Seoul - South Korea on Thursday banned the import of Chinese milk and milk powder products and recalled two snacks found to contain the chemical melamine, which has caused kidney damage to thousands of Chinese babies.

The Korea Food and Drug Administration ordered the recall of Misarang Custard cake from China and Milk Rusk cookies imported from Hong Kong after some of the products on South Korean store shelves were found to contain melamine.

Sydney - Australia might issue a patent to a South Korean scientist who falsely claimed to have cloned human embryos, news reports said Wednesday.

National patent agency IP Australia confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald that it was reviewing a patent application from Hwang Woo Suk, formerly of Seoul National University, for his disputed technology on cloning human embryos.

Hwang was once hailed as a national hero in South Korea before being embroiled in a scandal over falsified data on 2004 and 2005 studies in which he not only claimed to have cloned human stem cells but also to have developed patient-specific stem cells.

Johannesburg  - Voting was underway Friday in parliamentary elections in Swaziland that have been branded farcical by political parties that are barred from contesting polls in Africa's last absolute monarchy.

Voters queued outside polling stations from early morning in the landlocked kingdom of around 1 million people to cast their ballot for 55 members of the 65-seat national assembly. King Mswati III names the remaining 10.

He also names the prime minister, ministers and judges.

The run-up to the polls has seen unprecedented protests in the normally peaceful country of mainly subsistence farmers, with political parties and trade unions using the occasion to underscore the lack of democracy in the country.

Seoul - Ending this week's roller coaster ride on a high note, shares surged 4.5 per cent Friday on the Seoul stock exchange following overnight gains on Wall Street and signs that US authorities might take new measures to help the troubled financial sector.

The benchmark Kospi index soared 63.36 points, or 4.6 per cent, to close at 1,455.78.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 707 to 135.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market gained 12.70 points to close at 446.46.

Seoul - Britains's HSBC Holdings Plc said Friday it has withdrawn from a deal to buy a 51 per cent stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), due to falling asset values amid the global credit crisis.

"Taking into account all relevant factors including current asset values in world financial markets... HSBC Asia exercised its right to terminate the acquisition agreement with immediate effect," the bank said in a statement.

A year ago HSBC agreed to buy KEB, Korea's fifth largest lender, for 6.3 million dollars from US buyout fund Lone Star Funds, but the deal has been stalled over legal disputes stemming from the Lone Star's 2003 purchase of KEB.

Seoul - North Korea was scheduled to hold talks Friday with South Korea on outstanding oil shipments and economic aid promised to it for dismantling its nuclear programme.

The one-day meeting is to take place in Panmunjom, a village in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Thursday.