The Big Picture Vincent Boland: High time Europe embraces and prioritises its defence industryIf Europe is to protect its sovereignty and way of life, it must build a defence industry with the capacity to offer security in all its dimensions
Legal Ireland’s highest-value commercial dispute: Tea pots, Putin, and the €2.5 billion claim The first week of the aircraft lessor litigation has featured details from the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Comment Lucinda Creighton: Axis of upheaval of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran will not stop at Ukraine These powers have long been bad actors, but their willingness to push the West like this has not been seen since the early 1940s
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Putin has vested interest in keeping Georgia inside Russia’s sphere of influence True courage can be seen on the streets of Tbilisi in the face of domestic instability and outside interference, not least from Moscow
Defence Looming threats of war in Europe demand we put our defences on a war footingCommitting to spend almost £90bn a year on defence from 2030 is a big decision, but the government is clear that it’s necessary, given the threat posed by Russia
Comment Charlie Flanagan: Ireland cannot bury its head in the sand on defence in what is an emergency situation As an island nation, our failure to have a reasonably sized navy is a cause of shame
Sport Purchase of Everton by 777 heads for extra time as it seeks to delay purchase of struggling clubThe Miami-based firm had aimed to close the purchase of the Premier League football club last week
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Putin is having a fantastic 2024, it can’t continueTide has turned in Russia’s favour on second anniversary of Ukraine invasion, Europe must now respond to help Ukraine prevail
Politics Chief Putin critic Alexey Navalny dies in prison aged 47The Russian lawyer and anti-corruption activist, jailed since 2021, was recently moved to an Arctic prison
Ukraine Orbán accused of blackmailing EU over €50 billion Ukraine aid EU leaders including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will look to proceed without Hungary’s authoritarian leader who has blocked aid package to Kyiv
Politics Vincent Boland: The world cannot afford for US and China to be at loggerheadsThe upcoming Apec summit presents an opportunity for Xi and Biden to approach relations with realism and sobriety
Opinion Welcoming more states into the EU is a net positive for allIt is a good thing to extend the EU’s transformational benefits to countries on its eastern flank that aspire to modernity, freedom and shared values
Opinion Lucinda Creighton: Western disunity over support for Ukraine plays into Putin’s handsThere’s only one winner when cracks form in western allies’ solidarity, and that’s the Russian president
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Most ominous axis of anti-Ukraine sentiment is in the US Republican Party Extremist GOP rhetoric poses a bigger threat to western unity on the war than any rumblings in Europe
The Big Picture Putin’s potential deal with Kim bodes ill for Indo-Pacific and beyondBoth leaders are isolated and desperate, but the North Korean dictator has far more to gain
Russia Russian investigators confirm death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in plane crashAll 10 bodies recovered from the scene of the crash have been identified following genetic testing
Comment Lucinda Creighton: Taking out key conspirator Prigozhin likely to strengthen Putin’s regimeThe Wagner leader became a marked man after his short-lived challenge to the Russian president’s power base
US US Catch-up: Trump to dodge GOP debate - but will he show at Fulton County jail? What you need to know for the week ahead in the US
Ireland would not offer condolences if Putin dies, Leo Varadkar saysThe Taoiseach was responding to a question about Ireland’s traditional neutrality and wider foreign policy in the context of its opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
EU EU sanctions against Roman Abramovich are based on fame rather than evidence, lawyer claimsAbramovich was placed on the EU sanctions list for his alleged links to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president