Madrid - Spain and Russia on Tuesday stressed the need to reach concrete results against the global financial crisis at the upcoming G20 summit in London.

Judicially binding agreements were needed, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said at a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a state visit to Spain.

Madrid - Fifteen Spanish police officers are under investigation on charges of torturing two suspected members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA, press reports said Tuesday.

A Basque court said there was evidence that members of the paramilitary Civil Guard had tortured Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola.

The two were believed to belong to an ETA cell that staged a car bombing at a Madrid airport underground parking lot in December 2006, killing two Ecuadorian immigrants.

Madrid - Many Spanish football fans are in favour of Real Madrid veteran Raul returning to the national team, an online opinion poll taken by sports daily Marca shows.

Of a total of 31,587 votes registered in the poll by Tuesday morning, 68 per cent voted "yes" to the question and 32 per cent voted "no".

Raul, 31, is in excellent form, helping Real to reduce Barca's lead at the top from 12 points to four points in the past three weeks.

He has scored 14 league goals this season, five of them in the last three games.

Valencia, Spain  - Of the many spring fiestas in Spain, the loudest, most colourful and fiery is Valencia's Las Fallas ("The Fires"), which captivates the Mediterranean city for five days every March.

The locals parade proudly through the streets in splendid costumes. Outsiders flock to the city to see the paella contests, folk dances, processions, fireworks displays and "fallas" - gigantic papier-maché sculptures. Last year, 1.2 million tourists jammed Valencia during the festivities.

Madrid - The supporters of Spanish giants Real Madrid are very confident about the chances of their team winning a third straight Liga title.

This is the conclusion to be drawn from online opinion polls taken on Monday by Madrid sports dailies Marca and AS.

57 per cent of the readers of Marca believe that Real will win the league, with only 43 per cent voting for Barcelona, whilst no less than 70 per cent of AS readers have opted for Real.