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.

Madrid - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero expects US president-elect Barack Obama to open "a new era" in international relations, government sources said Wednesday.

Obama will give a new push to multilateralism in economic and foreign policy, increasing dialogue and coordination between the regions of the world, the sources quoted the Socialist premier as saying.

Manacor, Spain - Rafael Nadal was Tuesday facing a massive fitness fightback after being diagnosed with tendinitis in his right knee.

Doctors said that the 22-year-old world number 1 will need nearly a week of physiotherapy treatment and rest, with a further evaluation on his troublesome knee to be made early next week.

Nadal's dream is to lead Spain in the November 21-23 Davis Cup final in Argentina.

Already, the four-time French Open champion has had to withdraw from the Masters Cup in Shanghai, starting on Sunday.

Brussels - The European Commission on Tuesday approved a Spanish plan aimed at stabilizing its financial markets by providing liquidity to lenders in need.

The approval follows lengthy discussions between Madrid and Brussels over the exact scope of the plan.

Madrid- A Spanish court has rejected an appeal by the sister of
Spain's crown princess to block the media from airing images of her,
her companion and her baby.

Telma Ortiz had appealed a lower court's May ruling that it could
not block the airing of images of Ortiz, since she and her partner
participated in so many public acts, a reference to various royal
family events.

Madrid/Paris - French police Tuesday detained eight suspected Basque separatists, French and Spanish media reported.

The arrests were made in connection with an investigation into bars linked with Batasuna, a party regarded as the political wing of the militant group ETA.

The bars were also suspected of financing French Basque radicals who have carried out attacks against restaurants and other establishments, Spanish police sources said.

Arrests were made in different locations in the French Basque region, according to Askatasuna, a group defending jailed ETA activists.

The detainees were taken to a police station in Bayonne. Police searched several addresses.