SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Microsoft joined Facebook and Apple on Friday on the list of US technology titans targeted in recent cyberattacks."As reported by Facebook and Apple, Microsoft can confirm that we also recently experienced a similar security intrusion," Trustworthy Computing team general manager Matt Thomlinson said in a blog post."During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniqu

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he wanted a strong relationship with South Korea, which responded angrily over a rally in Japan against Seoul's control of a set of islands.The conservative Japanese leader sent an official to participate in the annual demonstration in western Shimane prefecture to exert Japan's claims over small islets known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.On a visit to Washington, Abe said that ties between the two U.S. allies "can

The minor opposition Unified Progressive Party said Saturday it has elected its former presidential candidate Lee Jung-hee as its new leader.Lee, 44, won 91.06 percent of the vote as the lone candidate in the party election held from Feb. 18-22.Lee was the party's candidate for December's presidential election, but she dropped out of the race at the last minute in an apparent move to consolidate the opposition vote.The party plans to hold a ceremony launching the new leadership next Friday. (Yon

A South Korean man is under investigation for hurling a bottle of human feces into Japan's Embassy in Seoul in anger over Tokyo's claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, police said Saturday.The 49-year-old day worker threw the 750-milliliter plastic bottle containing his own feces over the wall of the embassy in central Seoul around 8:50 p.m. Friday after Japan held an annual event claiming its sovereignty over Dokdo earlier in the day.The man from the southeastern city of Ulsan, i

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw military aerial and paratrooping exercises, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday, in what was believed to be a visit to troops for the third straight day.The series of visits to military units is seen as aimed at checking the readiness of the armed forces and boosting their morale after the communist nation carried out its third nuclear test earlier this month in defiance of the international community.Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said that

A total of seven people have been arrested or booked in two separate incidents for their alleged involvement in illegal overseas organ transplants, police said Monday.A suspect only identified by his surname Kim, is accused of taking 180 million won ($165,600) as a brokerage fee from a liver transplant patient surnamed Seo and coordinating an illegal transplant in Tianjin, China for him, according to the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency. Kim allegedly pocketed a total of 600 million won after o

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Japan's new prime minister says he will make his country a stronger U.S. ally and joined President Barack Obama in warning North Korea that its recent nuclear provocations would not be tolerated.After meeting Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also sent a clear message to China: that while Japan does not want confrontation with Beijing, it won't tolerate challenges to its sovereignty over islands disputed by the two Asian powers.Those regional tensio

　북한의 3차 핵실험에 따른 인공지진의 규모와 폭발력에 대한 추정치가 계산 방식에 따라 크게 다른 가운데 국내 기관들이 세 차례의 핵실험 모두 지진 규모를 외국보다 작게 잡아 논란이 벌어지고 있다.　17일 학계에 따르면 기상청 등 국내 기관이 분석한 규모 4.9를 기준으로 지진의 규모와 계산 공식에 따라 폭발력이 최대 5배 가까이 차이나는 것으로 드러났다. 　이를 인공지진의 실체파 규모(mb)를 TNT의 양으로 환산하는 공식 가운데 이른바 ‘머피 지진원모델’에 대입하면 16.2kt의 폭발력이 산출된다. 이는 일본 히로시마에 떨어진 핵폭탄의 위력(16kt)과 맞먹는 것이다.　규모 4.9는 기상청과 지질자원연구원, 유엔 포괄적핵실험금지조약기구(CTBTO)가 분석한 실체파 규모다. 러시아 국방부와 미국 지질조사국(USGS)은 각각 7 이상, 5.1로 분석했고 독일 연방지질자원연구소(BER)는 5.2로 모두 국내 기관보다 크게 발표했다. 　이들 중 가장 큰 규모인 5.2로 계산하면 폭발력은

South Korea will send a delegation of foreign and defense ministry officials to observe a U.S.-led anti-proliferation drill that is under way in Abu Dhabi, an official said Monday.Code-named "Leading Edge 2013," the two-week drill that started Sunday is aimed at improving international cooperation to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.The South Korean delegation, which will also include maritime police and customs officers, will head for Abu Dhabi later this week, the forei

TOKYO (AP) -- The joint U.S. and Japanese investigation into the Boeing 787's battery problems has shifted from the battery-maker to the manufacturer of a monitoring system.Japan transport ministry official Shigeru Takano said Monday the probe into battery-maker GS Yuasa was over for now as no evidence was found it was the source of the problems.Ministry officials said they will inspect Kanto Aircraft Instrument Co. on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation. It makes a system that monitors

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama praised outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as one of his closest advisers and said their shared vision for America's role in the world persuaded his one-time rival -- and potential successor -- to be his top diplomat while he dealt with the shattered economy at home.During a joint interview that aired Sunday, Obama and Clinton stoked speculation that Obama may prefer Clinton to succeed him in the White House after the 2016 elections. Clin

Leading Democratic and Republican senators pledged to propel far-reaching immigration legislation through the Senate by summer providing a possible path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people now in the U.S. illegally.The momentum for an immigration overhaul should get a further boost Tuesday when President Barack Obama travels to Las Vegas to lay out his proposals for immigration changes that are expected to be similar to the senators' proposals in many ways.Administration officials

PARIS (AFP) -- The Franco-Japanese automakers Renault-Nissan have signed a deal with Daimler and Ford to develop a fuel cell which would equip electric cars from 2017, a joint statement said on Monday.The three groups plan to hold equal shares in the project and expect to launch the first large scale production of affordable fuel-cell powered vehicles in 2017, the statement said, without providing financial details of the agreement."The collaboration sends a clear signal to suppliers, policymake

An earthquake fault line under Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tsuruga nuclear plant may be active, a report commissioned by the Nuclear Regulation Authority concluded, raising the likelihood it will be permanently shut.The Tsuruga atomic station is one of six nuclear plants being investigated for active fault lines as part of a safety overhaul following the Fukushima disaster. Laws in Japan, which experiences about 10 percent of the world's earthquakes, prohibit building reactors on active faults.Whil