Sana'a, Yemen  - The governor of Yemen's south-eastern province of Shabwa has vowed to pursue tribesmen who abducted a German oil expert and two Yemeni engineers, the official Saba news agency reported on Wednesday.

"Security apparatuses are determined to pursue all those involved in the crime of kidnapping the German engineer and to arrest them at the earliest," the agency quoted the governor, Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi, as saying during a meeting with the freed hostage.

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.

Ramallah  - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday promised his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to work for peace in the Middle East, according to Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

In a statement published on the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Abu Rudeineh said Obama made his first call to Abbas since Obama assumed office on Tuesday, assuring the Palestinian leader that he and his administration "will do all they can to bring peace to the region."

Madrid  - Brazilian giants Palmeiras announced on Wednesday that they have signed veteran Edmilson from Spanish club Villarreal, for an undisclosed fee.

According to Brazilian website Globoesporte, Edmilson, 32, has agreed to a two-year contract with Palmeiras, who are coached by Vanderlei Luxemburgo.

Villarreal have still not confirmed the departure of the Brazilian defender-cum-midfielder.

Edmilson joined Villarreal from Barcelona in July 2008, but has hardly played for the club.

Jaipur, Jan 21, : All India Congress Committee's General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday said that action against the rebels, who may harm prospects of the party during elections, should be taken before distribution of tickets.

Speaking at the first meeting of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) functionaries, MLAs, MPs since the formation of the Congress government in Rajasthan under Ashok Gehlot, remarked that one of the problems in the Congress was that those who work for the party and those who harm the party are getting the same treatment.

Oslo- The Norwegian Foreign Ministry distanced itself Wednesday from an e-mail sent by a Norwegian diplomat comparing Israel's offensive in Gaza with events in World War II and the persecution of Jews.

"We have clearly stated that the content does not represent Norway's official view," Foreign Ministry spokesman Haakon Svane told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The female diplomat, based in Saudi Arabia, sent an e-mail from her official foreign ministry account with some 40 photos from Gaza paired with World War II images.