A group of soldiers spread around the world synchronized their watches to go on a formation “run around the world” Friday to show that while they may be separated geographically, they are still one unit.

U.S. Army helicopters arrived in Belgium on Friday to begin a nine-month rotation providing close-air support for units stationed in Europe.

Family members of the crew of the World War II B-24 Liberator Pregnant Peggy have unveiled a monument in Germany to honor the sacrifice of the 14 men who died during a bombing run in 1944.

NATO says its ambassadors will hold talks with Russia's envoy next week in a rare meeting of the NATO-Russia Council.

The number of flying insects in Germany has been dropping at an "alarming" rate that could signal serious trouble for ecosystems and food chains in the future, scientists say.

Spain's prime minister says his government will unveil specific measures Saturday to halt Catalonia's independence bid but refused to confirm if that included plans to hold a regional election in January.

A man with a knife stabbed people Friday at a shopping mall in southeastern Poland, killing one person and injuring nine others, police said, ruling out terror or political motives for the attack.

Russia formally handed over six MiG-29 fighter jets to Serbia Friday, part of an arms delivery that has the potential to accentuate tensions in the war-weary Balkans.

A former guard at the Majdanek death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland has been charged in Germany with being an accessory to murder for allegedly serving there during a period when at least 17,000 Jews were killed, prosecutors said Friday.

Getting stuck in a traffic jam on the German autobahn might cost more than just time and heartache under a new German law that significantly raises penalties for failing to open up the middle lane for emergency vehicles.

German authorities removed an unexploded, World War II-era bomb from a construction site for a new school at the U.S. Army’s Grafenwoehr Training Area on Wednesday night.

Late-start Thursdays that began earlier this month on a trial basis at all Kaiserslautern Military Community and Baumholder schools will now be permanent after the first two weeks, during which the adjusted schedule went smoothly, school officials said.

NATO’s long-standing tactical advantage on the battlefield could be at risk as cyber adversaries probe for weak points in the U.S.-led security pact’s networks, a top alliance official said.

GALLERY

Training kicks in as unaware airmen stumble into comprehensive on-base exercise involving Air Force, British police and medical teams.

ANALYSIS

As Trump found out this week, it is never easy to provide condolences to the families of soldiers killed in action — especially when it is in the service of your foreign policy. Several European leaders have also fallen afoul of the delicate process of negotiating grief and politics.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia remains open to cooperation with Washington even though President Donald Trump's political foes in the U.S. have tried to prevent him from fulfilling his campaign promises.

Spain's central government announced Thursday it would quickly move to take control of the autonomous Catalonia and restore "constitutional order" after the region's president refused to back away from a push for independence.

Discovery of an unexploded WWII-era bomb closed a base gate and parts of a major road near a U.S. Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany on Wednesday.

VIDEO, GALLERY

The U.S Navy and its allies defended themselves against incoming missiles during a monthlong exercise in the north Atlantic Ocean that ended Tuesday, sending a readiness message in light of a more assertive Russia and a growing nuclear threat from North Korea.

GALLERY

Students at Ramstein Intermediate School wore orange while taking a stand against bullying Wednesday in celebration of Unity Day, a national campaign that promotes kindness, acceptance and inclusion.

Israel, Hong Kong and Taiwan joined a number of U.S. allies at the World Trade Organization on Wednesday to express concerns over a Trump administration executive order that calls on U.S. authorities to "maximize" use of American-made goods, products and materials in government procurement.

Turkey won't buckle under U.S. "impositions," its foreign minister said Wednesday as officials from both countries met to try to resolve a diplomatic dispute that resulted in the mutual suspension of traveler visas for each other's citizens.

A Hungarian who printed thousands of passports allowing Jews to flee the country during World War II has been honored with a memorial plaque.

Malta's reputation as a tax haven, its cozy links with nearby lawless Libya and its legal passports-for-sale program were just some of the topics that investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia had dug into before she was blown up by a car bomb while driving.

An Italian priest kidnapped at gunpoint in Nigeria was released after five days and was in good condition, Italy's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Hungarian police carried out a search at a Church of Scientology center in Budapest on Wednesday. Church of Scientology International spokeswoman Karin Pouw called the search "religious suppression under the guise of data protection."

France's Parliament has adopted a sweeping counterterrorism law that replaces a 2-year-old state of emergency and is meant to give police more tools to fight violent extremism.

A U.N. war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict next month in the long-running trial of former Bosnian Serb military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted of charges including genocide.

Investigators in Portugal say they have recovered all the weapons stolen in June from the country's national armory.

The Portuguese minister in charge of emergency services resigned Wednesday after 106 people were killed in unprecedented wildfires this year in the Iberian nation.

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges’ three-year tenure at USAREUR has been arguably the most consequential in Europe since the end of the Cold War, with the Army serving as the centerpiece of the Pentagon’s efforts to energize what had been a languishing military mission.

U.S. military reservists who travel a long way to serve — and in some cases spend their drill pay to do so — may see their expenses reduced by as much as two-thirds as the Pentagon considers changes to the reserve travel policy as a retention tool.

A U.S. Army helicopter pilot had a laser shined into the cockpit Sunday evening while flying over Schmidtmuehle, Germany, near the Hohenfels Training Area.

An F/A-18 fighter jet crashed Tuesday at an air base outside Madrid, killing its pilot, the Spanish Defense Ministry said.

Russia increased pressure on Serbia on Tuesday to grant diplomatic status to the Russian staff of a controversial facility that U.S. officials believe could become Kremlin's spy base in the Balkans.

German automaker Daimler, maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, is recalling more than a million vehicles worldwide over a wiring defect that could unexpectedly trigger the air bag.

French counterterrorism police have arrested 10 people allegedly linked to a far-right extremist who already was in custody on suspicion of planning attacks against mosques, politicians and migrants.

Spain's top court ruled Tuesday that an independence referendum in Catalonia was unconstitutional, adding weight to government efforts to block the region from breaking away from the rest of the country but not persuading demonstrators demanding the release of two jailed separatist activists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged European Union leaders Tuesday to simply say whether or not they want to admit Turkey as an EU member.

A U.S. delegation arrived in Ankara for talks aimed at resolving a diplomatic dispute that spat that resulted in the two countries suspending the issuance of travel visas to the other's citizens, a senior Turkish official said Monday.

Portugal began three days of national mourning Tuesday over its 37 fire deaths amid widespread public anger, with pressure growing on the government to explain why officials failed to prevent the tragedy that came just four months after 64 others died in another fast-moving blaze.

Daphne Caruana Galizia had written a twice-weekly column for The Malta Independent since 1996 and wrote a blog, "Running Commentary."

Brexit negotiations are heading for a catastrophic breakdown unless the European Union signals this week that it will allow talks to move on to trade, according to a person familiar with the U.K. government's position.

A Monday morning deadline came and went without the president of the Catalonia region clarifying whether he had declared independence from Spain, and the Spanish government says he now has until Thursday to backtrack on any steps the region has taken toward secession.

The two-star general who heads U.S. Army Africa has been fired and recalled to Washington, amid allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with the wife of an enlisted soldier, the Army said Friday.

A Cistercian monastery that's existed for almost 900 years in what is now western Germany is closing down for good, due to a shortage of monks.

A century ago on Sunday, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly caused the deaths of thousands of soldiers during World War I.

A cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on its approach to the international airport in Abidjan, killing four crew members from Moldova.

Catalonia's separatist movement is at risk of breaking apart over deepening infighting about the right strategy to culminate the long-held desire for the prosperous region to secede from Spain and become an independent state.

Wrapping up a bruising political campaign season, Austrian political parties were counting down to an election Sunday that could turn the country to the right amid voter concerns over immigration and Islam.

Austria is asking the European Court of Justice to declare planned highway tolls in Germany illegal, arguing that the charges discriminate based on nationality.

European leaders pushed back sharply Friday against President Donald Trump's decision to strip White House backing from the Iran nuclear deal, saying the move would weaken U.S. credibility, drive a wedge within the Western alliance and hurt global efforts to address dangers from Tehran to North Korea.

The release of standardized test results used to measure student progress has been delayed by months for some 33,000 students at Defense Department schools because of problems reported by the testing company, school officials said this week.

Some 600 migrants rescued at sea arrived Friday in Sicily — one of the biggest influxes since Italy struck a deal with Libyan authorities to limit migrant smuggling — raising concerns of a renewed surge on the Libyan human trafficking route.

Europe Quick Trips

For those who want to hike in the mountains — and not hiking while at Aviano is a missed opportunity — the trail from Gorgazzo to Mezzomonte is a good introduction.

U.S. authorities ordered inspections of some engines powering Airbus SE's A380 superjumbo jet after one of the turbines blew apart last month during an Air France flight.

An Italian priest has been kidnapped at gunpoint in Nigeria, where he has been working for three years, Italian news reports said Friday.

An Austrian court has sentenced a man to two years in prison after finding him guilty of attempting to go to Syria to fight with Islamic extremists.

The Helsinki airport says Flight 666 has arrived safety in HEL — the airport code for the Finnish capital — for the last time.

The older brother of a French jihadi who killed Jewish schoolchildren and soldiers in 2012 says he had no idea what his sibling was plotting.

Catalonia's leader faced mounting pressure Friday from all sides, with hardliners in the separatist movement demanding he definitively declare independence from Spain.

There’s an effort underway in Congress to have the Department of Veterans Affairs sell an 18th century building it owns in Paris that’s leased as a five-star boutique hotel and spa.

U.S. cavalry is rolling into eastern Poland to relieve troops serving at a defensive outpost aimed at showing NATO’s resolve against possible Russian aggression.

Several prominent German foreign policy experts on Thursday urged the incoming German government not to turn away from the United States despite U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateral "America First" stance.

Kosovo's prime minister has confirmed that the government will try to transform the nation's security forces into a regular army through constitutional changes to satisfy the country's international partners.

The German government says it will extend passport controls along some of its national borders for another six months starting in November.

A senior Russian lawmaker says Moscow could deploy more state-of-the-art missiles in its westernmost region in response to the U.S. military buildup in Poland.

Britain’s most wanted female terrorist is believed to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike, according to local media.

The United States announced Thursday it is pulling out of the U.N.'s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

Thousands of Catalans who want their region to remain in Spain marked the country's national day Thursday, marching through Barcelona waving both Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting "I am Spanish," as the region's threats of independence have left the country in crisis.

Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin has praised former Gen. Vladimir Lazarevic, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a U.N. war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed by Serb troops in Kosovo.

The noise of car engines enveloping the streets of the French capital might in the future become a memory for Paris pedestrians.

Turkmenistan's president brought Russian President Vladimir Putin a very cute present for his 65th birthday — a Central Asian shepherd puppy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to legalize the military's use of foreign volunteers in overseas operations, a new step in the country's increasing engagement in wars abroad.

The Danish defense budget is currently $3.4 billion or 1.17 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The proposed boost would still fall short of NATO's guideline.

Spanish authorities gave Catalonia's separatist leader five days to explain whether his ambiguous statement on secession was a formal declaration of independence.

More than 100 journalists have been imprisoned in Turkey and some 200 media outlets were shut down as part of a government crackdown.

Italy, like many EU nations, is facing rising anti-immigrant sentiment and has grappled for ways to stem the flow amid resistance from its EU partners to take in new arrivals.

A Belgian national identified as 39-year-old Brahim T. was charged with "participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder," either in a direct role or as an accomplice.

When U.S. soldiers are firing rifles and calibrating artillery at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, they often notice dozens of bunkers in various states of decay, partly hidden in the thick forests. Tangled hunks of concrete and iron can be found all over the American base.

U.S. soldiers and their allies jumped out of airplanes and captured an enemy airfield Monday during the first major event of an 18-day multinational war game.

The Russian military says its warplanes have targeted Islamic State militants who have moved into Syria from Iraq, killing over 100 of them.

Catalonia's regional leader was addressing parliament Tuesday in a highly anticipated session that could spell the birth of a new republic, marking a critical point in a decade-long standoff between Catalan separatists and Spain's central authorities.

Four years ago, a father in a small Italian town murdered his teenage son. The crime earned him a life sentence, a rarity in Italy and many other European countries. But last week the country's highest court ruled that he should have a reduced sentence — because his son was adopted.

Russian trolls and others aligned with the Kremlin are injecting disinformation into streams of online content flowing to American military personnel and veterans on Twitter and Facebook, according to an Oxford University study released Monday.

NATO does not want a "new Cold War" with Russia, despite members' concerns about the Russian military buildup close to NATO's border, the chief of the military alliance said Monday.

Google for the first time has uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited the company's platforms in an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the company's investigation.

David Milne loves the view of the North Sea from his home high above the roiling surf, but he finds his eye often falling onto the golf course next door and, when it does, on the tiny figures below.

Bosnia's war crimes court on Monday acquitted the wartime commander of Srebrenica, who was accused of committing atrocities against Serbs during the 1992-95 Balkan conflict.

Kosovo's president on Monday accused the international community of not keeping its end of the bargain after the country created an unpopular war crimes court to prosecute ethnic Albanians in cases linked to Kosovo's war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, during a visit to Ukraine, that Turkey won't recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Turkey's justice minister on Monday said he hoped the United States would review its decision to suspend most visa services for Turkish citizens following the arrest of a U.S. consulate employee in Istanbul that has deepened tensions between the two NATO allies.

The U.S. said Sunday it was suspending non-immigrant visa services at its diplomatic facilities in Turkey following the arrest of a consulate employee, prompting Turkey to halt visa services in the U.S.

The Italian landmarks for the division can also be found on street names found throughout Fort Drum.

Hundreds of thousands of people rallied Sunday in downtown Barcelona to protest against the plans of Catalonia's regional government to secede from the rest of Spain.

The Anadolu news agency said officials completed an investigation into the 11 human rights activists, who are now pending trial.

Polish Catholics held rosaries and prayed together Saturday along the country's 2,000-mile border, appealing to the Virgin Mary and God for salvation for Poland and the world in a national event that some felt had anti-Muslim overtones.

Danish divers found the decapitated head, legs and clothes of a Swedish journalist who was killed after going on a trip with an inventor on his submarine, police said Saturday.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday raised the possibility of getting military support from Russia to boost its defensive capabilities after President Donald Trump threatened to use force against the South American nation.

Seven U.S. senators, accompanied by staff members, visited Aviano on Friday.