President Barack Obama and NATO leaders will meet for dinner tonight at the casino in the German city of Baden-Baden, an establishment once frequented by the likes of actress Marlene Dietrich and writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chiefs will discuss Afghanistan, alliance expansion and possibly a replacement for Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The backdrop will be the Kurhaus Casino, a complex that includes classic ballrooms and a 250-year-old salon outfitted with roulette, blackjack and poker tables.