REDMOND, Washington, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Transaction valued at approximately US$44.6 billion in cash and stock;

- Provides 62 percent premium to current trading price for Yahoo! shareholders;

- Combined entity to create a more competitive company while providing superior value to shareholders and better choice and innovation for customers and partners

CHICAGO, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Direct market access to Nordic equities markets and specialist execution now available through Townsend's RealTick execution management system (EMS)

Townsend Analytics (http://www.townsendanalytics.com), a leading provider of multi-broker, multi-asset, multi-region, and multi-route electronic trading solutions for the global capital markets, has added Nordic investment bank SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken) to its international multi-broker network.

MANCHESTER, England, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A revolution occurring in the world's electricity supply can help power investor returns even through a recession according to a leading fund manager.

Andrew Moffat, who manages the CIS UK Income with Growth Trust at Co-operative Insurance, believes that companies developing new generation plants in emerging countries such as China and India can continue to grow despite an economic downturn due to rapid growth in demand for power. There are equal opportunities in western countries where ageing infrastructures need to be replaced and environmental legislation continues to bite.

ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Improved Medical Benefit Rating Granted for XIENCE V from French Health Authority

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that it has received reimbursement approval in France for its XIENCE(TM) V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System, the first drug eluting stent to demonstrate clinical superiority over another drug eluting stent in a randomized clinical trial.

NEW YORK, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Complements GFI's Hybrid Brokerage Model by Accelerating Electronic Trading Capability

GFI Group Inc. (Nasdaq: GFIG) announced today that it has acquired Trayport, a leading provider of real-time electronic trading software for brokers, exchanges and traders in the commodities, fixed income, currencies and equities markets. Trayport's software is installed on more than 10,000 trading screens worldwide, dealing in over 2,000 different trading instruments and supporting over 50 marketplaces across 15 countries. Trayport, a privately-held company founded in London in 1993, had estimated revenues of 14 million pounds (approximately US$28 million) for their fiscal year ending January 31, 2008.

VIENNA, Austria, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Success drives the rollout of Microsoft's innovative RoundTable 360-degree videoconferencing system.

Microsoft Corp today announced increased Western European availability of its unique Microsoft RoundTable videoconferencing system. Enterprises in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland can now enjoy the next generation of videoconferencing, maximising effective communication, reducing costs and giving businesses the opportunity to turn meetings into corporate assets.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

BADEN, Austria, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A workshop organized by the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE), held in Baden/Vienna, aims at raising public awareness of TBE and informs on the effectiveness of vaccination. Tick-borne encephalitis, a viral disease transmitted by infected ticks, can leave infected persons with permanent sequelae. The case fatality rate is 1-2%.

Event tourism and TBE

LONDON, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Manpower Software plc, a leading provider of workforce optimisation and electronic rostering solutions, is pleased to announce that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust has selected Manpower Software's MAPS Healthroster solution after a comprehensive competitive OGC tender process.

Lt. Col. James "Flipper" Kromberg of the U.S. Air Force became the first military service pilot to evaluate the F-35 Lightning II, taking the aircraft through a series of maneuvers Wednesday on its 26th flight.

Kromberg took off from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant at 11:54 a.m. CST, flew the plane to 6,000 feet and checked handling qualities at 15-degrees angle of attack. He then climbed to 10,000 and 12,000 feet assessing the up-and-away flight-control response. Kromberg also tested the F-35's engine performance and formation-flying characteristics.

"The aircraft flew very well, exceeding my expectations," Kromberg said. "I was surprised by the amount of power on the takeoff roll. And the handling, particularly with the gear up, was phenomenal.

For the first time ever, NASA will beam a song -- The Beatles' "Across the Universe" -- directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4.

The transmission over NASA's Deep Space Network will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and the group's beginnings. Two other anniversaries also are being honored: The launch 50 years ago this week of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, and the founding 45 years ago of the Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas that supports missions to explore the universe.

The transmission is being aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is located 431 light years away from Earth. The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney expressed excitement that the tune, which was principally written by fellow Beatle John Lennon, was being beamed into the cosmos.