A virus infecting mobile phones using Google's Android operating system has emerged in China that can allow a hacker to gain access to personal data, U.S. security experts said.

A report this week from Lookout Mobile Security said the new Trojan affecting Android devices has been dubbed "Geinimi" and "can compromise a significant amount of personal data on a user’s phone and send it to remote servers."

South Korea on Friday confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu for more than two years, with more than 100,000 birds slaughtered as authorities bid to contain the lethal virus.

Two poultry farms, one in the central city of Cheonan and the other in the southwestern city of Iksan, were confirmed to have been contaminated by the H5N1 virus, the agricultural ministry said.

NASA said Thursday it has found four more small cracks on the metal supports of the shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank, as the aging shuttle undergoes X-ray testing before its final space mission next year.

Repairs would be made to the cracks in a similar fashion to the cracks discovered after the November 5 launch attempt, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement.

Oil dropped in afternoon Asian trade Friday after US data showed the country's crude stocks declined less than expected, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, dropped 34 cents to 89.50 dollars per barrel in the afternoon.

Australia, Japan and South Korea head into the Asian Cup as clear favorites in a tournament that will test Qatar's ability to host a major event after being controversially awarded the 2022 World Cup.

The three-week football festival, featuring the region's top 16 teams, kicks off on January 7 when the hosts face Uzbekistan ahead of the final on January 29.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz has vowed to show respect and modesty as he sets about his hunt for a second triumph in the grueling 13-stage Dakar Rally which starts on Saturday.

The 48-year-old Spaniard, the world rally champion in 1990 and 1992 who converted to cross country rallying in 2005, led last year's Dakar from the fifth stage to finish ahead of Volkswagen teammates, and chief rivals, Nasser al-Attiyah and Mark Miller.

Large amounts of rice noodles made with rotten grain and potentially carcinogenic additives are being sold in south China, state press said Friday, in the country's latest food safety scare.

Up to 50 factories in south China's Dongguan city near Hong Kong are producing about 500,000 kilograms (1.1 million pounds) of tainted rice noodles a day using stale and moldy grain, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

Israeli former president Moshe Katsav faces at least eight years in prison after he was convicted Thursday of two counts of rape for assaulting a former employee, a Tel Aviv court said.

The verdict, which also found Katsav guilty of sexually harassing a second employee, caps a four-year process that saw the former president resign his post and spurn a plea deal that would have cleared him of the rape charges.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday bypassed Congress to name the first U.S. ambassador to Syria in nearly six years, part of his Middle East engagement drive criticized by Republican opponents.

Obama took the controversial step of forcing through the appointments of Ambassador Robert Ford and five other officials while the Senate -- which normally needs to confirm nominations -- was out of session.

Bobby Farrell, singer and dancer with 1970's disco group Boney M, died early Thursday in a hotel room in Saint Petersburg, where he had been performing, city officials said. He was 61.

The Saint Petersburg investigative committee of prosecutors said the Aruba-born Dutch singer was found dead in his bed by a staffer at the city's Ambassador hotel.