Amman - At least 37 Jordanian lawmakers Thursday requested the lower house of parliament to commence legal action against Israeli leaders as "war criminals who practiced genocide" against Gazans in the three-week operation that ended Sunday.

"We have three options for filing suits against Israeli leaders," Chairman of the Legal Committee at the lower house of parliament Mubarak Abu Yameen told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Sana'a, Yemen  - Yemen announced on Thursday a new initiative calling on the disputing Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to resume dialogue and form a national unity government.

Based on a previous Yemeni initiative, the plan calls for the resumption of dialogue between all Palestinian groups, mainly the two main rivals.

The new plan, published by the state media, proposes that the dialogue be sponsored by Egypt, Syria and Turkey.

Havana  - Cuban President Raul Castro wished new US President Barack Obama luck as he takes the helm in Cuba's neighbour and declared enemy.

"He looks like a good man, I hope he is lucky," Castro said.

However, he declined to provide further details of his plans for new times in the difficult US-Cuban relations.

Brussels  - European Union foreign ministers were Wednesday holding dinner-time talks in Brussels with their Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, in a bid to convince her to re-open the Gaza crossings and revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

"We hope we can find an agreement that will make it possible for supplies to get into Gaza," said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Washington  - Incoming US President Barack Obama signalled a "new era" of transparency, accountability and rule of law in his administration, signing a series of ethics-related directives on his first full day in the White House Wednesday.

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," Obama said during a signing ceremony, which also included the swearing-in of Obama's senior White House staff.

Washington  - Long-time US Senator Ted Kennedy, who has been battling brain cancer since May, was released from hospital Wednesday after he collapsed in the middle of US President Barack Obama's inaugural lunch, CNN reported.

Kennedy, 76, the last surviving brother of the assassinated John F Kennedy, was taken to the Washington Hospital Center Tuesday after suffering an apparent seizure towards the end of the private lunch hosted by Congress to honour Obama's inauguration.