Bilbao, Spain - Spain's Basque region on Thursday looked increasingly likely to get its first pro-Spanish government as representatives of two mainstream Spanish parties met in Bilbao to discuss the formation of a new regional government.

The region suffering from the violence of the militant separatist group ETA has been governed by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which seeks looser ties with Spain, since it was granted a broad autonomy in 1979.

Madrid - Doubts have been raised in Spain about the stunning 8.71 metres long jump by unheralded German Sebastian Bayer at last weekend's European indoor championships in Turin, Italy.

News reports on Wednesday quoted Spanish athletics chief Jose Maria Odriozola as saying that one judge may have made a wrong measurement.

"I have the feeling that - apart from the advantage of the run-up track - a measuring error occurred," Odriozola said.

The official said that he was close to the long jump pit and said that one judge "had been measuring wrongly all day."

Madrid - There was both disappointment and delight in the Spanish spring air on Wednesday, as a result of the contrasting Champions League performances of Real Madrid and Villarreal.

Real were slaughtered 4-0 by Liverpool on Tuesday in an embarrassingly one-sided round of 16 clash, and crashed out of the competition on a 5-0 agggregate.

Villarreal, by contrast, defiantly won 2-1 at Greek side Panathinaikos to go through 3-2 from both games.

Real's Anfield meltdown was front-page news in practically every Spanish newspaper on Wednesday.

Madrid - Spain on Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, the country's biggest terrorist attack, amid complaints by the victims that the authorities had forgotten them.

Victims' representatives said they would have hoped for bigger official acts to commemorate the bombings carried out by Islamist extremists, who killed 191 and injured more than 1,800 people.

Madrid  - Spain remains opposed to the independence of Kosovo by "political conviction" and in line with international law, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday.

Zapatero spoke at a joint press conference with Serbian President Boris Tadic, who was on his first state visit to Spain.

Spain is one of the few countries not to have recognized the independence Kosovo declared in 2008, allegedly for fear that it could encourage separatist tendencies in Spanish regions.

Barcelona  - The global economic crisis and the resultant cost-cutting measures imposed on Formula One appears to have drawn the competing teams closer together as they began testing this week at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

"It's a unique moment in the history of Formula One," said Ferrari and Formula One Teams Organisation (FOTA) boss Luca di Montezemolo.

FOTA, which represents the 10 teams in the sport, reached unanimous agreement last week on a series of proposals to help F1 survive the global financial crisis.