John Hooper
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jhooper.bsky.social
John Hooper
@jhooper.bsky.social
Economist correspondent for Italy and the Vatican. Also writes on international organised crime. Author of The Italians and The New Spaniards. Honorary fellow, St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Former Stanford lecturer.
A scary dispatch from the world's fastest-heating continent--Europe. My latest for @theeconomist. www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
#Wildfires #globalwarming #climate #climatechange #Europe #EU
Photograph: Getty Images
Europe is ablaze
New records are being set for devastation
www.economist.com
August 25, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Big changes afoot at Europe’s thought factory in the hills above Florence
#EUI #EU #Europe #Europa #Firenze #Florence
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Europe’s Hogwarts has a new Dumbledore
Patrizia Nanz is trying to make the European University Institute relevant
www.economist.com
August 8, 2025 at 5:47 PM
#Italy #Italia #migration #migranti #asylum #asilo
A landmark judgement on Italy’s controversial policy of sending migrants to Albania is not quite what it seems.
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Europe’s top court nixes Italy’s plan to expel migrants, for now
Countries must be completely safe before asylum-seekers can be sent back
www.economist.com
August 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
My early thoughts on the election of pope Leo XIV, interviewed on @economist.com 's podcast The Intelligence: www.economist.com/podcasts/202... #conclave #pope #popeleoXIV #vatican
In Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic church chooses a middle path
Also on the daily podcast: the trouble with choking AI-chip flows and a tribute to Martin Graham, bricklayer and opera-house founder
www.economist.com
May 9, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Just a thought, but why has NO ONE put Cardinal Michael Czerny on their list of papabili? Right age. Heads a big Vatican department. Too outspoken? Or someone’s ace-in-the-hole contender? #conclave #pope #vaticano
May 8, 2025 at 12:12 PM
My report on the significance of Pope Francis’s funeral for @economist.com

The pope’s last coded message
economist.com/europe/2025/...
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The pope’s last coded message
Trump and Zelensky attend in Rome with 250,000 others
economist.com
April 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Live from St Peter’s… #pope #vatican #conclave
April 23, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Thoughts on the approaching conclave to elect the late Pope Francis's successor for @economist.com's The Intelligence podcast

shows.acast.com/theintellige...
Cardinals in: choosing the next pope | The Intelligence from The Economist
shows.acast.com
April 22, 2025 at 3:20 PM
First thoughts on the next conclave for @economist.com : www.economist.com/internationa...
The coming struggle to choose the next pope
A conclave of 135 cardinals may pick someone very different from Francis
www.economist.com
April 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Extraordinary indeed: "Claude, on occasion, will give a plausible-sounding argument designed to agree with the user rather than to follow logical steps." But the researchers found him (?) it (?) out...
This is one of the more extraordinary pieces of research I’ve seen about what’s going on inside an LLM. Hoping to write about it this week but it’s overturned some of my preconceptions
Tracing the thoughts of a large language model
Anthropic's latest interpretability research: a new microscope to understand Claude's internal mechanisms
www.anthropic.com
March 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
Can Europe benefit from a science exodus from America?

It's complicated. My latest for @economist.com. www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Trump is driving American scientists into Europe’s arms
But the continent will have to invest more to lure top talent
www.economist.com
March 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Trump becomes "a real problem" for his fellow-nationalists in France and Italy. My take with
@sophiepedder.bsky.social for @economist.com: www.economist.com/internationa... #france #italy #trump #alt-right
Trump is a problem for Europe’s most important hard-right leaders
His antics are causing headaches for Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen
www.economist.com
March 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Frazzled friars take on the developers in tourist-saturated Florence. A dispatch from the ecclesiastical frontline for @economist.com www.economist.com/europe/2025/... #Florence #Firenze #Italy #Italia #Catholic #overtourism
A fight over a cloister in tourist-filled Florence
Augustinian friars are protesting against a redevelopment plan
www.economist.com
March 27, 2025 at 6:52 PM
How Trump is becoming "a real problem" for his fellow-nationalists in France and Italy. My take with
@sophiepedder.bsky.social
for
@economist.com
www.economist.com/internationa... #france #italy #trump #alt-right
March 27, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
This sounds innocent and normal. Nothing to see here. “President Donald Trump on Friday transported back to Florida with him boxes of documents that the FBI had seized from Mar-a-Lago after executing a court-ordered search warrant in August 2022.” www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/p...
Trump takes seized boxes back to Florida on Air Force One | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump on Friday transported back to Florida with him boxes of documents that the FBI had seized from Mar-a-Lago after executing a court-ordered search warrant in August 2022.
www.cnn.com
March 1, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
For weeks, men carrying rifles have guarded the roads leading into Lincoln Heights, Ohio, stopping and questioning those who approach.

The men, some of whom wear masks and body armor, are residents of this small, majority-Black town. They say they’re protecting their own. And they’re on edge.
Neo-Nazis targeted a majority-Black town. Locals launched an armed watch.
Residents of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, have organized armed guards after a neo-Nazi march and the spread of Ku Klux Klan leaflets rocked the Cincinnati suburb.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East says a summit will soon be held with real estate developers and planners to discuss the plan for the future of Gaza.
Witkoff Says ‘Summit’ of Developers Will Convene on Gaza Future
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, says a summit will soon be held with real estate developers and planners from the region to discuss the administration’s co...
www.bloomberg.com
February 26, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
From yesterday's Times Diary. A gem.
February 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
@natashaloder.bsky.social How come you knew the delightful Tim Radford? He was deputy features ed of the Guardian an age ago when I was assistant news ed. Morning conferences were never the same without his Tiggerish enthusiasm.
February 12, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Dovetailing neatly with the removal of the director of the government ethics office… www.cnbc.com/2025/02/10/t...
Trump to pause enforcement of law banning bribery of foreign officials
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act became law in 1977. In 2024, the Department of Justice announced 24 cases related to the anti-bribery statute.
www.cnbc.com
February 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Don’t look up…
I was just told that I have to remove “climate” from the title of an ongoing grant if I want to keep it. And publications from that grant cannot include “climate” and other forbidden words. I can’t believe I’m writing this from the United States of America. #AcademicSky
Just received an email saying that it's not advisable to include the following words in future applications for research funding to the US DOT. Here we are.
February 10, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
This is very good
February 3, 2025 at 12:55 AM
It’s called prioritising, I believe…
How are UK-EU discussions on a security pact going, given we're in a transatlantic crisis & Ukraine is struggling? "The EU has drawn up guidelines for the reset that stress an early deal on fishing rights is necessary for moving forward in other areas." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Keir Starmer to discuss European defence with all 27 EU leaders
Possible security pact overshadowed by need to settle EU-UK dispute over fishing rights
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by John Hooper
This isn’t going to go well. #TrumpsTariffs
February 2, 2025 at 4:47 PM