The World This Week...

Iran's street protests in the wake of a disputed presidential election spread from Tehran, the capital, to a string of big cities across the country, but then seemed to subside after the authorities cracked down, leaving at least 20 people dead.

With American troops due to withdraw from all Iraqi towns at the end of the month, insurgents carried out a campaign of bombings.

The Federal Reserve sounded a bit more optimistic about the American economy than it has for a while. After a two day meeting, the Fed said that the "pace of economic contraction is slowing".

Apple said it sold 1m of its next-generation iPhone 3GS handsets during the first weekend the device was on sale