Bilbao, Spain - Several political parties in Spain's northern Basque region on Thursday criticized the militant Basque separatist group ETA, which threatened with new attacks to force the government to negotiate with it.

ETA would not stay with its "arms crossed" but maintain a "resistance against repression," the group said in a communique made public by the Basque newspaper Gara on Wednesday.

ETA said it was convinced that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government would resume the attempt at negotiations it abandoned in December 2006 after ETA violated its ceasefire with a car bombing, killing two people at Madrid airport.

Phoenix, Nov 6: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today said that she can’t even imagine running for President in 2012, but added that she has not closed the door on that possibility.

CNN quoted Palin as saying that “2012 sounds so far off that I can’t even imagine what I’d be doing then.”

New York, Nov 6: As Barack Obama embarks on his own presidency, he faces the challenge of building a administration that does not look like a third term for former President Bill Clinton as his advisers are divided to have more experienced people or have a fresh team.

During the campaign trail, Obama had argued for months that victory for his opponent John McCain would be akin to a third term for President George W Bush, the New York Times reported.

New York, Nov 6: US President-elect Barrack Obama's wife, Michelle, was criticised as well as praised for the dress she wore on election night.

She was wearing a red-and-black sheath by Narciso Rodriguez when she took to the stage at Grant Park in Chicago on November 4.

While some said that her dress was an eye-catching statement, others called it an eyesore.

"I voted for Obama, but I didn''t vote for that dress," the New York Times quoted Jessica Bettencourt, a homemaker and mother of three in Mequon, Wisc., as saying.

Washington, Nov 6: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has dismissed reports that she is a ‘diva’, insisting that she never made unreasonable demands on the McCain campaign during her time as a vice presidential nominee.

Speaking to TV reporters in Phoenix, Palin said that rumours of tension between her and Republican nominee John McCain and members of his staff were ‘absolutely false.’

Wellington - New Zealand's Maori Party, which could hold the balance of power after a general election on Saturday, was buoyed by Barack Obama's victory in US presidential elections, party co-leader Tariana Turia said on Thursday.

"Barack Obama not only represents the strength of black liberation - he represents an impressive commitment to the power of the people," she said.

"The US election results have demonstrated the will of the American people to acknowledge and accept the contribution that African-American people make to their nation," Turia said.