Osama bin Laden today called on the people of Europe to urge their governments to pull out of Afghanistan.

EVEN Spaniards normally critical of the royal family backed King Juan Carlos on Sunday for telling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to shut up, but some voiced concerns that the monarchy was getting too involved in politics.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell and Hollywood actor Harrison Ford are among the stars lined up to speak to philosophy students at Trinity College in coming weeks.

FIANNA FÁIL would, in public at least, angrily refute any suggestion that we live in a single-party state.

MODERN politics is like a high street garment — designed for obsolescence.

Rupert Murdoch’s media and entertainment company News Corporation has appointed Spain’s former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar on to its board.

Six suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA who had been extradited from Mexico after a long legal battle arrived at a military air base in Spain today.

Liverpool have confirmed they are in discussions with potential investors which may lead to the sale of the club.

The violent Basque separatist group ETA today called for peace negotiations with Spain and France, warning them not to miss a historic chance for peace and said its permanent ceasefire will go into effect just after midnight.

Basque militant group ETA ended a decades-long campaign of terror, announcing a permanent ceasefire that closes the door on one of western Europe’s last armed separatist movements.

Politicians met today to vote on a final report on the Madrid train bombings, ending a year of acrimonious debate on whether conservatives in power at the time of the massacre could have foreseen it and later lied about who was responsible.

Politicians investigating the Madrid train bombings were to meet today to discuss a final report on Spain’s worst terrorist attack.

Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has defended his government’s handling of the Madrid train bombings’ immediate aftermath as he began keenly-awaited testimony today before MPs investigating the massacre.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is isn’t the only world leader facing doubts about his handling of the war on terrorism – people in Australia and Italy also harbour reservations about how well their nation’s leaders are holding terrorists at bay.

Spain would consider sending troops back to Iraq if requested by the United Nations, Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono said.

Venezuela’s foreign minister said yesterday that Opec would not raise oil output because the cartel is already producing at its ceiling of 26 million barrels per day.

The Spanish government deliberately ignored a mosque known for fundamentalist preachings and frequented by suspects in the Madrid train bombings because the facility was financed by Saudi Arabia, according to an academic expert.

Three young men wearing woollen caps on a warm day and with handkerchiefs covering their faces were seen at a railway station hours before the Madrid bombing atrocity that killed 190 people, the investigation into the attacks was told today.

Portuguese Prime Minister and European Commission presidential nominee José Manuel Durao Barroso, 48, began his political life as a leader of the Maoist movement in Lisbon University in the lead-up to the revolution that ended the country’s dictatorship in 1974.

US troops have taken over operations at the Spanish military base in south-central Iraq as Spanish troops continue with their withdrawal from the country, the Defence Ministry in Madrid said today.

TEN US soldiers and as many as 30 insurgents were killed in fierce clashes around Iraq over the weekend as Spain vowed to pull its troops out of the coalition "as soon as possible".

The new Spanish Socialist prime minister today abruptly ordered his troops home from Iraq.

Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero became Spain’s prime minister today as he took the oath of office in a formal ceremony presided over by King Juan Carlos.

The ringleader of last month’s Madrid terror attack was among four suicide bombers who blew themselves up as police prepared to storm their apartment, Spain’s interior minister said today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced concern today at terrorists claiming credit for the change of government in Spain, saying it boded badly for the war against terrorism.

BRUSSELS leaders last night decided at their summit meeting in Brussels they would seek to conclude the EU Constitutional Treaty by the end of the six-month Irish Presidency.

Spain’s outgoing prime minister defended his government today for initially blaming Basque separatists for the Madrid train bombings.

The Basque terror group Eta – originally blamed for the Madrid rail massacre - may be ready to call another ceasefire in hopes of convincing the incoming Socialist government to negotiate more political concessions.

EU leaders appeared increasingly confident today that the EU’s first constitution can be adopted soon despite months of acrimonious debate over how to share out power in the bloc.

Basque separatist group ETA indicated today it will press ahead with its goal of an independent country separate from Spain either by dialogue with the incoming socialist government or renewed attacks.

Anti-war protesters were today gathering in Hyde Park ahead of a planned march through London to mark the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

The Islamic militant group that claimed responsibility for last week’s Madrid train bombings has called a truce with Spain to give the new government time to withdraw troops from Iraq, a London-based Arabic-language newspaper said.

The incoming Socialist government intends sticking by its pledge to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq by June 30, even though some world leaders have asked it to reconsider the decision, Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said today.

THE result of the Spanish general election and the fight against terrorism have one thing in common — a wish to defend democracy.

SPANISH voters have ousted America’s staunch ally in the war on terrorism and the liberation of Iraq, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

US President George W Bush made a congratulatory phone call yesterday to Spain’s prime minister-elect José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

The man who crushed Spain’s pro-war conservatives in a resounding general election victory has vowed to make the fight against terrorism his top priority.

Millions of Spaniards took to the streets, chanting “Cowards” and “Assassins” in a protest against the Madrid bombings that killed 199 people.

Bertie Ahern has called for a Europe-wide three-minute period of silence to commemorate the victims of the Madrid bombings.

Daily life ground to a halt across Spain today as the grieving nation observed a period of solemn silence to honour the 198 people killed in the Madrid train massacre

A series of bombs hidden in backpacks exploded in quick succession, blowing apart four commuter trains, killing at least 192 people and wounding more than 1,400.

More than 180 people have now been confimed dead and more than 1,000 injured after the Spanish rail bombings today.

The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has condemned the attacks in Madrid as "mass murder" and he vowed to hunt down the attackers.

Written off in recent months as possibly moribund after a string of arrests and thwarted attacks, the Basque separatist group Eta demonstrated today it’s still capable of spectacular violence.