Berlin- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged parliament Wednesday to approve German participation in a European Union anti-piracy operation off Somalia.

"It's not something out of an adventure story," Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy told the lower house or Bundestag during the first reading of a bill on the naval mission.

Steinmeier said pirates had seized more than 200 ships off the Horn of Africa this year and were currently holding 17 vessels and some 200 crewmembers hostage.

Taipei - Taiwan's High Court Wednesday ordered the Taipei District Court to review its earlier ruling in favour of releasing scandal-tainted former president Chen Shui-bian from pre-trial detention.

The decision dealt a fresh blow to Chen, whom prosecutors sought to place back in custody after indicting him Friday on charges of corruption and money laundering.

"While considering the possibility over whether the defendant would flee Taiwan, the high court has also thought of the possibility that the defendant might collude with others to tamper with evidence," said judge Wen Yao-yuan, spokesman of the high court.

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni coast guard authorities on Wednesday received 23 suspected pirates, including 11 Yemenis, arrested by the Indian Navy in an anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week, Yemeni officials said.

The officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that an Indian warship handed over the suspects to Yemeni officials off the southern Yemeni port of Aden.

Yemen on Monday had asked India to hand over the 11 Yemenis who were arrested, along with 12 Somali suspects, by the Indian warship INS Mysore warship on December 13.

The ship foiled an attack on an Ethiopian merchant vessel and arrested the pirates about 160 nautical miles east of the Aden port.

Islamabad, Dec. 17 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi has urged India to stop relaying evidence about the Mumbai terror attacks through the media, and give it through diplomatic channels.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Foreign Office here, following bilateral talks with the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Qureshi said: "Pakistan needs detail evidence through diplomatic channels instead of media."

New Delhi - Indian information technology major Satyam Computer Services dropped plans to buy assets of its promoter companies after investors gave a thumbs down, a company statement said Wednesday.

Satyam's plans to acquire majority stake in Maytas Properties for 1.3 billion dollars and Maytas Infra for 300 million dollars affected investor confidence and also led to questions on corporate governance, analysts said.

Both companies are partly owned by the founder and chairman of Satyam, Ramalingam Raju, and his brother Rama Raju. Maytas is Satyam spelled backwards.

London - Former Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness insisted on Wednesday that he has no interest in returning to Ewood Park to replace Paul Ince, who was dismissed on Tuesday.

"I don't know anything and have had no contact at all from Blackburn Rovers," Souness told the Lancashire Telegraph.

"It doesn't surprise me to see my name in there but I'm not your man, I can definitely say that."

Souness left Blackburn for Newcastle United in 2004.

Blackburn chairman John Williams said he hopes to have a new man in place before Saturday's Premier League game at home to Stoke City.