AMSTERDAM, May 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- Binding declaration covers largest securities fraud settlement on record in Europe - Shell to pay foundation representing 150+ institutional investors in nineteen countries stemming from company's prior misstatements of proven oil gas reserves; US law firm Grant Eisenhofer represents international investor group

Officially approving the largest securities fraud settlement ever reached in Europe, a Dutch appeals court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell plc. to begin payment of US$381 million plus interest to a foundation representing a group of institutional investors from 17 European countries, plus Canada and Australia.

PARIS, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) annual ordinary and extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting held on May 29, 2009 approved all the proposed resolutions. Shareholders present or represented by proxy had in the aggregate a total of 1,152.6 million shares, which represented a quorum of 51.008 per cent.

The Shareholders' Meeting thus approved the 2008 financial and consolidated statements.

For 2008, there was no dividend distribution.

HAMBURG, Germany, May 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- International Environmental Prize to be Awarded in Future in Hamburg

MANCHESTER, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Having to pay and display whilst visiting loved ones in hospital is life's biggest injustice payment according to new research released by The Co-operative ISA's.

Hospital parking charges head the top 20 of raw deals, with 1 in 6 (17 per cent) people citing fees for visiting sick friends and relatives as the thing they hate to pay most for, making some so angry that they deliberately risk being clamped by refusing to pay.

Having to pay to spend a penny at public toilets also makes the list of fees which get the public's back up, along with prescription charges, dentist bills and surcharges when booking flights.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, May 29 /PRNewswire/ --

El Salvador's fixed and mobile data markets will double in size by 2014 as mobile data services, fixed broadband, and pay-TV drive growth, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

LONDON, May 29 /PRNewswire/ --

Frost Sullivan celebrated the success of outstanding business achievement at the 2009 Growth Excellence Awards Banquet on Wednesday 20 May.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

Movers and shakers from around the world were honoured during this event which was held at the Sofitel St. James in London. The evening also included a keynote address from Frost Sullivan Chairman David Frigstad, who spoke about the complex business universe and the mileage gained from the evening's event/impact of the evening's awards. The Frost Sullivan Best Practices Award can best be captured in three words - inspire, influence and impact - with the overarching goal of accelerating growth for recipient companies, he said.

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hague - Today, the Amsterdam Court of Appeals has declared the Non-U.S. Settlement Agreement concerning the recategorisation by Shell of certain of its oil and gas reserves binding. The agreement provides relief in the amount of US$352.6 million to qualifying non-U.S. shareholders who bought Shell shares on any stock exchange outside the United States from 8 April 1999 through 18 March 2004. The settlement amount includes a US$12.5 million payment which is to be distributed equally to all shareholders who submit a valid claim for relief, regardless of the number of shares held by the person or entity submitting a claim.

On the drive home yesterday afternoon I heard a fascinating story on NPR about an ecosystem near and dear to all humans - our skin. Even if bacteria aren't your thing, the story and the findings are really interesting (and actually could be applicable to a wide host of conditions and diseases).

Scientists in Portugal and France managed to follow the patterns of gene expression in food-poisoning bacteria Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) live during infection for the first time. The work about to be published in PLoS Pathogens shows how the bacterial genome shifts to better adapt to infection by activating genes involved in virulence and subversion of the host defences, as well as adaptation to the host conditions.

COLLEGEVILLE, Pennsylvania, May 29 /PRNewswire/ --