Press Releases

CARLSBAD, Calif., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- On Veterans' Day, the Upper Deck Company is very proud to announce that it is partnering with "Operation Gratitude," a non-profit organization that sends 100,000-plus "care packages" annually to U.S. service members deployed in hostile regions across the world. The trading card manufacturer is launching the "Upper Deck's Million Pack March for the Troops" campaign in an effort to send sealed packs of donated Upper Deck trading cards (sports and entertainment-based products) to deserving U.S. military men and women overseas.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091111/LA09905LOGO)

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To encourage customers and card collectors to donate some of their surplus card packs to the deserving troops, Upper Deck's is kicking the campaign off by donating 100,000 packs of cards to get the ball rolling. The goal will be to reach the 1,000,000-pack plateau by Veterans' Day 2010. To create awareness, Upper Deck will host donation drives at major industry shows including the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore in August while also working with its network of certified Upper Deck Diamond Dealers and hobby shops to establish donation drop-off points.

"We are very excited to partner with a dignified organization like Operation Gratitude," said Kerri Kauffman, Upper Deck's director of Marketing. "The hard-working and brave U.S. military men and women who are serving overseas deserve a fun distraction to help them get through their difficult days and lonely nights. Hopefully, opening up a pack of Upper Deck sports or entertainment trading cards will make them feel a little bit closer to being home."

"Operation Gratitude is honored to join with Upper Deck to collect and send a million card packs to our men and women deployed in combat zones," said Carolyn Blashek, founder of the organization. "Not only will the troops enjoy the cards among themselves, but the cards are also fantastic items to distribute to the Iraqi and Afghani children as gestures of friendship and support."

Upper Deck's Customer Service department routinely receives donations requests from military members overseas. Here's an excerpt from a recent letter sent in by a U.S. serviceman stationed in Afghanistan: "We were all reminiscing about how we all used to collect cards and used to know players' stats and birthdays. Sports are a big morale booster over here. We all think our hometown heroes are better than the next soldier's, and getting mail is an awesome morale booster. Just opening letters and packages make us forget where we are at for that moment in time."

Customers interested in donating any of their sealed packs of Upper Deck trading cards can send them to the following address:

    Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
    Attn. Upper Deck's Million Pack Drive to Support the Troops
    17330 Victory Boulevard
    Van Nuys, CA 91406

About Upper Deck

Upper Deck is the leading sports and entertainment trading card and collectibles company. For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.upperdeck.com.

About Operation Gratitude

Operation Gratitude ( www.OperationGratitude.com ) is the 501 (c) (3) non-profit, volunteer organization that annually sends 100,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individual U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions. Our mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member's face and express to all Armed Forces the appreciation and support of the American people. Each package contains donated product valued at ~$100 and costs the organization $11 to assemble and ship. By the end of 2009, Operation Gratitude will have shipped more than 500,000 packages to American Military deployed overseas.

SOURCE Upper Deck

PARIS -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 11/11/09 -- EURO Ressources S.A. (PARIS: EUR) today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended 30 September 2009 prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union. EURO reported a profit of EUR 7.74 million (EUR 0.12 per share) for the first nine months ended 30 September, 2009 and a profit of EUR 3.12 million (EUR 0.05 per share) for the third quarter of 2009; this compares to a profit of EUR 4.23 million (EUR 0.07 per share) for the first nine months of 2008 and EUR 2.20 million (EUR 0.04 per share) for the third quarter of 2008. All financial amounts are expressed in Euros.

The following comments on the results for the quarter and nine months ended 30 September, 2009 are taken from our Management's Discussion and Analysis:

Three months ended September 30, 2009 compared to three months ended September 30, 2008

We had record revenue of EUR 5.28 million in the quarter ended 30 September 2009 compared to EUR 3.20 million in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 65%. Substantially all of this revenue is income from the Rosebel royalty. The Rosebel gold mine produced a record 111,657 ounces of gold during the third quarter of 2009, a 28% increase from the 86,955 ounces of gold produced in the third quarter of 2008. EURO continues to benefit from the improvements in throughput, cut-off grade optimization and recovery that were completed towards the end of 2008, and in addition there was a 10% increase in the average gold price for the quarter end 30 September 2009 (Q3:2009: $959.97/ounce, Q3 2008: $871.60/ounce).

EURO recorded liquidated gold hedging costs for the third quarter 2009 of EUR 1.0 million related to the 2,850 ounces of gold that were scheduled to be settled on October 29, 2009, this compares to no liquidated gold hedging costs for the same period in 2008.

General and administrative expenses in the third quarter of 2009 were EUR 0.52 million, as compared to EUR 0.63 million during the same quarter last year, a decrease of 17% due in part to the fact that last year in the third quarter of 2008, EURO started to incur substantial costs related to the takeover by IAMGOLD. EURO recorded no interest expense in the third quarter of 2009, because EURO repaid the loan to Macquarie Bank Limited ("Macquarie") in full in December of 2008, this compares to an interest expense of EUR 0.01 million for the same period last year.

The increase in amortization expenses to EUR 0.16 million (2008: EUR 0.15 million), a 6% increase reflects the higher gold production for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Hedge positions implemented as a condition of our loan from Macquarie Bank resulted in a mark-to-market gain of EUR 0.70 million (2008: a gain of EUR 0.99 million), a decrease of 29% due to the large reduction of ounces of gold hedged from 17,100 to 5,700.

Nine months ended September 30, 2009 compared to nine months ended September 30, 2008

We recorded a net profit EUR 7.74 million (EUR 0.12 per share) during the first nine months of 2009, compared to a net profit of EUR 4.23 million (EUR 0.07 per share) for the first nine months of 2008. We had record revenue from royalties for the first nine months of 2009 of EUR 14.10 million compared to EUR 9.22 million for the first nine months of 2008, with EUR 13.73 million earned from the Rosebel royalty (EUR 8.99 million during the same period last year). The 53% increase in revenue for the first nine months of 2009 is mainly due to a record increase in gold production for the first nine months of 2009 to 308,322 ounces of gold, as compared to 241,480 ounces of gold for the same period last year, a 28% increase. There was also a 4% increase in the average gold price for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 as compared to the same period last year (2009: $930.60/ounce, 2008: $897.15/ounce).

We have recognized a future tax credit on balance sheet of EUR 1.77 million being EUR 0.69 million against the unrealized mark-to-market position at September 30, 2009 and EUR 0.97 million in respect to cumulative net operating losses.

Liquidity

Consolidated cash and cash equivalents at 30 September 2009 totalled EUR 7.72 million. All of the cash is unrestricted, since Macquarie Bank Limited revised its credit agreement with EURO at the beginning of August 2009. We expect to have sufficient cash flow to fund our on-going operational needs.

About EURO

EURO is a French company whose principal asset is the Rosebel Royalty on gold production at the Rosebel mine operated by IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD"). EURO has approximately 62.5 million shares outstanding. Since the 17th of December 2008, EURO is a majority owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD. IAMGOLD owns approximately 85.75% of EURO.

Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information: Some statements in this news release are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been registered under the US Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to a US person absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration.

Additional information relating to EURO Ressources S.A. is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further requests for information should be addressed to:

This information is provided by HUGIN

Larry E. Phillips
Directeur-Général
Tel:+1 4163604710
Email : Email Contact

Susanne A. Hermans
Vice-President Finance
Tél.: +1 303 204 7771
Email : Email Contact

NEW YORK, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- As reported on BET.com, Chris Brown taped an episode of 106 & PARK on Tuesday, November 10 which will air on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 6 P.M.* Interviewed by 106 & PARK co-host Rocsi Diaz, Chris discussed the steps he's taking to move forward; the domestic abuse that occurred in his home and how his fans are responding to him now.

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Here's what Chris had to say:

On understanding the extent of what happened: "...with the situation...it's not something you could take lightly and not something you could push under the rug...it's a really serious situation and it's something that I regret and I wish I didn't do it."

On being questioned about his sincerity in previous interviews: "...I just feel like at the end of the day I'm human...I can only tell you how I personally feel...I can't make everybody love me, but I can just try... and I can honestly say that I am sorry."

For more details on the 106 & PARK Chris Brown interview, viewers can log onto BET.com.

*All times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip-Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

SOURCE BET Networks

BELLEVUE, Wash. and SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH) and Expedia, Inc., the world's leading online travel company (Nasdaq: EXPE), today announced they have signed a new three-year agreement to include Choice Hotels International properties on the more than 80 Expedia® and Hotels.com®-branded sites that Expedia operates worldwide.

"We're pleased to be working with Choice in an agreement that respects the guiding principles which we operate under," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia, Inc. "We welcome Choice back into our marketplace, and look forward to delivering value to their franchisees."

"Choice Hotels and Expedia worked together to establish a new agreement that is mutually beneficial and enables hotels in the Choice system to effectively manage their businesses," said Stephen P. Joyce, president and CEO of Choice Hotels International.

Hotels within the Choice system worldwide can participate in the Expedia marketplace and within a week will start to be available on Expedia.com and Hotels.com sites worldwide, and later on Hotwire.com.

About Expedia, Inc.

Expedia, Inc. is the world's leading online travel company. With more people booking travel online in Expedia's global marketplace than anywhere else, the company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives demand for travel suppliers, and provides advertisers opportunities to reach in-market travel consumers. The Expedia, Inc. portfolio of brands includes Expedia.com®, hotels.com®, Venere.com(TM), Hotwire®, Egencia(TM) (formerly Expedia Corporate Travel), TripAdvisor®, ExpediaLocalExpert®, Classic Vacations® and eLong(TM). Expedia, Inc.'s companies operate more than 80 global points of sale in nearly 60 countries. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world's leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia® Affiliate Network. (NASDAQ: EXPE)

About Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 6,000 hotels, representing more than 485,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 35 other countries and territories. As of September 30, 2009, more than 700 hotels are under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States, representing more than 59,000 rooms, and more than 100 hotels, representing approximately 9,400 rooms, are under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in more than 20 other countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Collection membership program, travelers in the United States and the Caribbean have upscale lodging options at historic, boutique and unique hotels.

Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels International, Inc. Web site at www.choicehotels.com.

Expedia and Expedia.com are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Classic Vacations is either a trademark or registered trademark of Classic Vacations, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. hotels.com is either a trademark or registered trademark of hotels.com, L.P., a subsidiary of hotels.com in the U.S. and/or other countries. Hotwire is either a trademark or registered trademark of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. TripAdvisor is either a trademark or registered trademark of TripAdvisor, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.

© 2009 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40

Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and Ascend Collection are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International.

© 2009 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.; Expedia, Inc.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The New York Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI-NY) will present a thought-provoking and timely discussion on the inner workings of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

The program features former SEC Chairman, Harvey Pitt, who will give his insight into how a former SEC Chairman views the current economic environment and the SEC, and what's ahead for the regulatory environment and enforcement in 2010.

Mr. Pitt is currently Chief Executive Officer of the global business consulting firm, Kalorama Partners, LLC, and a frequent commentator on corporate, financial, regulatory and economic developments in the press and on television. He served as the twenty-sixth Chairman of the SEC from 2001-2003, leading the SEC through the market disruptions following the tragic events of 9/11. During his Chairmanship, Mr. Pitt also created the SEC's "real time" enforcement program and led the agency's adoption of dozen of rules required by Sarbanes-Oxley in response to the corporate and accounting malfeasance of the 90s. Mr. Pitt had been General Counsel of the SEC, from 1975-1978. For nearly a quarter century prior to rejoining the SEC as Chairman, Mr. Pitt was a senior corporate partner at the international law firm, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He has also been an adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. He teaches a seminar on Corporate Governance at the Yale Law School.

Jeff Morgan, President and Chief Executive Officer of NIRI National, will be introducing the speaker and moderating the Q&A. Mr. Morgan became NIRI's CEO in January 2008 after a successful track record of more than 18 years in professional association management. Prior to joining NIRI, Mr. Morgan was Chief Operating Officer of the Futures Industry Association.

Sponsored by Ipreo and PR Newswire, the discussion will take place at The Westin Times Square Hotel at 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue. Registration and networking begins at 5:30 pm, with the program beginning promptly at 6:00 pm. A networking reception will follow at 7:00 pm. The event cost is $50 for NIRI members and $75 for non-members. More information is available at www.niriny.org. To register, email: cleanlists@mindspring.com. To prepay, go to www.paypal.com and make payable to cleanlists@mindspring.com.

ABOUT NIRI-NY

NIRI-NY, the founding chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), is also its largest with over 650 members. Founded in 1969, NIRI is a professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, the investing public and the financial community. NIRI members represent the majority of the largest publicly held corporations in the U.S. as well as many small and mid-sized companies. With over 4,300 members in 35 chapters around the country, NIRI sets the highest standards in education to advance the practice of investor relations and meet the growing professional development needs of those engaged in the field. For more information, visit www.niriny.org.

    Source: NIRI-NY