In the West Bank on Wednesday, schools and government offices were shut to allow for demonstrations backing the UN membership bid in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and Hebron.

BBC: Obama addresses UN as Palestinian bid prompts rallies

The group outside West Sussex council offices in Crawley want the government to let them return to Diego Garcia, which became a US airbase in the 1970s.

BBC: Protest outside council buildings in Sussex

Alongside ceremonial mayors and various types of county or city council, Englishmen are already blessed (or cursed) with a profusion of centrally funded bodies such as Regional Development Agencies, Regional Assemblies, various Government Offices (of the North West and South East, for example) and more, almost all of them unelected.

ECONOMIST: City government