U.S. scientists say they found metabolically active bacteria in the brine of an Antarctic lake sealed for thousands of years under more than 65 feet of ice.Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the finding sheds light on the limits of life in extreme environments.The brine has been isolated from the surface environment, and from any external sources of energy, for at least 2,800 years, they said."This provides u

The U.S. government remained guarded Tuesday about multiple reports that North Korea appears to be working toward another ballistic missile test.The U.S. attitude marks a contrast with continued intelligence leaks by South Korean and Japanese officials on Pyongyang's missile activities."I'm obviously not going to comment on intelligence issues,"State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing."I'm talking about any intelligence we might have about any DPRK intentions."DPRK s

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the ninth straight month in October as exports gained ground, weathering the global slowdown and the local currency's gain, the central bank said Wednesday.The current account surplus reached US$5.82 billion in October, down from a revised $5.91 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.In the first 10 months of this year, the cumulative current account su

The same chants used against Hosni Mubarak were turned against his successor Tuesday as more than 200,000 people packed Egypt’s Tahrir Square in the biggest challenge yet to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The massive, flag-waving throng protesting Morsi’s assertion of near-absolute powers rivaled some of the largest crowds that helped drive Mubarak from office last year.“The people want to bring down the regime!” and “erhal, erhal” _ Arabic for “leave, leave” _ rang out across the plaza, thi

The credit rating agency Fitch Ratings on Tuesday downgraded Argentina, which is locked in a court battle in New York over its debt, and said the country would probably default.Fitch cut its long-term rating for Argentina to “CC” from “B,” a downgrade of five notches, and cut its short-term rating to “C” from “B.” A rating of “C” is one step above default.U.S. judge Thomas Griesa of Manhattan federal court last week ordered Argentina to set aside $1.3 billion for certain investors in its bonds b

North Korea may fire off a long-range missile in the next two months, military sources in Seoul said Tuesday, amid speculation that the communist nation is in the final stage of preparations for a launch. Images taken by U.S. satellites showed a marked increase in activity at a North Korean missile launch site in its northwestern tip, suggesting that the country is stepping up preparations for a long-range ballistic missile test.Last week, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported the U.S. satellites had p

Preparations were underway on Tuesday for a mass rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against a decree by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi granting him broad powers.Activists who have been camping out in the square since Friday were hoisting banners on lampposts slamming the Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket Morsi ran for office."The Muslim Brotherhood stole the revolution" read one banner. Another said the president was "pushing the people to civil disobedience."A new clinic was set up i

Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson said Tuesday that it was suing South Korean rival Samsung in a U.S. court for violating patents.“Ericsson has today filed a lawsuit in the United States against Samsung for infringing its patents, after nearly two years of negotiations failed to reach an agreement,” a statement said.“The dispute concerns both Ericsson's patented technology that is essential to several telecommunications and networking standards used by Samsung's products as wel

A satellite image by a U.S. company on Tuesday showed increased activity at North Korea's launch site used to fire off long-range missiles amid wide speculation over the North's looming missile test.The image taken on Nov. 23 and released by DigitalGlobe shows "a marked increase in activity at North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launch Station," the U.S. imagery provider said, referring to the North's west coast launch site, often used to send off long-range missiles. The launching site, also known as

South Korea's pop sensation Psy is a candidate for the U.S. weekly news magazine TIME's "Person of the Year 2012."Psy whose real name is Park Jae-sang was on the list of 38 candidates along with U.S. President Barack Obama, late former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Xi Jinping, the new leader of China's ruling Communist Party, the magazine's Web site showed Tuesday."Korean rapper Psy's slick, wickedly satirical video 'Gangnam Style' broke all kinds of sound barriers this year, clocking more

Japan's widely-watched year-end TV show will feature only Japanese acts this year, with popular South Korean performers left out of the line-up amid territorial frictions with Seoul.Taxpayer-funded broadcaster NHK insisted politics had played no role in the selection of performers for the New Year's Eve broadcast watched by up to 40 percent of the nation's TV audience.Korean girl groups KARA and Girls' Generation and male group Tohoshinki (TVXQ) were among the headline acts last year on "Kohaku

Sun-ye, leader of popular K-pop girl group Wonder Girls, will marry her boyfriend of about two years on Jan. 26 next year, the singer announced on Tuesday. On her fan site, the 23-year-old singer said she would wed a 28-year-old Korean-Canadian missionary, whom she admitted she has been dating since early last year. “The two will become one and promised to walk the road of life together,” she wrote. Sun-ye’s agency, JYP Entertainment, also confirmed the news on the day. “We understand that her d

Sales of venture businesses in South Korea rose nearly 14 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, outperforming large companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), a report said Monday.The average revenue of local venture companies gained 13.9 percent on-year to 7.03 billion won ($6.47 million) last year, according to the report by the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA). The report is based on a survey of 2,034 new companies throughout the country.The sales growth rate outpaced a

A 39-year-old man has been arrested without physical detention on charges of circulating sex videos with women whom he met online, police said Monday.The suspect, only identified by his surname Jin, is accused of having sex with dozens of women whom he met through a chat service and distributing online some 100 pieces of video footage of them engaged in sexual acts between 2003 and 2005, they said.Police investigators, however, said they would have difficulty in bringing charges against Jin, as

The presidential hopeful for the minor progressive party withdrew her bid Monday and endorsed the main opposition candidate running for the December election.Rep. Sim Sang-jung of the Progressive Justice Party (PJP) said she was quitting and hoped such a move could help rally support around one liberal candidate."I hope people will support Democratic United Party (DUP) candidate Moon Jae-in, who is effectively representing the liberal opposition camp," she said at a news conference held at the N

An autopsy report suggests former Turkish president Turgut Ozal died of poisoning in 1993, sources told Today's Zaman.The Turkish newspaper said strychnine appears to be the cause of Ozal's death, and that the pesticide DDT was also found in his system.The Council on Forensic Medicine (ATK) exhumed Ozal's body based on suspicions about his death among family members and current president Abdullah Gul. The report has not been officially released, but sources told Today's Zaman the ATK had changed

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investor sentiment got a boost from gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 0.80 points, or 0.04 percent, to trade at 1,912.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with LG Electronics increasing 2.1 percent while No.1 carmaker Hyundai Motor added 0.46 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix moved up 0.78 percent.U.S. stocks ended higher Friday on rising consumer

South Korean consumers' confidence inched up in November from the previous month, but it remained close to a nine-month low as the economy continued to lose steam, the central bank said Monday.The consumer sentiment index -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 99 for November, up from a nine-month low of 98 tallied for October, according to a survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK).A reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnum

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Sunday the sweeping new powers he has assumed are only temporary and called for dialogue, as clashes in the Nile Delta saw a member of his party killed, medics said.Morsi's constitutional declaration on Thursday, allowing him to issue decisions and laws unchallenged, triggered a wave of protest and has set him on course for a showdown with Egypt's judges, whom he is due to meet on Monday in a bid to defuse the crisis.Clashes between supporters and opponen

In the second term, the Barack Obama administration will face a daunting task of setting a realistic goal in dealing with North Korea, working shoulder-to-shoulder with South Korea's new government, an expert here said Sunday."Denuclearization as a credible U.S. policy objective is dead," long-time Korea specialist Larry Niksch told Yonhap News Agency."The test for the Obama Administration is whether it will formulate a new strategy toward North Korea to replace denuclearization and whether it c