The Economist.

Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist.

I'm your host, Rosie Bloor.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Thank you. weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. Germany has limited its military force since the end of the Second World War. But as America

pulls back from Europe and the threat from Russia and elsewhere grows, Germany is finally

rebuilding its fighting capacity.

And I don't know about you, but I find it impossible to start my day without a giant mug of coffee.

Apparently it may even do me some good beyond fueling my morning shift on the intelligence.

So exactly how many cups should I drink a day?

But first...

Two, four. One!

Lots of people seem to really care about whether they're having a boy or girl. Vingero Mukandah Wire is a Britain correspondent.

They have really elaborate gender reveal parties.

There's cannons shooting out blue or pink, confetti, scavenger hunts for clues.

But all that expectation, the buildup, can actually lead to disappointment.

So increasingly, at least according to the huge number of TikTok and Instagram videos made about it,

the disappointment is being felt by unsuspecting boy moms.

Personally, I never worried about all this. I didn't find out the gender of my children,

but I did receive a lot of comments about it. Several people mentioned to me that they hoped I would have a

girl. I ended up having two boys. It still doesn't bother me too much, but combined

with all of the videos on TikTok and Instagram about gender disappointment and gender reveal parties,

...