This week, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said his statement that only “a minority of Roma” want to integrate in France only shocked those “who don’t know the issue”. But as someone who has researched and followed this issue, I am shocked. When I asked Roma families in France about their lives, hopes and the challenges they face, they wished for the same things we all do: to work, to live in dignity, and togive their children a good education.

Madrid is the first city we lived in (seven weeks there, seven months Berlin, three months Paris) and is the cleanest of them. Every day, I believe, Plaza de la Paja, the oldest square in Madrid, on which we lived, was hosed down, and garbage collected. Contrary perhaps to stereotype, Berlin was dirtier than Madrid (and Paris dirtier than both).

Lech Walesa has called for Poland to unite with Germany to form one European state, despite the bloody history between the two countries. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Polish president, whose Solidarity trade union played a key role in bringing an end to the Cold War, said the world had changed and needed new ways of organising itself.

As the world marks the 500 year anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese people to China, a wave of Chinese investment and capital is pouring into Portugal. Portugal was the first European power to establish a permanent settlement in China and was the last to leave when it returned Macau to Beijing in 1999.

This time next year, the question of Scottish independence will be decided. New research published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, presented in Edinburgh this week (and not yet online), talks about Scottish currency. Not terribly glamorous, but rather important. And there is bad news for Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Vladimir Putin’s dream of creating a Eurasian Union is about to breathe its last breath. Over the past several weeks, Russia has made headlines with its bullying of Ukraine for the latter’s intention to sign an association agreement with the European Union in November.

Germany's elections may be generating shrugs of apathy at home, but they are being watched closely by electorates and governments all around Europe, who know that these elections perhaps matter more to Germany's neighbours and partners than they do to its own citizens. From the Mediterranean countries, with their shell-shocked economies, desperate for a bit of respite from austerity, to the northern nations wondering how serious Angela Merkel is about institutional reform of the European Union, a whole continent is waiting to see how the votes come in, and what it will mean for them.

As the new term starts across England, schools are chewing over this summer’s results in the 16-plus exams. One trend is clear—the coalition’s emphasis on pupils achieving five core academic subjects, including a language, in its new EBACC (English Baccalaureate) qualification has raised the number of candidates taking language exams.