China, US trade ties

BEIJING: After serving as the fastest growing export destination of the US for five consecutive years, China is now poised to overtake Japan as America’s third largest export market, Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said here Thursday. China’s foreign trade value reached $1.17 trillion in the first seven months of 2007, a year-on-year increase of 24.4 per cent, according to customs sources. EU remained its largest partner with a trade value of $190.1 billion followed by the US with $167 billion. —Xinhua.

Google Sky launched

LONDON: Google is casting its net across the rest of the universe as

well. Yesterday it announced that it was launching a new service which would allow computer users to tour space and watch the stars from the comfort of their living rooms. Google Sky, developed in partnership with some of the world’s leading space observatories, lets surfers gaze at a virtual sky and tour around the cosmos at will. —The Guardian