World highlights

¤ The European Union, spurred by North Korea's nuclear test, backed limited United Nations sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme after Tehran spurned conditions for opening negotiations.

The EU's 25 foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, called for incremental measures that officials said would be targeted first at individuals and materials involved in Iranian uranium enrichment activities. The West suspects Iran is seeking nuclear weapons but Tehran insists it only aims to generate electricity.

¤ Sunni families fleeing revenge killings in a Tigris town north of Baghdad described how black-clad Shi'ite militias went door to door hunting for them and said they saw bodies dumped on streets.

The violence, which has left more than 60 people killed in the Shi'ite town of Balad in the last four days, was an apparent retaliation for the slaying of 19 Shi'ite labourers, whose bodies were found on Friday with their throats cut in an orchard in nearby Dhuluiya, a mostly Sunni town across the Tigris River.

¤ The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger insurgents reiterated their commitment to planned peace talks despite a deadly suicide attack blamed on the guerillas and continued air raids on rebel territory.

But the worsening confrontation between the two sides only deepened pessimism over the talks due to be held in Geneva on October 28-29, the second time they will be meeting this year after an earlier round in February failed to make progress.