Free Republic

MADRID--Spain's unemployment rate breached 20% in the first quarter as the country's ailing economy, reeling from the collapse of a decade-long construction boom, continued to shed jobs, Spain's National Statistics Institute said Friday. The INE said first-quarter unemployment rose to 20.05% from 18.83% in the fourth quarter of last year, confirming leaked data published by a Spanish newspaper earlier this week. Spain's first-quarter unemployment rate is the highest in the developed world, Spain's highest since 1997 and it surpasses the government's predictions, which forecast a 19% unemployment rate at the end of this year.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - The United States' occupation of Iraq will come under fire at a summit of European and Latin American leaders on Friday but they will pledge more action in the fight against terrorism. The U.S.-led war was firmly opposed across much of Europe and Latin America, and the mounting violence in Iraq has many leaders fearing the situation is spinning out of control. President Bush's attempts to rally support for his Iraq strategy have been seriously undermined by the photographs and video tapes of American soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. There are several U.S. partners on...