One day away from the gubernatorial election in California, voter enthusiasm would not be as high as expected despite the huge amount of money poured into the race, authorities said on Monday.

Visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said Monday in Cairo that new Palestinian Prime Minister would be announced later in the day, Egypt's MENA news agency reported.

A meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haneya ended on Monday night without declaring an agreement on forming a Palestinian national Unity government.

The African Union (AU) condemned Monday recent attacks by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun late last month, which had left 300 Palestinian civilians killed or injured, including children, women and elderly people.

The Zambian government Monday urged the opposition-dominated local authorities to work with the central government.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday agreed on a final list of five candidates for the top post of the UN agency.

Japan and Australia hailed the death penalty verdict on former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein while Pakistan expressed its concern about the stability and integrity of Iraq.

Militants and villagers on Monday attacked an Italian oil platform and took nearly 50 people hostage in oil-rich southern Nigeria, a government official said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has called on Israel to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and let the International Atomic Energy Agency apply the guarantee system on its nuclear facilities, the official MENA news agency reported Monday.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Monday that the conviction of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was a reminder of his "barbaric brutality".