Madrid  - Real Madrid are now just four points behind Spanish leaders Barcelona after a 2-0 win at lowly Espanyol.

It was Real's 10th consecutive league win, their best run in La Liga since 1963, and it came thanks to second-half goals from veterans Guti and Raul.

"We are now in a privileged situation," Raul said, vowing to "make things difficult" for Barcelona.

Barca - who held a 12-point lead three weeks ago - play Sunday at Atletico Madrid.

Madrid - Spani

Madrid - A special anti-drug unit set up by the Spanish tax administration agency has intercepted a vessel carrying 5 tons of cocaine in the Atlantic, the agency said Friday.

The five Venezuelan crew of the 16-metre-long Dona Fortuna were detained in the operation, which took place some 1,500 kilometres off the Canary Islands on Thursday.

The cocaine, which was believed to come from Colombia, would have been worth about 250 million euros (300 million dollars) on the black market.

Moscow  - Russia will sign a deal next week allowing Spain to transit supplies for NATO operations in Afghanistan by rail through its southern territory, an aide for President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

Medvedev will sign the transit agreement on an official visit to Madrid on March 1-3, Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying.

Madrid  - Spanish police Friday detained 13 people in connection with a corruption scandal affecting Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialists two days before regional elections in Galicia and the Basque region.

The socialists governing the village of Alcaucin north-east of Malaga on the southern Costa del Sol were suspected of accepting bribes in exchange for granting illegal building permits in the area.

The detainees included mayor Jose Manuel Martin Alba, his family members, entrepreneurs and architects.

Madrid - Spanish judge Fernando Andreu will pursue his probe into a 2002 Israeli bombing in Gaza Strip, because the country itself did not investigate the attack, judicial sources said Friday.

Andreu intends to investigate former Israeli defence minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six military officers or officials over the attack, which killed Hamas leader Salah Shehade and 14 others, including several children.

Andreu believes the attack could constitute a crime against humanity.