USG People NV: 2010 Second quarter and half-year results USG People N.V.

Return to growth, EBITA rises

Almere, 23 July 2010, 07:00 CET

Key points of second quarter 2010

· Revenue was € 747 million and was 3% higher than the second quarter
last year
· The gross margin of 22.0% remained virtually stable with respect to the
previous quarters (Q1 2010: 22.1%, Q4 2009: 22.1%, Q3 2009: 21.9%);
in the second quarter of last year the gross margin was 22.6%
· The operating expenses amounted to € 139 million and remained stable
at the same level of the 1st quarter (€ 137 million); the costs were 4%
lower than in the second quarter of last year
· The underlying EBITA came to € 19 million compared with € 12 million
for the second quarter of 2009 (underlying EBITA Q1 2010: € 8 million)

Key figures

Underlying results* Q2 Q2 change 1st Half year 1st Half year change
(in € millions) 2010 2009 2010 2009
Revenue 747 722 3% 1,431 1,477 -3%
Gross result 164 163 1% 317 341 -7%
Operating expenses 139 145 -4% 275 304 -10%
EBITDA 25 18 39% 42 37 14%
EBITA 19 12 58% 29 23 26%
Net income 4 2 -1 0

* Underlying results are results excluding the one-off effects specified on page 13.

“Our revenue grew once again in the second quarter,” said Rob Zandbergen, CEO of USG
People. “This after 7 quarters of decline in revenue. The recovery gathered strength and
we saw extremely strong growth in a few countries. The early cyclical general activities
are growing faster than the late cyclical specialist and administrative activities.
Since we once again succeeded in keeping our operational expenses virtually the same,
the operational leverage worked well in the second quarter. Higher revenue translated
into a substantially higher result. The EBITA more than doubled compared to the previous
quarter. In the late cyclical Dutch market, the recovery lagged somewhat behind, as
expected. Revenue in the Netherlands improved slightly compared to the previous quarter
and indications from the field were increasingly positive. We are confident that the
recovery in the Netherlands will also be more visible in the results in the third
quarter.

The merging of labels in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany announced earlier is going
according to plan and will be completed in the third quarter. Assuming further
improvement in our markets, we are now excellently positioned to profit optimally from
the market recovery.”

The full press release can be found in the enclosed PDF.

HUG#1433631

2010 Second quarter and half-year results USG People N.V.

http://hugin.info/130803/R/1433631/379431.pdf

Storebrand ASA: 1H 2010: Good operations – instability in the financial markets impacts quarter’s result

Group result of NOK 239 million for the first half of 2010 and minus NOK 39
million for 2Q
· Instability in the financial markets produced low level of financial income in
Life and Pensions
· Programme for improving operations ahead of schedule and making positive
contribution to the result
· Increased sales of unit-linked insurance in SPP: new sales increased by 61 per
cent
· Good solvency: solvency margin of 163 per cent for life insurance activities

The Board of Director’s Interim report for first half 2010, 1H 2010 result presentation
and Supplementary Information are attached on http://www.newsweb.no

Storebrand will today host a press and analyst conference in Storebrands head office at
Lysaker, Professor Kohts vei 9, at 1000 CET (in Norwegian). An international conference
call will be hosted at 1400 CET. To participate in the conference call please use link
on http://www.storebrand.no/ir, or call in and register 10 minutes before the
presentation starts. Dial: +47 80080119 (from Norway) or +47 23184501 (from Norway or
abroad).

Full press release:

1H 2010: Good operations – instability in the financial markets impacts quarter’s result

· Group result of NOK 239 million for the first half of 2010 and minus NOK 39
million for 2Q
· Instability in the financial markets produced low level of financial income in
Life and Pensions
· Programme for improving operations ahead of schedule and making positive
contribution to the result
· Increased sales of unit-linked insurance in SPP: new sales increased by 61 per
cent
· Good solvency: solvency margin of 163 per cent for life insurance activities

“In a quarter affected by falls in equity markets, the customers’ return was competitive
and the development of the business areas positive. Improving operations in the Group is
strengthening the quality of the underlying earnings and having a good effect on the
result. The work will continue at full strength,” says CEO Idar Kreutzer.

NOK 3.1 billion to pensions customers
Life and Pensions Norway has allocated NOK 3.1 billion to insurance customers for the
first half of 2010, NOK 336 million of which was profit in excess of the guaranteed
return. The returns in the customer portfolios are competitive, but were negatively
affected by market developments. This meant the result allocated to the owner during the
quarter was charged with the building up of reserves for long life for the first six
months of the year.

The new generation of products without an interest guarantee, defined contribution
pensions and unit-linked, contributed better positive results. In total this produced a
positive result for Life and Pensions Noway in 2Q, despite unstable financial markets
during the period.

The net booked inflow of customer assets to Life and Pensions Noway amounted to NOK 305
million in 2Q and NOK 1.9 billion for the year-to-date. Total new premiums (APE)
amounted to NOK 1.2 billion, NOK 332 million of which came in 2Q.

Strong growth in premiums in SPP
SPP’s sales of unit-linked insurance increased by 61 per cent during the quarter
compared to the same period last year. Total assets increased by NOK 1.5 billion in the
quarter and by NOK 6.1 billion in the first half of 2010. SPP’s result was affected by
negative returns in the equity markets. The market developments made it necessary to
make provisions for a deferred capital contribution, which is charged to the result
allocated to the owner during the quarter. The administration result developed
positively due to the implemented rationalisation measures and a good risk result for
the quarter.

Good new sales in asset management
The volume of net new sales in asset management (external discretionary assets and
mutual funds) was NOK 6.5 billion in 2Q: NOK 5.1 billion in the Norwegian business and
NOK 1.4 billion in the Swedish business. The result in Storebrand Investments developed
positively compared to the same period last year, and was driven by increases in
volume-based income.

Bank’s net interest income improves
Storebrand Bank experienced a positive development compared to the same period last year
due to better net interest income, reduced operating expenses, and lower losses. The
level of losses and defaults in banking is developing well.

Continued growth in P&C
P&C insurance’s result is developing well. The quarter’s result was strengthened by a
good risk result and continued good growth in the business. The combined ratio for the
quarter was 98 per cent. Insurance policy sales in the P&C insurance business remain
good and continued to grow in 2Q. At the close of the period the company had more than
47,500 customers.

Improvements to operations
The Group has established a programme to improve operations associated with the income
and cost sides in which measures and activities are closely monitored. The programme
aims to achieve improvements to operations amounting to NOK 550 million in 2010. The
development in the first half of 2010 was positive and the results from the programme to
improve operations are ahead of schedule. During the period, improvements to operations
of around NOK 270 million were achieved compared to the same period last year. The
improvement is due to cost reducing measures, growth in customer assets, and
income-related measures.

Capital situation
The Storebrand Group was in a sound financial position at the close of the quarter. The
solvency margin of the Storebrand Life Insurance Group (Life and Pensions Norway and
Life and Pensions Sweden) at the close of 2Q was 163 per cent.
The bank’s core (tier 1) capital ratio was 10.4 per cent at the close of the quarter.
.

Lysaker, 15 July 2010

Contact persons:

EVP Corporate Communications Egil Thompson: Mobile (+47) 93 48 00 12
Head of Investor Relations Trond Finn Eriksen: Mobile (+47) 99 16 41 35

Enclosure: The Board’s Interim report first half 2010

The Storebrand Group is a leading actor in the Nordic market for life insurance,
pensions and long-term savings. The Group consists of the following business areas: life
insurance, asset management, banking, and P&C and health insurance.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to §5-12 vphl (Norwegian
Securities Trading Act)

HUG#1431804

Q2 2010 STB Interim report http://hugin.info/169/R/1431804/378088.pdf
Q2 2010 STB presentation http://hugin.info/169/R/1431804/378089.pdf
Q2 2010 STB Supplementary information http://hugin.info/169/R/1431804/378090.pdf

Chile bank system profit up 53.3 pct in Jan-May

June 30 (Reuters) – Chile’s banking sector profit for the January-May period rose 53.3 percent from a year earlier on greater loans and interest margins, the Banking and Financial Institutions Superintendency said on Wednesday.

Financials

Bank earnings totaled 690.117 billion pesos ($1.297 billion) in the first five months of 2010. However earnings fell 9.3 percent in May compared to April due to lower returns from financial operations, and higher operating costs and provisions.

Santander Chile (SAN.N)(STG.SN), Chile’s largest bank, posted a net profit of 206.676 billion pesos ($388 million) in the period. The superintendency did not provide a year-ago figure.

The country’s No. 2 bank, Banco de Chile CHI.SN, earned 170.163 billion pesos ($320 million) in the five-month period, the superintendency said. ($1=532 pesos at end-May) (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; Editing by Brad Haynes)

UPDATE 1-Nakilat Q1 net profit triples, below forecasts

DOHA, April 14 (Reuters) – Qatar Gas Transport Co QGTS.QA (Nakilat), the world’s largest shipper of liquefied natural gas (LNG), said first-quarter profit more than tripled, but the results fell short of analysts expectations.

On Wednesday, Nakilat reported first-quarter profit of 163.4 million Qatari riyals ($44.91 million) compared with 54.1 million in the first quarter of 2009.

Analysts polled by Reuters predicted the company would post first-quarter profits of 192 million riyals.

The company reported earnings per Share (EPS) of 0.29 riyals versus 0.10 riyals in the year-earlier period.

Last year, Nakilat raised $949 million to fund new ships, the last tranche of a $6.8 billion financing program begun in 2006 to fund the building of 25 LNG ships at South Korean shipyards.

Qatar has said that it would complete the expansion of its LNG production capacity by September, adding a remaining 15 million tonnes per year to existing capacity of 62 tpy. Qatar is the world’s leading exporter of LNG. ($1=3.638 Qatari Riyals) (Reporting by Regan E Doherty; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Miner NWR raises output target, coking coal prices

PRAGUE, April 14 (Reuters) – Miner New World Resources (NWR)
(NWRS.L) (NWRSsp.PR) has raised its 2010 coal production target
to 11.5 million tonnes from 11 million and agreed higher prices
on coking coal contracts over the next year.

NWR, owner of the Czech Republic’s largest hard coal mines,
said on Wednesday it had reached agreements to sell 5.5 million
tonnes of coking coal by March 2011.

Around 80 percent of those contracts were agreed at an
average price of 163 euros per tonne, up 58 percent from the
first quarter and a 87 percent rise over 2009 prices.

The remaining contracts will be set on a quarterly basis,
with the average price for the second quarter at 135 euros per
tonne, it added.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet, editing by Will Waterman)

Meiji Yasuda to boost unhedged foreign bonds in 10/11

TOKYO, April 14 (Reuters) – Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co said on Wednesday it plans to boost its unhedged foreign bond holdings by 300 billion yen ($3.22 billion) in the financial year that began on April 1.

The nation’s third-largest life insurer by assets also said at a news conference that it would cut its hedged foreign debt by 200 billion yen due to rising hedging costs, with the prospect of interest rates being hiked in the United States earlier than in the euro zone or Japan.

The company added that it would increase its holdings of domestic bonds by a net 1 trillion yen in the 2010/11 financial year.

Meiji Yasuda manages 24.3 trillion yen of assets on behalf of policy holders, of which 6 percent was invested in foreign bonds at the end of March 2010.

Japan’s top nine insurers held around $1.6 trillion in assets as of September 2009 — nearly the size of Brazil’s economy — and their investment moves are followed closely by both domestic and overseas market players.

The insurers, with about $163 billion of foreign bond holdings in total, are watching for when U.S. interest rates start to rise, a change which would push up foreign bond hedging costs and could lead to more Japanese government bond buying. ($1=93.20 Yen) (Reporting by Satomi Noguchi and Yuka Obayashi)

GeckoSystems Applauds BUYINS.NET’s GCKO Naked Short Analyses

CONYERS, GA, Apr 12 (MARKET WIRE) —
GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GCKO) reported today that they are
very pleased with the impact of the recent and ongoing GCKO naked short
analyses currently being performed by BUYINS.NET. GeckoSystems is a
dynamic leader in the emerging mobile robotics industry revolutionizing
their development and usage with “Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety,
Security and Service(TM).”

On Mar. 29 these press releases were distributed:
“GeckoSystems Retains
BUYINS.NET for Naked Short Analyses”
“BUYINS.NET Issues GeckoSystems
International SqueezeTrigger Report”

Results to date per BUYINS.NET’s analyses:
Mar. 29: 62,350 naked
shorts, 32.90% of the 189,520 sold.
Mar. 30: 460,950 naked shorts,
81.60% of the 564,900 sold.
Mar. 31: 97,500 naked shorts, 48.51% of the
201,000 sold.
Apr. 1: 617,575 naked shorts, 70.29% of the 878,575 sold.

Apr. 2: Good Friday
Apr. 5: 145,100 naked shorts, 33.95% of the
427,377 sold.
Apr. 6: 1,978,577 naked shorts, 26.33% of the 7,514,131
sold.
Apr. 7: 288,163 naked shorts, 23.99% of the 1,201,273 sold.

Apr. 8: 35,000 naked shorts, 8.22% of the 426,000 sold.

BUYINS.NET provides Regulation SHO compliance monitoring, short sale
trading statistics, and market integrity surveillance coverage. According
to BUYINS.NET initial report at the market close, March 26, 2010: The
total aggregate number of shares shorted since August 2009 is
approximately 108 million shares. The SqueezeTrigger price for GCKO
shares shorted is $0.024. 42.29 million shares (39%) of all shares
shorted since August 2009 are currently out-of-the-money and already
squeezing. 65.8 million (61%) of the shares shorted will begin squeezing
above $0.032. BUYINS.NET is currently monitoring GCKO market makers daily
for compliance with Fair Market-Making Requirements.

“We have worked very hard for many years to provide a high quality
investment vehicle with ready liquidity and transparency for our hundreds
of investors. We secured our trading symbol by satisfying FINRA’s 15c-211
requirements in September of 2007. We secured DTC eligibility for
electronic trading in January of 2008 and became a DRS participant in
July of 2009 to further ensure and enhance that liquidity. Now, we can
report initial results from this stock market analytic firm renowned for
its demonstrable success in routinely and reliably identifying, with
statistical substance, those firms engaged in the naked short selling of
stock contrary to the SEC’s Regulation SHO.

“We are very pleased to now be able to provide this heightened level of
transparency to our present GCKO stockholders and other prospective
investors. We have prepared a simple trend line analysis of the foregoing
data in a chart available for viewing and/or downloading on our website,”
stated Martin Spencer, President/CEO, GeckoSystems.

“As we continue to effectuate our corporate policy of providing
stockholders heightened liquidity and transparency, we are very pleased
to be able to offer our stockholders an enhanced view of the market’s
activity in GCKO trading and probable greater ease in their purchases and
sales of GCKO stock. We wish to communicate to our hundreds of
stockholders that this greater transparency and efficiency in the
marketplace for our stock as a BUYINS.NET subscriber may further enhance
the value of GCKO stock and increase ROI for them,” opined Spencer.

About BUYINS.NET

BUYINS.NET, http://www.buyins.net, monitors trading in all US stocks in
real time and maintains massive databases of short sale and naked short
sale time and sales data, short squeeze SqueezeTrigger prices, market
maker price movements, shareholder data, statistical data on earnings,
sector correlation, seasonality, hedge fund trading strategies,
comparable valuations. Reports include:

Regulatory & Compliance News

Friction Factor — market maker surveillance system tracking Level II
market makers in all stocks to determine Price Friction and compliance
with new “Fair Market Making Requirements.”

RegSHO Naked Shorts — tracks EVERY failure to deliver in all US stocks
and tracks all Threshold Security Lists daily for which stocks have naked
shorts that are not in compliance with Regulation SHO.

Investments & Trading

SqueezeTrigger — 25 billion cell database tracks EVERY short sale (not
just total short interest) in all US stocks and calculates volume
weighted price that a short squeeze will begin in each stock.

Earnings Edge — predicts probability, price move and length of move
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Seasonality — predicts probability, price move and length of move based
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Group Trader — tracks sector rotation and stock correlation to its
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Pattern Scan — automates tracking of every technical pattern and
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GATS (Global Automated Trading System) — tracks all known trading
strategies and qualifies and quantifies which are working best in real
time.

Disclaimer:

BUYINS.NET is not a registered investment advisor and nothing contained
in any materials should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell
any securities. GeckoSystems has paid no stock, directly or indirectly,
but cash only, to purchase the foregoing analyses to provided in daily
and monthly reports. Please visit their web site, http://www.buyins.net,
for complete risks and disclosures.

Contact:

BUYINS.NET
800-715-9999

About GeckoSystems International Corporation:

Since 1997, GeckoSystems has developed a comprehensive, coherent, and
sufficient suite of hardware and software inventions to enable a new type
of home appliance (a personal robot) the CareBot(TM), to be created for
the mass consumer marketplace. The suite of primary inventions includes:
GeckoNav(TM), GeckoChat(TM) and GeckoTrak(TM).

The primary market for this product is the family for use in eldercare,
care for the chronically ill, and childcare. The primary distribution
channel for this new home appliance is the thousands of independent
personal computer retailers in the U.S. The manufacturing infrastructure
for this new product category of mobile service robots is essentially the
same as the personal computer industry. Several outside contract
manufacturers have been identified and qualified their ability to produce
up to 1,000 CareBots per month within four to six months.

The Company is market driven. At the time of founding, over twelve years
ago, the Company did extensive primary market research to determine the
demographic profile of the early adopters of the then proposed product
line. Subsequent to, and based on that original market research, they
have assembled numerous focus groups to evaluate the fit of the CareBot
personal robot into the participant’s lives and their expected usage. The
Company has also frequently employed the Delphi market research
methodology by contacting and interviewing senior executives,
practitioners, and researchers knowledgeable in the area of elder care.
Using this factual basis of internally performed primary and secondary
market research, and third party research is the statistical substance
for the Company’s sales forecasts.

Not surprisingly the scientific statistical analyses applied revealed
that elderly over sixty-five living alone in metropolitan areas with
broadband Internet available and sufficient household incomes to support
the increased costs were identified as those most likely to adopt
initially. Due to the high cost of assisted living, nursing homes, etc.
the payback for a CareBot(TM) is expected to be only six to eight months
while keeping elderly care receivers independent, in their own long time
homes, and living longer due to the comfort and safety of more frequent
attention from their loved ones.

“We project the available market size in dollars for cost effective,
utilitarian, multitasking eldercare personal robots in 2011 to be $74.0B,
in 2012 to be $77B, in 2013 to be $80B, in 2014 to be $83.3B, and in 2015
to be $86.6B. With market penetrations of 0.03% in 2011, 0.06% in 2012,
0.22% in 2013, 0.53% in 2014, and 0.81% in 2015, we will anticipate
CareBot sales, from this consumer market segment, only, of $22.0M,
$44.0M, $176M, $440.2M, and $704.3M, respectively. We expect these sales
despite — and perhaps because of — the present recession due to pent up
demand for significant cost reduction in eldercare expenses,” opined
Spencer.

The foregoing forecasts do not include sales in non-metropolitan areas;
elderly couples over 65 (only elderly living alone are in these
forecasts); those chronically ill — regardless of age — or elderly
living with their adult children.

The Company’s “mobile robot solutions for safety, security and
service(TM)” are appropriate not only for the consumer, but also
professional healthcare, commercial security and defense markets.
Professional healthcare require cost effective, timely errand running,
portable telemedicine, etc. Homeland Security requires cost effective
mobile robots to patrol and monitor public venues for weapons and WMD
detection. Military users desire the elimination of the “man in the loop”
to enable unmanned ground and air vehicles to not require constant human
control and/or intervention.

The Company’s business model is very much like that of an automobile
manufacturer. Due to the final assembly, test, and shipping being done
based on geographic and logistic realities; strategic
business-to-business relationships can range from private labeling to
joint manufacturing and distribution to licensing only.

Several dozen patent opportunities exist for the Company due to the many
innovative and cost effective breakthroughs embodied not only in
GeckoNav, GeckoChat, and GeckoTrak, but also in additional, secondary
systems that include: GeckoOrient(TM), GeckoMotorController(TM), the
GeckoTactileShroud(TM), the CompoundedSensorArray(TM), and the
GeckoSPIO(TM).

The present senior management at GeckoSystems has over thirty-five years
experience in consumer electronics sales and marketing and product
development. Senior managers have been identified for the areas of
manufacturing, marketing, sales, and finance.

While GeckoSystems has been in the Development Stage, the Company has
accumulated losses to date in excess of six million dollars. In contrast,
the Japanese government has spent one hundred million dollars in grants
(to Sanyo, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, NEC, etc.) over the same time
period to develop personal robots for their eldercare crisis, yet no
viable solutions have been developed.

GeckoSystems is the first mobile robot developer in the world to begin
actual in-home eldercare evaluation trials.

What Does a CareBot Do for the Care Giver?

The short answer is that it decreases the difficulty and stress for the
caregiver that needs to watch over Grandma, Mom, or other family members
most, if not much, of the time day in and day out due to concerns about
their well being, safety, and security.

But, first let’s look at some other labor saving, automatic home
appliances most of us use routinely. For example, needing to do two or
more necessary chores and/or activities at the same time, like laundering
clothes and preparing supper.

The automatic washing machine needs no human intervention after the dirty
clothes are placed in the washer, the laundry powder poured in, and the
desired wash cycle set. Then, this labor saving appliance runs
automatically until the washed clothes are ready to be placed in another
labor saving home appliance, the automatic clothes dryer. While the
clothes are being washed and/or dried, the caregiver prepares supper
using several time saving home appliances like the microwave oven,
“crock” pot, blender, and conventional stove, with possible convection
oven capabilities.

After supper, the dirty pots, pans, and dishes are placed in the
automatic dishwasher to be washed and dried while the family retires to
the den to watch TV, and/or the kids to do homework. Later, perhaps after
the kids have gone to bed, the caregiver may then have the time to fold,
sort, and put up the now freshly laundered clothes.

So what does a CareBot do for the caregiver? It is a new type of labor
saving, time management automatic home appliance.

For example, the care giver frequently feels time stress when they need
to go shopping for 2 or 3 hours, and are uncomfortable when they have to
be away for more than an hour or so. Time stress is much worse for the
caregiver with a frail elderly parent that must be reminded to take
medications at certain times of the day. How can the caregiver be away
for 3-4 hours when Grandma must take her prescribed medication every 2 or
3 hours? If the caregiver is trapped in traffic for an hour or two beyond
the 2 or 3 they expected to be gone, this “time stress” can be very
difficult for the caregiver to moderate.

Not infrequently, the primary caregiver has a 24 hour, 7 days a week
responsibility. After weeks and weeks of this sometimes tedious, if not
onerous routine, how does the caregiver get a “day off?” To bring in an
outsider is expensive (easily $75-125 per day for just 8 hours) and there
is the concern that medication will be missed or the care receiver have
an accident requiring immediate assistance by the caregiver, or someone
they must designate. And the care receiver may be very resistant to a
“stranger” coming in to her home and “running things.”

So what is it worth for a care receiver to have an automatic system to
help take care of Grandma? Just 3 or 4 days a month “off” on a daylong
shopping trip, a visit with friends, or just take in a movie would cost
$225-500 per month. And that scenario assumes that Grandma is willing to
be taken care of by a “stranger” during those needed and appropriate days
off.

So perhaps, an automatic caregiver, a CareBot, might be pretty handy, and
potentially very cost effective from the primary caregiver’s perspective.

What Does a CareBot Do for the Care Receiver?

It’s a new kind of companion that always stays close to them enabling
family and friends to care for them from afar. It tells them jokes,
retells family anecdotes, reminds them to take medication, reminds them
that family is coming over soon (or not at all), recites Bible verses,
plays favorite songs and/or other music. It alerts them when unexpected
visitors, or intruders are present. It notifies designated caregivers
when a potentially harmful event has occurred, such as a fall, fire in
the home, or simply been not found by the CareBot for too long. It
responds to calls for help and notifies those that the caregiver
determined should be immediately notified when any predetermined adverse
event occurs.

The family can customize the personality of the CareBot. The voice’s
cadence can be fast or slow. The intonation can be breathy, or abrupt.
The voice’s volume can range from very loud to very soft. The response
phrases from the CareBot for recognized words and phrases can be
colloquial and/or unique to the family’s own heritage. The personality
can range from brassy to timid depending on how the care giver, and
others appropriate, chooses it to be.

Generally, the care receiver is pleased at the prospect of family being
able to drop in for a “virtual visit” using the onboard webcam and video
monitor for at home “video conferencing.” The care receiver may feel much
more needed and appreciated when their far flung family and friends can
“look in” on them anywhere in the world where they can get broadband
internet access and simply chat for a bit.

Why is Grandma really interested in a CareBot? She wants to stay in her
home, or her family’s home, as long as she possibly can. What’s that
worth? Priceless. Or, an average nursing home is $5,000 per month for an
environment that is too often the beginning of a spiral downward in the
care receiver’s health. That’s probably $2-3K more per month for them to
be placed where they really don’t want to be. Financial payback on a
CareBot? Less than a year- Emotional payback for the family to have this
new automatic care giver? Nearly instantaneous-

Safe Harbor:

Statements regarding financial matters in this press release other than
historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such
statements about the Company’s future expectations, including future
revenues and earnings, technology efficacy and all other forward-looking
statements be subject to the Safe Harbors created thereby. The Company is
a development stage firm that continues to be dependent upon outside
capital to sustain its existence. Since these statements (future
operational results and sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are
subject to change at any time, the Company’s actual results may differ
materially from expected results.

Contact:
www.GeckoSystems.com
or
Main number: 1-866-CAREBOT
International: +1 678-413-9236

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

HK stocks at 3-mth high, RUSAL up on 2009 profit

HONG KONG, April 12 (Reuters) – Hong Kong shares are set to
rise 0.81 percent on Monday to a fresh three-month high, with
shares of UC RUSAL (0486.HK) up after it said it swung to a
profit in 2009, and further helped by expectations of a rise in
the yuan.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 180.27 points at
22,388.77. The China Enterprise Index .HSCE of top locally
listed mainland Chinese stocks was up 0.9 percent at 13,163.7.

UC RUSAL (RUAL.PA), the world’s biggest aluminium producer,
was up 2.7 percent after reporting a 2009 net profit of $821
million, compared with a $5.98 billion loss in 2008

Bathroom scale that Tweets user”s weight!

New York, March 26 (ANI): A bathroom scale that Tweets your weight could be the best way to give you that extra push to shed those love handles.

Withings’ Wi-Fi Body Scale, which sends body stats to iPhone and Web page, has now been upgraded with Twitter facility.

People’s weight and other body statistics get immediately pasted on their Twitter profile when they step on the scale.

Health experts feel that it can inspire people to work hard at their fitness.

“Studies show that accountability does help. For instance, if patients get weighed once a week rather than every couple of months, they lose more weight,” the New York Daily News quoted Dr. Kent Holtorf as saying.

However, it may have a counter effect on people with low self-confidence.

Holtorf added: “It could work if someone is there to help. But if the person already has a poor self-image, and they get made fun of, then I think tweeting one’s weight may be going a little bit too far.”

The Withings’ Wi-Fi Body Scale, outfitted with a wireless connection, is priced at 163 dollars on Amazon.com. (ANI)

Greek, peripheral CDS prices fall, SovX lower

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) – The cost of insuring Greece’s debt against default fell on Monday as speculation of a deal for the debt laden country grew.

The cost of insuring 10 million euros of exposure against default fell to 336,500 euros from 364,000 at Friday’s New York close, according five-year CDS prices from monitor CMA DataVision.

Other sovereign CDS prices also fell, with Portugal down to 157.52 bps from 163.7 and Spain down to 124 bps from 129.5 bps.

The SovX index of Western European Sovereign CDS prices fell to 83.5 bps, from 90 bps.
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Corruption cases against Pak PM’s wife withdrawn

Karachi, Sep. 5 (ANI): The corruption cases filed against Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s wife have been withdrawn.

Fouzia Yousuf Gilani and five others were accused of obtaining two loans from the Agricultural Development Bank for their companies in the late 1980s and not returning the money, The Dawn reports.

But the National Accountability Bureau which had filed the cases against Gilani, Syeda Samina Abrar, Anwar Nasreen, Ziaur Rehman, Khalid Hussain and Nasreen Munawar Chaudhry in 2000 told the court that the matter has been settled and charges withdrawn.

According to the prosecution, the accused, who were directors of the Pakistan Green Fertiliser, had obtained a loan of 71.163 million rupees from the ADBP in November 1987 and not returned the amount after which the National Accountability Bureau had filed a reference against them.

The second reference pertained to a loan of 100 million rupees taken from the bank in July 1989 for the Multan Edible Oil Extraction Company.

The court had dismissed applications for acquittal in July.

The MD of the firms, Munawar Hussain Sindhu, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on March 10, 2001, while Gilani and others were awarded three-year terms in absentia for failing to appear before the court. (ANI)

Moily says more than 2.6 crore cases pending in subordinate courts

New Delhi, July 13(ANI): Union Minister of Law and Justice, Veerappa Moily, on Monday said that more than 2.6 crore cases were pending in the subordinate courts and over 39 lakh cases were pending in high courts across the country.

“As per the reports received from the Registries of the High Courts, 39,10,858 cases were pending in the High Courts and 2,66,50,467 cases were pending in the Subordinate Courts as on December 31, 2008,” Moily said.

Moily also said that according to information received from the Registry of the Supreme Court, 50,659 matters (31,363 admission matters and 19,296 regular hearing matters) were pending in the Supreme Court as on 1st June 2009.

He further added that government has taken several measures to smooth the progress of cases in courts.

Earlier, government had introduced ‘Fast Track Courts’ to speed up trials in various courts. About 25.07 lakh cases have been disposed of by these courts out of 31.01 lakh cases transferred to them, Moily said.

The minister also informed that the government periodically monitors the strength of judges in high courts and ensures timely filing up of vacancies so that courts does not undergo scarcity of judges.

Moily emphasised that on the basis of reviews, the strength of judges in the Supreme Court has been increased from 26 to 31 and 163 posts of judges have been created in various high courts. (ANI)

‘I love you’ comes with a #163,424 price tag

London, July 13 (ANI): Those who say hearing the words ‘I love you’ is priceless, and can never equate with the biggest of luxuries, need to think again, for according to a recent research in a book, these invaluable words have a price tag of 163, 424 pounds.

The book, titled ‘You Are Really Rich, You Just Don’t Know It Yet’, has attempted to work out our real worth by putting a value on some of the priceless moments in life.

Authored by former ad executives Steve Henry and David Alberts, the book aims to show there are more important things than money.

“The book is about a new value system, an alternative to a purely financial system,” the Telegraph quoted Henry as saying.

He added: “Partly because, as a direct result of the credit crunch, people are exploring different ways of living, and they’re looking for something to replace money as a general criterion for value.”

Research specialist Brainjuicer carried out a study in which he asked over 1,000 people nationally what made them happy.

They were asked to rate 50 different life events and experiences and compare them with the pleasure gained from a lottery windfall.

Using a rating system a monetary value was calculated for those little things in life, which make us happy.

“We started looking at the things that make a real difference in people lives and saying there is more to life than worrying about belt tightening in a recession,” said Alberts.

“What it is doing is making us think twice about spending money and what we really want in life.

“It was interesting when doing the research that very few people mentioned money and people focused on family occasion, hanging out with friends, having a quiet time on their own, seeing grandchildren and visiting places they had never seen before as things that made a real difference in their lives,” he added.

Being in good health turned out to be the most precious possession with a value of 180,105 pounds.

And being told “I Love You” came second, and was worth 163,424 pounds.

Closely following it was being in a stable relationship priced at 154,849 pounds.

Living in the City proved to be worth much less than being in the country. (ANI)

Britain confirms two servicemen killed in Afghanistan

London – Two British soldiers serving in Afghanistan have died within hours of each other, taking to 163 the number of servicemen who have lost their lives in the conflict, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Thursday.

It confirmed that an elite Royal Marine died in hospital in Britain late Wednesday after being flown home for treatment for injuries sustained in a blast near Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province last Friday.

On Thursday, a soldier was killed in an explosion near Garmsir in Helmand, the MoD said. (dpa)

Malaysian Indian Congress says it has not failed Malay-Indians

Kuala Lumpur, May 22 (ANI): Malaysian Indian Congress secretary-general Dr. S. Subramaniam has said the party has not failed the Malay-Indian community.

Malaysia’s Human Resource Minister said the delay in enforcing solutions had led to dissatisfaction among the community, which was evident in the results of the last general election.

The Star quoted Dr Subramaniam as saying that the Malaysian Government has realized the problems faced by the community, and has formed a special committee to tackle them.

The Public Service Department has approved 175 scholarships this year compared to last year’s 163 for Indian students, who want to pursue higher studies in local and foreign universities, he added. (ANI)

The latest hip pastime of Hollywood: ‘nerdy’ table tennis

London, May 17 (ANI): Dismissed after being dubbed “game of nerds”, table tennis has now officially become cool, thanks to its new army of fans – Hollywood A-listers.

On Saturday, the latest hip New York table tennis venue will open its doors to an adoring star-studded following.

SPiN New York, an exclusive ping-pong parlour, will become favourite hang out for A-listers, including Ed Norton and Matthew Broderick, and actress Susan Sarandon, reports The Independent.

Sarandon will also cut the ribbon at SPiN’s glitzy launch.

At the moment, there are more than 2.4 million table tennis players in England, according to figures from Sport England.

And the number of adults who play every week has risen by more than 20 per cent since 2006, going from 163,000 to 195,000.

“Table tennis was looked at as being an old-fashioned sport, but we’re changing that now,” says Alex Murdoch, chairman of the English Table Tennis Association.

“We’ve become a lot more cool,” he added. (ANI)

Nerve pain pill found effective in treating hot flashes

Washington, May 16 (ANI): A pill used to treat nerve pain has been found effective in treating hot flashes in women, claim Mayo Clinic researchers.

They have found that pregabalin decreased hot flash severity and frequency about 20 percent more than did a placebo.

Pregabalin has been found to offer about the same benefit as gabapentin, an older, related drug, as well as newer classes of antidepressants.

“Hot flashes are a major problem in many women, and for those who opt not to take hormonal therapies or antidepressants, pregabalin appears to be another treatment option,” said the study’s lead author, Charles Loprinzi, M.D., a medical oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Women who use pregabalin only need to take two pills a day, versus three for gabapentin, he added.

Gabapentin and a variety of antidepressants are commonly prescribed for treatment of hot flashes and pregabalin is a newer version of gabapentin.

Dr. Loprinzi and colleagues set up a 207-participant study conducted by the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG). Patients getting pregabalin started off with lower doses which were increased weekly to the eventual full dose.

The researchers found that for the 163 patients both doses of pregabalin reduced hot flashes to about the same degree, but that toxicities, such as cognitive dysfunction, were increased at the higher dose.

After six weeks of treatment, women receiving pregabalin showed 65 percent decrease in hot flashes compared to 50 percent decrease in those receiving placebo.

“All in all, this study demonstrates that we have another agent to add to the list of medications that offer benefit against hot flashes, even in women using anti-estrogen therapies,” said Dr. Loprinzi .

The findings were presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). (ANI)

834,000 civilians displaced in Pakistan due to Swat operation : UN

Islamabad, May 15 (ANI): The Swat military operation against the Taliban and other extremist groups in the region has displaced over 834,000 civilians till now, the United Nations has said.

“Some 834,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) have been registered so far. This is a massive, massive displacement in the world today,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres said.

The number of refugees has shot up drastically by about 163,000 since Wednesday, as the military intensified its offensive leaving thousands of civilians homeless.

Guterres, who visited a refugee camp in Swabi District of the region, appealed the international community to help Pakistan, as it is facing one of the worst crises in its history.

“Pakistan is passing through a difficult period. The international community should come forward and help Pakistan. I cannot give a figure but they need a lot of help,” the Dawn quoted Guterres, as saying.

UN refugee agency spokeswoman, Ariane Rummery said that 835,226 people have been now registered since May 2.

The Human Rights Watch has already warned that with more than 1.3 million people displaced, Pakistan is facing its biggest movement of people after it parted away from India in 1947.The partition had witnessed migration of millions or people between both the countries. (ANI)

World’s oldest teak trees dying in Kerala

Nilambur (Kerala), May 13 (ANI): Two teak trees, believed to be the oldest in the world, are dying.

The trees are located at the plantation, about 40 kilometres from Malappuram town in Kerala’s Malappuram district.

As per forest officials here, two out of the 117 plants are in the dying stage, they have died almost 90 percent. But the officials have still retained in the plantation and tourists are allowed to watch it.

These trees have started forming wrinkles and some of the them are already half-dead.

The plantation is named in honour of H.V. Conolly, the then Collector of Malabar during the British rule, who was instrumental in planting teak in the entire Nilambur area with the help of Shri Chanthu Menon, a forest officer under him.

The plot extends across 2.31 hectares beside the Chaliyar river at Aruvakode and a hanging bridge is one of the attractions among the tourists.

This plantation is about 163 years old. The planting was done between the year 1842 -1844.

The plot has also been acclaimed for having the oldest living teak tree (girth 420 cms and height 46.5 meters) and Shri Chanthu Menon, was laid to rest in this very teak garden, Conolly’s plot, as a mark of honour. By Juhan Samuel (ANI)

ING Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund and ING International High…

ING Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund and ING International
High Dividend Equity Income Fund Declare Monthly Distributions

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 15 /PRNewswire/ — ING Investments, LLC announced the
monthly distributions on the common shares of two of its closed-end funds: ING
Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund (NYSE: IGD) and ING
International High Dividend Equity Income Fund (NYSE: IID) (each a “Fund” and
collectively, the “Funds”). With respect to each Fund, the distribution will
be paid on May 15, 2009, to shareholders of record on May 5, 2009. The
ex-dividend date is May 1, 2009. The distribution per share for each Fund is
as follows:

Distribution Per
Fund Share
—- ——
ING Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity
Fund (NYSE: IGD) $0.156

ING International High Dividend Equity Income Fund
(NYSE: IID) $0.163

Each Fund intends to make regular monthly distributions based on the past and
projected performance of the Fund. The amount of monthly distributions may
vary, depending on a number of factors. As portfolio and market conditions
change, the rate of distributions on the common shares may change. There can
be no assurance that a Fund will be able to declare a distribution in each
period.

The tax treatment and characterization of a Fund’s distributions may vary
significantly from time to time depending on the net investment income of the
Fund and whether the Fund has realized gains or losses from its options
strategy versus gain or loss realizations in the equity securities in the
portfolio. Each Fund’s distributions will normally reflect past and projected
net investment income, and may include income from dividends and interest,
capital gains and/or a return of capital. The final tax characteristics of the
distributions cannot be determined with certainty until after the end of the
calendar year, and will be reported to shareholders at that time.

IGD estimates that each distribution for the current fiscal year as of March
31, 2009, will be comprised of approximately 14% ordinary income and 86%
return of capital.

IID estimates that each distribution for the current fiscal year as of March
31, 2009, will be comprised of approximately 9% ordinary income and 91% return
of capital.

The portion of each Fund’s monthly distributions estimated to come from the
Fund’s option strategy, for tax purposes, may be treated as a combination of
long-term and short-term capital gains, and/or a return of capital. The tax
character of each Fund’s option strategy is largely determined by movements
in, and gain and loss realizations in the underlying equity portfolio.

Certain statements made on behalf of the Funds in this release are
forward-looking statements. The Funds actual future results may differ
significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements due to
numerous factors, including but not limited to a decline in value in equity
markets in general or the Funds investments specifically. Neither the Funds
nor ING undertake any responsibility to update publicly or revise any
forward-looking statement.

ING Investments, LLC, the manager of the Funds, is part of ING, a global
financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life
insurance and retirement services to over 75 million private, corporate and
institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of
about 125,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies
that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

SHAREHOLDER INQUIRIES: ING Funds Shareholder Services at (800) 992-0180

SOURCE ING

ING Funds Shareholder Services, 1-800-992-0180