GERMANY - Germany must have a stronger army than Britain, its chancellor has said, as he committed to spending 5 per cent of annual GDP on defence. In his first major address to the German parliament, Friedrich Merz said: “We must make all the means available that the Bundeswehr needs so that it can become the strongest conventional army in Europe.” His comments suggest that Germany, which for decades has been deeply reluctant to rearm owing to its Nazi past, now hopes to eclipse the leading armies of Europe: Britain, Poland and France. Johann Wadephul, Mr Merz’s foreign minister, said Berlin was ready to commit to spending 5 per cent of annual GDP on defence as demanded by Donald Trump, the US president. He said Germany would “follow him there”. His government is also considering a return to conscription, which was abandoned by Germany in 2011, if a new voluntary scheme of military service for young people does not draw enough recruits.

INDIA - India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, a major water-sharing agreement brokered by the World Bank. The move came on April 23, within a day of a deadly shooting in Pahalgam, in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, marking the first time the treaty has been paused since the pact’s inception in 1960. In response, Pakistan stated that an attempt to stop the flow of water would be considered an “act of war”. Tensions mounted between the two nuclear-armed nations in the following weeks, breaking out into four days of fighting, before quelling again with a ceasefire mediated by the US announced on Saturday, with both nations pulling back from the brink.

GERMANY - Germany wind power firms face millions in losses as wind speed drops to 50-year low. In many ways, Germany’s wind power revolution has been a success, with wind power serving as the country’s largest source of electricity. However, the current wind lull over the last three months has led to an extreme dip in energy production, which is costing firms millions in losses. Germany experienced so-called “dark lulls” over the winter, featuring little sunlight and low wind speed, which led to extremely high prices. Germany imported energy from neighboring countries and turned to conventional power plants in response. The grid is also at risk due to renewable energy in some instances, especially during holidays when there is less power demand. Solar power cannot be regulated by grid operators, which means that when there is too much electricity and not enough sources that need it, the grid is pushed to its limit.

USA - When you don’t have enough money to pay the bills, it can make for a lot of sleepless nights. If you are in that position right now, I want you to know that you are definitely not alone. I have heard from so many people that are being absolutely crushed by our ongoing cost of living crisis that seems to have no end in sight. Just about everything has become substantially more expensive over the past five years, and now the global trade war threatens to push prices for foreign-made goods into the stratosphere. What we are experiencing at this moment is not even close to normal. According to a new survey that was just released, financial stress is at an all-time high for 70 percent of Americans… If 70 percent of your population is more financially stressed than they have ever been before, you have a national crisis on your hands.

USA - RFK JR: “The 76 shots that children in this country receive … None of them have been safety tested in pre-licensing studies against a placebo, which means we don't understand the risk profile for those products. That's something that I intend to remedy.”

MIDDLE EAST - On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thania stated that a deal between Israel and Hamas can’t be reached when there’s a “fundamental difference between the two parties. One party wants just to retrieve the hostage[s] and continue the war and the other party wants to end the war and doesn’t think about the hostages.”

GERMANY - In his first address to the Bundestag parliament on Wednesday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to rearm Germany so that the country would have the “strongest” military force in Europe. Following years of chronic underinvestment in defence and relying on the United States for protection, Chancellor Merz told lawmakers that “strengthening the Bundeswehr is our top priority” and we will make “every effort to continue to achieve the greatest possible agreement between the European and American partners.” In this context, Merz promised to expand Germany’s military forces “into the strongest conventional army in Europe,” Die Welt reports. “We are not a war party, but we are not uninvolved third parties either. We want to be able to defend ourselves so that we don’t have to defend ourselves. Strength deters aggression, weakness invites aggression,” Merz said on Wednesday.

UK - The NHS is treating nursery-age children who believe they are transgender after watering down its own guidance, The Telegraph can reveal. The health service was previously set to introduce a minimum age of seven for children to be seen by its specialist gender clinics, claiming anything less was “just too young”. The limit was removed after the proposals were put out to consultation, with new guidance due to be published showing that children of any age are eligible. However, a source close to the consultation process said NHS England had “caved to the pressure” of trans activists to remove the limits. The children are not given powerful drugs such as puberty blockers at the clinics, but are offered counselling and therapy along with their family.

UK - "Very Brexity.” These were the words police officers breathlessly uttered as they rifled through Julian Foulkes’ book collection, looking for evidence of thoughtcrime. The bodycam footage from the 2023 arrest of Foulkes – a retired special constable from Kent, who was cautioned for sending “malicious communications” – sent a chill down my spine, as I’m sure it did for many Telegraph readers. If not liking the European Union is enough to raise the eyebrows of England’s poundshop Stasi, then I guess I’ll see you all in the gulag.

UK - As Britain basks in an unusually dry spring, hosepipe bans for millions of households are now 'almost inevitable' as supplies dry up and usage rockets. Could 2025 be the warmest year EVER? Britain’s record-breaking spring could see hosepipe bans for the summer, millions of families have been warned. Water restrictions in large chunks of the country are now "inevitable" after an "unusually dry" March and April left supplies scarce. This has been the driest start to spring for 69 years and only half of the amount of rain expected fell in April. The UK has had an average rainfall of just 80mm (3.1ins) so far this spring compared to a normal 229mm (9ins). Last week Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “Our water infrastructure is crumbling after years of underinvestment. Water companies must go further and faster to cut leaks and build the infrastructure needed to secure our water supply.”