MENSTRUAL blood can be used to repair heart damage, Japanese researchers said today. Scientists obtained menstrual blood from nine women and cultivated it for about a month, focusing on a kind of cell that can act like stem cells.

China on Thursday urged the International Olympic Committee to keep “irrelevant political factors” away from the Beijing Games, after IOC president Jacques Rogge called on it to improve human rights. “I believe IOC officials support...

A SWARM of bees attacked half-marathon runners in south-western Japan today, forcing 30 people to be rushed to hospital, rescuers said. During the race in Saga city, athletes were set upon by the bees as they ran near a river bank, according to one of...