BEACHWOOD, Ohio, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Aleris International, Inc. announced today that Galdino Claro will join Aleris as Executive Vice President and CEO, Aleris Americas, reporting to Steven J. Demetriou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, on June 3, 2008. In this role, Mr. Claro will be responsible for all Aleris business operations in the Americas.

Throughout his career in the metals industry, Mr. Claro, 49 has held key operational, marketing and product development roles with broad global responsibilities. Since September 2007, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Heico Metal Processing Group, a US$2 billion conglomerate with operations in the United States, Canada and Europe.

STOCKHOLM, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Qtel Award Ascade the Contract for the Complete Suite of the Carrier Cockpit(TM) Platform; From Routing and Trading to Quality Management and Interconnect Billing.

Ascade, the global market-leader in advanced Routing & Trading, Billing and Quality solutions for the Interconnect market, today announced that Qtel, the Qatar based highly international carrier, has awarded a contract for the full suite of Carrier Cockpit(TM).

Qtel made a thorough evaluation of the existing systems in the market and found Carrier Cockpit(TM) to provide the best support for its future growth; both within Qatar and through its international affiliates.

Planting biofuel crops on converted forestlands or other ecologically valuable lands has already become a hotly debated practice. Now, a new report co-authored by Nature Conservancy scientists says that biofuel crops could also become invasive species -- and that the risk needs to be evaluated before these crops are planted. The Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) and Conservancy scientists have identified all the crops currently being used or considered for biofuel production and ranked them according to the risk they pose of becoming invasive species.

BAAR, Switzerland, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Manas Petroleum Corporation (MNAP.OB) today announces that its wholly owned subsidiary DWM Petroleum AG signed a contract for the acquisition of 400 kilometers 2D seismic with GII, which will augment the 679 kilometers of seismic data recently reprocessed by Denver based GeoConcept. This seismic program, which is using a combination of Vibroseis and dynamite sources, aims to refine the definition of 9 prospects identified in the Albanian fold thrust belt and is to commence in July 2008, prior to drilling in 2009. The expected costs for the seismic acquisition are EUR 2.2 million (USD 3.5 million) for 2008 and EUR 3.4 million (USD 5.4 million) for 2009, thus, largely secured by a USD 6.2 million cash bank guarantee.

GREENSBORO, North Carolina and LONDON, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Strategic Supply Agreement for Aerospace & Defense Market Valued at Approximately US$20 Million Through 2013

RF Micro Devices, (Nasdaq: RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance semiconductor components, and SELEX GALILEO, one of Europe's leading defense electronics suppliers, today announced the two companies have signed a strategic supply agreement. The strategic supply agreement expands upon a former agreement signed in 2001 between SELEX GALILEO and a division of the former Filtronic Compound Semiconductor Ltd, which was acquired by RFMD(R) on February 29, 2008.

ADLINGTON, England, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

EDMONTON, Canada, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Isotechnika Inc. (TSX:ISA) today announced positive results from the Phase 2b PROMISE trial which evaluated the Company's lead drug, voclosporin , in de novo kidney transplant patients. This trial was designed to determine the most appropriate dosing strategy for the Phase 3 program in kidney transplantation.

LONDON, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- VocaLink, the payment transaction specialist, announced today that the Faster Payments service has gone live with the first transactions processed successfully this morning. The ground-breaking Faster Payments service is the first application of the VocaLink Real-Time Payments Platform and is generating significant interest from major banks around the world.

The VocaLink Real-Time Payments Platform is unique in facilitating single real-time payments over a variety of channels including mobile, internet, telephone and even payment card. This will enable payments from consumer to consumer, consumer to business, business to consumer and business to business. It is likely to change both the way that people pay and the way they want to be paid.

LONDON, May 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- idiomag Releases Personalised Multimedia Channel Across all Social Networks

Today idiomag has launched a distributed widget version of its personalised music magazine, aggregating recommendations from friends across all major social networks, and delivering a personalised multimedia channel for every reader - wherever they want to read it.

The way we consume media is dramatically changing. Relevant, engaging and up-to-date content is demanded in the places where consumers already spend their time. idiomag delivers just that, and integrates with the social web to give users more relevant content and an interactive reading experience.

KVISTGÅRD, Denmark, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Bavarian Nordic has initiated Phase I/II clinical study with its HIV vaccine candidate: MVA-BN(R) HIV multiantigen.

A Phase I/II safety and immunogenicity study in 15 HIV-infected patients (CD4 counts > 350 ul/ml) has begun enrolment in the United States. The first safety data are expected by the end of 2008, while the immunogenicity data will be available during first half of 2009.