BBC News with Mary Small.The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rogriguez Zapatero has thanked his supporters for handing his Socialist Party what he called a clear victory in Sunday’s general election. A spokesman for the opposition Popular Party admitted defeat and said the Socialists had won a good fight. With nearly all the votes counted, figures from the Interior Ministry showed that almost 44% have backed Mr. Zapatero against 40 for the Popular Party. Socialist Party’s spokesman Diego Lopez Garrido said the victory was built on his party’s achievements.()“We suffer a slowdown as the other countries all over the world, but we are creating jobs, we are improving our economy one point more than the other countries in the Europe; and we are prepared to tackle with the new difficulties in the field of the economy.”President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party has suffered setbacks in the first round of local elections in France. President’s ratings have plummeted amid concerns he’s failed to live up to an election promise to curb rises in the cost of living. From Bordeaux here is Emma Jane Kirby.“Celebrations in Bordeaux, as UMP mayor Alain Juppe is immediately reelected. But countrywide there were few cheers for President Sarkozy’s right-wing party. Exit polls suggest the opposition Socialists have taken 47.5% of the vote holding on to strongholds like Paris and Lyon and dethroning the UMP in the northwest cities of Rouen and Caen. Although the French are meant to be voting on local issues like nursery schools and parks, many have used their ballots to punish Nicolas Sarkozy who has recently plummeted in popularity polls.”You are listening to world news from the BBC.()Venezuela says it will immediately normalize diplomatic relations with Colombia. Caracas broke off relations with its neighbor and sent troops to the border with Colombia in protest at a Colombian military raid into Ecuador 8 days ago, in which a senior FARC rebel was killed. From Caracas, here is James Ingham.The decision by Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry to reestablish diplomatic ties with Colombia will be welcomed across South America. The two countries