SYDNEY, March 22--AsiaNet/InfoQuest STARCK WINS... NEW YORK: Legendary designer Philippe Starck has manyreasons to smile, and it was not just the kisses he receivedfrom the reigning Miss America and Miss Universe at the recentInternational Star Diamond Awards in Berlin where he accepted aLifetime Achievement Award. Starck announced the formation of apowerhouse global partnership with Prince Faisal F. Al Saud toroll out a new global brand,'Starck Hotels' that he says willmake guests "more sexy". www.f6world.com www.starck.com www.stardiamondaward.com RECORD-BREAKING YEAR... RIO DE JANEIRO: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce posted net incomeof US$ 2.573 billion in 2004, 66.2 per cent higher than itsprevious record income of US$1.548 billion, in 2003. Earningsper share was US$2.23. Return on equity was 34.8 per cent,exceeding the 31.7 per cent ROE of 2003. http://www.cvrd.com.br WORLD-WIDE LICENSE.. MOUNTAIN VIEW: Benitec Ltd. announces that it has granted aworld-wide, non-exclusive commercial license to genOway (Lyon,France) to develop transgenic animals using DNA-directed RNAinterference (ddRNAi). This agreement grants genOway thefreedom to provide customers with cutting edge in vivo RNAitechnologies to facilitate the drug discovery process fromtarget validation to safety studies. Benitec will receive anup-front license fee and on-going royalties, however, specificfinancial details were not disclosed. RIVERSTONE INTRODUCES... SANTA CLARA: Riverstone Networks, a leading provider ofCarrier Ethernet solutions, announced the availability ofHierarchical Virtual Private LAN Service (HVPLS) across bothits RS and Riverstone 15000 product lines. The enhancementcreates the industry's most comprehensive portfolio ofHVPLS-enabled carrier Ethernet routers, allowing serviceproviders to scale either up or down to cost-effectivelydeliver more reliable business and triple-play services. http://www.riverstonenet.com PHOTRONICS EXPANDS... BROOKFIELD: Photronics, Inc., a worldwide leader insupplying innovative imaging technology solutions for theglobal electronics industry, announced plans to expand its flatpanel display (FPD) mask capacity through the construction of astate-of-the-art FPD mask fabrication facility in Taichung,Taiwan. http://www.photronics.com/ STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP... ZWICKAU: MSI Technology GmbH and Peppercon AG announced astrategic partnership in the Server and Server-Managementsector at CeBIT 2005. Peppercon has developed and customizedfor MSI a Remote Management daughter card, which MSI isdistributing under MSI's brand name. http://www.peppercon.com http://www.raritan.com GIZMONDO LAUNCH... LONDON: Gizmondo Europe Ltd, subsidiary of Jacksonville,Florida-based Tiger Telematics Inc., heralded the weekend'shigh street launch of the Gizmondo handheld multi-entertainmentdevice as a big success, and a positive start to its ongoingcampaign to drive awareness of the host of features andfunctionality that the device brings to consumers. http://www.gizmondo.com http://www.tigertelematics.com http://www.gizmondo.com/175regentstreet CONTRACTS EXTENDED... FRANKFURT: Fraport AG's supervisory board today approvedcontract extensions for the company's executive board chairmanand vice chairman. Dr. Wilhelm Bender's term as chairman of theexecutive board will be extended from January 1, 2006, throughto August 31, 2009. Likewise, Prof. Manfred Scholch's contractas vice chairman of the executive board and executive boardmember responsible for infrastructure and legal affairs hasbeen renewed for the period from January 1, 2006, to June 20,2007. http://www.fraport.de NEW IDENTITY... LONDON: BP announced that the name of its new olefins andderivatives subsidiary will be Innovene. Innovene will beformed as a separate entity within the BP Group in April, withmore than $9 billion in assets and $15 billion in third-partysales globally. The new company will be headquartered inChicago and have more than 8,500 employees at 26 principalsites around the world. www.innovene.com/innovene/images/innovene_logo_jpeg.zip RATING UPGRADED... SAO PAULO: Moody's, a leading international rating agency,has upgraded Banco Itau's financial strength rating from C- toC, with a stable outlook. Moody's states that this upgradereflects the Bank's consistently strong financial performance.Of the 23 banks that operate in Brazil and are evaluated byMoody's in this rating category, Itau is the best classified,being the only one to receive a C rating. http://www.itau.com PRE-PAY ORDERS... SYDNEY: SkyNetGlobal Ltd, listed on ASX in Sydney and on AIMin London, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, W HomeAutomation Pty Ltd, secured two binding pre-pay orders from theAustralian subsidiary of a Russia-Ukraine trading company,Techno Import Pty Ltd, for US$23 million (A$29 million) worthof home automation products. http://www.skynetglobal.com HIGHER STAKE: CLEVELAND: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc announced that it hasacquired a total relevant interest in approximately 48.4million Portman shares representing approximately 27.6 per centof Portman's issued share capital. The offer for Portman is dueto close at 7:00pm (Perth time), which is 6:00am (New Yorktime), today, March 22, 2005. http://www.cleveland-cliffs.com http://www.Portman.com.au INCREASED PROTECTION... HIGH POINT: Banner Pharmacaps Soflet Gelcaps can serve as aredundant safeguard with Radio Frequency Identification Devicesto help prevent counterfeiting of many susceptible tabletproducts. Soflet Gelcaps, a consumer-preferred dosage form, isa unique, patented enrobing technology that providestamper-evident security for valuable brand franchises at a costof only pennies per tablet. http://www.banpharm.com LICENSING AGREEMENTS... WASHINGTON, D.C.: Performance management software vendorIntegrated Research announced that ARUP, The Boeing Company,and Cendant Corp are among a number of international companieswho have signed licensing agreements to purchase its PROGNOSISIP Telephony Manager software. http://www.ir.com CURRENCY TRADING... PLAINVIEW: COESfx, Inc., the developer of the most advancedand unbiased Electronic Currency Network for foreign exchange,is expanding into the Chinese market with the launch of COESfxAsia. COESfx Asia provides a proprietary trading platform toAsian forex retail traders that enable the direct trading offoreign currency online. http://www.coesfxasia.com MILESTONE REACHED... PERTH: Ozgene Pty Ltd (Perth, Australia) announced this weekthat it has reached a final milestone in one of its drug targetvalidation projects for NV Organon (The Netherlands). Thismilestone marks the successful completion of the first projectout of a series of studies undertaken between Ozgene andOrganon. (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.)