Notes and Essays -- John Brown

The Washington Post A farmer brought a freezing calf inside. He didn’t expect to find her on the couch with his kids. “I wasn’t going to be the party pooper if they were having fun,” farmer Tanner Sorrell said. “They’re only kids one time.” (Courtesy of Macey Sorrell)

Independent [Ukraine] live updated 1 hour ago Ukrainian president says talks with Russia and the US may be delayed while Trump focuses on 'situation with Iran' Vishwam Sankaran  &  James C. Reynolds Saturday 31 January 2026 19:15 GMT  Russia-Ukraine pause on energy strikes  amid fragile peace talks  The Chernobyl power plant has lost power off-site as blackouts across Ukraine continue. Russia has been repeatedly targeting the country’s energy facilities during the winter as the war grinds towards it’s fourth anniversary in February. It is not yet clear what caused the brief Chernobyl outage. On Thursday  Trump  claimed Russian president  Vladimir Putin  had agreed to not attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure this weekend at a time when the war-hit nation is experiencing particularly harsh winter conditions. The Kremlin has said the brief and limited ceasefire will end on Sunday while Ukraine said it will not attack Russia's energy grid i...

from

Account Pokrovske, a small rural town in the Dnipropetrovsk region of eastern Ukraine, north of Huliaipole, this month. Huliaipole offensive (image not from article)  Part of the  southern front  of the  Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) Map of the offensive as of 17 December 2025 Date 11 September 2025 – present (4 months and 2 weeks) Location Southern  Ukraine Eastern  Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Northeastern  Zaporizhzhia Oblast Status Ongoing Belligerents   Russia   Ukraine Units involved   Russian Armed Forces   Russian Ground Forces   127th Motor Rifle Division [ 1 ] 114th Motor Rifle Regiment [ 2 ]   36th Motorized Rifle Brigade [ 3 ]   37th Motorized Rifle Brigade [ 4 ]   38th Motorized Rifle Brigade [ 5 ]   Russian Aerospace Forces [ 6 ]   Ukrainian Armed Forces   Ukrainian Ground Forces   20th Army Corps   141st Mechanized Brigade [ 7 ] [ 8 ]   225th Assault Battalion ...