Madrid - The volatile world economy has begun affecting international tourism, bringing its growth to a standstill in the second half of 2008, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said Tuesday.

Overall, tourist arrivals went up 2 per cent to 924 million in 2008, according to preliminary figures released by the UN agency at its headquarters in the Spanish capital of Madrid.

But that growth was based on good results from the first six months of 2008. In the second half of the year, the financial crisis, oil and commodity price rises, and exchange rate fluctuations made tourism decline by 1 per cent.

Madrid - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged on Monday that the administration of President Barack Obama would seek a new engagement between donors, states, NGOs and the private sector to fight hunger.

Clinton addressed a United Nations conference in the Spanish capital Madrid over a video.

The conference bringing together ministers or other delegates from about 100 countries charted action against the global food crisis aggravated by the economic crash.

Santander, Spain - Spain's Banco Santander is considering legal action against alleged Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff, who caused losses worth 2.3 billion euros (3 billion dollars) to Santander clients, chairman Emilio Botin said Monday.

Santander was "analyzing all aspects related to this subject," Botin said on announcing that shareholders had approved a capital increase to finance the acquisition of nearly 76 per cent of Sovereign Bancorp.

Madrid- Ministers or officials from about 100 countries gathered in the Spanish capital Madrid on Monday for a United Nations conference charting action against the global food crisis aggravated by the economic crash.

There had been little progress in the fight against hunger recently, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on opening the conference, attributing the problems to rising food prices in 2008 and to the international financial crisis.

Vitoria, Spain  - Spanish police detained nine people overnight on charges of cooperating with illegal Basque political formations linked to terrorism, police sources said Friday.

The nine were held in several locations around Spain's northern Basque region.

The detainees were believed to have links with illegal separatist parties including Batasuna, which was banned in 2003 as the political wing of the militant group ETA, and ANV and PCTV, which were outlawed in 2008 as the successors of Batasuna.

Zamora, Spain  - Spain and Portugal on Thursday stressed the need for social policies and protection of employment during the ongoing economic crisis.

The labour market and welfare state must not be made to pay for the deficient functioning of the international financial system, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Jose Socrates.

The two Socialist premiers as well as 12 Spanish and 13 Portuguese ministers attended a bilateral summit in Zamora, northern Spain.