Spain

LAST WEEK, Spain was the target of terrorists. This week, it's the conservatives turn to whack the country around. Overwrought hand-wringing has been the order of the day following the defeat of the conservative government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. The terrorist bombings in Madrid influenced the elections and left the United States with one less ally in the war in Iraq. Spain voted to "appease terrorists," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Former Bush speechwriter David Frum fumes that "terrorism has won a mighty victory in Spain.

Former Saint Joseph's center Ahmad Nivins, who was drafted in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks, has signed a contract to play professionally in Spain. Nivins, who was Player of the Year in the Big 5 and Atlantic 10 last season, will play for Manresa in the ACB League. He will be the first rookie in 4 years to play in the ACB League. The Mavericks picked Nivins 56th overall. Dallas will retain Nivins' NBA rights. Nivins, of Jersey City, N.J., led the Hawks with 19.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game last season.

The aging American idealists who fought as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade against Spain's fascists 50 years ago have not cut their consciences to fit the Reagan doctrine of the 1980s. That is why they couldn't believe their ears earlier this month. They were appalled to hear President Reagan invoke their name to defend the American mercenaries who have thrown in with Nicaragua's contras. Were the brigade veterans to volunteer once again, they say, they'd still be fighting on the side of besieged government, this time in Managua.

If you think a European vacation requires a hefty lottery win or a breath- taking, back-breaking whirlwind jaunt through a dozen countries, think again - and consider Spain. Even with the weak dollar, Spain offers an inexpensive and relaxing alternative to expensive trips and herd tours that often dissuade Americans from crossing the Atlantic. If you have never been to Spain and have only a week to spare, resist the temptation to head for the Mediterranean coast, and focus your trip instead on Madrid and the vastly underpublicized surrounding towns that ring Spain's capital.

MADRID, Spain - Spain's opposition conservatives swept commandingly into power and into the hot seat Sunday as voters enduring a 21.5 percent jobless rate and stagnant economy dumped the Socialists - the third time in three weeks that Europe's debt crisis claimed a government. As thousands of cheering supporters waving red-and-yellow Spanish flags and blue-and-white party ones gathered outside Popular Party headquarters, their leader and future prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, thanked Spaniards for their support, then sounded a somber note of warning.

The Spanish Professional Basketball League remains Alvaro Teheran's proving ground. The 7-1 center, chosen in the second round of the 1991 NBA draft by the 76ers, has joined a team near Madrid and signed a one-year contract. That wipes out any speculation that Teheran, who spent part of last season with Caja de Ronda, another Spanish team, would come to the Sixers' training camp, which opens Oct. 8 at Franklin & Marshall College. "That he's in Spain doesn't surprise me," general manager Jim Lynam said.

There has been much Sturm und Drang in this household during the last week. The three young men with whom I am staying, the fiancee of one of them, Maria Angustias, and I have been acting as advisers to our lovelorn friend Felipe and worrying every step of the way with him. It all started last week when Maria Angustias introduced Felipe to an Egyptian who works in a boutique with her. Although he insists that it wasn't love at first sight, there...

Spain had hoped to have restored its Segovia Mint in time for the Columbus quincentennial, but Spanish officials now say it will take several years more. The mint in Segovia, powered by waterwheels, may have been put in operation as early as 1574. The Austrian-designed mill became the model for all of Spain's mints, and those of Spanish colonies around the world. The Segovia Mint continued operation through 1869. Its restoration became a project for Glenn Murray, an American who won funding support from the American Numismatic Association.

Monica Llach leans forward, and the dark brown stallion Splash responds by gracefully jumping over fencing hurdles about three feet high. As her instructor, Wendy McCook, loudly counts the horse's strides, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE," then "HEEL, HEEL, HEEL," Llach deftly points down with her heels, putting all her weight in the stirrups and pulling her body forward out of the saddle as Splash jumps the fence with ease. The 18-year-old senior at Solebury School in Solebury Township is a champion horse rider from Seville, Spain.

The U.S. men's eight, featuring former Drexel rower Steve Kasprzyk of Cinnaminson, beat New Zealand by four seconds on the Rotsee course in Lucerne, Switzerland, Tuesday, to win the final and earn a spot in the London Olympics. The U.S. crew led from the start and won in a time of 5 minutes, 36.11 seconds, with New Zealand second in 5:40.02. France was third in 5:46.35. The U.S.'s women's double sculls, and lightweight men's four also won places in the London Games. Sarah Trowbridge and Margot Shumway dominated the finals of the double sculls to finish more than a second ahead of the Netherlands in 7:03.96.

MADRID - At least 100,000 Spaniards angered by grim economic prospects and the political handling of the international financial crisis turned out for street demonstrations in the country's cities Saturday, marking the one-year anniversary of a movement that inspired similar pressure groups in other countries. Tens of thousands of protesters in Madrid flooded the central Puerta del Sol plaza in the evening and aimed to stay for three days. But authorities warned they wouldn't allow anyone to camp out overnight, and up to 2,000 riot police were expected to be on duty.

A menu of lichen, pine needles, and hay once again has trumped classic cuisines in a ranking of the world's top restaurants. For a third consecutive year, chef Rene Redzepi's diminutive but innovative Danish restaurant, Noma, earned the top spot in Restaurant magazine's annual S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards, announced Monday in London. Redzepi cooks with a meticulous focus on indigenous ingredients, from moss and snails to sloe berries and unripe plums.

The guitar has rarely known anyone with a combination of sensitivity and ferocity to equal that of Paco de Lucia. Since his teen years and initial solo albums such as La Fabulosa Guitarra de Paco de Lucia (1967) and Fantasía Flamenca (1969), he has fanned the flame of flamenco with his rhythmic aplomb and dancing fingers. Throughout his recorded canon of famed live and studio albums, de Lucia, now 64, has done much more than parade fanciful punteados , flaring toques , and thunderous palmas . De Lucia has stretched the genre, pulling from classical music ( Interpreta a Manuel de Falla )

Eduardo Luis Duhalde, Argentina's human-rights secretary and a prominent voice in denouncing abuses during the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s, died Tuesday in Buenos Aires. He had undergone surgery in February for an aortic aneurysm, and in recent days had suffered complications. Mr. Duhalde had been the country's human-rights secretary since 2003, when he was appointed by the late President Nestor Kirchner. At the start of the military dictatorship that lasted from 1976 to 1983, Argentina's authorities ordered Mr. Duhalde's capture and he went into exile in Spain.

1. f. Russia. 2. h. Sweden. 3. d. Italy. 4. i. Wales. 5. c. India. 6. j. West Indies. 7. g. Spain. 8. b. France. 9. e. Mexico. 10. a. Czech Republic.

Hispanic culture is refreshing classical music in ways that weren't imaginable 20 years ago. But rather than accessing the provocative, eclectic, and sophisticated new generation of composers (Roberto Sierra, Osvaldo Golijov), Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos stayed with the old school in his second guest-conducting week with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center. Such tuneful, atmospheric music couldn't help feeling like a warm-weather vacation on a chilly Thursday in March - but one without lasting impact, if only because so much of the repertoire seeks merely to be charmingly rustic.

Ronald Fraser, 81, an English oral historian known for his deftness at collecting and presenting ordinary people's experiences during momentous events such as the Spanish Civil War, died Feb. 10 in Valencia, Spain. Mr. Fraser wrote books chronicling working-class life, the ways of a Spanish village, the 1968 student uprisings in the United States and Europe, and his own life. His most influential book was Blood of Spain: An Oral History of the Spanish Civil War , a 628-page work published in 1979.

Judge assassinated in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan officials reported the assassination Sunday of a judge from a restive eastern province. His 8-year-old daughter was killed along with him, they said. For the last several years, the Taliban and affiliated insurgent groups have carried out a campaign of assassinations, taking aim at influential local figures because of perceived loyalty to the central Afghan government. The victim of the latest shooting was Mohammad Nasir, who led the appeals court in Kunar province, which lies near Pakistan's tribal areas and has been the scene of heavy fighting over the last year.

VALENCIA, Spain - This ancient city on Spain's Mediterranean coast has long drawn visitors to its UNESCO-cited, late Gothic silk exchange; its restored modernist central market; its plenitude of paella restaurants; and its old-fashioned cafes serving horchata , or chilled tiger-nut milk, a smooth and refreshing local specialty. But in recent years, it's a futuristic attraction more so than the historical and culinary ones that has landed Valencia on various travel publications' must-see lists.