CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida) - FORTY years ago, mankind's most daunting frontier was boldly overcome when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, establishing America's dominance in the space race.

At the height of the Cold War, Armstrong's 'small step' onto the lunar surface was a giant slap in the face to the Soviet Union, which had been the first to put a satellite into orbit, and fly a man into space.

ISFAHAN (Iran) - IRANIAN scientists have become the first in the Middle East to clone a cow as part of the country's stem cell research, the leader of the project said on Saturday.

The male cow, named Bonyana, was born on Saturday in the city of Isfahan in central Iran, said Dr Mohammed Hossein Nasr e Isfahani, head of the Royan Research Institute.

CAPE CANAVERAL - A DRAMATIC lightning storm forced Nasa to delay the space shuttle Endeavour's launch on Saturday, pushing takeoff to late on Sunday, in the latest blow to the seven-astronaut mission.

With just nine hours to go before liftoff, Nasa said the launch would be scrapped, citing 11 lightning strikes near the Cape Canaveral launch site during a powerful electrical storm late Friday.