World Highlights

¤ President George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time that some foreign terrorism suspects have been held by the CIA outside the US. Bush defended a CIA programme to interrogate top terrorism suspects, saying they were a vital source of information.

¤ Germany said Iran could not be allowed to harm the UN by pursuing its nuclear programme, but Russia said using force against Iran must be ruled out and also questioned the need for sanctions. In Vienna, crucial EU-Iranian talks meant to explore ways of avoiding resort to UN sanctions were postponed yesterday.

¤ Most French and Americans would support military action against Iran as a last resort if other means fail to stop it acquiring nuclear weapons, a major transatlantic opinion survey showed. But among Germans polled, more said they would accept Iran getting the atom bomb rather than using force if diplomacy or sanctions do not work.

¤ Iraq's leaders have just months to mend their differences or see their country collapse, the speaker of parliament told wrangling deputies after a car bomb caused dozens of casualties in the morning rush hour. Ethnic Kurds in the chamber demanded a new national flag to end a row over the Saddam-era version that has raised talk of Kurdish secession.