Good morning colleagues, 

The outcome of the German election looks like the CDU, pending coalition talks, will lead a government under chancellor Friedrich Merz. However, yesterday's election saw the the far right AfD become the Bundestag’s second-largest party, radically distorting the composition of Germany's post-unification political makeup. 

Elsewhere, the Irish Government is to donate a substantial portion of Ireland’s ageing air defence systems to protect towns and small cities in Ukraine as today marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of its sovereign neighbour. Taoiseach Micheál Martin is due to attend an online meeting of world leaders today organised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.