The vast Russian military exercises that ended this week showed off a muscular fighting force practicing state-on-state warfare, NATO's deputy military commander said, in one of the first assessments of a large-scale operation that put Russia's neighbors on nervous alert.

Russia's foreign minister said Friday the downturn in relations with the United States began with the Obama administration's "small-hearted" and "revengeful" actions and has plummeted further because of "Russo-phobic hysteria."

U.S. soldiers concluded training Friday with Ukrainian forces on tactics that local troops will use in their long-running battle against Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east.

Europe Quick Trips

Set in a former church and monastery built around the 12th century, the Worms City Museum is the perfect place to spend a few hours learning some interesting facts about Germany’s ancient and medieval history.

During the opening ceremonies Saturday night, Mrs. Trump joined Prince Harry in a VIP box and stood and applauded when Team USA was introduced. She also stood for Canada's team.

A Copenhagen court has jailed a man for 25 days under Denmark's anti-terror laws for allegedly shipping drones, components for unmanned aerial vehicles and infrared cameras that were bound for the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her supporters to keep up the momentum in the final hours before Sunday's national election, urging a last push to try to sway undecided voters.

Turkey's official news agency says Istanbul police have detained 36 people as alleged members of the Islamic State group.

Russian authorities are fighting the extradition of an alleged Russian hacker from Spain to the United States, the suspect's lawyer said Friday, in the latest move by Moscow to block U.S. prosecution of suspected Russian cybercriminals.

ANALYSIS

The Trump administration reportedly wants to loosen the criteria for carrying out airstrikes, a move that could open the door to conducting new drone attacks in parts of Africa and other nations.

An Estonian court has sentenced a Syrian refugee guilty to 10 years in prison for setting his wife on fire.

A wave of fake bomb threats across Russia has entered its second week in what a senior lawmaker called a “full-scale cyberwar” against the country that authorities are ill-equipped to fight.

About 60 Nebraska soldiers are participating in a multinational military training exercise in Sweden.

Organizers have stripped Miss Turkey 2017 of her crown over a social media posting that was deemed insulting to the memory of the 250 people killed while opposing last year's failed military coup.

A series of busts of the nation's Soviet-era leaders, including Josef Stalin, were unveiled Friday by a Russian government-sponsored association, in a move that has drawn criticism from those who see it as part of efforts to whitewash his crimes.

The leaders of Poland and Hungary insisted Friday that they will stick to their anti-migrant policies in defiance of the European Union and warnings of sanctions.

When they set off from violence-plagued Afghanistan nearly two years ago, 17-year-old Hamad Ahmadi and his family believed Europe would give them a chance for a new life. They didn't expect to be penned in a Hungarian migrant center sealed with razor wire.

British police on Friday charged an 18-year-old man with attempted murder and causing an explosion over last week's bomb attack on the London subway.

Chancellor Angela Merkel appears all but certain to win a fourth term when Germans vote Sunday after a humdrum campaign produced few divisive issues but saw smaller parties gain support — including the nationalist, anti-migration Alternative for Germany, which is set to become the most right-wing party in parliament for 60 years.

Owners of keyless cars may want to keep their key fobs in a metal box or even the freezer, following a string of recent car thefts near U.S. bases in Germany.

GALLERY

At a camp nestled in Lithuania’s remote, rainy forests, a platoon of artillerymen settled into a cycle: maintain the howitzers, work out and chow down on palate-pleasing international field rations as they wait for the order to fire.

Thousands of Polish and other NATO troops have launched major defensive exercises in Poland's north amid security concerns raised by war games recently held by neighboring Russia and Belarus.

Federal prosecutors in Switzerland on Thursday announced indictments of the leader of a prominent Swiss Islamic group and two other top members over alleged al-Qaida propaganda videos posted on YouTube.

Heckler & Koch confirmed a new company policy that re-orients the brand in what it considers a new ethical direction — a significant U-turn for a company whose weapons activists say are responsible for gunning someone down every 13 minutes.

British police have arrested a sixth person in connection with last week's attack on a London subway train.

The relocation of U.S. tanker capabilities from the United Kingdom to Germany will be delayed by two years, as U.S. and German officials continue to work through the details of the pending move, Air Force officials in Europe said this week.

If you're searching for the opposite of last year's loud, long and controversial American election, look no further than Germany. On Sunday, voters there will head to the polls in a crucial yet strangely quiet election.

ANALYSIS

If the investigation into Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington’s alleged flirtatious texting of a local woman proceeds like similar past probes, he’ll join an Air Force three-star, a Marine four-star and scores of other senior officers in undergoing months of turbulence, followed by retirement.

The Russian military on Wednesday concluded its much-hyped Zapad exercise, which provoked months of hand-wringing among Western officials concerned about thousands of troops conducting war games near NATO territory.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. would "not abandon democratic allies and partners, and we will stand with Sweden" in the event of Russian aggression in Europe. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he couldn't address "paranoidal statements."

NATO's secretary-general welcomed President Donald Trump's new strategy for the 16-year Afghan war and said the U.S. leader's insistence that NATO members increase their defense spending is achieving positive results.

Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states all expressed worry that the weeklong exercises could foretell Russian offensives on their territory and that Russian troops would remain in Belarus.

In a pointed rejection of President Donald Trump’s “America first” approach to foreign policy, French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged world leaders to join together to confront global challenges, including war, terrorism, immigration and climate change.

A Russian military helicopter gunship accidentally fired on spectators during war games in western Russia, injuring several people, news reports said Tuesday.

Two Iraqi men have been arrested in the German capital on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization and war crimes as part of the Islamic State, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

British police have arrested a third suspect in connection with the bomb that partially exploded on a London subway last week.

The Russian military says its warships have test-fired cruise missiles in an exercise that comes along with weeklong war games held by Russia and Belarus.

About 70 German workers from U.S. military bases at Ansbach, Katterbach and Illesheim went on strike Tuesday to demand higher wages.

GALLERY

Launched in 1957, the same year as the Soviet satellite Sputnik, Wiesbaden’s Boy Scout Troop 107 has lasted through 11 U.S. presidential administrations and the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Union itself — all the while teaching children life skills and an appreciation for the outdoors.

An intact German World War I submarine containing the bodies of 23 people has been found off the coast of Belgium, authorities said Tuesday.

A revitalized Russian military on Monday sent tanks, paratroopers, artillery, antiaircraft weapons, jets and helicopters into frigid rains to engage the forces of a mock enemy called the "Western Coalition."

A Russian military helicopter gunship accidentally fired on spectators during war games in western Russia, injuring several people, news reports said Tuesday.

Forensic experts say they have retrieved the remains of at least 65 victims from a mass grave in central Bosnia, the site of one of the most gruesome crimes of the country's 1992-95 war.

The new statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov cradling his signature AK-47 assault rifle unveiled Tuesday in Moscow commemorates one of Russia's most renowned and reviled inventions.

The Czech defense ministry says an explosion in a military facility in the eastern Czech Republic has killed one and injured another.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said sexual abuse is a problem that goes beyond peacekeeping missions and plagues the entire United Nations, pledging Monday to root out the problem "once and for all."

Ryanair Holdings sought to contain the damage caused by scrapping hundreds of flights through the end of October, promising to compensate affected passengers and apologizing for the mismanagement that led to a shortage of available crews.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday attended the weeklong war games with Belarus that have demonstrated the Russian military's resurgent might and made neighboring countries nervous.

Four American college students were attacked with acid Sunday at a train station in France, but French authorities so far do not think extremist views motivated the 41-year-old woman who was arrested as the alleged assailant, the local prosecutor's office and the students' school said.

A guest performance by Adam Driver’s Arts in the Armed Forces theater troupe is the showcase act during the Army in Europe’s theater festival next month in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Turkey has announced an overhaul of more than 170 topics in the country's school curriculum, including removing all direct references to evolution from biology classes.

Albert Speer Jr., the son of Adolf Hitler's chief architect who had his own accomplished architectural career but struggled to distance himself from his father's legacy, has died.

A Norwegian court has sentenced a former police officer to 21 years in prison for severe corruption and being an accomplice in one of Norway's biggest drug-smuggling cases.

British police made progress Sunday in their investigation of the bomb that partially exploded on a packed London subway, leading counter-terrorism officials to lower the country's threat level because a fresh attack no longer was judged to be imminent.

A senior NATO official says there's reason to be concerned about the large-scale Zapad 2017 military maneuvers being conducted now by Russia and Belarus, since they could be seen as "a serious preparation for big war."

GALLERY

U.S. paratroopers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team parachuted to the ground and assembled artillery pieces Thursday in preparation for exercises next month.

For three months, Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington, commander of U.S. Army Africa, exchanged flattering, playful and flirtatious messages with the much younger Italian wife of an enlisted man. The woman kept the messages with Harrington on her phone, and shared them during a recent interview with Stars and Stripes.

Europe Travel

Historical Museum of the Palatinate's display covers the details of King Richard I’s life and legend with more than 150 objects borrowed from renowned museums, libraries and even the queen of England.

President Emmanuel Macron has shaken French politics to its core but dares not breach the dress code for a French chief of state. The tie, preferably dark, is de rigueur.

The German prosecutor’s office in Kaiserslautern said Friday it is looking into a report that the Pentagon used Ramstein Air Base to transport weapons covertly to rebel fighters in Syria — an allegation, that if true, might have broken German law.

VIDEO, GALLERY

The Frankfurt Motor Show opens its doors to the public on Saturday and visitors will find a variety of gleaming cars from energy saving, subcompact electric vehicles to hybrid-powered SUVs and gas guzzling sports cars.

Polish authorities are investigating the theft of U.S. military equipment from a cargo container stopped at a Polish railway station, according to media reports.

A knife-wielding assailant tried to attack a soldier in a big Paris subway interchange Friday in an incident being investigated by counterterrorism authorities. The assailant was quickly arrested and no one was hurt.

A homemade bomb planted in a rush-hour subway car exploded in London on Friday, injuring 29 people and prompting authorities to raise Britain's terrorism threat level to "critical," meaning another attack may be imminent.

A high-ranking priest working in the Vatican's embassy in Washington has been recalled after U.S. prosecutors asked for him to be charged there and face trial in a child pornography investigation, Vatican and U.S. officials said Friday.

A Geneva official has confirmed a newspaper report that said wads of cut-up 500-euro notes (about $600 each) mysteriously turned up jammed into the toilets of three neighborhood restaurants and a bank in separate episodes in recent months.

Qatar's ruling emir met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday on his first trip abroad since a diplomatic crisis erupted between the tiny Gulf nation and its neighbors, and the German leader voiced "great concern" that no end to the conflict is in sight.

Albania's defense minister says it plans to send a third infantry platoon in Afghanistan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says U.S. President Donald Trump has conveyed sadness over moves by U.S. authorities that have further strained relations between their two countries.

Bathed in light from the school’s massive windows and sensor-driven, environmentally friendly light fixtures, students and faculty from Wiesbaden High School gathered to celebrate the opening of the military’s newest educational facility.

Sweden has started its largest military exercise in over 20 years with nearly 20,000 troops drilling on air, land and sea, including a contingent of over 1,000 U.S. soldiers, amid rising military activity in the Baltic Sea region.

Russia fired a salvo of cruise missiles from the Mediterranean on Thursday and said they struck Islamic State targets in eastern Syria. Activists there said at least 20 civilians were killed in what they described a "fanatical" bombardment — blaming some of it on Russia and some on the United States.

Russia kicked off its large-scale Zapad exercise on Thursday, beginning a week of war games that are expected to draw intense scrutiny from members across the NATO alliance that have expressed suspicions about Moscow’s aims.

The French government is making changes to the military force that was created to protect sensitive sites after the deadly extremist attacks on France in 2015.

A Bulgarian court has sentenced three Syrian nationals to six years in prison on terrorism charges.

A U.S. airman was pronounced dead after being found unconscious at work, Air Force officials said Wednesday.

Scores of U.S. Army tanks and other fighting vehicles were offloaded at a port in Poland on Wednesday, touching down on European soil as they begin their push toward NATO’s eastern edges.

Germany is one of several NATO members who dispute Moscow's version that only 12,700 troops will take part in the drills. Ursula von der Leyen, its defense minister, said Russia has committed more than 100,000 troops to the war games.

The U.S. on Wednesday banned federal agencies from using computer software supplied by Kaspersky Lab because of concerns about the company's ties to the Kremlin and Russian spy operations.

Berlin police say an Afghan man was attacked in the German capital by two assailants who yanked a crucifix necklace off of him and demanded to know why he had become a Christian.

French and British officials promised to beef up emergency and long-term aid to their countries' stricken Caribbean territories after seeing firsthand the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma.

Prosecutors asked a German court Tuesday to impose the highest possible sentence against the main defendant in a high-profile neo-Nazi trial, saying she played a key role in the killing of 10 people by a group calling itself the National Socialist Underground.

Poland's main opposition party is calling for the suspension of Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz over allegations he has secret ties with Russian military intelligence.

A nationalist party that wants Germany to close its borders to migrants, give up the euro and end sanctions against Russia is predicted to enter parliament for the first time, propelled by voters' anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to admit over a million refugees since 2015.

Nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated from airports, schools and government buildings across Russia, including an iconic department store on Red Square, amid a wave of fake bomb threats that officials called unprecedented.

The head of an international court that investigates war crimes and genocide has renewed her call for the arrest of a Libyan military officer alleged to have been involved in the killing of 33 captives "in cold blood."

Romania's coast guard has rescued more than 150 migrants from Iraq and Iran, including 56 children, from a ship in distress on the Black Sea, on what is becoming a favored route for migrants trying to reach Western Europe.

An American assigned to Ramstein Air Base drove the wrong way on the autobahn near Kaiserslautern while intoxicated Monday morning, a mistake that could have been deadly if not for the heroic actions of three German drivers who stopped him and took his keys, German police said.

The Fulda Gap, a group of passes through hills about an hour northeast of Frankfurt, was for more than four decades the site one of the world’s most tense and heavily armed border standoffs. Now, a famous watch position known as Point Alpha will open as a permanent exhibition.

Engineering giant Rolls-Royce plans to make an autonomous navy ship, powered by artificial intelligence, sophisticated sensors and advanced propulsion, for sale to militaries throughout the world.

Turkey is moving forward with a plan to acquire a Russian anti-missile network, a $2.5 billion deal that puts it at odds with allies in the U.S.-led NATO security alliance.

British engineers say they have launched a "sewer war" against a giant fat blob clogging London's sewers.

France's president and the Dutch king visited Caribbean territories on Tuesday that were hammered by Hurricane Irma, trying to quell accusations by residents that European governments were unprepared, slow to react and sometimes even racist in their responses to the devastation.

Twelve soldiers from U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden spent last weekend taking turns running as fast as they could for more than a day, collectively running more than 382 kilometers, or 237.4 miles, in 25 hours.

U.S. soldiers in Germany ran on Monday to honor those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 16 years ago.

Europe Quick Trips

Although a serious archaeological space operated by the regional government, Vicenza's Roman Criptoportico is a little quirky.

Activists protesting an alleged role in drone operations at Ramstein Air Base held a final demonstration on Saturday by forming a human chain from the Haus des Burgers in Ramstein-Miesenbach to just outside Gate 5 of the air base.

Denmark's minority center-right government doesn't want to accept any refugees this year that come in under a U.N. quota system, an official said Saturday.

A Polish seaman drowned in a harbor in southeastern Sweden where an annual Baltic Sea naval exercise is being held, the Swedish navy said Saturday.

The 2nd Cavalry Regiment will begin fielding the first of a new fleet of upgraded Stryker armored combat vehicles next summer, the result of a two-year push to give the unit greater range and firepower in response to concerns about a more assertive Russia.