Wednesday Islamabad - As celebrations erupted in many parts of the world over the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, people in Pakistan, a key US ally in the fight against terrorism, remained generally indifferent and even apprehensive.

"What difference does it make for us? His victory can be good for America, perhaps for many people around the world. But for us, he seems as bad as Bush," said Bilal Ahmad, 35, a shopkeeper in Islamabad's main commercial centre, known as the Blue Area.

Riga/Tallinn/Vilnius  - Senior politicians in the three small Baltic states added their voices to the chorus of congratulations for Barack Obama after his US election victory Wednesday.

There was unanimity in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that the result offered a chance to deepen an already warm transatlantic relationship.

Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: "We congratulate Obama and his team on this victory. Bilateral relations between Estonia and the US will be as active, good and deep as they have been so far."

Madrid  - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Wednesday hailed the victory of US president-elect Barack Obama as opening the way for "more positive" bilateral relations.

Madrid would be a "friend and faithful ally" of Washington, said the Socialist premier, whose decision to recall Spanish troops from Iraq led to a cooling of relations with the administration of outgoing President George W Bush in 2004.

Baghdad - Three policemen were killed in separate attacks around Iraq on Wednesday, reports said.

In one incident, a policeman was killed and four others were wounded in an explosion near a police station in the southern province of Amarah, a security source told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

New York - US media giant Time Warner Inc. on Wednesday reported a drop in third quarter earnings, and lowered its 2008 profit expectations, citing the costs of restructuring.

The world's largest media company said net income came to 1.07 billion dollars in the third quarter, off slightly from 1.09 billion dollars in the same 2007 period.

Sales in the quarter were level at 11.7 billion dollars, a figure which fell slightly short of analysts' projections of 11.9 billion dollars, the financial agency Bloomberg reported.

Riga/Tallinn/Vilnius  - Baltic leaders voiced hope Wednesday that ties with the US will strengthen further with Barack Obama as president, including cooperation in confronting Russia.

Top politicians in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all said the outcome of Tuesday's election offered a chance to deepen an already warm trans-Atlantic relationship.

Congratulating Obama, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said there is "a window of opportunity for even more active coordination and cooperation of foreign policy between the European Union and the United States, especially when we speak about issues like Afghanistan or policies vis-a-vis Russia."