• South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who is standing trial on charges of fraud and embezzlement for his team's research on stem cells, has resumed work on animal cloning. He has opened a biological research facility in southern Seoul and is working with about 30 of his former lab associates. His lawyer has said that Woo-suk will not restart research on human embryonic stem cells.

• Ethiopia has stepped up its flood warning, as rains continuing since early August show no sign of abating. Floods have already killed about 900 people and displaced 48,000 more, many of whom are at risk from water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea and cholera. Earlier flash floods had hit a town of Dire Dawa.

• Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to hit China since 1956, killed at least 130 people and left over 160 missing in Fujan province on August 13, said Xinhua news agency. While the storm crushed the fishing communities, who were at sea when Saomai arrived, the storm has also caused a damage of hundreds of millions of dollars.