German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble's criticism of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is being "blown out of proportion", his spokesman has said.

Police launched a morning crackdown on anti-austerity protesters camped out in the main square in the Catalan city of Barcelona on Friday (27 May).

The European Commission has denied that there is any ongoing discussion by the EU executive of a possible Greek exit from the euro after the Greek commissioner, Maria Damanaki, raised the issue on Wednesday.

"The situation completely changes with the realization of the third and fourth stages of the missile defense," said Lt. Gen. Andrei Tretyak, head of the General Staff Main Operations Directorate.

Libya has underscored the unique U.S. capacity to project power and the heavy European dependence on that projection.

During his meeting with President Karzai, the Secretary General emphasised, "Those who threaten Afghanistan’s future should be under no illusion – NATO is and remains committed to Afghanistan."

The Presidents of Serbia, Romania and Slovakia threatened to boycott a summit of Central and Southeastern European countries, to be held in Warsaw over 27-28 May in presence of US President Barack Obama, because of the participation of Kosovo's president.

On Tuesday in Greece opposition conservative leader Antonis Samaras rejected the idea that his New Democracy party line up behind the governing social democrats of Pasok and support the latest round of austerity measures.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged more NATO nations to take an operational role in the air campaign in Libya, and defended her own country's contribution to the mission.

Video of Syrian protesters burning Russian and Iranian flags:

The helicopter operation – expected to be supported by Special Forces troops – will take the allies closer still to a full ground operation in Libya.

Benjamin Netanyahu made this pledge in an address Monday to thousands of pro-Israel American Jews and U.S. lawmakers. His speech drew roaring cheers and standing ovations, a sign of the powerful backing he enjoys in the U.S.

President Barack Obama will announce the formation of a new joint U.S.-British national security council when he visits London this week

Congressional action in support of the mission would underline the U.S. commitment to this remarkable international effort.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on 20 May that Leszek Balcerowicz, architect of his country's 'shock therapy' reforms in the early 1990s, could be a good candidate to become the new head of the International Monetary Fund.

Obama departs on a six-day trip Sunday, hoping to prove to his hosts that he hasn’t forgotten about them.

“It came just a short time after the decision was made to send Norwegian forces to the operation in Libya,” confirmed Major Ivar Kjærem of the military’s center for protection of critical information.

Russia will boost its strike nuclear capabilities if NATO refuses to cooperate with Moscow in the European missile defense project, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg prime minister and Eurogroup chair, called yesterday (17 May) for a "soft restructuring" of Greece's debt provided that the country would put in practice deep reforms and a privatisation "exceeding the imagination".

Contrary to the Danish government's claims that Sweden already has customs checks in place of the sort it intends to, the EU Commission points out that those are not systematic and therefore legal.

The system was designed to incapacitate the electronic countermeasures aircraft, radar surveillance and guidance planes, other types of aircraft, tactical and medium-range ballistic missiles, hypersonic objects, and other prospective air assault vehicles.

HMS Liverpool, mine hunter HMS Brocklesby and nuclear submarine HMS Triumph have been watched by a US Navy P-3 Orion which has made regular sweeps of the Libyan coastline looking for potential threats.

Diplomatic sources say petroleum products companies Belneftekhim and Triple, arms firm Beltechexport and fertiliser maker Belaruskalii are in the frame.

One day after Berlin's angry reaction, EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has warned Copenhagen that its decision to reinstate customs checks at borders is illegal under EU rules. The Danish government maintains the contrary.

Deputy defense minister Anatoly Antonov said the Russian military was looking at ways to "protect our nation if Russia is not consulted in talks with NATO."

The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spent the last two days of his US tour in Washington DC.

Long-time Nato analyst Prof Sean Kay is worried about just such a post-Gaddafi scenario.

Interior ministers from the EU have agreed to changing the rules of the Schengen passport-free area, seeking to clarify conditions under which national governments can reinstate border controls following a high-level spat between France and Italy.

In the early hours of Thursday 12 May 2011, while conducting Embargo patrols in the waters off the coast of Libya, NATO warships participated in a coordinated defence against a small boat attack threatening the port city of Misrata.

Port workers, teachers, civil servants, professors and nurses stayed off the job across the nation, with schools closed, public transport halted, hospitals providing only emergency services and flights in and out of Athens airport grounded for four hours.

Ahead of a special meeting of interior ministers on Thursday (12 May) to discuss ways to stem migration from north African countries, Germany said it is against "everyone doing whatever it wants" when it comes to border checks.

NATO Allies owe a great debt of gratitude to America for being prepared to pay this cost. I hope today I have reassured you that we neither want, nor expect, the United States to walk this path alone.

Target sets have been chosen by the North Atlantic Council, the NAC, and they're all engaged when strictly necessary to achieve the required strategic campaign effect.

"I need to analyse the findings of the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund first and I can't comment before that," she said. "Anything else would not help Greece or Europe."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen started the fourth day of his US trip with a visit to the Texas National Guard in Austin, the largest of its kind in the United States.

Criticism is mounting against eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker for lying about a secret meeting last Friday of select EU finance ministers in his native Luxembourg to discuss the worsening Greek debt situation.

Norway will scale down its role in NATO-orchestrated air strikes on Libya after its current three-month commitment ends on June 24, Defence Minister Grete Faremo said on Monday.

President Barack Obama, set to visit Warsaw this month, will announce the details of a move of U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets to Poland from the Aviano Air Base in Italy.

With the likelihood of Athens' ability to return to money markets in 2012 ever-diminishing, a select clutch of eurozone finance ministers gathered in the Grand Duchy to discuss possible options.

"I have never believed that the EU could or should act as if it were a nation state with a national foreign policy. Any attempt by EU institutions to do so would end in embarrassing failure," William Hague said.

After the first meeting in Doha, the Contact group on Libya gathered in Rome. It brought together 22 Foreign Ministers and representatives of NATO and other key international and regional organisations.

Word from the Pentagon is that Mrs. Tauscher is no longer the lead Obama administration official for the U.S.-Russian talks on missile defenses, which the administration has been holding with Moscow.

Until 1 September 2011, the Fighter Squadron 2/5 "Ile de France” stationed and Fighter Squadron 1/12 "Cambresis” will operate four Mirage 2000-C fighter aircraft to ensure safety and security of the airspace above Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania 24/7.

Vice President Joe Biden pronounced the "transatlantic relationship as central as it ever has been" and declared "it's hard to imagine a threat we can't address more effectively together."

Traian Basescu announced 3 May the precise location of missile interceptors forming part of a planned US missile shield over Europe. He also announced that an airbase and the country's main sea port would be at the disposal of US troops.

Under the chairmanship of Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, the highest military representatives of 54 countries will discuss in various formats the military evolution of NATO and NATO-led operations.

Of all EU countries' embassies in Libya, only Hungary has a diplomatic presence in Tripoli and provides information to the EU. The European Commission told that the situation on the ground was "very difficult".

As the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden authorized attacks which killed more civilians of NATO members than any other threat against the alliance.

This is a significant success for the security of NATO Allies and all the nations which have joined us in our efforts to combat the scourge of global terrorism to make the world a safer place for all of us.

A US-ordered strike in Pakistan which reportedly killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has been met with "relief" and talk of a "safer world" by EU leaders, despite the bloc's official stance against targeted assassinations.

Ultimately, however, it is the right and responsibility of the Israeli government to make the hard choices that are necessary to protect a Jewish and democratic state for which so many generations have sacrificed.

Right now the tsunami is merely a fast-travelling disturbance in the strategic sea upon the shores of which the Alliance village sits. Yet one day the wave could crash upon these shores with force and venom. NATO’s nuclear future ain’t what it used to be.

Only Pakistan can save Pakistan. This can never happen as long as its leadership elite pursue policies where its definition of "victory" really means defeat

It is the liberal elites who revile the American colossus and devoutly wish to see it cut down to size. Leading from behind — diminishing America’s global standing and assertiveness — is a reaction to their view of America, not the world’s.

US president Barack Obama is kicking off a visit to Europe with a brief stopover in Ireland to discover his ancestral roots, a 24-hour visit that has the country - mired in economic problems - buzzing with excitement.

The president was speaking Thursday morning at the State Department.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. He had been taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday afternoon.

Prolonging Grecee's agony by another year would only make the inevitable haircut more expensive, as "private creditors will be more and more replaced by public ones, meaning the ECB."

Denmark's centre-right government yesterday (11 May) agreed to introduce border controls at its ports and airports, as well as along its only land border with Germany and its bridge to Sweden.

It may be Europe Day, but a new haiku from the bloc's president celebrating the occasion could not mask unease across the Union, with criticism of the partisanship of the European Central Bank growing in Ireland and Greece.

Finance ministers from the euro zone's four biggest countries held a secretive meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night (6 May) to discuss Greece's debt woes, amid speculation that Athens was threatening to leave the common currency.

Chaired by Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, highest-level military officers gathered in Brussels to discuss key security issues following the April 2011 NATO Foreign Ministerial meeting in Berlin, and in preparation for the June Ministerial meeting.

"One must make choices, concentrate on the key issues, avoid getting lost in the details, manage one's agenda. That's what Herman Van Rompuy does," Vanackere said in praise of his compatriot.

The Libyan crisis marks the beginning of a new cycle for the two countries because the American factor is no longer a source of divergence.

Osama bin Laden, the longtime al-Qaeda leader and chief architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, was killed Sunday by U.S. forces, President Obama announced late Sunday night.