London - Briti

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen has agreed to provide French navy ships operating in the EU-led anti-piracy mission off Somalia with logistical services at its ports, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Saturday.

Kouchner, who paid a one-day visit to Sana'a, made the announcement after a meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"France and Yemen will exert joint efforts to fight piracy. It is unacceptable to let pirates attack cruise and commercial ships," the French minister said.

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Saturday for unified international rules for the financial markets, on the eve of a meeting with the heads of Europe's leading economies.

There could no longer be "blank spots" where regulations don't apply in the wake of the financial meltdown, Merkel said in her weekly video podcast.

Amman - Jordan's largest political party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), on Saturday criticized the lower house of the Jordanian parliament for its failure to submit a memorandum on Thursday to the International Criminal Court (ICC) suing Israeli leaders on war- crimes charges.

"We are displeased over the abrupt decision go back on the idea which was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives last month," head of the IAF parliamentary bloc Hamzeh Mansour said in a statement.

Prague/Ramallah - The European Union condemns Israeli plans for settlement expansion in the West Bank, the Czech EU presidency said in a statement delivered on behalf of the 27-member bloc.

The EU called on Israel in the statement issued late Friday to reconsider plans for construction in the vicinity of the Adam settlement in the West Bank, as it would violate international law and Israel's commitments made to the Palestinians in the Annapolis peace talks.

The union said that expansion of the settlements "is a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East."

Islamabad  - Pakistan's top three Taliban commanders have set aside their rivalries and decided to cooperate as the US expands its covert drone attacks against militants on Pakistani soil, media reports said on Saturday.

Baitullah Mehsud, the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organization of more than a dozen militant organizations in Pakistan's ungoverned tribal region and neighbouring North West Frontier Province, held a meeting with his rival commanders Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahader last week, it has emerged.