USA - On Saturday night, the city of Baltimore resembled a warzone as protests over the death of Freddie Gray turned wildly violent. One eyewitness reported watching the streets around him and his friend "turn into madness" as they left a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. Car windows were smashed, stores were robbed, chairs were thrown and large numbers of random bystanders were attacked.

GREECE - Europe's creditor powers have ruled out another "big" bail-out programme for Greece as the country edges ever-closer to an unprecedented default on its international lenders. Conservative estimates of Greece's parlous finances expect the government to run out of cash by mid-May. In the absence of fresh bail-out money, there is a 50 percent chance of "some form of Greek sovereign default," according to Stephanie Flanders of JP Morgan Asset Management. "Carefully handled, a partial default does not have to cause lasting damage to Greece or European markets. Nor does it have to lead to a Greek exit from the eurozone," said Ms Flanders. "But at a minimum, investors should be prepared for a messy few months for Greek financial markets."

USA - The US and Japan agreed to a major update in their military relationship Monday, one that is expected to lead to a greater global presence for Japan's military while strengthening ties between the two nations on cyber, space and industrial programs, according to a senior US defense official. The new US-Japan defense guidelines were agreed upon in New York City on Monday during the 2+2 talks between Japan and the US, where US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry are meeting with Japanese Defense Minister General Nakatani and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. The senior defense official, who spoke to reporters ahead of the signing, called the agreement a "very big event" that redefines how Japan operates as a military partner around the globe.

USA - Two days after a bakery in Oregon was ordered to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple, to whom it refused service, fundraising efforts are underway to help the couple at the centre of the controversy pay off the fine. According the Oregon Bureau of Labour and Industries, Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of the Oregon-based Sweet Cakes by Melissa, violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws when they refused to make a wedding cake for Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer in 2013. The couple claimed that their refusal of services was in accordance with their religious beliefs towards gay marriage, a stance that led to widespread criticism of the bakery and the ensuing lawsuit.

NEPAL - Nepal’s devastating earthquake was the disaster experts knew was coming. Just a week ago, about 50 earthquake and social scientists from around the world came to Kathmandu, Nepal, to figure out how to get this poor, congested, overdeveloped, shoddily built area to prepare better for the big one, a repeat of the 1934 temblor that leveled this city. They knew they were racing the clock, but they didn’t know when what they feared would strike. “It was sort of a nightmare waiting to happen,” said seismologist James Jackson, head of the earth sciences department at the University of Cambridge in England. “Physically and geologically what happened is exactly what we thought would happen.” But he didn’t expect the massive quake that struck Saturday to happen so soon.

USA - More than a third of American babies are tapping on smartphones and tablets even before they’re walking or talking, according to a new study. And by their first birthday, one in seven infants is using devices for at least an hour a day. The results of the First Exposure and Use of Mobile Media in Young Children survey was presented to the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in San Diego on the weekend. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the use of entertainment media such as televisions, computers, smartphones and tablets by children under two-years-old.

GREECE - There's a new theory doing the rounds in the "Grexit or no Grexit" debate. Unlike the widely-held conjecture that a default would lead inexorably to Greece's ejection from the eurozone, analysts and economists now think there are a number of ways the debt-addled country can retain its membership of the euro while stiffing its international lenders.

EUROPE - It has been a very disturbing 24 hours for Greece. It all started during yesterday's surprisingly short, just one hour long Eurozone finmin meeting in Riga, where Yanis Varoufakis not only got the most "hostile" reception yet being called "a time-waster, gambler, and amateur", but for the first time one minister openly said that maybe it was time governments prepared for the plan B of a Greek default.

NEPAL - The international aid effort for Nepal is gathering pace, with Saturday's huge earthquake now known to have killed at least 3,900 people and injured 7,000. China, India, Pakistan and Britain are among the countries contributing to the effort, alongside major aid agencies. Nepal has asked for more help, saying it needs everything from helicopters and blankets to paramedics and drivers. At least 200 climbers have now been rescued around Mount Everest, after the quake triggered avalanches.

GREECE - One of Greece's largest banks says it will wipe away the debts of clients who owe up to 20,000 euros ($21,600) in a one-off gesture to ease the burden on its crisis-hit customers. The Bank of Piraeus decided to write off or restructure debts in response to the "humanitarian crisis" through which its poorest clients were living, the company said in a statement. Debts of up to 20,000 euros linked to credit cards and consumer loans would be written off completely, it said, while mortagage payments would be frozen and any associated interest forgiven. Clients must already be enrolled in a newly-launched government benefits scheme to be eligible for the debt relief.

UK - Countries band together to promote trade, defend human rights, protect the environment and repel threats. They sign treaties and join international organizations, and each time they do, they agree to give up a bit of independence. That happened in a big way with the creation of the European Union, a common market and global political force forged from the fractious states of Europe. The question always was, could this extraordinary experiment hold together? That concern is rising with the real possibility that the United Kingdom will hold a vote on leaving the bloc it joined in 1973. The way many Britons see it, the tradeoffs no longer serve their interests; they prefer the idea of living outside the EU, as Norway and Switzerland do.

USA - Why in the world has JP Morgan accumulated more than 55 million ounces of physical silver? Since early 2012, JP Morgan’s stockpile has grown from less than 5 million ounces of physical silver to more than 55 million ounces of physical silver. Clearly, someone over at JP Morgan is convinced that physical silver is a great investment. But in recent times, the price of silver has actually fallen quite a bit. As I write this, it is sitting at the ridiculously low price of $15.66 an ounce. So up to this point, JP Morgan’s investment in silver has definitely not paid off. But it will pay off in a big way if we will soon be entering a time of great financial turmoil.

UK - Back in January and February, two items in this column attracted more than 42,000 comments to the Telegraph website from all over the world. The provocative headings given to them were “Climategate the sequel: how we are still being tricked by flawed data on global warming” and “The fiddling with temperature data is the biggest scientific scandal”. The Global Warming Policy Foundation has enlisted an international team of five distinguished scientists to carry out a full inquiry into just how far these manipulations of the data may have distorted our picture of what is really happening to global temperatures.

USA - In an alarming new update to its user agreement released this week, PayPal has announced that it will assert copyright ownership over all intellectual property of anyone who uses its payment services. The update comes in the aftermath of the announcement that eBay and PayPal will split apart into two separate companies. PayPal users reacted to the terms of agreement update by expressing their shock and confusion. “Does this mean that anything I might funnel through Paypal will belong to them, and that they can do what they like with it, without consultation, interference or redress?” asked one respondent. “So, for example, my business website: they could override my copyright if I channel it through them in any of their services?”

NEPAL - Rescue efforts in Nepal are intensifying after nearly 2,000 people were killed in the country's worst earthquake in more than 80 years. Many countries and international charities have offered aid to Nepal to deal with the disaster. Seventeen people have been killed on Mount Everest by avalanches - the mountain's worst-ever disaster.