With unaccustomed speed, Paris, Berlin and London, along with the European Commission, are stepping up with a new “whatever it takes” mentality to create a framework for their own defence. Our coverage, led by Toby Helm and with contributions from our correspondents in Kyiv, Brussels and Berlin, examines how fiscal shibboleths are being shed to allow for increased military spending, and from Berlin a growing enthusiasm for Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz to consider sheltering under France’s independent nuclear umbrella.
Spotlight | ‘Here you will die’
Mark Townsend reports from Sudan on how the retreat of rebel RSF forces has led to the discovery of a torture centre, evidence of what could be one of the worst atrocities of the civil war
Technology | Roboshop
Can an AI agent prove itself smart enough to help Victoria Turk with her shopping? And, if it can order groceries and a takeaway, what else might it soon be able to do?
Feature | All the young Reform dudes
What is it about Nigel Farage’s Reform party that is attracting young men fed up with establishment politics? Gaby Hinsliff finds out
Opinion | The Sicilian ways of Donald Trump
The US president’s way of doing business is uncomfortably close to the fictional Corleone method, but without the mafia’s sense of honour, says Jonathan Freedland
Culture | Arthouse animation moves on up
Hot on the Academy Awards’ success of Flow, Xan Brooks looks at how independent animators are taking on the big-budget Hollywood studios and finding audiences are falling back in love with stop-go techniques
Boomers Daily 