From Chris Evans, the editor of the Telegraph 23 January 2023

Dear Reader,

Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks are at the centre of an international row. Kyiv is adamant that these vehicles will give them the upper hand against Russia – but the German government has been hesitant to release them. Associate Editor Dominic Nicholls explains what makes the tanks so sought after.

What do you need to be happy? The world’s longest happiness study, which tracked 700 people over the course of 85 years, suggests that the key lies in strong relationships. Writer Melissa Twigg highlights seven lessons from the findings that you can incorporate into your daily routine to boost your mood.

Read these articles, along with my other choices, below.

Chris

 

My Choices

Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks: Why Ukraine desperately wants these Cold War-era vehicles. Ukraine is desperate to get hold of the tanks to fight off in a conflict that closely resembles the one the Leopard 2 was designed for. For months Ukrainian officials, including Volodymyr Zelensky, have been calling for Berlin to donate some of its tanks and let Kyiv’s other allies, many of whom also operate the Leopard 2, to do the same. … Britain became the first country to announce it would send a main battle tank to Ukraine when it promised a squadron of 14 Challenger 2s. While British military officials concede that the Challenger 2s will not be enough to swing the war in Ukraine’s favour by themselves, they argue it is the first step towards creating a “critical mass” of armour that would allow its armed forces to force Russia out of the country.

Meghan stays in the shadows as Prince Harry flies solo on Spare publicity blitz. For a couple that ‘move together like salt and pepper’, the Duchess of Sussex has left her husband left to soak up the limelight alone

The scene is set for Britain to become the poor man of Europe, warns Matthew Lynn. In the United States, inflation has dropped to just 6.5pc. In Germany, it is gradually easing away, down to 7.9pc. In France, it is down to 5.8pc, while in Japan it is a mere 4pc and in Switzerland only 2.8pc. This week, Britain’s inflation rate fell to 10.5pc. That’s good news – but it was only a very modest fall, and the rate is coming down at a far slower rate in this country than in all our major global rivals.

Why teenage girls are on the front line of the trans war. Fuelled by a lack of government guidance, many say controversial gender ideology is being promoted in schools under the guise of inclusivity … Across the country, if parental testimonials gathered on the Free to Speak website are to be believed, something profound is occurring in schools under the banner of tolerance and inclusivity. Children are being encouraged to challenge their fundamental biology, to question their sex and the deepest assumptions they have made about their identities. It can be the beginning of a journey leading ultimately to irreversible sex-change surgery. And it is adolescent girls who are most affected. + As Joanna Williams, founder and director of the think tank CIEO, notes: “From early in childhood, children are encouraged to think about gender as something quite distinct from biology.” PSHE lessons can introduce children as young as eight to the terms “cisgender, transgender, sexual orientation, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, gender expression, biological sex, intersex, non-binary, gender fluid, pronouns, transition, gender dysphoria, questioning and queer.” By the age of 10, some children are expected to “know about gender identities and have an awareness of transgender issues”. In all, Williams notes, “a highly political agenda is being promoted to a captive audience” with “children being indoctrinated into a one-sided and controversial view of gender when they are too young to challenge what they are hearing and lack the capacity simply to walk away.”

Seven lessons from the world’s longest-running study on happiness.

​How to give your kitchen a glow-up (if you can no longer afford to replace it).

 

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Preceding

1. Cincinnati outlaws quoting the Bible
2. Living in this world and viewing it
3. Stories to read in the week of 2022 May 12 – 18
4. The Telegraph headlines for 2022/10/19
5. The Week of 2022 September 19 – 25
6. A selection of The Telegraph articles for Sunday 2022 October 23
7. The Telegraph Front Page for Monday 24 October 2022
8. The Telegraph for Tuesday 2022/10/25
9. The Telegraph Frontpage for 2022 November 16
10. A fear for gender tourism

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Additional reading

1. Gender, genderless, androgyny, bisexuality, cisgender and transgender
2. Colours, men, women, genders, choices of words and political football
3. For those who think there are no gender neutral people or that there is no reason to change gender
4. Seeking meaning, not happiness, will make you happier