SEOUL - CYBER attacks slowing US and South Korean websites could enter a new phase on Friday by attacking personal computers and wiping hard disks, a South Korean government agency and Web security firm said.

North Korea was originally a prime suspect for launching the cyber attacks, but the isolated state was not named on a list of five countries where the attacks may have originated, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said.

MUMBAI - THE civic authorities in India's financial capital Mumbai are considering cloud seeding amid growing water shortages caused by a lack of consistent monsoon rain, media here reported on Friday.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it had consulted the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and a company that conducted a cloud seeding experiment in 1992 for the best time to carry out the process.

WASHINGTON - A LOT of people are saying this is cyber war.

But if the Internet attack on US Web sites was an assault by North Korea or some other foreign government, what good responses are in America's arsenal? 'The short answer is probably 'Not a heck of a lot,'' says James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.