The Israeli parliament approved by 71 votes to 23 an agreement between PM Netanyahu and the opposition Kadima party to form a national unity government

The Knesset on Wednesday approved by 71 votes to 23 an agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition Kadima party to form Israel's seventh national unity government.

Al-Qaida fighters killed two Yemeni soldiers Wednesday when they shelled their camp with two mortars in the southern town of Loader which the militant group has been trying to take over, an army officer said.

Another soldier was wounded in the assault to which the army responded by shelling al-Qaida hideouts on the outskirts of Loder, the officer added.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming nuclear talks between world powers and Iran, an Israeli official told Agence France Presse.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and incoming vice premier and Kadima head Shaul Mofaz, who on Tuesday agreed to join the ruling Likud party in a national unity government, also attended the meeting.

Jordan's parliament on Wednesday urged the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency to meet the demands of its staff in the country after they launched an open-ended strike to push for better pay.

"The lower house stresses the need of finding a solution to the crisis between the U.N. Relief and Works Agency's management and employees in a way that satisfy the two sides," it said in a statement.

France strongly condemned Wednesday's bomb attack on a convoy of U.N. observers in Syria, including the Norwegian major general heading the mission, foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

"We strongly condemn the attack targeting the convoy of General Robert Mood, head of the Syrian observer mission," said Valero. "We hold the Damascus regime responsible for the observers' security."

A federal court adjourned on Wednesday a case filed by seven Islamists against the United Arab Emirates interior ministry for revoking their nationalities over alleged terror links, state media said.

The seven are all naturalized decades ago. They have been behind bars since April 9 after refusing to obtain new nationalities or face jail.

The European Union (EU) mission in Algeria to monitor Thursday's legislative polls will not be given access to the national voters registry, a government official said.

The national roll contains "personal and confidential information whose release is banned under Algerian law," a foreign affairs official told the El-Moudjahid newspaper on condition of anonymity.

Yemen's once-bustling port city of Aden at first glance appears relatively safe and orderly. A closer look however reveals a metropolis threatened by guns, thugs, and a growing jihadist presence -- mirroring the situation that exists in most of the restive south.

Al-Qaida linked militants, in control of large swathes of territory in Yemen's southern and eastern provinces, have infiltrated the city.

A roadside blast hit troops escorting U.N. observers in Syria's south on Wednesday, a day after envoy Kofi Annan warned that his peace plan could be the last chance to avoid civil war, while several people were killed or wounded in violence across the country.

The explosive device, apparently planted underground, wounded six Syrian soldiers escorting the convoy as it entered the city of Daraa, cradle of a 14-month uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Insurgents killed four people, including a man and his son, in two attacks in Diyala province in central Iraq on Wednesday, police and medical officials said.

"Insurgents raided the house of a man working in the identity card directorate ... and assassinated him and his 18-year-old son," on the outskirts of Baquba, capital of Diyala, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.