Madrid - In what was taken as an indirect swipe at Israel's actions in the Gaza, Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon has announced a military ethical code of conduct to prevent the Spanish army from misusing force, press reports said Wednesday.

Chacon announced the reform in a speech in which she was seen as indirectly criticizing Israel, during an annual military ceremony on Tuesday.

The code of conduct based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international humanitarian law was seen as trying to prevent action such as that by the United States in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and by Israel in Gaza.

Barcelona - Journalist and author Maruja Torres, 65, has been awarded the Nadal Prize, Spain's oldest literature award, media reported Wednesday.

The prize was awarded for the 65th time overnight in Barcelona.

Torres won the prize for her novel Esperadme en el Cielo (Wait for Me in Heaven), in which the protagonist meets old friends, Manolo and Terenci, in heaven.

The two represent Torres' friends, the late Spanish writers Manuel Vazquez Montalban and Terenci Moix.

The novel was described as a bittersweet tribute to friendship.

Madrid  - A year ago, 5-year-old Mari Luz Cortes left her home in the southern Spanish city of Huelva to buy a bag of crisps. She never returned. Two months later, her body was found floating in a river estuary.

"Case Mari Luz" could have been just another tragic killing by a paedophile, but it uncovered serious deficiencies within the Spanish judiciary.

The case is still making headlines as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government faces a showdown with judges threatening an unprecedented strike this month.

Madrid - Spanish Liga club Osasuna announced on Tuesday that promising young l

New Delhi - India and Spain on Monday set up a joint anti- terror mechanism during a visit by Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega to the Indian capital.

India also shared with Spain the evidence linking Pakistan-based elements to the November 26 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, IANS news agency reported.

"We expressed our condolences with the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks and offered our help in containing such strikes," the Spanish deputy prime minister was quoted as saying.

Madrid - The death toll of traffic accidents has fallen to the lowest level in 44 years in Spain, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Monday.

In 2008, at total of 2,181 people were killed in traffic accidents, 20 per cent down from the previous year.

The death toll has gone down despite the number of cars on the streets and roads increasing from 1 million to 30 million since 1964.

The government attributes the improvement to measures such as a penalty point system for driving licences and tougher penalties for speeding or drunken driving, which can be penalized with up to five years in prison.