World Highlights

¤ The United States expects the United Nations will act fast next month to punish Iran over its nuclear programme, with Washington arguing the case for sanctions has been bolstered by Iran's role in Lebanon. US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who handles much of the Iran portfolio at the State Department, said he expected the UN Security Council would "take up its responsibilities" and impose sanctions if Tehran did not stop its enrichment programme.

¤ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran could not abandon its nuclear programme while the United States was developing new atomic bombs every year, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The Islamic republic says it wants nuclear technology only to cope with booming electricity demand. The EU and the United States suspect it of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons.

¤ A former CIA contractor was found guilty of assaulting an Afghan prisoner who later died in a case that raised new questions about the treatment of detainees by US interrogators.

David Passaro, a 40-year-old former Special Forces medic, was the first civilian to be charged with abusing a detainee in the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.