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SEOUL, South Korea - An already disgraced scientist lied about all of the stem cell lines he claimed were matched to different patients through cloning, investigating researchers said in a new jolt to the shattered reputation of Hwang Woo-suk. Thursday's announcement all but ends the fraud investigation into one of three major cloning breakthroughs claimed by the one-time scientific superstar and national hero. Probes of Hwang's two other groundbreaking experiments are still under way at Seoul National University where he worked before resigning in disgrace last week. The latest news was one more disappointment to the scientific world, which had...

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk faked results of at least nine of 11 stem-cell lines he claimed to have created, a deliberate deception that has undermined the credibility of science, his university said Friday. The announcement by Seoul National University of results so far in its investigation into Hwang's work were the first confirmation of allegations that have cast a shadow over his entire list of breakthroughs in cloning and stem-cell technology. "This kind of error is a grave act that damages the foundation of science," the panel said. In a May paper in the journal...

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's best known scientist said Friday he stands by his breakthrough stem cell research despite a barrage of fraud allegations, and vowed to prove the findings within days. But Hwang Woo-suk apologized for "fatal errors and loopholes in reporting the scientific accomplishment" and said he has asked that the scientific article outlining his research be withdrawn. He gave no details of the errors. The paper, published in May by the journal Science, purported to show how Hwang's team used cloning to custom-make embryonic stem cells for 11 patients, raising hopes of treatment for paralysis or...

NEW YORK - New allegations of fraud in stem-cell research by a prominent South Korean researcher emerged Thursday, and scientists said his other high-profile claims could face investigation as well. Among them: the first cloned human embryos and the first cloned dog. The reputation of Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University has been battered by allegations of fabrication in a blockbuster paper published in May. He and co-authors claimed that by cloning human embryos, they'd created 11 stem cell lines that genetically matched certain patients. Scientists hope to use such "therapeutic cloning" someday to create tissue for transplant into people...

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Amman, Jordan - Jordan said on Tuesday that it was assisting Seoul to win the release of a South Korean held hostage by militants in Iraq as news emerged that kidnappers have extended his execution deadline. Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said he received a telephone call from his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki-Moon, on Monday urging Jordan to assist. "We are doing everything we can, employing all the resources that we have in order to help with this matter," Muasher told reporters. He declined to say what Jordan was doing. He conceded that "we do not always have any ability"...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea is asking for cooperation from around the world to help free a hostage threatened with beheading in Iraq but does not know for sure he is alive, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. A task force set up to tackle the crisis met early in the day and the National Security Council that advises President Roh Moo-hyun would meet later, Shin Bong-kil, the ministry's chief spokesman, told reporters. A group Washington accuses of links to al Qaeda set a Monday night deadline when 33-year-old Kim Sun-il was shown pleading for his life in a video...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 10/19/02 - Kandahar, Tarnak Farm, Garmawak, Sulaymaniyah, Seyed Sadeq BREAKING: North Korean "Uranium" tests BREAKING: South Korean protests, Sungnam BREAKING: North Korea, Yongbyon nuclear plant BREAKING: Japan 5 North Korean captives freed after 24 years Busan, South Korea Kumho, Light Water Reactor Project BREAKING: Baghdad, Iraq, swearing in ceremony Technology in New York ========= South Korea ========= BREAKING - South Koreans this morning are reading in their newspapers that North Korea undertook a nuclear test in the last three months. This may be the reason for the admission of breaking the Agreement...