Madrid (Spain), Nov. 19 : Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros has been moved out of intensive care, weeks after undergoing a successful operation to remove a tumor from his brain.

The Spanish five-time Major winner, 51, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at La Paz hospital, after losing consciousness at Madrid Airport early last month.

He has since undergone three operations to reduce pressure on his brain and remove remaining tumor tissues.

A spokesman for the hospital said: “Severiano Ballesteros has left the intensive care unit and has now changed ward.

Madrid- Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon on Tuesday unexpectedly gave up his inquiry into alleged human rights crimes committed during the 1936-39 civil war and General Francisco Franco's ensuing 36-year dictatorship.

Franco and his collaborators could no longer face legal responsibility for crimes, Garzon, a magistrate at the National Court, said in a judicial resolution after receiving the death certificates of the dictator and 44 others.

Madrid - Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon on Tuesday suddenly gave up his investigation into human rights crimes committed during the 1936-39 civil war and General Francisco Franco's ensuing dictatorship.

Franco and 44 of his collaborators could no longer be held legally responsible for the crimesbecause they are dead, Garzon said in a judicial resolution.

Garzon also said he was not responsible for investigating mass graves where Franco's opponents were buried. He transferred that responsibility to the authorities in regions where the graves were located.

Madrid - US vice-president-elect Joe Biden will visit Spain to improve bilateral relations that deteriorated during the presidency of George W Bush, the daily El Pais reported Tuesday.

The visit was agreed on Monday during a telephone conversation between Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who got in touch with each other to discuss the results of Saturday's economic summit in Washington.

Biden was expected in Madrid soon after taking office.

Madrid  - Spain are keen to show the world that their triumph at Euro 2008 was no flash in the pan.

That's why they are desperate to do well in next June's Confederations Cup, the draw for which will be held on 22 November in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This will be Spain's first participation in the elite tournament, now in its eighth edition.

Spain will go to the tournament as one of the favourites, as European champions and as number one in the FIFA world rankings.

"La Seleccion", as it is known, has never before flown so high - or so elegantly. And it has never before been so highly regarded across Planet Football.

Marrakesh/Madrid  - Environmental organizations Monday warned that the Mediterranean stocks of bluefin tuna are on the brink of collapse, calling for a fishing stop to allow the species to recuperate.

Demand for tuna had led to illegal and above-quota fishing, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned as 46 countries and other contracting parties to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) met in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

Scientists recommend an annual fishing limit of 15,000 tons for East Atlantic bluefin tuna, but the captures amounted to 61,000 tons in 2007, the organization Oceana said, calling for permanent tuna reserves in key spawning areas.