Madrid - Spain stepped up diplomatic activity Thursday in a push to be invited to an economic summit set to take place in Washington in mid-November.

The government was making efforts "in all directions, with everyone, and at all levels," according to government sources.

The United States has invited only members of the G-20 group, of which Spain is not a part, to the meeting.

Jerusalem  - A Palestinian stabbed to death an elderly Israeli passerby Thursday, and wounded a police officer, in the Jewish settlement of Gilo, south of Jerusalem, police said.

The Palestinian was stopped by two police officers and asked to identify himself, but he drew a knife and stabbed one of the officers.

The officer then shot the stabber, but he escaped and while running away fatally stabbed a second Israeli, an 86-year-old civilian whom he ran into, a witness who chased after the attacker and overpowered him said.

Madrid  - Former professional golfer Severiano Ballesteros will undergo a second operation on his brain, doctors at a Madrid hospital said Thursday.

The 51-year-old had developed an oedema as well as a haemorrhage on his brain, they said, describing his condition as serious but stable.

During the operation on Friday doctors will also be removing some more of the tumour which had already resulted in an operation last week, but which could not be removed as it was in parts of the brain which were not easily accessible.

San Francisco  - Five fishermen were killed and four were rescued after a dramatic shipwreck and rescue operation in freezing waters in Amchitka Pass, which links the Bering Sea to the Pacific Ocean about 2,200 kilometers southwest of Anchorage, the Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday.

Two other crew members were missing.

Chennai, Oct 23 : Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko was on Thursday evening arrested for openly supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at a public meeting in Chennai.

On October 21, Vaiko in a speech at the meeting on "What is happening in Sri Lanka" had declared that he would support even an armed struggle for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Tamil Nadu’s "Q" branch police, dealing with extremists and terrorist outfits, arrested Vaiko at his Anna Nagar residence.