news of gold

Gold retreated for a fifth day and wheat fell, while U.S equity-index futures advanced after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capped its best week since July.Russia’s ruble weakened after deadly clashes in Ukraine’s east.

Gold retreated 0.6 percent as of 8:06 a.m. in London, while wheat fell 1.5 percent. The ruble slipped 0.3 percent to the euro and 0.2 percent against the greenback.Japan’s yen weakened against 15 of 16 major peers as exports increased just 1.8 percent in March when economists hadprojected a 6.5 percent jump. Futures on the S&P 500 advanced 0.2 percent while the yield on U.S. 10-year notes dropped as much as three basis points to 2.7 percent.

U.S. trading venues reopen today after shares rebounded last week from a selloff in technology stocks and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reiterated the bank’s commitment to achieving its goals for employment and inflation. Ukraine warned that Russia may use a deadly clash at a roadblock in the country’s east as a pretext for invasion. Japan’s imports surged 18 percent in March on an unadjusted basis from a year earlier, leading to a trade deficit of 1.45 trillion yen ($14.1 billion).

“It is very difficult for gold to sustain the panic that makes it a good safe-haven trade,” said Frances Hudson, a strategist at Standard Life in Edinburgh, which oversees $294 billion of assets. “I see demand for gold remaining non-enthusiastic. Things are looking better in the U.S. and Europe. It’s not that both these economies are racing ahead, but they are gradually improving.”

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news of usa toyota room

BEIJING – April 20, 2014 – With the addition of two exhaust gas inlets and two nozzles, Lexus welcomes its first twin scroll turbo charger to its powertrain family at the 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition.  The all-new Lexus NX compact crossover offers the brand’s first gasoline turbo engine in the NX 200t. The NX 200t turbo will balance excellent fuel economy with responsive acceleration and agility. 

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news of nissan altima

2,500 rpm in a family sedan generally isn't a whole lot to get excited about. In fact, it's traditionally closer to idle speed than anything offering the possibility of real entertainment. But each and every one of those 2,500 revolutions in this 2013 Nissan Altimaoffers a frisson of excitement when whirling away in concert. Why? Because they add up to 100 mph. In a four cylinder.

Process that for a minute: 2,500 revs = 100 mph in a 2.5-liter normally aspirated four-door kinshlepper. This, friends, is impressive. We first verified the figure for ourselves during a prototype drive at Nissan's Arizona proving grounds back in March. More real-world numbers include 2,000 rpm at 80 mph and just 1,450 rpm at 60 mph. Credit the Altima's Continuously Variable Transmission, which has been extensively reworked for this new model. Seventy percent of the transmission's parts are new, and internal friction has been reduced by up to 40 percent through a battery of small tricks including redesigned internals swimming in lower viscosity oil. The transmission has a super-wide 7.0 gear ratio spread and reprogrammed control logic to help the keep all four pots on boil as necessary.

Of course, it's still a CVT, which is to driving enthusiasts what Mark Zuckerberg is to the Amish. But Nissan's Xtronic unit at least makes a good go of it, thanks to a sport mode that introduces shift points to create a physical and auditory experience similar to that of a traditional torque converter automatic. To be fair, the revs don't plunge quite as far as they would in a slushbox, but it keeps the engine in the meat of its powerband and still delivers a pretty convincing performance, even when subjected to aggressive throttle openings. Either way, those awkward "stretched rubberband" CVT moments are kept to the bare minimum, only rearing their head when the accelerator is buried in the carpet, and just for a moment. Under most circumstances, we imagine most Altima drivers probably won't even notice they own a CVT.

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news of cars top speed

When you’re driving a McLaren 650S 

there’s no such thing as too much track action. Be it the Nurburgring, Silverstone or Laguna Seca, McLaren 

’s new sports car is in its natural environment.

Being brand-new, the 650S didn’t get too much track action up until now, save for the enduring testing session it was subjected to during development. But that will soon change as customers will start receiving their cars and, hopefully, they won’t be keeping them in air-conditioned garages.

Deliveries are still a few months off, but we’re happy to report that the folks over at Sport Auto got their hands on a McLaren 650S Spider 

and took it straight to the Hockenheim track, the other famous German racing 

course.

Their track test obviously included a full lap on the Formula One circuit, but they also did a top-speed trial. And this is where thing got more than interesting, as the 650S Spider managed to overcome its official top speed, which is rated at 204 mph.

Pushed to the very limit in its seventh gear and at about 7,500 rpm, the sports car 

reached 331 km/h, which is about 205.6 miles per hour. Sure, the gap is rather tiny, but it’s still something worth knowing and, more importantly, watching.

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news of korea

JINDO, SOUTH KOREA — Efforts to rescue some 270 people from a sunken passenger ferry in South Korea were hampered for a third day as hopes for survivors fades. Anxiety and anger are growing among relatives of the missing, most of them high school students.

Workers at Paengmok Harbor tried to console a parent of one of the missing high school children believed trapped inside the capsized ferry.
 
Despite earlier reports of success, rescue divers failed in a third day of attempts to get to passengers inside the ship, just 20 kilometers off shore. Oxygen was pumped into the ship in hopes it would reach any survivors.
 
Divers later tried entering a cargo hold but were not able to go further, in a struggle against wreckage, strong currents and murky water.
 
Hundreds of volunteers and emergency workers at the harbor tried to comfort distraught relatives angry at the lack of progress and misinformation.
 
Parents of the missing demanded a road be cleared for any who might be rescued. Authorities quickly obliged, marching in a column of police.
 
Lee Min-seok, a rescue team captain with the Mokpo Firefighters, explained that the police presence is to keep crowds away so roads are clear enough for ambulances to pass through.
 
Several ambulances were readied nearby with flashing lights, but the display was cold comfort.
 
Many realize the odds of surviving this long in the waters of the sunken ship are quite low and the body count is expected to rise.
 
Teacher commits suicide 

Police say on Friday a teacher of the students who was earlier rescued from the ferry apparently committed suicide and was found hanging from a tree.
 
Authorities have prepared cranes to try to lift the ferry, but relatives demanded they wait until there is certainty that none are alive.

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