The agreement includes the exchange and joint training of officers as well as "placing combat battalions under the other's command." Poland's military already has more than 130 German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks with another 120 due to be added by 2015. A sales contract to this effect was signed last year, only a few months after an agreement "reinforcing" cooperation between the Navies of the two countries was signed.

At the time, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizičre (CDU) spoke of a "totally new quality" in the military cooperation between Germany and Poland. His successor, Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), has gone a step further and had her ministry declare that the intended German-Polish military cooperation is a "trendsetting milestone for the development of European integrated military structures."

Shibley noted that the German Foreign Ministry condemned the assassination attempt of the extremist Israeli rabbi that took place on Thursday. She stressed the necessity to act responsibly regarding the probe into the incident in order to lessen tensions. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ambassador in Madrid, Mohamed Amro, welcomed the proposal to the parliament by the Spanish Communist Party for the recognition of the Palestine State on the ’67 borders. "This is a step in the right direction," the ambassador said.

Sources in the Spanish parliament said that the discussion on the vote on the recognition of the Palestine State is to take place during a Monday meeting, when MPs are to set a date for the vote. A majority vote on the recognition of the Palestine State in the Spanish parliament is binding to the government. This could happen if the communists and left blocs united and persuaded a number of the ruling Popular Party to vote in favour.

Mrs Merkel is alleged to fear that the UK is approaching a "point of no return".

Downing Street would not comment on the reports.

This is the first time that Mrs Merkel has acknowledged that the UK's exit from the EU is possible, Der Spiegel said.

Jordan has been threatening to nullify the peace treaty at various times for months. In February, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur threatened to pull the treaty if the Knesset were to continue advancing a bill to allow Jews to pray on the Mount.

Jordan has also been pushing in the UN Security Council to advance the Palestinian Authority's demand for Israeli withdrawals through unilateral moves.

"I hear the Jordanians are threatening the peace agreement and wonder if they have forgotten the Six Day War and the years in which King Hussein leaned on Israel. The Temple Mount and Jerusalem are under Israeli sovereignty just as Amman is under the absolute rule of Jordan. They should internalize this fact," Ariel wrote.

In fact, the reverse is true. Hence recent revelations strongly suggesting that at least one of the EU institutions has been sharing sensitive data with Russia and undermining NATO defences. Symbolically, the story is directly relevant to the British debate about the EU threat to old-fashioned things such as national sovereignty and our ancient constitutional liberties.

By December 1st this year, the UK government is preparing to irrevocably sign-up to a range of EU ‘Police and Criminal Justice Measures’ that will remove further historic freedoms from the British people. One of them is known as Europol, the EU’s criminal intelligence agency, cheerfully described as the future FBI of the United States of Europe - or gloomily, as a KGB of the emerging EUSSR.

In a recent interview, the head of Europol’s ‘Cybercrime Center’ Troels Oerting has revealed that most of the world’s organised cyber-crime is controlled by a narrow circle of people from Russia; but he is “increasingly happy” about Europol’s “cooperation” with Russian “law enforcement authorities” on this issue. He added that he had recently visited Moscow “a couple of times” and agreed to give them details of some “four very interesting cases” to investigate.

The EU’s policing cooperation with Russia is manifestly counter-productive, as it is virtually impossible to distinguish between Russian organised crime and the so-called Russian ‘law enforcement agencies.' To all intents and purposes they are one and the same. The British Government and security services know full well that Russia is a gangster state, and that it murders people on British soil; most notably my constituent Alexander Litvinenko in December 2006.

Written by Gerard Batten, who is a Member of the European Parliament for London and a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). He serves on the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs Committee.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats say they would only hold a referendum if the balance of power in the bloc was significantly altered. The collapse, news of which emerged after private negotiations, does not prevent Cameron holding a referendum if he wins the 2015 election, but it will potentially anger rebellious Eurosceptics among his Conservatives, threatening the unity within the party.

The value of the law, even if passed, would have been largely symbolic, as it could have been repealed if the opposition Labour Party had won power at next year's election.

The bill's failure will likely damage Cameron's hopes of persuading voters and lawmakers not to defect to the Eurosceptic party UKIP. UKIP, which wants an immediate EU withdrawal, recently won its first elected seat in parliament after a lawmaker defected from the Conservatives, saying that Cameron was not serious about reforming Britain's relationship with the EU.

"I'm ready to go back and confront the Israeli soldiers. I can't bear seeing settlers on the (Al-Aqsa) mosque compound, when Muslims aren't allowed in."

The rioter apparently was incorrectly referring to the closure of the Temple Mount on Thursday, which in fact applied to both Jews and Muslims following the assassination attempt on Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick. However, Muslims reportedly were let on the site where they promptly proceeded to riot, something that has become an epidemic at the site.

Police folded to international pressure on Thursday night and let the site reopen on Friday - for Muslims only - but only for men over the age of 50 and all women. Meanwhile Jews have been forbidden from praying at the site by the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust) which still enjoys de facto control of the Mount.

Indeed at a LIBAH executive meeting in Jerusalem hours before the shooting, Yehuda expressed to us his belief that such violence was inevitable. “You can see the hatred in their (Arab) eyes, and they are allowed to get closer and closer to the Jews visiting the Mount. It is just a question of time before something happens.” Well, now it has, and predictably, Arabs are dancing in the street and handing out candies for this wonderful act of jihad, martyrdom and resistance to the occupation.

The real question is what do we now do about it? If this is “the status quo that must be maintained at all costs,” then by extension, the entire Zionist enterprise is at risk. If champions of Jewish rights to Judaism’s holiest site are shot, without consequences regarding the access to it, then we have clearly telegraphed our unwillingness to honor that which should be dearest to us.

Arabs know the centrality of the Temple Mount better than do Jews. Our refusal to fight for it speaks volumes to them about our eventual willingness not to stand up for the other facets of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

We now have the opportunity to honor Yehuda’s courage and convictions by clearly and cleanly changing the dynamic on the Temple Mount.

Bad news: It's really worse, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told James Fallows at the Washington Ideas Festival Wednesday. "I think we are living through one of these historic, defining times," Hagel said. "We are seeing a new world order — post-World War II, post-Soviet Union implosion — being built. There are many questions, foremost among the American people: What's the role of America in this new world that is evolving? Should we have a role? What is appropriate?"

And Hagel didn't seem especially sanguine that it would end anytime soon. In other words: Get used to endless war.

"What we’re seeing in the Middle East with ISIL is going to require a steady, long-term effort. It's going to require coalitions of common interest," Hagel said. Even if a new era of comity arrived in Washington, however, Hagel forecast that the US would continue to grapple with overseas threat for the foreseeable future. "Tyranny, terrorism, the challenges and threats to our country… are going to be with us," he said. "It’s a reality. I see these things continuing to stay out there."

The other day I was talking to a senior Obama administration official about the foreign leader who seems to frustrate the White House and the State Department the most. “The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,” this official said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname.

This comment is representative of the gloves-off manner in which American and Israeli officials now talk about each other behind closed doors, and is yet another sign that relations between the Obama and Netanyahu governments have moved toward a full-blown crisis. The relationship between these two administrations — dual guarantors of the putatively “unbreakable” bond between the US and Israel — is now the worst it's ever been, and it stands to get significantly worse after the November midterm elections.

By next year, the Obama administration may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, but even before that, both sides are expecting a showdown over Iran, should an agreement be reached about the future of its nuclear program.