Both Paris and Brussels have been calling for calm, but the war of words over the Roma continues. Jose Manuel Barroso said the justice commissioner had his personal backing, but the president of the European Commission suggested that Viviane Reding was wrong to mention the war. What seems to have angered France most is Mrs Reding’s apparent comparison between the persecution of Jews and Gypsies in Nazi-occupied France and today’s expulsions of the Roma. “That unseemly blunder”, came back the report from the French minister for Europe, Pierre Lellouche

The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has announced that he intends to run for the presidency in next year’s election. Writing on the social networking site Facebook, Mr Jonathan said his pledge was to promise less and deliver more. Mr Jonathan took over as president in May last year, following the death of his predecessor, Umaru Yar'Adua.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have had a second day of Middle East peace negotiations. The American Middle East envoy George Mitchell said the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had tackled the issues that lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict upfront.

“I will say that the two leaders are not leaving the tough issues to the end of their discussions. We take this as a strong indicator of their belief that peace is possible and of their desire to conclude an agreement.”