Aaron Connelly
@connellyal.bsky.social
Asia diplomatic editor and senior Asia correspondent at the Economist. Former think tanker. Author, with Shona Loong, of New Answers to Old Questions, on Myanmar.
Our story on Winston Peters’ odious anti-Asian rhetoric.
The Economist@economist.com · 3d agoWinston Peters cuts an unusual figure in the boxy pinstriped and double-breasted suits, topped off with a brocaded tie and silk handkerchief, that became his signature in the 1990s. Neither they nor his politics have changed much since then
The last son of a Civil War veteran died only last month: suvcw.org/real-sons-an....
Real Sons and Daughters | Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
suvcw.org
A raid outside Jakarta on 8 July turned up 74kg of gold and $20m in cash. Hours later, armed soldiers appeared outside Police HQ at 3am. What a corruption scandal tells us about competition between Indonesia's feuding security forces and President Prabowo's style of governance:
The Economist@economist.com · 3w agoUnless Indonesia’s president can find a way to bring an end to the spat between his two leading lieutenants, there may be more confrontations
In retrospect England should have batted on rather than declaring. ENGvFRA
I love the complaints from northern Europeans about the conditions in Miami. As though it’s somehow inhumane to force Harry Kane and Erling Haaland to play in conditions in which more than a third of the world lives. Make them suffer. Good for the sport.
Just a sensational ball by Salah, but an even better save to keep Australia alive.
CJ Fogler@cjzero.bsky.social · last mo.Tremendous save
Now we appeal the Balogun suspension in the Northern District of Texas
"US is preparing subs right now" - Things you want to hear during a soccer game and not a nuclear crisis.
Even allies of Myanmar’s junta, like China and Thailand, have long found junta chief Min Aung Hlaing difficult to work with. They hoped that this week’s putative transition to civilian rule would dilute his power by forcing him to name a new armed forces commander.
“When Boris Johnson was foreign secretary, the British embassy in Bangkok was sold for £420m ($580m). The grand old building was demolished to make way for offices and shops… The staff decamped to a nondescript corporate tower nearby.”
The Economist@economist.com · 5mo agoBritain’s government is overseeing what promises to be an undignified, if discreet, syphoning off of assets abroad. It is likely to be a long, laborious process
The Washington Post's description of the bodycam video of his arrest last year, and the translation of Mr. Shah Alam's comments, is gutting. Remember, he was entirely blind in one eye and could only see three feet in the other, and he spoke virtually no English. He spent a year in jail for this.
Julia Métraux@juliametraux.bsky.social · 6mo ago1. The footage shows Homeland Security is lying when he got indoors and was wearing prison booties I doubt are good for the cold. 2. Nurul Amin Shah Alam apologized to police BEFORE he was tasered when he was originally arrested. wapo.st/3OCwNx8
For a long time Australia seemed immune to the rise of populist right wing parties around the world. No more. One Nation is now the country’s most popular conservative party.
TIL: Attu Island, Alaska is south of Edmonton and west of Auckland.
Watching The Candidate for the first time and very belatedly realizing that Marvin Lucas is… the dad from Everybody Loves Raymond.
I was just saying the other day that even Curtis had been silent.
Noah Shachtman@noahshachtman.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe dam is breaking, GOP senator from Utah edition...
"Mr O’Hara, the police chief, called for protesters to stay peaceful. If they manage that, they will have demonstrated considerably more restraint than the armed officers of the federal administration."
Another horrifying shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis
What happens when armed men are given impunity
economist.com
“It is a theory best described by that noted terrorist and underrated political strategist Osama bin Laden: “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse.” economist.com/britain/2026...
Reform UK risks blowing a once-in-a-century moment
Nigel Farage’s party is filled with Tory throwbacks
economist.com
“In West Bengal it is impossible to get away from Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, whose image is plastered across walls and public spaces with a devotion usually reserved for Bengali mothers.” Cults of personality pervade all levels of Indian politics economist.com/asia/2025/12...
Cults of personality pervade all levels of Indian politics
The focus is on individuals over institutions
economist.com
The precedent here is obviously Panama, and while that was certainly illegal under international law, the US had a military base in the Canal Zone, there was a legitimate arrest warrant for Noriega, and there was at least the pretext of an American servicemember killed at a Panamanian checkpoint.
Katha is the town in Upper Myanmar where George Orwell spent his Burmese Days. This week it has become the setting of a pitched battle between the forces of democracy and military rule. Summary of Burmese-language reports, via Frontier Myanmar:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... “I see him as the heir to an old and venerable Jewish tradition – that of Yiddish socialism – which helped build New York.”
They tried to smear him as an antisemite – but Mayor Zohran Mamdani walks in a rich Jewish tradition | Molly Crabapple
When I look at Mamdani, I don’t see some radical departure. I see him an heir to the Yiddish socialism that helped build New York
theguardian.com
I just listened to this podcast, having missed it when we first aired it in August. It’s well worth your time.
The Economist@economist.com · 8mo agoRosie Blau’s father was on the last boat from Poland before the Nazis invaded, and never spoke about the family he left behind. Listen to the story again as you spend time with family over Christmas
Ahead of tomorrow's sham election in Myanmar, I want to tell you about Tayzar San, the most wanted man in Myanmar. That's him at centre, fist raised, in the post below.
The Economist@economist.com · 8mo agoThis year has seen a stunning reversal for Myanmar’s revolutionaries, explained by four factors
The LDP’s Suzuki Muneo is visiting Moscow. He says he has coordinated what he is going to say with PM Takaichi & FM Motegi. Yet, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara insists it’s a personal visit. Others in the LDP are worried Suzuki will make pro-Russian comments. www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/1257...
訪ロの鈴木氏「首相、茂木外相とすりあわせ」 政府は「個人的な外国訪問」：北海道新聞デジタル
自民党の鈴木宗男参院議員は25日、ロシアの首都モスクワを訪問した。26日にも外務省高官らと面会し、ロシアのウクライナ侵攻の早期停戦や北方領土の元島民の墓参再開を求める見通し。木原稔官房長官は25日の記...
hokkaido-np.co.jp
