It was very difficult to choose which of Xiaozhuli’s yummy collection of French cakes and breads to post but in the end we settled for this one. Why not have a look at the rest of them and see if you agree with our choice?

Xiaozhuli is the top contributor so far to our Food of the World photo group so we’d like to say a big thanks!

So far there are photos from Canada, China, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, Peru, Bolivia, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay and the USA.

Want to share food from your country (or travels) too? Join here and add your photos!

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Traditional Japanese breakfast
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Britain’s 10 favourite foods: the top 10 recipes that British people like to cook at home

The French bank Société Générale has launched an advertising campaign which presumably aims to counter the current perception of bankers.

The campaign shows bankers from Socgen’s offices around the world talking about what gives them satisfaction in their jobs. Each talks in his or her native language with subtitles available in Chinese, Italian, Spanish, German, English and French.

One example is Pierre Diagne, who talks about providing services to African migrants who need to send money home, build savings and invest in property. His greatest satisfaction, he says, is helping his clients to realise their dreams.

The French business environment has been criticised in the past for hostility towards globalisation as well as lack of diversity. Some claim that employment discrimination is to blame for the violent riots seen in France over the last years.

So it’s refreshing to see a campaign which seems to be celebrating the diverse backgrounds of the bank’s employees as well as its customers.

As opposed to Chinglish, which is the evolution of English spoken by non-native speakers into a new, simplified language, Franglais is used by French people to describe English words which pop up in everyday use in their language.

In the past this has not been viewed positively in France, and various policies have tried to rid the language of foreign borrowings.

However attitudes are changing. This year the French education minister decided that French school children need to learn better English in order to participate in the global economy. More in this article from The Economist.

“they have an average of three years more education than their parents, a worse job and a lower standard of living”

The Observer explains how a generation of well-educated young professionals in several European countries are realising that they cannot hope to achieve the quality of life enjoyed by their own parents.

In contrast with the fast growing economies of developing countries such as India and China, in Western Europe growth is slowing, and job markets have been stagnant for several years. Rising inflation, high property prices and low wages mean that young people find life increasingly difficult.

In France they are called the ‘baby losers’, in Spain they are ‘Mileuristas’ and in Italy ‘Milleuristi’ (meaning those who earn 1000 euros per month)

According to the Observer, the closed job markets of these countries is a major obstacle. Inflexible labour laws encourage those who have jobs to hang on to them at all costs, at the expense of younger job seekers.

These are certainly not the poorest people in Europe. But it is a disappointing situation for a generation which grew up believing that a good education is the key to a good future, and now cannot find a job that pays the bills.

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Now that its high speed track is finished, the Eurostar train travels between London and Paris in only 2 hours 15 minutes.

But that´s not all… the Eurostar claims to be the world´s first carbon neutral train service. According to a study, a passenger who travels from London to Paris on the Eurostar train is responsible for one tenth of the emissions of a traveller who takes the aeroplane. Eurostar offsets those emisssions and plans to keep reducing them by improving efficiency and sourcing responsibly.

The Independent newspaper writes about the Eurostar´s new green image in this account of the inaugural journey.