CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 11 /PRNewswire/ --

South Africa has subscribed to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) regarding access to water and sanitation. The Government has committed itself to reducing the number of people with no access to proper sanitation, to eradicate all bucket systems and ensure that everyone has access to proper sanitation by 2020. To achieve this, the government has made funds available to the municipal sector to make sure that this goal is attained.

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The South African municipal wastewater treatment equipment market is expected to experience gradual growth in the next five years due to this increase in funding.

Shire plc today announces the Japanese launch of FOSRENOL(R) (lanthanum carbonate), which is now available to prescribers and patients in Japan through Shire's strategic alliance partner Bayer Yakuhin Ltd.

FOSRENOL is the first commercially available non-calcium, non-resin phosphate binder in Japan and is used in the control of hyperphosphataemia in chronic renal failure patients on dialysis.

Bayer Yakuhin received an exclusive license from Shire in December 2003 to develop FOSRENOL in Japan, completing Phase II and Phase III clinical trials in the Japanese population.

SHENZHEN, China, March 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company Plays Key Role in Helping Drive Local 3G Network Deployment

CCID, an established research firm in China disclosed recently in an industry report entitled Local Vendors Stand out in China's 3G Equipment Market that the rapid deployment of 3G networks in China will eventually result in the creation of about 660,000 3G carrier frequency by mid this year. This will make China the country with the largest 3G network construction in the world.

LONDON, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- AboveNet, a leading provider of fibre optic connectivity solutions for business and carriers, today announced an agreement with multilateral trading facility Chi-X Europe. This agreement will provide financial institutions with ultra-low latency connectivity and proximity hosting for accessing Chi-X Europe's market data and trading platform services.

LONDON, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Brady plc (BRY.L), the leading supplier of trading and risk management solutions for metals and commodities, has announced significant progress and released preliminary results showing year-on-year operating profits that have more than doubled and pre-tax profits up by an impressive 63% to GBP1 million. Recurring revenue has increased by 36% to 35% of total revenues. New contract signings have trebled and there is significant growth in the sales opportunity pipeline. Sales revenues have increased 8% over 2007 to GBP6.2 million.

NEW YORK, March 11 /PRNewswire/ --

Brendan Light, Senior Vice President of Research and Product Development at BuzzBack Market Research will host two free Webinars: New Ways to Improve Online Consumer Research, on Wednesday, March 18 at 2 PM Eastern and Thursday, March 19 at 10 AM Eastern.

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Neo Booking SA, is launching the first global online planning and booking platform for digital-out-of-home advertising, called BookingDooH (http://www.bookingdooh.com).

BookingDooh is a free virtual marketplace for Digital-out-of-Home operators and media buyers. The platform provides a clear and simple insight into the DooH business and proposes innovative workflow processes for advertisers on the DooH market.

You wouldn't think that tanking an economy would make anyone happy but it puts a spring in the steps of a small group; economics professors.    

If the lousy economy is cause for a party, the election of Barack Obama and more government meandering is apparently icing on the cake.    Witness Professor Panicos Demetriades of the Economic and Social Research Council's World Economy and Finance  Programme, who is today speaking at the 'Politics of Macro-Adjustment and Poverty Reduction' Conference.

A new study challenges the prevailing assumption that you must pay attention to something in order to learn it. Research in the journal Neuron says that stimulus-reward pairing can elicit visual learning in adults ... even without awareness of the stimulus presentation or reward contingencies. 

The story’s Superman figure doubts if humanity is worth saving. Its Batman is impotent. Its Wonder Woman has mommy issues. And its closest thing to a protagonist also is a murderous sociopath.

Welcome to the world of Watchmen, considered by many to be the greatest comic book ever written. Dalhousie University english professor Anthony Enns, who teaches the course “Cartoons and Comics,” appreciates why people feel that way. He remembers Alan Moore’s comic being a sensation from the moment it first hit shelves over 20 years ago.

“If you were into comics then, everyone was taking about it, all the time,” he says. “People would gather and have these endless debates about what would happen next issue.”