An Iraqi court on Tuesday condemnded Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet-man "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid to death for war crimes committed during the 1991 Shiite uprising, his second death penalty.

Dozens of Jewish settlers rioted on Tuesday in the West Bank town of Hebron, clashing with the Israeli troops who guard them but who may also soon evict them from a disputed building they've occupied.

Two thousand angry youths stormed a mosque in the riot-torn city of Jos as a top parliament official appealed for an end to religious troubles that have left hundreds dead, witnesses said.

Pakistan said on Tuesday that it is doing its "utmost" to prevent its territory being used for acts of terrorism and reiterated that the terror attacks in Mumbai were the handiwork of "non-state actors".

Thailand plunged into a fresh political turmoil on Tuesday, after a court delivered a body blow to embattled Premier Somchai Wongsawat and outlawed the three ruling parties for electoral fraud, promting protesters to lift the week-long blockade of the international airport in Bangkok.

Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said he is considering talks with members of the US Congress amid hopes for improved ties with the next administration in Washington, the local press reported on Tuesday.

A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Taiwan on Tuesday but there were no immediate reports of damage, casualties or tsunamis, the Seismology Centre said.

Mobs of uniformed but unarmed soldiers followed by hundreds of civilians went on the rampage in Harare late Monday in the first serious unrest in Zimbabwe in a decade.

Counting many elements, including terrorism and nuclear weapons, in Pakistan as causes of international worries, a former top US official has described the South Asian country as an "international migraine".

"A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," Bush said in an interview with ABC News aired on Monday evening.

In a deal signed by the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) and backed by the separatist Bloc Quebecois in Ottawa on Monday, the first two parties will form a new government, with the third supporting them from outside.

The United States can expect a terror attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study briefed Tuesday to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

NATO nations are worried that rising tensions between India and Pakistan, after last week's attacks in Mumbai, could weaken Pakistan's resolve to combat pro-Taliban fighters on its border with Afghanistan.

"Hillary's appointment is a sign to friend and foe of the seriousness of my commitment to renew American diplomacy and restore our alliances," Obama said at a news conference in Chicago to announce his national security team on Monday.

In a statement on its website on Monday, the health ministry also indicated the number of dead may rise from the four previously announced, saying that six deaths since September 10 may be linked to the consumption of melamine-laced milk.

A group of legislators of Labour party has criticised the BBC for not referring to the Mumbai attackers as "terrorists" in its news bulletins but the UK-based news organisation has defended the practice.

Iran on Monday said it did not see possibility of an Israeli attack on its nuclear facility, the country's English language international news channel Press TV said.

US president-elect Barack Obama reiterated on Monday that all American combat troops would be withdrawn from Iraq in 16 months, even while residual forces could remain longer.

On Monday, at the inauguration of the annual UN summit on climate change, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for a new global solidarity to combat the menace.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed said in an interview published on Monday that a Saudi oil tanker seized by Somali pirates will be freed soon without a ransom.