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."

Sofia  - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov on Wednesday expressed confidence the United States would remain the "leader in building and strengthening of a peaceful and prosperous world" under Barack Obama's presidency.

"I and the Bulgarian nation congratulate your election as president of the US and wish you success in the highly responsible mission of heading a great country ... a major player in the world's arena," Parvanov said in a statement.

New Delhi, Nov. 5 : The All India Minorities Front (AIMF) National President S. M. Asif has greeted Barack Hussein Obama on his election as the US''s first black president.

Asif said that with the election of Obama, a ray of hope has emerged that the US relations with India and Islamic countries would strengthen and improve and a new era will come in the world.

In a message to Obama, Asif said that in his election the world will find a new leader and the Blacks will have honour and dignity all over. He said that the minorities in the US and elsewhere shall have a voice of their own at the highest level.