World Highlights

¤ Tens of thousands of Indonesians took refuge in flimsy tents in the earthquake-hit region of Java island, as officials urged a stop to aid distribution by night to prevent theft and looting.

Rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble of the 6.3 magnitude quake, which struck at dawn on Saturday and levelled entire villages around the ancient royal capital Yogyakarta, reducing homes to piles of wood, tiles and tin.

¤ The African Union expressed "deep regret" after two Darfur rebel factions missed an AU deadline to sign a peace deal aimed at ending the three-year-old conflict in Sudan's remote west.

The AU has raised the spectre of UN sanctions against the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction led by Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) if they did not sign before Wednesday.

¤ East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao took to Dili's troubled streets, pleading with the country's feuding security forces to show national unity as foreign peacekeepers appeared to take control.

Isolated clashes between youth gangs - the product of East Timor's desperately poor economy and massive unemployment - were reported throughout the day, but the city appeared mostly calm as night fell yesterday.

¤ President George W. Bush said an overhaul of US immigration law will require compromise on both sides of the volatile issue and there was "no excuse" for putting it off.

With concern growing that a proposed new immigration law will be difficult to pass ahead of congressional mid-term elections in November, Mr Bush kept up the pressure for legislation that would include a temporary worker programme.

¤ The White House rejected an invitation from North Korea for the chief US envoy to stalled nuclear talks to visit Pyongyang.

"The United States is not going to engage in bilateral negotiations with the government of North Korea," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, saying Washington was sticking to its position that any negotiations be conducted through a six-nation format.

¤ Spain's Supreme Court acquitted the only person convicted of involvement in the September 11 attacks in a trial last year of suspected Al Qaeda members.

Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, known as Abu Dahdah, had been convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist murder and sentenced to 27 years in jail. He will, however, continue to serve a 12-year sentence for leading a terrorist group.

¤ One campaign ad in Mexico's bruising presidential election showed left-wing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador apparently justifying a mob's brutal lynching of two police officers. It was false.

A retaliatory ad seems to show his main rival, Felipe Calderon, signing off on a controversial $100 billion bankruptcy bailout of the country's banks a decade ago. That too was false.