Today marks the 80th anniversary of VE day – when the second world war formally ended in Europe. But while this is a day of celebration, it’s hard to feel entirely optimistic about the state of the post-war settlement. Plenty of political parties now seek to undermine the democracy that was so hard-won all those years ago.

We often ask why people vote for parties who attack democracies but today we’re looking at why they don’t. A study from Leiden and Bocconi universities shows that the areas in Italy most known for anti-fascist resistance during the war remain less likely to support the far right today. The study’s authors travelled to these pockets of partisan activity to investigate why there was such a strong link between the politics of the people fighting fascism 80 years ago and that of their descendents. What they uncovered is a valuable lesson for us all as we try to navigate strained political times.

Friedrich Merz has finally been confirmed as Germany’s new chancellor – but it looked touch and go for much of the day on Tuesday, when he faced an unexpected block on his nomination. Merz had to call a second round of voting in the Bundestag after becoming the first ever chancellor candidate to lose the first round. The maths tells us that Merz must have been betrayed by a handful of MPs from his own side. But since the ballot is secret, we will never know for sure whodunnit. As Ed Turner relays, Merz really couldn’t have had a less auspicious start to the job.

Archaeologists have been rummaging around in the Pyrenees to find out what homo sapiens packed in their bags before heading out on long journeys. Shells, for one thing, and a favourite flint, it turns out. These findings are helping us fill in the gaps about what our forefathers valued and how they behaved.

A modern day traveller setting out on a long walk, such as along the legendary Camino de Santiago, would naturally pack their phone (as well as their shell and favourite flint, of course). How else to navigate, send pics along the way or call ahead to book a table for dinner? But there’s a case to be made to leave your phone at home, especially when on a pilgrimage.