And though DfID will survive as a separate department, it will be bound more closely to the FCO and the Ministry of Defence by a proposed national security council.

ECONOMIST: Foreign aid in a recession

The Ministry of Defence (MoD), National Air Traffic Services (Nats), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and RSPB Scotland have agreed conditions.

BBC: Objections dropped to wind farm off Aberdeen

Plans for turkey producer Bernard Matthews to build a wind turbine faces objections from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the National Trust.

BBC: Bernard Matthews wind turbine faces objections

The committee will be following up this report from the spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, with assorted Ministry of Defence Officials and the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff.

BBC: Week ahead

Alongside the National Security Council discussions there have been separate talks within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) itself, involving the heads of the three armed services - the Royal Navy, the Army and the RAF.

BBC: Q&A: Strategic defence and security review

Although Defence Ministry spokesman Marjan Gjurovski called the group a danger to national security, the intensity of the threat remained difficult to gauge amid reports that the insurgents numbered no more than a few dozen.

CNN: Fresh clashes in Macedonia