Multiple sightings of drones hovering in European airspace have ratcheted up tensions with Russia. There were 19 sightings over Poland in just two days last month and many more suspected incursions have taken place since.

Europe’s response is to build a “drone wall” – a network knitting together individual states’ existing detection and interception systems. But Russia’s provocation is not entirely aimed at sounding out European technology – it’s also psychological warfare aimed at testing the limits of its unity.

Emmanuel Macron has, incredibly, lost yet another prime minister. Sébastien Lecornu’s resignation after less than a month in the job poses an immediate problem for the embattled French president, who may need to call fresh elections to get anything past a parliament in disarray. He may even have to resign. The relentless chaos of the past year also raises profound questions for the longer term. Is the French political system able to withstand the pressures of modern politics, or does it need a comprehensive overhaul?

And a new study confirms what you may have already been grumbling about for some time. Yes, it is the case that music is all the same now. Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration, but this study comparing hip hop and R&B songs from 2002 and 2022 found the newer tracks were far more generic in terms of tempo, key and length. They also almost universally used autotune. The study’s authors look into the music industry’s playlist culture as a driver of this change.