Luke Johnson

Russia launched over 3,100 drones, 92 missiles, and nearly 1,360 aerial bombs against Ukraine in the past week - Zelenskyy

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Hostages and political prisoners freed is an unambiguous good. I hope they and their families can find relief, and eventually move past the trauma.

Under Pressure from Trump and Xi, Europeans Want a Stronger EU US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and a deteriorating relationship with Xi Jinping’s China have alerted EU citizens to the importance of economic security.

From our new issue, by @ljohnson.bsky.social: Trump’s tariffs threats and a deteriorating relationship with Xi Jinping have alerted EU citizens to the importance of shoring up things like defense and competitiveness in the name of economic security.

ip-quarterly.com/en/under-pre...

Hegseth's Vision for the Military is Positively Russian Militaries are designed to win wars. Hegseth focused on winning the culture wars.

"One of the early headlines from the September 30 event was that Hegseth announced that he would loosen disciplinary rules and weaken hazing protections for soldiers...he was echoing the Russian military, where new recruits are routinely hazed and subject to abuse" publicsphere.news/p/hegseths-v...

It's always a good bet to believe what Trump says. (From last October and yesterday.)

Hegseth's Vision for the Military is Positively Russian Militaries are designed to win wars. Hegseth focused on winning the culture wars.

Listening to Pete Hegseth yesterday, I was struck by how he seemed to want to turn the U.S. military into the Russian military, with more internal and external violence publicsphere.news/p/hegseths-v...

My column on Europe's economic security is here -> ip-quarterly.com/en/under-pre...

Family of Orange County man who died in ICE custody planning to take legal action The family of a 39-year-old Orange County man who died earlier this month while in the custody of ICE is planning on taking legal action.

These stories of state-led law enforcement cruelty with no respect for process, inflicted on ordinary citizens with tiny infractions, remind me of my time reporting from authoritarian China.

Has Russia lost Moldova? Why the bitterly contested election in a "faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing", matters a lot

Outstanding summary of why Moldova's rejection of Russian electoral influence - bribery, really - matters to us from @snellarthur.bsky.social.

publicsphere.news/p/the-new-bi...

The New Big Lie Trump is alleging a coordinated left-wing campaign to justify an authoritarian transition

NEW newsletter: Trump "is using every instance of political violence perpetrated by delusional loners to accelerate an authoritarian consolidation of power."

publicsphere.news/p/the-new-bi...

Pleased to be a part of this issue ->

Merz says to give Ukraine's military a €140 billion interest-free loan on the frozen Russian assets. Russia would pay it back at the end of the war. That kind of money would be a game-changer for Ukraine's military; the vast majority of Ukrainian drone manufacturers can't scale without capital.

This has the formatting of a college student who was asked to turn in a two-page paper, but takes a lot of space to write the name and date at the beginning to make it look like he didn't do the assignment 45 minutes before class started.

The irony of the Trump Justice Department indicting James Comey is that the former FBI director tipped the election for Trump in 2016. Without Comey's late October letter to Congress about Clinton’s email server, Trump would have lost.

Also, it's very useful to read people writing about America from abroad. They will see things and connect the dots in a way that people who have lived in the U.S. our entire lives (like me) won't.

Germany’s Merz pushes to use frozen Russian assets to unlock €140bn for Ukraine Chancellor calls on Europe to ‘systematically and massively raise the costs’ of Kremlin’s aggression

Germany’s Merz pushes to use frozen Russian assets to unlock €140bn for Ukraine on.ft.com/4gQGPET

KIMMEL, on the Pentagon’s new reporting “pledge”:

“.. They want to pick what the ‘news’ is. I know it’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, .. but it’s nuts that we aren’t paying more attention to it.”

publicsphere.news/p/a-governme...

A Government Driven by Conspiracy Theories QAnon was one thing. But the Trump Administration is motivated by dangerous conspiracies.

NEW newsletter: Why governments driven by conspiracy theories are dangerous publicsphere.news/p/a-governme...

‘Your Countries Are Going to Hell’: Trump Airs His Grievances at the U.N.

Trump, in pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize: "Your countries are going to hell." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/u...

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

"it's too much liquid" going into the baby, instantly up there with the injecting bleach moment.

Russian involvement not ruled out.

NATO statement on Estonian incursion: "Russia should be in no doubt: NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions."

Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down. The FBI and Justice officials closed the investigation, which a Justice Department appointee had called a “deep state” probe in early 2025.

"In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration" www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

Ukraine and Russia Aren't About to Collapse Notes from my 7th trip to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion

Been light on posting here -- I was in Ukraine. Some early thoughts on my trip... publicsphere.news/p/ukraine-an...

Reminded, today of how Putin forced a show called "Puppets" off the airwaves early in his reign and later brought the whole country under his control.

One day, everyone will be Prime Minister of France for 15 minutes.