It allows U.S. border officials to check passports in Madrid Barajas of passengers travelling to the United States

An immigration accord has been signed this Wednesday which allows United States border officials posted at Barajas Airport to check the passports of passengers travelling to the U.S.

It happens, as Alice Cooper will tell you, to the best of us.

You arrive for your flight (as he did at Terminal 5 earlier this month), check in your luggage (in his case, filled with 300 obscure horror movies) and forget all about it. Then, at the other end, it doesn’t turn up.

If you’re an ageing rocker, the solution is simple — you offer a reward of two backstage passes for your latest tour and the case turns up within 48 hours.

Two Spanish air force F-18 jets crashed in the Atlantic Tuesday after apparently hitting each other, but the pilots ejected safely from the aircraft, emergency services said.

The accident took place in a military training zone off Spain’s Canary Islands, and the two pilots were rescued by a passing helicopter in the area, an official of the air rescue service told RNE national radio.

He said the two airmen were undergoing routine medical tests following the accident. (Via Expatica)

A US government delegation will visit Spain next week to discuss whether the country can take in Guantanamo detainees, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos announced on Saturday.

The minister said requests from the US would be looked at “in a positive fashion”.

But he added considerations would be made while “respecting our internal laws and looking case by case at those who wish to be taken in by Spain.”

A US federal judge on Wednesday gave treasure hunting firm Odyssey until 6 July to challenge a court ruling ordering it to hand over treasures recovered from a Spanish ship wreck to Spain.

The Tampa, Florida-based company had been ordered to turn over half a million silver coins and hundreds of gold objects it discovered somewhere in “international waters in the Atlantic Ocean.”

The discovery of the sunken treasure, from a ship code-named “Black Swan,” was announced in 2007.

The United States and Spain drew a line under five years of thorny relations roiled by Madrid’s stance on the Iraq war when their leaders met in Prague over the weekend, analysts said Monday.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said his meeting with US President Barack Obama Sunday on the sidelines of the US-EU summit “opens a new era in relations” between the two countries.

The United States said Monday that foreign barriers to telecommunications services and equipment are hindering its effort to compete globally.

In a review of Washington’s telecommunication agreements with countries, the US Trade Representative (USTR) cited issues with major suppliers as well as “high” fixed and mobile call termination rates, and transparency and regulatory independence as among key concerns.

Garzon had asked prosecutors to look into a complaint filed against six members of the team, Publico newspaper said.

If he decides to open an investigation, it will be the first such legal action outside the United States, the private Cadena Sur radio said.

The Association for the Dignity of Prisoners, which filed the case, said the six should be taken to task for virtually authorising torture at the centre, where more than 800 men and teenagers have passed through since it opened in January 2002.

Spain’s foreign minister said Monday he explained to US counterpart Hillary Clinton Madrid’s decision to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, a move criticised by Washington.

“Mrs Clinton’s response was very positive,” Miguel Angel Moratinos said in an interview from Seoul with Spanish radio and television.

“She understood the reasons that I explained to her and welcomed Spain’s (military) commitments on the international stage.”

“Once it was it was explained that (the withdrawal) was going to be done in a fully coordinated manner, the reaction of the United States and our allies was one of complete understanding,” said Bernardino Leon, the top aide to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

“A page has been turned… this little storm has passed,” he told private radio Cadena Ser.

He spoke after a “very positive and fruitful” meeting in Washington late Friday with US National Security Adviser General James Jones.

“We’re deeply disappointed by this decision taken by Spain,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

“If you recall, in 1999 NATO allies agreed on the principle of ‘in together, out together.’ So we are surprised by this decision. We were warned just before it was announced publicly,” Wood told a media briefing.

Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon said Thursday some 630 Spanish troops with the KFOR force would be leaving the territory in stages by August in coordination with its allies, saying: “It’s time to go home.”

Differing approaches by the European Union and the United States to solving the global economic crisis would be “extremely dangerous,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.

Hitting back at US calls for Europe to introduce heftier measures to fight the recession, Merkel said: “I would find it extremely dangerous if countries on different sides of the Atlantic were to take different directions.”

More than 650,000 people lost their jobs in the US in February, pushing the unemployment rate to its highest level in 26 years.

The cull pushed the jobless rate to 8.1%, the worst toll since December 1983.

The government figures were in line with most forecasts but confirmed the dire state of the economy as firms reduced headcount to cope with the deepening slump.

The Labor Department also revised up its estimate for losses for the previous two months.