For instance, Westby Fisher, a widely followed electrophysiologist and blogger, mourns that House-like independence will disappear from medicine as individual practices merge into large groups.

FORBES: The Most (And Least) Medically Accurate Episodes Of 'House, M.D.'

He has said he wants to turn Belgium into a "confederation, " in which the Dutch-speaking north has fiscal independence while continuing to share some areas, like defence, with the French-speaking south.

BBC: Belgian Flemish separatists make gains at polls

Meanwhile there are a number of local battles with smaller parties like the Greens and the anti-EU UK Independence Party fighting hard to capitalise on disillusion with the big three parties.

BBC: Analysis

Most airlines and airports are only too happy to help travellers in wheelchairs but sometimes fail to spot what is going to make life harder for us, or more often what is likely to rob us of our dignity and independence, like kettling all disabled passengers into a sort of roped-off "disabled ghetto" or bending over us and speaking very, very slowly.

BBC: The perils of flying with a wheelchair