Madrid - A bomb exploding at a train st

Madrid - Spain stepped up diplomatic activity Thursday in a push to be invited to an economic summit set to take place in Washington in mid-November.

The government was making efforts "in all directions, with everyone, and at all levels," according to government sources.

The United States has invited only members of the G-20 group, of which Spain is not a part, to the meeting.

Madrid  - Former professional golfer Severiano Ballesteros will undergo a second operation on his brain, doctors at a Madrid hospital said Thursday.

The 51-year-old had developed an oedema as well as a haemorrhage on his brain, they said, describing his condition as serious but stable.

During the operation on Friday doctors will also be removing some more of the tumour which had already resulted in an operation last week, but which could not be removed as it was in parts of the brain which were not easily accessible.

Madrid - The Spanish government Wednesday won initial parliamentary support for its 2009 budget despite being accused of downplaying the impact of the country's deepening economic crisis.

The backing of two regionalist parties allowed the governing Socialists to reject amendments that several parties had proposed to the budget, which is still pending definitive approval.

The amendments were scrapped with 177 votes, while 170 legislators voted for them and one abstained.

The opposition conservatives have argued that the 1 per cent growth forecast the budget is based on is unrealistic, given that growth has plummeted from 3.8 per cent in 2007 to close to zero this year.

Madrid  - A work stoppage by judges and judicial secretaries Tuesday paralyzed a large part of Spain's court system.

The judiciary was protesting what it saw as government interference in its work and a lack of resources.

Judicial secretaries stopped working for three hours and judges, who were not allowed to stage a formal work stoppage, held meetings during that time.

The protesters were accusing Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government of interference in urging the highest judges' organ to adopt stronger sanctions against a Seville judge for failing to jail a paedophile who then killed a five-year-old girl in January.