Gambia has given the EU representative in its capital Banjul 72 hours to depart from the country, leaving Brussels "astonished" and prompting the opposition to brand the decision gravely "ill-considered".

"The Gambian government informs the public that it has decided to call on Miss Agnes Guillaud, interim charge d'affaires of the European Union delegation in Gambia, to leave Gambian territory within 72 hours," said an official statement read out on public television late Friday.

Greece and its creditors failed to reach a breakthrough at crunch talks in Brussels Thursday despite saying they had made progress towards a deal that could save Athens from a possible euro exit.

Anti-austerity Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in a bid to hammer out a reform plan that could unlock the final 7.2-billion-euro ($8.0-billion) tranche of Greece's bailout.

NATO and the European Union on Thursday said they wanted to tighten cooperation in the face of "new threats" emanating from the assertive policies of Russia in the ex-USSR and violence to the south of the military alliance's borders.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey's southern resort of Antalya, said the two organisations were "different in nature" but facing similar challenges.

French President Francois Hollande called Monday for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba during a historic visit to the island, the first by a Western leader since Washington and Havana moved to restore ties.

Speaking on the half-century embargo at the start of his Cuba trip, the first ever by a French leader, Hollande said France will do whatever possible to see that "the measures that have so badly harmed Cuba's development can finally be lifted, repealed."

The European Union and Cuba held a third round of "frank" talks Wednesday aimed at normalizing relations, as Havana and Washington work through their own historic rapprochement.

The two-day session in Havana, part of a dialogue that began 11 months ago, is aimed at tackling sensitive human rights issues and finalizing an agreement "on political dialogue and cooperation," meant to turn the page on a decade of estrangement.

Japan on Tuesday announced $15.5 million to fight "terrorism" in the Middle East and Africa, as Tokyo tries to demonstrate its resolve despite the murder of two citizens by Islamist extremists.

The amount doubles the $7.5 million in assistance that Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged during a visit to Brussels in January.

Tens of thousands of Danes have gathered for a torchlit vigil in Copenhagen to commemorate the victims of two shootings that shocked the nation and heightened fears of a new surge in anti-Semitic violence.

Stunned citizens in what is usually one of the world's most peaceful countries flocked to Monday's rally in a square near the cultural center where the first attack took place. Many held flaming torches aloft, illuminating the chilly winter night.

The European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management has said that terrorism is a common enemy with Lebanon, adding that the presence of European troops in southern Lebanon would be discussed during a meeting in Brussels.

“We have a common enemy which is terrorism,” Christos Stylianides told An Nahar daily in an interview published on Monday.

The Belgian authorities are looking for a possible accomplice to Mehdi Nemmouche, who has been charged with killing four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels last year, the prosecutor's office said Friday.

The prosecutor's office said "we are looking for this person," who has not been identified, when asked to confirm a report in La Derniere Heure daily.

A Belgian museum dedicated to the creator of comic book hero Tintin said Thursday that security concerns prompted it to cancel an exhibition honoring the murdered Charlie Hebdo magazine cartoonists.

The museum in Louvain-la-Neuve near Brussels said it took the decision after consulting Wednesday with police who foiled an Islamist plot in Belgium last week, which followed the jihadist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris.