WASHINGTON, (Xinhua) — U.S. space agency NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has provided researchers with the first orbital analysis of the giant asteroid Vesta, yielding new insights into its creation and relation to the terrestrial planets and Earth’s moon.

Vesta now has been revealed as a special fossil of the early solar system with a more varied, diverse surface than originally thought. Scientists have confirmed Vesta more closely resembles a small planet or Earth’s moon than another asteroid. …

NEW YORK, May 10 (Xinhua) — JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, acknowledged on Thursday a surprising trading losses of 2 billion U.S. dollars for the past six weeks.

The losses came from derivatives bets which have gone wrong in the bank’s Chief Investment Office, a unit that manages risk for the New York-based bank.

After factoring in other securities gains, JP Morgan raised its estimates …

MADRID, May 10 (Xinhua) — Fernando Verdasco produced the shock of the tournament this Thursday as he produced a heroic fight-back to knock Rafael Nadal out of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Verdasco, who had lost his previous 13 meetings against the Spanish number one, came back form 4-1 down in the final set to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in a marathon match lasting three hours and nine minutes.

Nadal looked …

BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China’s Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7 percent in April from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The data marked another month of year-on-year decline after China’s PPI saw a drop in March for the first time since December 2009, NBS data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, the country’s PPI in April grew 0.2 percent, the …

BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China’s stock index futures opened lower on Friday as the market closely monitored the April inflation data released the same day.

The contract for settlement in May, the most actively traded, fell 5 points, to open at 2,660.2

The contract for settlement in June dipped 5.2 points to open at 2,666.2. The contract for settlement in September fell 3.6 points, to open at 2,697, while the contract for settlement in December lost 4.4 points to open at 2,731.2.

The stock-index …

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (Xinhua) — Microsoft on Thursday announced that its search engine Bing will integrate information from social networking sites into search results.

According to Bing’s official blog, the new Bing search result page will be a three-column design. The largest column, covering the left half of the page, will be core web results, which is the traditional list of blue links related to users’ search query.

The center column, which is …

JAKARTA, May 10 (Xinhua) — The Indonesian central bank (BI)’s governor board meeting decided to retain the lending rate benchmark at 5.75 percent as the rate level is regarded as most suitable to respond to the economic situation at present, a statement released by the bank said here on Thursday.

“Pressures from the inflation is still under control in the next moments,” Dody Budi Waluyo, BI Strategic Planning and …

MANILA, May 10 (Xinhua) — The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) projected that Philippine economy would grow by 4.8 percent this year.

During the Manila launch of its economic and social survey on Thursday, Unescap official Ranjan Basu said the growth of Philippine economy this year is expected to be lower due to slower global demand for export products.

Unescap said the Philippines …

Infinity Audio Optima Pilot Michael Galati Currently 5th in the Grand Touring Sport (GTS) Points Battle Heading into Round Five
- Galati’s No. 36 Infinity Audio Optima led for the first time at Miller Motorsports Park and finished third
- Mark Wilkins to pilot the No. 38 Infinity Audio Optima

IRVINE, Calif., - Kia Racing’s two turbocharged Optimas continue their impressive debut season at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on the Monterey peninsula …

Photo by Pete Souza

Matt Compton
Today, in an interview with ABC News, President Obama said, “I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

With that one statement, he made it clear that he believes that it’s wrong to prevent couples who are in loving, committed relationships from getting married.

Obviously, the President has spent time giving this issue serious consideration, and his view has …