The week at a glance...Europe

London

Deported by text: The British government sent thousands of people suspected of overstaying their visas text messages telling them to go home. “You are required to leave the U.K. as you no longer have right to remain,” the text read. Nearly 40,000 texts have been sent, and some 400 recipients have complained, some saying they are legal residents and others that they are British citizens. The opposition Labor Party said the texts were “offensive and inappropriate.” Prime Minister David Cameron’s tough stance on illegal immigrants is seen as an attempt to co-opt the appeal of the U.K. Independence Party, an anti-immigrant, anti-EU party that has been siphoning off Conservative votes.

Paris

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Angry with the NSA: President Obama phoned French President François Hollande this week to calm French anger over reports of U.S. spying. Citing documents from whistle-blower Edward Snowden, Le Monde reported that the NSA had gathered 70 million French phone records in a single month and that U.S. spies had bugged French diplomats ahead of a U.N. vote. The White House said in a statement that some of the reports “distorted our activities” while others raised “legitimate” questions. “The United States has begun to review the way that we gather intelligence, so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share,” the statement said.

Limburg, Germany

No bling for bishops: Pope Francis has suspended a German bishop over his extravagant spending, including a $42 million renovation of his residence. Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, known as “the bishop of bling,” has been barred for now from his Limburg diocese. German Catholics were outraged at the bills for the renovation, such as $474,000 for built-in cabinets and $20,000 for a single bathtub, as well as at reports that the bishop lied about traveling first class to India to visit the slums of Bangalore. Hundreds of Catholics in Limburg have officially severed ties with the church over the scandal. The pope’s sharp rebuke is just the latest example of his emphasis on austerity. Pope Francis drives a used car and has urged bishops to go out among the poor.

Athens

Whose child? Bereaved families across Europe are hoping that a little blond girl found in a Roma camp in Greece is their lost daughter. After finding the girl, about 5 years old, during a drug raid, Greek authorities administered DNA tests that confirmed she isn’t the child of the couple she was living with. The couple says the girl was adopted informally, a common practice among Roma. The case has revived an old stereotype in Europe about Roma, once known as Gypsies, stealing children. “This is stigmatizing the whole Roma community in Europe,” said Ivan Ivanov of the European Roma Information Office. “There is no evidence that this child was kidnapped.” The FBI is checking to see whether the girl matches the description of any missing American children.