Washington, Dec 18 : An instrument aboard Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO's) Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has inaugurated 3-D imaging of the moon, revealing new information about the lunar surface.

Known as the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, NASA's guest instrument aboard Chandrayaan-1 has taken a new composite image, which provides new information about the Orientale Basin region of the moon.

The Orientale Basin is located on the moon's western limb.

The data for this composite were captured by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper during the commissioning phase of Chandrayaan-1 as the spacecraft orbited the moon at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles).

Washington  - A store in the United States has defended a decision rejecting a request from a father to inscribe his son's name, Adolf Hitler, on a birthday cake.

The ShopRite store in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, said it reserves the right to refuse to provide inappropriate services, Karen Meleta, the spokeswoman for the chain of stores, said Tuesday.

"We have a sensibility about what we believe is appropriate and what we believe is inappropriate," Meletta told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa. "We have standards and principles by which we decorate and we were exercising them."

Wellington  - Five earthquakes rattled New Zealand Thursday morning, according to seismologists of GNS Science who recorded them. There were no reports of damage from any of the quakes.

Three hit the North Island, including one measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, off the Bay of Plenty coast and 80 kilometres north- east of White Island, which has an active volcano.

That quake was deep, at 130 kilometres below the surface, and GNS Science said it was likely to be felt in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawek's Bay regions.

New York  - US stocks fell Wednesday as investors grappled with investment bank Morgan Stanley's sharp fourth-quarter losses, and over concerns that the Federal Reserve had few tools left to combat the recession.

Jerusalem  - Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Israel would respond to a surge in rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip Wednesday.

"It is clear that this fire only sharpens what we have said all the time. There cannot be a situation in which it has been agreed that there is calm (a truce), but at the same time the reality on the ground is complete different," he told reporters as he cast his vote in a primary of his ruling Kadima party.

"Of course this requires us to relate to it and will relate to it," he said.

Hamburg - Spain's Deportivo La Coruna, Poland's Lech Poznan and Danish side Copenhagen secured places in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup on Wednesday.

French side St Etienne drew with Valencia, while Hamburg downed Aston Villa and Wolfsburg drew at AC Milan to finish top of their groups.

Deportivo needed a 73rd-minute goal from Mexican striker Omar Bravo to edge French side Nancy in Group H where three teams were fighting for two qualifying places behind CSKA Moscow.