Jerusalem  - Israel's Supreme Court overturned Wednesday a decision by the country's Central Elections Committee (CEC) banning two Arab-Israeli parties from competing in next months Knesset elections.

The nine-judge panel accepted the appeal filed on behalf of the United Arab List (UAL) and by the Balad party against the CEC ruling earlier this month, which had claimed that since the two parties did not recognise Israel as a Jewish homeland, they could not run in the February 10 elections.

Brasilia  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva congratulated new US President Barack Obama on Wednesday, and expressed a call for "fluent and profitable" dialogue and a "renewed friendship" between the two countries.

Vienna  - The global economic and financial crisis has softened the traditionally eurosceptic attitude of the Austrian population, a European Union poll released on Wednesday showed.

According to the latest Eurobarometer poll which was conducted amid the global financial crisis last October and November, 47 per cent of Austrians said EU membership was good for their country, an 11-per-cent increase from the previous poll.

Washington  - Just as the million-strong crowd dissolved on the National Mall after President Barack Obama's inaugural oath Tuesday, tens of thousands of others remained along Pennsylvania Avenue in hopes of catching a glimpse of the newly-minted leader in the parade.

Obama and First Lady Michelle, who wore a yellow sheath and matching coat that hung open despite subfreezing weather, boarded the new presidential limousine to lead the parade that carries them over the 2.5-kilometre-distance to their new home at the White House.

Caracas  - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday called upon his followers "not to get overexcited" with incoming US President Barack Obama.

"Today is particularly significant at the international level because a new president takes over the United States presidency today. Let no one get overexcited, this is the North American empire," Chavez said.

The left-wing populist Chavez, who has had strong clashes with outgoing US President George W Bush in recent years, often refers to the United States as empire.

Johannesburg - Congratulating Barack Obama on his inauguration as the first black president of the United States Tuesday, iconic former South African president Nelson Mandela said the historic event reminded him of the excitement that surrounded his own election as his country's first democratically-elected president.