Results from an initial air sampling after North Korea’s announced nuclear test showed no evidence of radioactive particles that would be expected from a successful nuclear detonation, a US government intelligence official said today.

Researcher Hwang Woo-suk apologised today and resigned from a South Korean university after the school said he fabricated results in stem-cell research that had raised hopes of new cures for hard-to-treat diseases.

Chinese researchers have completed a first round of testing on an experimental SARS vaccine and declared it safe.

Several hundred tons of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the UN nuclear watchdog said today.

Several hundred tons of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed today.