World highlights

• Voters strongly favour Democratic candidates over Republicans in the November 7 congressional election and harbour growing doubts about the Iraq war and the country's future, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll. Two weeks before voters decide which party controls the US Congress, Republicans trail Democrats among independents and are still struggling to shore up their base conservative supporters, the poll found.

• US President George W. Bush signed legislation to build 1,126 km of fencing along the US-Mexican border, an election-year move against illegal immigration aimed at helping Republicans. But Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon said he deplored the move because "the fence doesn't resolve anything" and will cause more Mexican deaths.

• Five US troops were killed in Iraq, the military said, edging their death toll for October close to 100 as President George W. Bush faces pressure over the war 10 days before tight congressional elections. Twenty-eight policemen were killed in a rebel ambush north of Baghdad, police said, as Iraqi forces continue to suffer even heavier casualties than their American counterparts.

• Iraq's most notorious death squad leader escaped a major US-led raid on a Shi'ite Muslim militia stronghold in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said. In an interview with Reuters, Mr Maliki said Wednesday's ground and air assault on the sprawling Sadr City slum targeted Abu Deraa, a feared warlord held responsible for a rash of brutal sectarian killings and kidnappings of Iraqi Sunnis.

• South Korea announced it would ban the entry of North Koreans who are part of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme, the first step taken by Seoul to adhere to UN sanctions. The decision came after North Korea said any action by Seoul under the UN resolution would "drive the inter-Korean relations to a catastrophe" and would be "a grave provocative act" which could lead to war.

• Nato warplanes killed at least 50 civilians, mostly women and children, in bombing in southern Afghanistan during a major Islamic holiday, local leaders said. The incident happened on Tuesday, the middle of the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month, in Panjwai, an area where the alliance said it had killed hundreds of insurgents in a two-week offensive last month.

• New Jersey state legislators from both parties predicted same-sex marriage would have a difficult time winning approval, likely leaving gays and lesbians with the same rights as other couples but unable to call the unions marriage. The same-sex marriage debate shifted to lawmakers after New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that committed same-sex couples must have all the rights of married people.