North Korea today boasted that it successfully tested a nuclear weapon, sparking a barrage of global condemnation and threats of harsh sanctions over an underground blast that appeared to thrust the volatile communist state into the elite club of nuclear-armed nations.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun held a summit today, with Abe calling for “harsh measures” against North Korea and warning of a “dangerous nuclear age” after its nuclear test.

THE world’s biggest soft-drink maker, Coca Cola, has said fourth-quarter profits fell 28% after it increased marketing to halt a decline in US sales.

Six Vietnamese Government officials, a banker and a business executive were brought to trial today for alleged involvement in a corruption case that touched off widespread public anger, a Hanoi court official said.