, vendors/manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Asia-Pacific videoconferencing endpoints market, then send an e-mail to Sarah Lourdes at sarah.lourdes@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

The upbeat trend is backed by the increasing need for real-time collaboration, enhanced high definition video and audio solutions, the buzz around telepresence and the growing focus on unified communications (UC) as business productivity tools among enterprises.

"Awareness of videoconferencing solutions has grown by leaps and bounds as more organizations begin to embrace conferencing and collaboration tools as a means to enhance productivity," notes Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Yen Yen Har. "The introduction of the much publicized top-end telepresence solutions has also had a trickle down effect on customer interest and adoption of videoconferencing systems as a more cost effective alternative."

Environmental issues and the mounting pressure on enterprises to fulfill their corporate social responsibility towards a greener environment is further prompting wider adoption of videoconferencing. Companies today are seeking ways to measure carbon footprint and the impact of applying conferencing and collaboration tools to address environmental issues in real terms.

Other external factors such as high travel cost, air travel disruption, terror threats, business globalization, and improved network infrastructure will also drive the adoption of videoconferencing solutions.

Har is quick to point out however that video will increasingly become an integral component of UC, and videoconferencing as standalone applications will gradually lose its appeal to UC.

"UC is no longer a nice-to-have strategy but a critical roadmap for videoconferencing vendors and service providers.

Considering this, vendors need to place greater emphasis on enhancing end-user experience before they can truly harness the benefits of UC in their videoconferencing solutions," she adds.

The Asia Pacific Videoconferencing Endpoints Market CY2007 study is part of the Conferencing & Collaboration Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: telepresence, videoconferencing infrastructure, and web conferencing software and services. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Analyst interviews are available to the press.

Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting, and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses, and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

Frost & SullivanCorporate Communications - Asia Pacific Sarah Lourdes, +603-6207-1030 sarah.lourdes@frost.com

Business: ING USFS, Nissan Motor initiatives honored with the 2008 Catalyst Award

Award celebrates innovative initiatives that advance women and business

New York (BUSINESS WIRE) - Catalyst today presented the 2008 Catalyst Award for initiatives that advance women in the workplace to ING U.S. Financial Services (USFS) and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Both award-winning initiatives are from companies representing organizations that are headquartered outside of the United States, a first in the history of the Catalyst Award. The award, given during the Catalyst Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria, attracted approximately 90 CEOs of major corporations and firms and nearly 1600 senior executives and industry leaders from over 200 U.S. and global companies.

"This year's exceptional initiatives, both from global companies, show impact regionally and relevance globally," said Ilene H. Lang, President of Catalyst. "They reflect the Catalyst perspective -- that inclusion drives change and women's advancement which, in turn, drives business success."
Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express Company, chaired the Catalyst Awards Dinner.

"Winning in today's global marketplace requires talented and dedicated employees who reflect the diversity of the markets they are serving. They make the measurable difference in understanding the unique needs and aspirations of customers throughout the world," Mr Chenault said.

American Express received the 2001 Catalyst Award for its Building a Winning Culture: Accountability Counts initiative.

ING USFS's Beyond Diversity: Building One ING Culture initiative dramatically increased the number of women in senior management teams and created a culture that identifies diversity and inclusion as a business imperative. Thomas J.

McInerney, ING Group Executive Board member, Chairman and CEO, ING Insurance Americas, said, "At ING, our initiative isn't just about doing the right thing. Joining the list of recipients of the Catalyst Award reflects the dedication of ING's commitment to diversity and inclusion not only for our workforce, but also our customers. This is an essential milestone in our growth as a company, and we are honored to be recognized."

Nissan's Women in the Driver's Seat: Gender Diversity as a Lever in Japan initiative focused on increasing the number of women managers and employees, using gender diversity to secure business success by increasing participation from all employees in all areas of business.

Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., said, "To be successful, we need to reflect the world we serve.
At Nissan, we believe diversity is wealth, diversity is a strength. Fairness, respect and inclusion are not merely admirable qualities - they are essential to the cross-functional teamwork that is at the heart of Nissan's performance."

Earlier in the day, over 500 people attended the Catalyst Awards Conference, which featured workshops on critical issues of leadership and inclusion in today's workplace.

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Inc., delivered the lunchtime keynote, which focused on her journey to becoming the leader of one of the largest multinational corporations in the world. Under her leadership, PepsiCo was the recipient of the 2007 Catalyst Award for its Women of Color Multicultural Alliance initiative.

In the afternoon, leading researchers and experts on diversity and inclusion issues in the workplace engaged in three wide-ranging panel discussions based on current and upcoming Catalyst research. In the Women of Color and Intersectionality session, Catalyst experts and business leaders discussed the challenges of combining various identities in a productive working environment, and shared personal stories of how they managed to successfully balance the intersection between the ways they identify themselves and their professional lives.

The Meeting at the Generational Crossroads session explored the differences and potential similarities of women and men generationally and across the globe. The discussion focused on issues organizations are facing with four generations working together in today's workplace, and what some corporations are doing to break down the generational stereotypes in order to create a truly inclusive work environment.

The Including Men in Gender Equity session examined why men are an important missing factor in developing initiatives that build gender inclusiveness. Catalyst researchers and distinguished male experts talked about the barriers to engaging men in gender diversity initiatives, and looked at strategies that would help more men become champions of gender diversity.

The Conference also highlighted the successes of this year's Award-winning initiatives during panel discussions by executives from ING and Nissan. Cadillac served as the exclusive sponsor of the Catalyst Awards conference and Shell Oil Company served as the exclusive sponsor of the Catalyst Awards dinner.

For complete descriptions of past and present Catalyst Award-winning initiatives and the Catalyst Awards Conference, please visit www.catalyst.org.

For media inquiries, please contact Susan Nierenberg, 646-388-7744, snierenberg@catalyst.org orEleanor Tabi Haller-Jorden, ethaller-jorden@catalyst.org, 41-(0) 44-208-3152.

About Catalyst

Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit corporate membership research and advisory organization working globally with businesses and the professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women and business.
With offices in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and the support and confidence of more than 370 leading corporations, firms, business schools, and associations, Catalyst is connected to business and its changing needs and is the premier resource for information and data about women in the workplace.

In addition, Catalyst honors exemplary business initiatives that promote women's leadership with the annual Catalyst Award.

About the Catalyst Award

The Catalyst Award is presented annually to companies and firms with outstanding initiatives that result in women's career development and advancement. Catalyst's rigorous, year-long examination of initiatives and their measurable results culminates in intensive, on-site reviews at finalist companies.

The Catalyst Award provides the business community with replicable change models that are good for business and good for women. For more information about Catalyst and the Catalyst Award application process, please visit www.catalyst.org.

About ING

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to more than 75 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 120,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

In the U.S., the ING family of companies offer a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients which include life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits, financial planning, and reinsurance. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves over 15 million customers across the nation.

About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Nissan Motor Company generated global net revenues of 10.468 trillion yen in 2006. Nissan is present in all major global auto markets selling a comprehensive range of cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and light commercial vehicles under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Nissan employs over 180,000 people worldwide.
Under the Nissan Value-Up business plan, the company continues to focus on long-term sustainable and profitable growth driven by three commitments: to maintain top level of operating profit margin among global automakers, to achieve global sales of 4.2 million units in 2009, and 20% return on invested capital on average over the course of the plan.

CatalystMedia: Susan Nierenberg, 646-388-7744 snierenberg@catalyst.org
or Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jorden, 41-(0) 44-208-3152 ethaller-jorden@catalyst.org

Business: Improvements to safeguard the interests of the Chinese PPE market

Quality improvements to safeguard the interests of the Chinese personal protective equipment market

Beijing (BUSINESS WIRE) - The Chinese Government is increasingly emphasizing working safety issues and strictly enforcing safety laws, compelling enterprises to offer personal protection equipment (PPE) to their employees.

Rising safety concerns as well as workers' awareness of their rights to a safe working environment and self-protection is catalyzing this trend.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.materials.frost.com), Chinese Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Markets, finds that the market earned revenues of $7,909.4 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $23,137.0 million in 2014.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Chinese PPE markets, then send an e-mail to Amelia Wong, Corporate Communications, at amelia.wong@frost.com, your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

"With self-protection education, public campaigns, and media advocacy, the awareness of self-protection has improved among workers," says Frost & Sullivan Consulting Analyst Vivian Chen.
"Increased penetration of enhanced protective clothing and gloves further aids the growth of this market."

PPE manufacturers can attract more end users by improving their existing products and introducing new ones through sustained research and development. They have to offer high-quality and trouble-free products to ensure that neither workers' safety is compromised nor the enterprise's reputation is diminished.

"Quality assurance is important and this process should be implemented in the entire production line and supply network," notes Chen. "Customers should also be informed of the replacement of overdue PPE products in the market to maintain sustained demand."

Currently, the highly fragmented and competitive Chinese PPE market is experiencing an influx of foreign companies, which are keen to participate in the high-end segment. PPE participants are offering lower prices and differentiating their products to win more customers, especially in the high-end market.

Although manufacturers are facing stiff challenges from issues such as inferior products, price sensitivity, and inefficient revisions of regulations and laws, the introduction of sophisticated technology is expected to significantly boost the market.

It is suggested that manufacturers announce the improvements for high-end product among potential customers if they want to enhance the utilization ratio. At present, most low-end enterprises show low compliance with health and safety laws, while the inadequate safety consciousness of the poorly educated laborers in the mining, heavy metal, and chemical industries serves as another deterrent.

"The Chinese PPE users need to be informed of the correct application of PPE through education and public campaigns," remarks Chen. "It is essential that market participants devise a method to make them realize the requirement for PPE to push up sales revenue."

Chinese Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Markets is part of the Chemicals & Materials Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: above-the-neck PPE, protective clothing, respiratory protection equipment, protective gloves, and protective footwear. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

Chinese Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Markets P146 Frost & SullivanAmelia Wong, +86 21 5407 5783, ext. 8686
Corporate Communications - ChinaF: +86 21 5407 5825 amelia.wong@frost.com
or Johanna Haynes, 210-247-3870 Corporate Communications - North America & EuropeF: 210-348-1003 johanna.haynes@frost.com
or Donna Jeremiah, +603 6304 5832 Corporate Communications - Southeast AsiaF: +603 6201 7402 djeremiah@frost.com
or Remi Chatterjee, +91.44.4001 3419 Corporate Communications - South AsiaF: +91.22.2832 4713 remi.chaterjee@frost.com
or Nimisha Iyer, +91 22 4001 3404 Corporate Communications - Middle EastF: +91 22 2832 4713 niyer@frost.com
or Jose Mara Jantus, + 54-11-4777-9951 Corporate Communications - Latin AmericaF: + 54-11-4777-0071 jose.jantus@frost.com
or Sharmin Jassal, +61 2 8247 8900 Corporate Communications - Australia & New ZealandF: +61 2 9252 8066 sharmin.jassal@frost.com
or Patrick Cairns, +27 18 468 2315 Corporate Communications - Africa patrick.cairns@frost.com http://www.frost.com

Technology: Hong Kong Electronics Fair: AgfaPhoto digital video camera

Hong Kong Electronics Fair: AgfaPhoto digital video camera with high-definition resolution

Uhingen, Germany & Hong Kong (BUSINESS WIRE) - AgfaPhoto extends its range to cover the digital video product sector.

The AgfaPhoto DV-5000 Z will be presented at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair from 14th to 17th April, 2008. The compact video camera with HD resolution will be available in China from the end of April at the recommended retail price of 249 euro (including VAT).

The AgfaPhoto DV-5000 Z is only twelve by seven centimetres (4.7" x 2.75") in size, no bigger than most digital still cameras. Its weight of just under 200g makes the camera a handy companion at the beach, on walks or at family celebrations. Its simple operation makes it easy for even beginners to take high-res videos.

Videos are taken in 16:9 wide screen format. The HD technology uses the capabilities of the latest TVs. Recordings can be directly played back on an HDTV display at home. The AgfaPhoto video camera features a Micron CMOS sensor with five megapixel resolution. The analogue YPbPr video signal captures movies with a maximum resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixel.

The MPEG-4 format and H.264 compression allow for smaller file size with simultaneous higher picture quality. Up to four hours and 20 minutes of film in HD format can fit on an SDHC memory card with eight-Gigabyte capacity.

The DV-5000 Z is equipped with a 3x optical zoom. With the 2.5" rotating and pivoting LCD display, the subject can be viewed in every shooting position. Videos are recorded with 16-bit stereo sound. For optimal sound quality an external microphone can be connected. When used for photography, the AgfaPhoto DV-5000 Z delivers up to eight megapixel (interpolated) high-res pictures. The integrated video lamp with a half-meter (20") range also functions as the flash.

Apart from a carrying pouch, the package contents include a rechargeable Li-Ion battery, a charger, a USB cable for connection to a PC, a YPbPr cable and an AV cable for transferring data to the TV, plus a driver CD.

At the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, AgfaPhoto cameras can be tried out on Stand 2K11 with the manufacturer plawa.

You can download high-res product photos and AgfaPhoto and plawa logos plus this press release at: http://www.panama-pr.de
download/AgfaPhoto-DV5000 Z-HongKong.zip .

The AgfaPhoto brand: The AgfaPhoto brand has for a long time stood for reliability in photography. With the invention of auto focus, AgfaPhoto has placed emphasis on the simplicity of the operability of cameras.

Today, AgfaPhoto is active in all product fields of consumer imaging worldwide and offers analogue and digital photography products along with other digital cameras, storage media, batteries, digital photo frames, films and single-use cameras.www.agfaphoto.com

The companies: AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH is licensee of the brand AgfaPhoto by Agfa-Gevaert NV & Co. KG. The exclusive sub-license for digital cameras has been granted to plawa by AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH.plawa-feinwerktechnik GmbH & Co.KG is the manufacturer and designer of AgfaPhoto cameras. plawa was founded in 1969 and expanded rapidly as a specialist in slide frames and film rolls and succeeded in becoming a leader on the German market. In the year 2000, it entered the sphere of digital photography.

Today the company distributes AgfaPhoto digital cameras and digital video products. The plawa portfolio includes trendy products ranging from digital music, portable TV to video.
plawa supplies both stock and campaign-related products to megastores, photo resellers and supermarkets. plawa is member of CIPA - Camera & Imaging Product Association of Japan (www.cipa.jp). www.plawa.com Panama PR GmbH for plawaBirgit Gtz
and Christian Josephi plawa information office
Tel +49.711.6647597-11b.goetz@panama-pr.de

Business: Taiwan's Kaohsiung Medical University selects Collexis

Taiwan's Kaohsiung Medical University selects Collexis to develop the institution's advanced expert profiling system Collexis' launch into the Asian market to enable major Taiwan University and Medical Center to expand its productivity and networking abilities

Columbia, South Carolina (BUSINESS WIRE) - Collexis Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: CLXS), a leading developer of high definition search and knowledge discovery software, announced today that Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) has selected the company to develop an Advanced Expert Profiling System that will allow its students, faculty and researchers to connect via a Web interface and help maximize productivity and networking abilities for its combined student, faculty and staff population of more than 15,000.

"Our goal is to provide KMU - a leading medical university in Asia - with a progressive expert profiling system that is specifically tailored to meet their current and future needs," said Bill Kirkland, CEO of Collexis Holdings, Inc. "We're confident this endeavor will serve as a mutually beneficial relationship, helping open doors for Collexis and KMU to facilitate Chinese language-based healthcare and life sciences activities and explore opportunities for future collaboration within specific fields of biomedical research. What's more, our work with KMU will help expand our marketing opportunities throughout the Asian market."

KMU selected Collexis for its ability to enhance research and teaching capabilities, identify areas of productive partnerships and improve such partnerships both on and off the campus. Other benefits include the facilitation of further recruitment and team building, achieving the ultimate goals of improving the overall competitiveness of the University and helping attain professional excellence.

Dr. Por Lai, managing director for Dephoron Co., Ltd. and an exclusive sales agent for Collexis in the Asia Pacific region, played an instrumental role in helping bring KMU together with Collexis. An outstanding alumnus of KMU, Lai is an experienced life sciences professional who previously served as a manager at Sequemat, Amgen and Centocor from 1981 to 1990. He also co-founded the Kirin Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. with Kirin Brewery of Japan and developed its biopharmaceutical markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"We're excited to work closely with the Collexis team as they develop an advanced expert profiling system for our university," said Hsin-Su Yu, M.D., Ph.D, president of Kaohsiung Medical University. "By helping improve our opportunities for enhanced research capabilities and collaboration, Collexis' innovative technology will also help better position KMU as a significant leader in professional education and services. Working together with Collexis' Knowledge Guide System, we will be able to make more important research contributions to environmental medicine as well as other health-related sciences, and seek more international counterpart cooperation," continued Yu.

KMU joins other prestigious institutions that are also using Collexis' Advanced Expert Profiling System, including Johns Hopkins University, the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

About Kaohsiung Medical University

KMU was the first private institution of its kind in Taiwan and was founded in 1954 by former Kaohsiung Mayor Frank C. Chen, along with the first college president, Professor Tu. They established a school with the philosophy of "Joyfully embracing, learning and putting research first, as well as resolutely striving for progress, encouraging study and benefitting the world."

According to Web of Science & Essential Scientific Indicators, KMU ranked 75th in the world in Pharmacology and Toxicology and 387th in the world in clinical medicine during 1997-2007. Today, KMU has transformed into a major medical center home to a 2,000-bed medical center, six colleges, thousands of students and almost 500 researchers. With 25 graduate schools, seven of which offer Ph.D. programs, KMU focuses not only on medical treatment and the management of national health, but is also working toward becoming the leading South Taiwan Medical facility.

About Collexis Holdings, Inc.

Collexis Holdings, Inc., a leading developer of high definition search and knowledge discovery software since 1999, headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina (USA) with major operations in Cincinnati, Ohio, Geldermalsen, the Netherlands and Cologne, Germany. Collexis now offers the world's first pre-populated professional social network for life science researchers, www.biomedexperts.com.

Collexis' proprietary technology builds conceptual profiles of text, called Fingerprints, from documents, Websites, emails and other digitized content and matches them with a comprehensive list of pre-defined "fingerprinted" concepts to make research results more relevant and efficient.

This matching of concepts eliminates the ambiguity and lack of priority associated with word searches. The results are often described as "finding needles in many haystacks." Through this novel approach, Collexis can build unique applications to search, index and aggregate information as well as prioritize, trend and predict data based on sources in multiple industries without the limitations of language or dialect.

Collexis' current clients in the public, private and academic sectors include the Mayo Clinic; Johns Hopkins University; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of South Carolina; Erasmus University Library; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Lockheed Martin; the World Health Organization; Wellcome Trust; the National Institutes of Health; and the U.S. Department of Defense. Shares of Collexis common stock are traded under the symbol CLXS on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTC BB). For more information, visit www.collexis.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements made in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which the company is unable to predict or control, that may cause the company's actual results or performance to differ materially from any future results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

These statements involve risks and uncertainties, including risks and uncertainties associated with the announcement to develop an expert profiling system for KMU. These risks and uncertainties are in addition to other factors detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC, including the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its transition report on Form 10-KSB for the period ended June 30, 2007, as amended.

The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements made by the company are not necessarily indicative of future performance. The company is not responsible for updating the information contained in this press release beyond the published date, or for changes made to this document by wire services or Internet services.

Collexis Holdings, Inc. Darrell W. Gunter EVP/CMO Mobile, +1-973-454-3475 Office, +1-803-727-1113 gunter@collexis.com or Media Contact: Chernoff Newman Stephanie Jones, +1-803-233-2432 stephanie.jones@cnsg.com

Business: KBR acquires Australian-based Catalyst Interactive

Houston (BUSINESS WIRE) - KBR (NYSE:KBR) today announced that it has acquired Catalyst Interactive (CI).
CI is an Australian e-learning and training solutions provider that specializes in defense, government and industry training segments.

While the size of the acquisition does not have an immediate material impact on KBR's financials, it is significant from the standpoint of providing the synergy that will allow KBR to expand and complement its existing global training and technology solutions capabilities.

"The CI acquisition demonstrates KBR's commitment to improve and develop our technology-based training capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region," said William P. Utt, KBR Chairman, President and CEO. "We see strong growth potential and opportunity both in the Asia-Pacific region as well as internationally and believe the CI acquisition will significantly enhance our capabilities across all of KBR's business units in this market."

CI currently employs 35 people in Canberra and Melbourne, all of whom will join KBR's Government and Infrastructure business unit. In Canberra, CI employees will continue to work in their current office location. Employees in Melbourne will relocate to the KBR Melbourne office.

"KBR is a leader in providing aviation training solutions in Australia. The acquisition will help KBR to be even more responsive to client needs and provide the opportunity to expand into new market areas in defense, government and private industry," said Bruce Stanski, President KBR Government and Infrastructure.

"CI provides a suite of technology that will not only provide efficiencies and cost savings to existing KBR training services for our clients, but will also extend and broaden KBR's training and technology solutions offerings.""With KBR's capabilities and resources as a springboard, we anticipate growing at a rate that we could not have achieved on our own," said Ken Kroeger, CI Managing Director. "We see this as a very complementary union which will have benefits for both companies and our clients."

KBR is a global engineering, construction and services company supporting the energy, petrochemicals, government services and civil infrastructure sectors. The company offers a wide range of services through its Downstream, Government and Infrastructure, Services, Technology, Upstream and Ventures business segments. For more information, visit www.kbr.com.

NOTE:
The statements in this press release that are not historical statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed during this fiscal year, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements.

KBRDirector, Communications Heather Browne, 713-753-3775 heather.browne@kbr.com
or Director, Investor Relations Rob Kukla, Jr., 713-753-5082 investors@kbr.com

Business: Jetstar partner's with Vietnam's Pacific Airlines

Let's All Fly Jetstar Pacific

Ho Chi Minh City - Medianet International - AsiaNet - Qantas Group airline Jetstar and Pacific Airlines (the Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company) have entered into a major strategic and commercial partnership to support the Vietnamese carrier's plan for future growth within both Vietnam and intra Asia markets under the Jetstar brand.

On 23 May 2008, Vietnam's second-largest carrier, Pacific Airlines, will complete its transformation to become Vietnam's first low-cost, value-based airline and is being renamed 'Jetstar Pacific' (Jetstar Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company).

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) and shareholders of Pacific Airlines have approved the establishment of a Business Service Agreement (BSA) between the Australian airline Jetstar and Pacific Airlines under an agreed business plan, supported by a management team that includes Jetstar and Qantas executives.

The wide-reaching Agreement for Jetstar Pacific includes the renaming of the airline, operating future flights within Vietnam and across Asia under the Jetstar brand, providing everyday low fares and a standardized customer experience.

The BSA will support new commercial and distribution arrangements for Jetstar Pacific, the development of a Vietnamese website at Jetstar.com as a core distribution and revenue channel in Vietnam, and the introduction of a future fleet of up to 30 Airbus A320 aircraft by 2014 to support its expansion.

The first A320 is proposed to enter Jetstar Pacific's operations in August 2008, supporting the ongoing development of a comprehensive domestic network within Vietnam, before undertaking future international expansion from late this year into markets likely to include Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia.

A series of announcements were made jointly in Ho Chi Minh City today by Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon, Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce and Pacific Airlines Chief Executive Officer Luong Hoai Nam, accompanied by the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, His Excellency Mr Bill Tweddell.

The Qantas Group, which made an investment of 18 per cent in Pacific Airlines in July 2007, will increase its investment in the airline to a 30 per cent holding in 2010.

Qantas Group CEO Geoff Dixon said that in joining Jetstar and its existing branded operations across Asia, Jetstar Pacific would help form one of the largest and fastest-growing airline brands in the region.

"Jetstar Pacific will be able to access and leverage the significant expertise and resources within the Qantas Group that will help enable its planned future growth," Mr Dixon said.

"This includes the placement of Qantas and Jetstar executives in key management roles within Jetstar Pacific, and the supply of a range of aviation services."

Jetstar CEO Alan Joyce said the establishment of this Agreement placed the Vietnamese carrier in a strong position to leverage the successful Jetstar brand and business model.

"We have repositioned the airline as Vietnam's first low cost carrier to enable its future sustainable expansion within Vietnam and into many international markets," Mr Joyce said.

"Jetstar Pacific will offer a comprehensive domestic and future intra Asia network from Vietnam by tapping into a rapidly-growing market and stimulating demand for air travel through low fares."

Jetstar Pacific CEO Luong Hoai Nam said that Jetstar Pacific would become part of one of the region's fastest-growing and exciting Pan Asian airline networks into the future.

"Our future success will be achieved through this innovative and unique partnership with Jetstar via a proven low cost airline business model and our ability to expand through the strong Jetstar brand," Mr Luong Hoai Nam said.

"We will be following in the footsteps of Jetstar's success by achieving the benefits of low fares leadership and strong and successful growth in other parts of the world.

"It is my vision that by delivering a high level of customer service, comparable to the best airlines in the world, combined with our commitment to delivering a low cost base, we will be able to lead the market in the region."

Mr Luong Hoai Nam said under the BSA the implementation of the Jetstar brand would apply to all aspects of Jetstar Pacific, including marketing and advertising, aircraft livery, sales channels and employee uniforms.

Jetstar Pacific today serves an existing seven destinations within Vietnam operating almost 130 weekly return services with an existing fleet of four single class Boeing 737-400s.

Mr Luong Hoai Nam said its future growth plans would support at least an eight fold rise in weekly operations under transition to an all Airbus A320 fleet of up to 30 aircraft.

The A320 fleet will be seat configured in single class for 180 passengers.

The A320 boasts the widest cabin and highest fuel and technology efficiencies of any aircraft in its class and will feature on-board product enhancements for Jetstar Pacific consistent with existing Jetstar branded operations in Australia and Singapore, including all leather seats, provision of hot meals available for purchase and improved freight capability.

"The addition of our first A320 into the airline in August 2008 will support an additional service between Ho Chi Minh City Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City Buon Me Thout, in addition to launching three new direct routes from Hanoi to Da Nang, Hue and Cam Rahn commencing 1 June 2008," Mr Luong Hoai Nam said.

"We will also expand daily Ho Chi Minh City Hanoi frequencies and have plans for future growth from Hanoi to other Vietnamese cities including Da Lat, Buon Me Thout and Can Tho.

"Our re-launch of intra Asia services from late this year will allow our operations to make air travel more affordable to more people in Vietnam by offering greater access onto many international markets through our new airline model that offers low fares, more choice and great customer service."

Jetstar branded operations into Vietnam currently include a three times weekly Sydney Ho Chi Minh City service operated by an A330 and Singapore Ho Chi Minh City A320 services operating 16 times weekly.

Jetstar Pacific has also unveiled cabin crew uniforms and a new aircraft livery for its future fleet of A320s reflecting Jetstars distinctive brand colours of orange and black, and predominant silver aircraft livery. The aircraft will also feature a distinctive five-point star in orange on its tail and Jetstar.com on the livery.

New cabin crew uniforms were designed by Jetstar Pacific in conjunction with Jetstar. Black in colour, the smart uniforms feature Jetstar's orange brand colour within the traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai dress and highlights on the male cabin crew uniforms.

"Our fresh brand image for the future under Jetstar is best reflected through our strongest visual advertisements our crew and our aircraft," Mr Luong Hoai Nam said.

"The Jetstar in-flight service in Vietnam and on future intra Asia services will also reinforce what travellers will come to expect from an airline that combines every day low fares and delivering a positive travel experience."

Mr Luong Hoai Nam said his six point plan for Jetstar Pacific included:
* Operating a profitable and lowest cost airline in the Asia Pacific region enabling Jetstar Pacific to deliver consistent
and sustainable low fares;
* Achieving an effective operation with high on-time performance;
* Providing excellent customer service to all passengers;
* To constantly evolve the airline through growth and innovation;
* Provide high safety standards and a safe work environment;
* Be a community and environmentally friendly organisation.

Jetstar CEO Alan Joyce and Jetstar Chief Financial Officer David Hall currently represent the Qantas Group on Jetstar Pacific's six-member Board of Directors.

Key management roles in Jetstar Pacific now filled by Qantas and Jetstar executives include Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Pilot and Heads of Ground Operations, Safety and Security.

Over time most of these positions will be transferred to Vietnamese managers.

Jetstar is one of the most profitable and fastest growing airlines in Asia. For the 2008 financial half year to 31 December 2007, the Jetstar Brands achieved AUD $113 million Profit before Tax result. It has carried over 24 million passengers since 2004.

Jetstar is an award winning airline and in 2007 was voted the Worlds Best Low Cost Airline and Best Low Cost Airline in the Asia Pacific by SkyTrax.

Jetstar Pacific will soon be unveiling an advertising campaign announcing the arrival of the Jetstar brand in Vietnam.

Mr Luong Hoai Nam said announcements supporting Jetstar Pacifics new fare offering, products and further commercial relationships to support the operation will be made in the near future.

With the launch of Jetstar Pacific, Jetstar airline brands will fly to over 40 destinations across Asia, the Asia Pacific and Australia.

CONTACT: Simon Westaway
General Manager Corporate Relations - Jetstar
M +61 (0) 401 994 627 simon.westaway@jetstar.com
Cao Hong Phuong
Marketing Manager Jetstar Pacific M +84 (0) 916 838 626
phuongch@pacificairlines.com.vn
Matthew Underwood
TQPR Vietnam M +84 (0) 908 658 893 matt@tqpr.com
SOURCE: Jetstar

Business: Business in Asia Today - April 14, 2008

JAPAN'S OKAMURA TO ADD FACTORY TO LIFT FURNITURE OUTPUT
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Okamura Corp. (TSE:7994) has said it will invest 12 billion yen (US$118.87 million) to add a new production facility at its existing plant in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, to tap demand for office furniture in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The new three-story building will have a total floor space of 64,800 sq. meters. This facility is expected to increase the company's annual production capacities for desks and storage furniture 50 per cent to 400,000 units and 800,000 units respectively.
Production is scheduled to kick off in June 2010.

UZBEKNEFTEGAZ TO BUILD NEW PROPANE/BUTANE MIX PLANT
Tashkent (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - UzbekNefteGaz National Holding Company plans to build a new propane/butane production plant on the resource base of the fields of Shurtan group in the south of the country (total worth some US$130 million).
A source in the management of the company said that according to the preliminary results of the feasibility study the plant will process about 6 billion cubic meters (cbm) of natural gas yearly and produce up to 104,000 tonnes of the technical propane/butane mix with the separation of up to 56,000 tonnes of propane and 48,000 tonnes of butane, and 44,000 tonnnes of stable gasoline petrol yearly.
The project will be financed through foreign investments.

DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING WINS US$566MLN ORDER FOR DRILL SHIP
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (KSE:42660), the world's second-largest shipbuilder, said Monday that it has won a 554 billion won (US$566 million) order to build a drill ship.
The deal from an American customer calls for Daewoo Shipbuilding to deliver the vessel, used for deep-water oil exploration, by September 2010, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Shipyards in South Korea, the world's largest shipbuilding nation, have received record orders in recent years as demand has surged for vessels to transport raw materials to China and goods to the rest of the world.

JETSTAR PARTNERS WITH VIETNAMESE AIRLINE
Sydney (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) subsidiary Jetstar has entered into a strategic and commercial partnership with Vietnam's Pacific Airlines to grow the airline in Vietnam and Asia under the Jetstar brand.
As of May 23, 2008, Vietnam's second-largest carrier, Pacific Airlines, will complete its transformation to become Vietnam's first low-cost, value-based airline and will be renamed Jetstar Pacific (Jetstar Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company).
The Qantas Group, which made an initial investment of 18 per cent in Pacific Airlines in July 2007, will increase its investment in the airline to 30 per cent in 2010.

S. KOREAN TRAIN MAKER ROTEM WINS US$170MLN U.S DEAL
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The Rotem Co., an affiliate of South Korea's leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co., said Tuesday it had won a US$170 million contract to supply passenger trains to the city of Boston.
The contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) calls for Rotem to deliver 75 rail cars by 2012, the South Korean company said. Earlier, Rotem won similar deals with Philadelphia and Los Angels.
The company is building a plant with an annual production capacity of 200 rail cars to widen its market share in the U.S.

PLAN UNVEILED TO PRIVATIZE KOREAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - President Lee Myung-bak said Sunday that his administration WAS determined to privatize the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) in three years, as part of its drive for sweeping deregulation of the nation's financial sector.
"My government's policy to privatize the KDB remains unchanged and will be completed in three years, depending on market circumstances," Lee told a press conference.
His government was now mulling over the creation of mega-banks in Korea to cope with the increasingly competitive global financial industry.

LEIGHTON'S HWE MINING AWARDED PILBARA CONTRACT
Sydney (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Leighton Contractors' (ASX:LEI) HWE Mining Pty Limited has been awarded a $344 million contract to provide mine development services at Rio Tinto's (ASX:RIO) Mesa A iron ore operation, 50 kms from Pannawonica in Western Australia's Pilbara.
The project was HWE's first major contract from Rio Tinto, Leighton said today.
HWE will design and construct the mine's ore handling and train loading plant and associated mine infrastructure.
It also will carry out pre-strip work to establish the Mesa A operation by late 2009. On stream, the Mesa A mine is planned to produce 25 million tonnes of iron ore per year.

POWER GENERATION FIRM WARTSILA AWARDED PAKISTAN CONTRACT
Lahore (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Finnish power solutions firm Wartsila has been awarded an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract worth EUR 134 million ($US210.8 million) by Nishat Power Ltd., an independent power producer that will supply electricity to the national grid in Pakistan.
The combined cycle plant will have a total gross electrical power output of 200 MWe.
The power plant is due to be operational by September 2009 and will be located near Lahore, the second most populous city in Pakistan.
"This power plant to Nishat Group will further strengthen Wartsila's position as the market leader in the supply of private power plants in Pakistan," saID Mr. Christoph Vitzthum, Group Vice President, Wartsila Power Plants.

TOYOTA'S 2ND INDIAN PLANT TO FOCUS ON LOW-PRICED COMPACT MODELS
Nagoya (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TSE:7203) second Indian auto plant will manufacture lower-priced subcompact vehicles for both the local market and for export.
This would mark the first time for Toyota to set aside some of its Indian production for export to other markets.
Toyota said it will invest around 35 billion yen (US$346.71 million) to build its second auto assembly plant near its existing facility in Bangalore, a move that will boost the automaker's total output capacity there by around 170 per cent from current levels to roughly 160,000 units a year.
The plant, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2010 with an annual output capacity of 100,000 units, will focus primarily on the production of 1-liter class subcompacts currently under development by Toyota.

GS CALTEX INCREASES DAILY HEAVY REFINING CAPACITY
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - South Korea's second-largest refiner GS Caltex Co. said Monday it had increased its daily heavy-oil refining capacity by 8,000 barrels because of improved technologies.
The daily heavy-oil processing capacity was raised to 153,000 barrels from 145,000 barrels due to the improved operation technologies of its two plants that process heavy oil into transportation fuels such as gasoline, GS Caltex said in a statement.
The capacity expansion had increased the refiner's ratio of heavy-oil processing capacity to crude-oil to 22.5 per cent from 21.3 per cent, GS Caltex said.

Source:
Business in Asia Today - APRIL 14, 2008
published by Asia Pulse

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Technology: IDsmart admits in court document e-Smart`s tecIDsmart admits in court document e-Smart`s tech was used in cardh was used in card

New York, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - e-Smart(R) Technologies, Inc. (Pink Sheets: ESMT); ("e-Smart" or the "Company") and its parent company, IVI Smart Technologies, Inc., (IVI) (hereinafter, collectively, the "Company") learned from disclosures filed in a Motion last month by IDsmart LLC, in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, Case No. 3:06cv5528 MHP, that IDsmart admitted that its engineers were directed to use e-Smart's technology in developing IDsmart's biometric smart card product, as the original complaint filed by the Company against IDsmart for theft and misappropriation of our biometric smart card technology alleges.

IDsmart also confirmed that, because its engineers had been instructed to use e-Smart's technology, IDsmart did not actually have a product design and was unable to "release" any product until approximately four months ago.

Mary Grace, President and CEO of e-Smart(R) said, "Finally, IDsmart admitted what we alleged in the original lawsuit and which we have argued before the Court for nearly two years -- which IDsmart repeatedly denied until now. IDsmart now admits not only that their engineers used e-Smart's technology but also that they have known for more than a year that e-Smart's technology was used in developing IDsmart's claimed biometric smart card product.

"Rather than acknowledging that they had used e-Smart's technology, IDsmart continued trying to sell an IDsmart product and failed to acknowledge to the Court that e-Smart's claims were true. In the original lawsuit filed against IDsmart the Company alleged the theft and misappropriation of e-Smart's technology by IDsmart, which claim IDsmart repeatedly denied under oath to the court.

"The Company also reported the theft of the technology to both the police and FBI in 2006, which IDsmart, Michael Gardiner and Wayne Drizin, both convicted felons, denied at that time. The Company will now file new reports to both the police and FBI of the recent admission and urge them to take the appropriate action to return the Company and shareholder's property. I hope the courts will impose additional sanctions against these individuals who have now admitted that IDsmart obtained and had its engineers using e-Smart technology -- technology that belongs to the Company and its shareholders."

e-SMART(R) Technologies, Inc., is the exclusive supplier of the Biometric Verification Security(TM) (BVS2(TM)) system, the "I AM"(TM) card and the Super SMART Card(TM) system and related system technologies for Asia, Africa and the U.S., which e-SMART(R) believes to be the world's first smartcard of its kind with an on-card sensor and a full match on-card system and other unique technologies for secure biometric ID verification.

e-SMART'S(R) next generation technologies allow governments, public and private institutions, healthcare providers and insurers, companies large and small, to provide a superior level of protection. The "I AM"(TM) card, Super SMART Card(TM) system and BVS2(TM) security system can assist in securing countries from criminal and terrorist threats, stop ID and payment fraud, along with identity theft in connection with physical and logical access and financial transactions, including telephone, Internet payment and other financial and data related transactions all while protecting individual privacy.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Statements in this news release that relate to future plans, financial results or projections, events or performance are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

While these statements are made to convey to the public the Company's progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent the management's opinion. While management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially from those described.

For more information about e-Smart(R) Technologies, please visit http://www.e-smart.com

SOURCE: e-Smart Technologies, Inc.
CONTACT: Media Relations of e-Smart Technologies, Inc.,
+1-703-768-7477, media@e-smart.com
Web site: http://www.e-smart.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Technology: NICE solution on Cisco Application eXtension revolutionizes

Sets New Records for Reliability and Unprecedented Low Total Cost of Ownership for Deployment to Thousands of Branches

Ra'anana, (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE), a leading global provider of advanced solutions that enable organizations to extract Insight from Interactions to drive performance, today announced that its enterprise branch VoIP recording is available on the Cisco Application eXtension Platform (AXP), which was introduced by Cisco today.

The new solution represents a breakthrough for enterprise branches and distributed small contact centers that require recording of customer interactions, ensuring compliance with regulations, improving business efficiency and dispute management, as well as for enhancing the customer experience at the branch level.

While new electronic methods emerge today to serve as additional customer touch points for banking customers, interaction in the branch office remains the most preferred and utilized channel. Accordingly, the quality of service provided by branches has become a major priority for the enterprise, making branch recording instrumental for improving customer experience and ensuring customer loyalty. In addition, compliance with new financial regulations and risk management are also driving the need to record customer interactions at branch offices.

The NICE solution enables enterprises to locally record customer interactions at thousands of branches due to the unprecedented scalability and the high level of reliability provided by the Cisco AXP. NICE also announced that it joined the Cisco Technology Developer Program supporting the Cisco AXP.

This approach of integrating NICE VoIP recording software on the Cisco AXP results in a minimal footprint in the branch and avoiding the cost of installing, managing, and maintaining hundreds to thousands of remote servers.

Furthermore, since it is not reliant on network connectivity, recording continues even during network downtime, meeting the mission-critical and compliance requirements for 100 per cent up-time.

With this solution, organizations can improve the customer experience, ensure customer loyalty, and enhance operational efficiency in branch offices.

"Cisco's collaboration with NICE delivers new levels of scale, high security, and deployability for distributed VoIP recording," said Dave Frampton, Vice President of Marketing for Cisco's Access Routing Technology Group. "With the integration of NICE software on the Cisco AXP module in the Cisco Integrated Services Router, customers will have both lower cost of ownership and higher levels of security in the remote
office."

"We are excited to introduce this leading edge solution with Cisco which brings together the innovation and market leadership of both companies in providing major benefits to our customers and changes the way recording is done in enterprise branches in distributed environments," said Zvi Baum, General Manager, Enterprise Interaction Solutions at NICE.

About NICE Systems

NICE Systems (Nasdaq: NICE) is the leading provider of Insight from Interactions solutions and value-added services, powered by the convergence of advanced analytics of unstructured multimedia content and transactional data - from telephony, web, email, radio, video, and other data sources.

NICE's solutions address the needs of the enterprise and security markets, enabling organizations to operate in an insightful and proactive manner, and take immediate action to improve business and operational performance and ensure safety and security. NICE has over 24,000 customers in 100 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies.

More information is available at http://www.nice.com.

NICE Trademarks: 360 View, Alpha, ACTIMIZE, Actimize logo, Customer Feedback, Dispatcher Assessment, Encorder, eNiceLink, Executive Connect, Executive Insight, FAST, FAST alpha Blue, FAST alpha Silver, FAST Video Security, Freedom, Freedom Connect, IEX, Interaction Capture Unit, Insight from Interactions, Investigator, Last Message Replay, Mirra, My Universe, NICE, NICE logo, NICE Analyzer, NiceCall, NiceCall Focus, NiceCLS, NICE Inform, NICE Learning, NiceLog, NICE Perform, NiceScreen, NICE SmartCenter, NICE Storage Center, NiceTrack, NiceUniverse, NiceUniverse Compact, NiceVision, NiceVision Alto, NiceVision Analytics, NiceVision ControlCenter, NiceVision Digital, NiceVision Harmony, NiceVision Mobile, NiceVision Net, NiceVision NVSAT, NiceVision Pro, Performix, Playback Organizer, Renaissance, Scenario Replay, ScreenSense, Tienna, TotalNet, TotalView, Universe, Wordnet are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NICE Systems Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on the current expectations of the management of NICE Systems Ltd. (the Company) only, and are subject to a number of risk factors and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in technology and market requirements, decline in demand for the Company's products, inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications, difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel, loss of market share, pressure on pricing resulting from competition, and inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements, which could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described therein.

We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NICE Corporate Media: Rachel Ho
NICE APAC Tel: +852-2598-3840 Email: Rachel.ho@nice.com
Galit Belkind NICE Systems
Tel: +1-877-245-7448 Email: galit.belkind@nice.com
NICE Investors: Daphna Golden NICE Systems
Tel: +1-877-245-7449 Emai: ir@nice.com
SOURCE: NICE Systems Ltd.

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Technology: Black Dragon testing of NetDragon game starts

Hong Kong, (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - One of the leading game developers and operators in the PRC, NetDragon Websoft Inc. ("NetDragon" or the "Company", with its subsidiary collectively the "Group"; stock code: 8288.HK) has announced that on 30 March 2008, it officially started its black dragon testing client of the game "Heroes of Might and Magic Online", which is to be launched in 2008.

"Heroes of Might and Magic Online" is a 2.5D MMORPG. This game is being developed based on the well-known PC game "Heroes of Might and Magic", licensed to the Group by UBISOFT. The game is set in a virtual medieval-style heroic fantasy world, where players control a virtual hero who leads an army. By capturing towns, players can also engage extra armies to help them in their conquests. The Group offers players a number of different 'virtual items' for use in the game, including various virtual weapons and game maps.

Mr Liu Dejian, Chairman and Executive Director of NetDragon, commented, "The game is targeted at existing "Heroes of Might and Magic" PC game players worldwide, together with players who prefer strategic games. We expect the game to be launched in the second quarter of 2008, and believe it will trigger new experiences to players."

About NetDragon Websoft Inc.

NetDragon Websoft Inc. is one of the leading online game developers and operators in the PRC. The Group's portfolio consists of a range of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) that cater to various types of players and gaming preferences.

The Group has successfully developed and marketed many popular online games in various styles. Its current offerings include the games Eudemons Online, Conquer Online, Zero Online, Tou Ming Zhuang Online, Era of Faith, and Monster & Me. The games are available in six languages, including English, French and Spanish. The Group also has three developing games in the pipeline, namely Heroes of Might and Magic Online, Way of the Five, and Tian Yuan. NetDragon was listed on the GEM board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on 2 November 2007 (Stock Code: 8288.HK).

For further information, please contact: NetDragon Websoft Inc.
Ms. Angelina Li (Investor Relations Officer)
Tel:+852-2850-8755/+852-6303-1722
Fax: +852-2850-7066 Email: angelinali@nd.com.hk
SOURCE: NetDragon Websoft Inc.

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Metal/Mining: Platts survey: OPEC pumps 32.22 mln barrels of crude oil per dayn barrels of crude oil per day

London, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 32.22 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in March, a 110,000 b/d decrease from February, according to a Platts (http://www.platts.com/) survey of OPEC and oil industry officials released Tuesday.

"Though OPEC's output fell in March, much of the decline appears to be related more to maintenance work in Nigeria and Venezuela than to any shift in philosophy on the part of the group," said John Kingston, Platts global director of oil.

"Indeed, despite the drop in output, OPEC-12 pumped well over its production target, showing members are more than happy to take advantage of record high prices."

Excluding Iraq, the 12 members bound by output agreements pumped an average 29.85 million b/d in March, 80,000 b/d lower than February's 29.93 million b/d, the survey showed.

Despite the dip in output from the OPEC-12, the March total was 177,000 b/d higher than their collective 29.673 million b/d crude production target.

Decreases in Iraqi, Venezuelan and Nigerian production totaling 160,000 b/d were partly offset by 50,000 b/d of increases from Iran, Ecuador and Qatar.

OPEC ministers met in February and March and decided on both occasions that despite crude prices in excess of $100 per barrel, there was no shortage of crude oil on world markets. The next formal OPEC ministerial meeting is scheduled for early September.

The group's president, Algerian oil minister Chakib Khelil, said earlier Tuesday that although it was possible OPEC could meet on the sidelines of the upcoming International Energy Forum in Rome, the probability of a meeting was "very low."

Khelil, who reiterated the view that current prices were not being driven by any shortage of crude supply, said he believed high oil prices were "here to stay."

US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Monday he remained "optimistic" that OPEC would raise production despite the organization having ignored requests from the Bush administration to boost output at its February and March meetings.

For more information on OPEC, go to the "Platts Guide to OPEC" at http://www.opec.platts.com

About Platts: Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading global provider of energy and commodities information. With nearly a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries.

From 17 offices worldwide, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, emissions, petrochemical, shipping and metals markets.

Platts' real time news, pricing, analytical services, and conferences help markets operate with transparency and efficiency. Traders, risk managers, analysts, and industry leaders depend upon Platts to help them make better trading and investment decisions. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com

About The McGraw-Hill Companies: Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries.

Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com

SOURCE: Platts
CONTACT: Europe: Shiona Ramage +44207 1766153 Asia: Casey
Yew +65 653 06552 Kathleen Tanzy +1-212-904-2860
Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com
Web site: http://www.platts.com
http://www.opec.platts.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Entertainment: Star gather to celebrate finest Swiss watchmaking by IWC

VIDEO from Medialink and IWC Schaffhausen: multimedia theatrical performance featuring Cate Blanchett & Joseph Fiennes
International stars gather to celebrate finest Swiss watchmaking by IWC Schaffhausen

New York (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - A multimedia performance that featured Cate Blanchett on film and a live performance by Joseph Fiennes was one of the highlights of the 18th International Fair of Fine Luxury Watchmaking in Geneva on the 8th of April.
(See video from IWC Schaffhausen at: http://media.medialink.com/WebNR.aspx?story=34910 )

As part of IWC Schaffhausen's gala, an invite-only VIP audience was treated to a one-off showing of Minutes of a Separation, a unique theatrical performance directed by Nigel Jamieson for Sydney Theatre Company, the acclaimed Australian company that has Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett as its Co-Artistic Directors.

The 15-minute performance featured Cate Blanchett on film and live performances from Joseph Fiennes and aerialists from the award-winning Australian physical theatre company Legs On The Wall.

Organised by luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen, the event brought together 1,200 of the world's most glamorous guests.
Over 50 A-list celebrities were expected to attend, including top model Elle Macpherson, acclaimed actor Kevin Spacey, music legend Lenny Kravitz, Oscar-winning film director Quentin Tarantino and sporting legend Boris Becker, as well as acclaimed French actor Jean Reno.

To confirm the truly global nature of this event, Japanese actors Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai), Kiichi Nakai (47 Ronin), Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Cha No Aji) and actress/model Lika Minamoto, as well as Chinese film star Chang Chen and Taiwanese singer David Tao, also added themselves to the guest list.

This year's event, simply known as "The Crossing", celebrated the 140th anniversary of IWC Schaffhausen. The occasion paid tribute to the brand's founder Florentine Ariosto Jones, who in 1868 set out on a journey from Boston, Massachusetts to Schaffhausen in Switzerland.

The fair itself, held in the exclusive surroundings of Geneva, brought together the most iconic brands of the "Haute Horlogerie" from all corners of the globe. It also marked the launch of the IWC vintage collection Jubilee Edition 1868-2008, celebrating the luxury watchmakers' 140th anniversary.

IWC is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious exponents of haute horlogerie, the art of luxury watchmaking for an elite international clientele.

Registered journalists can access video, audio, text, graphics and photos for free and unrestricted use at http://www.mediaseed.tv 04NY08-0083

SOURCE: Medialink and IWC Schaffhausen
CONTACT: Medialink, New York, +1-888-560-5578 or mediadesk@medialink.com
Web site: http://media.medialink.com

Technology: Crosscheck Networks launches SOA service simulation product

SOAPSimulator Offers Graphical Point and Click SOA Simulation Features to Accelerate, Integrate, and Optimize Enterprise SOA Projects

Boston, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Crosscheck Networks, Inc., the leading provider of SOA testing solutions, today launched SOAPSimulator(TM), an affordable, easy-to-configure, comprehensive service simulation product for SOA developers and testers.

SOAPSimulator enables SOA professionals to significantly reduce project expense and duration and deliver interoperable and secure Service Oriented Architecture.

"We find that businesses are initially excited about automating transactions with their trading partners -- suppliers, buyers and service providers -- but lose momentum and become frustrated when they have to wait for service implementation to complete or endpoints to be available," said Mamoon Yunus, CTO Forum Systems. "This increases project risks, timelines and costs. SOAPSimulator provides businesses the means to parallelize their SOA development efforts and increase the likelihood of successful project delivery."

SOAPSimulator provides the ability to mimic producer services even before they are deployed which allows for compressed project timelines by parallelizing client and server development tasks. Service simulation enables corporations to provide a portable alternative to building an expensive SOA reference environment.

Out-of-the-box graphical simulation features allow for rapid project simulation and deployment.

Corporate best practices can be measured for the WSDL entities as well as the XML based runtime transactions using portable SOAPSimulator(TM) analysis rules. This allows teams within the enterprise to follow a consistent set of best practices to maximize interoperability among services.

SOAPSimulator(TM) provides acceleration and optimization of SOA projects with features such as:
-- Graphical point and click SOAP and XML simulation
-- Comprehensive WSDL and XSD schema support
-- Dynamic WSDL and Schema retrieval from simulation instance
-- Real-time simulation transaction monitoring
-- WSDL and XSD report card to measure against corporate best practices
-- Customizable runtime messaging governance analysis rules
-- Multiple simultaneous service simulations
-- Complex business logic simulation with runtime variable state machine
-- WS-Security and WS-Identity extensibility
-- Database and plug-in API extensibility

Pricing and Availability The SOAPSimlator(TM) is currently available and priced from $999 to $4999 based on deployment scenarios. For more information, visit http://www.crosschecknet.com.

About Crosscheck Networks

Crosscheck Network's mission is to provide products for testing, diagnosing and controlling enterprise Web Services. Crosscheck Networks' products provide QA professionals, security personnel, and compliance officers with necessary information about the functional completeness, scalability, security and interoperability compliance of their Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Through SOAPSimulator(TM) -- industry leading comprehensive SOA diagnostics product -- IT professionals make more informed decisions that enable their companies to stay within corporate quality and regulatory boundaries. The SOA diagnostics architecture is the first in the industry to encompass security, compliance, performance and functional regression under a unified architectural framework. The architecture enables the product to be deployed from the core to the perimeter of an enterprise.

Visit Crosscheck Networks at http://www.crosschecknet.com.

SOURCE Crosscheck Networks, Inc.
CONTACT: Rizwan Mallal of Crosscheck Networks, Inc.,
+1-617-938-3956
Web site: http://www.crosschecknet.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Business: Korean technology GreenPans with Thermolon hits the airwaves

Busan, (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Many know of GreenPans huge success in the American and European cookware markets. Less realize that a Korean invention and know-how lies behind this success.

Now, Koreans have the opportunity to see what all the excitement is about and to share its benefits.

GreenPans with Thermolon hit the airwaves on Wednesday 16th April at 4:20 PM to 5:20 PM on the GS Shopping Channel.

The Thermolon non-stick coatings that give GreenPans their safe, environmentally friendly appeal to Western consumers, was invented and developed in Korea.

Korean scientists spent many years creating Thermolon, a PTFE-free non-stick coating that is ceramic based, saves energy during its manufacture and application and is toxin-free.

GreenPan Ltd, the Belgian cookware company, was smart enough to see its potential and to develop the 'GreenPan with Thermolon'. This has led to them selling one and a half million pieces in the US alone, with demand outstripping supply.

Because of Korea's contribution to the creation of GreenPans, Korea has been chosen as the first Asian country to launch this new concept in healthy cooking.

Tune in on Wednesday 16th April between 4-20 PM to 5-20 PM on the GS channel, to see this exciting development - both in Korean excellence and the latest in cookware.

About Thermolon

Thermolon Ltd is the fastest growing manufacturer of environmentally-friendly non-stick coatings. Our company shares the concerns of the consumer, governments and environmental groups on the dangers of certainly chemicals that are used in our daily lives. Our mission is to replace conventional coatings that contain harmful materials by providing safer, healthier and more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

Thermolon Ltd is headquartered in Busan, South Korea where we carry out our R&D. Our Commercial and Financial centre is located in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts: Thermolon Korea: Mr CK Park Tel: +82-51-466-8898 Email: info@thermolon.com

Thermolon Hong Kong: Dr. Christopher H. Phillips Tel: +852-2302-0193 Email: info@thermolon.com

For any further updates, please visit our website: http://www.thermolon.com
SOURCE: Thermolon Ltd

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Technology: Modera to release dedicated Hong Kong region Website

Modera to release new Enterprise and Professional services and region specific website at Hong Kong International ICT Expo

Hong Kong, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Content management software specialists, Modera http://www.modera.com has released a new website and specialist services for the Hong Kong market http://www.modera.hk ahead of the Hong Kong International Expo.

Siim Vips, CEO at Modera explains, "Asia is an incredibly fast paced and growing market, and Modera sees a presence in this region as being vital to continue the success we have experienced in the Asian Market. As part of the launch of our Hong Kong website, we will be announcing Modera pre-packaged products exclusively for the Asian market, including Modera Enterprise and Professional that will be available in Autumn 2008."

Modera will exhibit at booth 5E33 at the Hong Kong International Expo, 14 to 17 April 2008. Modera will use the opportunity to introduce its products, including Modera Webmaster, to potential clients in Hong Kong and will release new versions and packages of key products particularly for the Asian market.

Wilson Wong, Modera agent for the Hong Kong and Macau region who joined Modera as an agent in November 2007 comments, "The Hong Kong International Expo is a great opportunity for us to continue to build awareness of the content management solutions available to companies in this region."

Modera has experienced early success in the Asian region, and has added new clients such as Citizen Watch Hong Kong (http://www.citizen.com.hk), The China Navigation (http:// www.cnco.com.hk), JB Group (http://www.jbgroupworldwide.com) and Smartcom Travel (http://www.smartcomtravel.com) to its existing Asian portfolio, which includes clients such as Hong Kong Express (http://www.hongkongexpress.com), Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (http://www.tungwah.org.hk), and Hans Energy (http://www.hansenergy.com).

About Modera http://www.modera.com

Modera is a software company specialising in content management software development. Modera operates in over 20 countries including the UK, Spain, Hong Kong and the USA, with headquarters in Estonia. Backed by 24-hour support and a vast partner network, Modera takes the hassle out of content management with its cost-effective webmaster, intranet, and extranet product line. Whether taken separately or together as a complete interconnected product, these tools are fast and secure, and their modular design makes them highly flexible.

Contact Elemental Tim Gibbon, Director Mobile: +44 (0) 7930 375 663
Rachel Hawkes Account Director Mobile: +44 (0) 776 665 1244
Email: mediacentre@elementalcomms.co.uk Telephone: +44 (0) 870 745 9292
Website: http://www.elementalcomms.co.uk

SOURCE: Modera
CONTACT: Tim Gibbon, Director, Mobile
+44-0-7930-375-663,
or Rachel Hawkes, Account Director, +44-0-776-665-1244,
mediacentre@elementalcomms.co.uk, both for Modera
Web site: http://www.modera.com
http://www.elementalcomms.co.uk
http://www.citizen.com.hk
http://www.cnco.com.hk
http://www.jbgroupworldwide.com
http://www.smartcomtravel.com
http://www.hongkongexpress.com
http://www.tungwah.org.hk
http://www.hansenergy.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Entertainment: Unique film, Website expose Bush`s rush to war in Iraq

Boston, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - LEADING TO WAR is a new documentary film that reveals the Bush administrations 14-month campaign to persuade the public to support an invasion of Iraq. Constructed from carefully selected television news footage of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and other officials, the film is available for free viewing on the internet, subtitled in an unprecedented 19 languages.

The film, along with the extensively researched website www.LeadingtoWar.com, provides a potent new resource that examines Bushs path to war.

LEADING TO WAR, praised by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "a staggering film," highlights how Bush officials presented claims of imminent danger to rush the United States to war. This calculated strategy included warnings of nuclear peril and terrorists with biological weapons. Without narration or commentary, the film documents the rhetoric that roused the American people to support a military invasion, despite worldwide opposition.

The film includes footage from press conferences, interviews and speeches.

Award-winning director Barry Hershey began the project in 2005. He realized that the extraordinary events that led to war could best be shown by presenting Bush officials in their own words.

Reflecting new trends in media, the film is available for free download or streaming at www.LeadingtoWar.com and is subtitled in 19 languages: Arabic, Bahasa, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional Simplified), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish (Latin American/Castilian), Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

"For those not subjected to Bushs media campaign -- people in other countries, and future generations this footage will be especially revealing," said Hershey.

"With the perspective of history, and the compression of 14 months into a concise 72 minutes, the film provides a unique opportunity to see how a government sells a war to its people."

LEADING TO WAR's release coincides with the war in Iraq entering its 6th year -- with violence continuing, hundreds of thousands maimed or killed, and 4 million Iraqis having fled their homes. The film and website, http://www.LeadingToWar.com, are supported on a worldwide network of 20,000 servers to provide enhanced quality for international viewers.

Filmmaker interviews: Aaron Lavallee at 301-887-1060 or aaron@kelleycampaigns.com

SOURCE: LeadingtoWar.com
CONTACT: Aaron Lavallee, +1-301-887-1060,
aaron@kelleycampaigns.com, for LeadingtoWar.com
Web site: http://www.LeadingtoWar.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Business: Shareholder class action filed against Agria Corporation

Radnor, Pennsylvania, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP:

Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all purchasers of securities of Agria Corporation (NYSE: GRO) ("Agria" or the "Company") pursuant or traceable to the Company's November 6, 2007 Initial Public Offering ("IPO").

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP (Darren J. Check, Esq. or Richard A. Maniskas, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@sbtklaw.com

The Complaint charges Agria Corporation and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Act of 1933. Agria engages in the research and development, production, and sale of upstream agricultural products in the People's Republic of China.

More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them:

(1) that the Company had failed to secure enforceable employment agreements with its Chief Operating Officer ("COO") and other key executives prior to its IPO;

(2) that the Company was in active negotiations with its COO and other key executives to provide multi-million dollar compensation packages in order to secure their future services (which were key to the Company's future success);

(3) that these dramatically increased compensation expenses would materially impact the Company's financial results going forward, specifically by increasing its general and administrative expenses, and decreasing its operating profit and margins;

(4) that, as a result of the above, the Company's financial results following its IPO would in no way be analogous to the financial statements provided in its Registration Statement;

(5) that the failure of the Company to successfully negotiate enforceable employment agreements with its COO and other key executives would significantly affect its ability to execute its stated operating strategies due to the executives' critical importance to the Company;

(6) that various accounting and payment issues, which existed at the time of the IPO, would subsequently prohibit the Company's auditors from completing its audit of the Company's financial statements;

(7) that the Company lacked adequate internal and financial controls; and

(8) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company's Registration Statement was false and misleading at all relevant times.

On November 6, 2007, the Company conducted its IPO. In connection with its IPO, the Company filed a Registration Statement with the SEC. The IPO was a financial success for the Company and its selling shareholder, Brothers Capital Limited, as they raised over $282 million by selling 17,150,000 of the Company's securities to investors at a price of $16.50 per share.

Then on April 7, 2008, after the close of the market, Agria shocked investors when it announced that its auditors were unable to begin their audit of the Company's financial statements for 2007 due to various accounting and payment issues. The Company warned that "given the substantial delay in the commencement of the audit process, there is a risk that the Company may not be able to file its Annual Report" on time, and retracted its previously provided guidance for the fourth quarter of 2007, and first quarter and full year of 2008.

The Company also announced that its COO had resigned. Further, the Company disclosed for the first time that its Chief Executive Officer was actively involved in protracted compensation negotiations with the COO and other key executives. These executives stood to receive $18 million in cash and transfer of Company shares (which represented 22 per cent of the Company) so as to "provide incentive for their continuing service and align their interests with those of the shareholders."

As the Company noted, payment of cash and/or shares to the COO and other executives "as compensation and incentive for their past and continuing services in connection with the proposed transaction will likely result in material compensation charges to the Company in the period in which the payment is made."

Upon the release of this news, shares of the Company's securities declined $3.34 per share, or almost 38 per cent, to close on April 8, 2008 at $5.46 per share, on unusually heavy trading volume. This closing price on April 8, 2008 represented a cumulative loss of $11.04, or 66.9 per cent, of the value of the Company's shares at the time of its IPO just months prior.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world.

For more information about Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbtklaw.com

If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than June 10, 2008, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

Any member of the purported class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

CONTACT: Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP Darren J. Check, Esq.
Richard A. Maniskas, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 1-888-299-7706
(toll free) or 1-610-667-7706 or by e-mail atinfo@sbtklaw.com

SOURCE: Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP
CONTACT: Richard A. Maniskas, Esq. of Schiffrin Barroway
Topaz & Kessler, LLP, +1-888-299-7706 (toll free) or
+1-610-667-7706, info@sbtklaw.com
Web site: http://www.sbtklaw.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Business: Wartsila to deliver combined-cycle plant to Pakistan

Wartsila delivers 200 MWe combined-cycle plant to Pakistan - value of order EUR 134 million

Helsinki (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Wartsila has been awarded an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract worth EUR 134 million by Nishat Power Ltd., an independent power producer that will supply electricity to the national grid in Pakistan.

The combined cycle plant will have a total gross electrical power output of 200 MWe.

The power plant is due to be operational by September 2009, and will be located near Lahore, the second most populous city in Pakistan. The order is included in Wartsila's order book in April.

"This power plant to Nishat Group will further strengthen Wartsila's position as the market leader in the supply of private power plants in Pakistan. A total of 1 GWe of Wartsila power plants are already in service," says Mr. Christoph Vitzthum, Group Vice President, Wartsila Power Plants.

"Our satisfactory experience with Wartsila products and services encouraged us to set up this project with them. Their power plants are fuel efficient, reliable and their after sales support very responsive," says Mr. Mian Mansha, Chairman of the Nishat Group.

An important feature of the plant is its high overall efficiency of 45% for the lifetime of the plant when running on heavy fuel oil at site conditions. The high overall efficiency on low-cost fuel oil will enable the generating costs to be very competitive.

The plant will comprise eleven Wartsila 18V46 diesel generating sets with exhaust recovery boilers supplying steam to a single steam turbine. Wartsila will supply the plant equipment, then erect, test and commission the plant and provide local construction supervision.

An O&M contract to operate and maintain the power plant is also under negotiation.

Nishat Power Ltd., a member of the Nishat Group, has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with the National Transmission & Despatch Company and an Implementation Agreement with the Government of Pakistan under the 2002 Energy Policy of Pakistan.

The excellent past experience of the Nishat Group with Wartsila power plants is an important factor in the choice of Wartsila for the new combined-cycle power plant.

The Group purchased its first Wartsila 18V34SG gas engine generating set for a textile mill in 2003, followed by four more similar generation sets in 2004.

Three Wartsila 20V34SG sets were bought in 2005 for a cement plant and subsequently two Wartsila 18V50DF dual-fuel generating sets were ordered in 2005 and 2006 for a new cement plant. Wartsila is operating the latter plant under an operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement for six years.

The Nishat Group is one of the leading business groups in Pakistan with interests in the textile, cement, insurance and banking sectors.

Wartsila in brief

Wartsila enhances the business of its customers by providing them with complete lifecycle power solutions. When creating better and environmentally compatible technologies, Wartsila focuses on the marine and energy markets with products and
solutions as well as services. Through innovative products and services, Wartsila sets out to be the most valued business partner of all its customers.

This is achieved by the dedication of more than 16,000 professionals manning 150 Wartsila locations in 70 countries around the world. Wartsila is listed on The Nordic Exchange in Helsinki, Finland.
www.wartsila.com

SOURCE: Wartsila Corporation
CONTACT: Mr. Nauman Ahmad,
Regional Sales Director, Middle East,
Wartsila Power Plants,
+358-408616469,
nomi.ahmad@wartsila.com,
or Maria Nystrand,
Public Relations Manager,
Power Plants, Wartsila Corporation,
+358-10-709-1456,
maria.nystrand@wartsila.com
Web site: http://www.wartsila.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008