Our leader on the “Donroe Delusion”.

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.”

I just listened to this podcast, having missed it when we first aired it in August. It’s well worth your time.

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 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...

“Were the Decembrists anything more than glorious failures? … From one point of view the men of 1825 were hopeless dreamers, too aloof or naive to see that Russia’s size and history mean it is doomed to eternal misrule. Or perhaps it is still too early to say.” economist.com/christmas-sp...

Does anyone still want to help the Uyghurs? economist.com/china/2025/1... Thailand, Germany and Turkey all refouling Uyghurs, and the Trump administration flirting with the possibility.

Samizdat

A good ABC podcast on Harold Holt’s disappearance. Goes into all the unusual politicking in the run-up to the fateful swim, including Vietnam, conscription, and the HMAS Melbourne investigation. youtu.be/w-v7Luq0UcA?... Assumes little listener knowledge, so accessible even to non-Australians.

This is really good work by the FT on Indonesia’s food security projects in South Papua. Check out the 500km scale at the top right. The forest areas affected are huge. www.ft.com/content/27a6...

New post out: @ldfreedman.bsky.social talks to @kschake.bsky.social - who's worked at senior levels in the US defense and state departments - on how the military should deal with Trump, Hegseth and illegal orders. (Free to read) samf.substack.com/p/the-state-...

NIST reassures the world that despite atomic clock power outage time is not broken. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...

Checking back in on our polling and modeling on Donald Trump’s approval rating, it really is astonishing how unpopular he is. Feels like we don’t hear too much about that. www.economist.com/interactive/...

Extraordinary reporting and storytelling by my colleague Avantika.

Reuters exclusive says that China has a secret EUV lithography machine in Shenzhen, reverse-engineered by ex-ASML employees: www.reuters.com/world/china/....

There is something pleasingly obsessive and British about this old-school blog post: diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-...

Really interesting shift from Starmer basically saying Reform are beyond the pale of normal politics. An active threat, unlike Conservative Party

“But few big-country governments are explaining to voters why defence must take precedence over social spending.” economist.com/europe/2025/...

The politicians protecting huge criminal networks economist.com/asia/2025/11...

Really interesting cover story on the undervalued Taiwan dollar and how it is an outdated tax on ordinary Taiwanese, by my colleague @ethanywu.bsky.social. It's also inflating property prices and creating systemic financial risks. www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

What is there to say about APEC? It is a zombie international organization. Long stripped of its motivating life force, it ambles on. That’s not an original analysis, or even an a very new one: the late Allan Gyngell and Malcolm Cook wrote it up in 2005. www.lowyinstitute.org/publications...

US Navy helicopter and fighter jet crash in South China Sea in separate incidents operating from same carrier – Reuters

It has rebuffed America and rewritten the norms of global commerce

The Korean Embassy in Cambodia said on Wednesday that approximately 100 kidnapping and confinement cases involving Korean nationals over the past two years remain unresolved.

Really interesting proposal from @lowyinstitute.bsky.social's Mihai Sora for a "Pacific Eyes" intelligence alliance among Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji: www.lowyinstitute.org/publications....

ACQUITTED! The court found that the three did not know that the route taken to deliver letters to the Istana mailroom was prohibited under the Public Order Act. People have been walking that route to deliver letters to the Istana for YEARS. www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/th...

What a country

As a liberal I don’t feel so good about living through These Times. But as a baseball fan! How lucky are we to able witness Shohei Ohtani doing impossible things in real time?

Ever wish you were a drone flying through The Economist's newsroom in London? Wish no longer! youtu.be/tTRHPmFflTk?...

Myanmar has faded from global attention, but its people continue to endure excruciating violence on a daily basis. Monday, the military junta conducted another round of deadly airstrikes, targeting a peaceful candlelight vigil on the Buddhist holiday of Thadingyut (1/2) www.bbc.com/news/article...

“Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar”

After a long hiatus while we waited for a visa, Chaguan is back: "The pace of change is so rapid in China, it is often said, that the country can seem almost unrecognisable.... Returning visitors find new highways, new trains, new buildings—sometimes entirely new cities.... "Or so it used to be."

"In the nine months to July, 28.6m people took a train ride, a 6% increase on the same period last year. That puts the firm comfortably on track this financial year to record the most journeys in its 54-year history. Its fare revenue grew by 11% in the year to June."

There are a lot of Florida swamp things in Washington these days. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The core belief of our column is that curious, open and rigorous enquiry about China and its affairs matters more than ever. After a hiatus of more than a year, it is time for Chaguan to return to analysing China

“‘Dinner out is a go’. Hell of a way to speak to your wife.”

"The killing of Mr Kirk is not representative of broader trends." www.economist.com/graphic-deta...

Protests in Jakarta intensified after a motorbike-taxi driver was hit and killed by an armoured police vehicle. The unrest is a crucial test for Prabowo Subianto econ.st/4642rsA Photo: Getty Images

Talkback radio in Brisbane opens with: “Be careful, guys, it is magpie season; in addition, it is also snake season.”

Indonesia is probably the country that I know best after the US, where I grew up. And now when I meet my Indonesian friends who know America well, we can’t stop talking about how similar our countries are becoming.

We write on Tulsi Gabbard's purge of one of the most senior Russia analysts in the US intelligence community, alongside other serving officers who were associated, sometimes only tangentially, with the 2016 Russia report. The most serious purge vs the CIA to date. www.economist.com/united-state...

“Some of the clearest thinking about this swot’s predicament can be heard in Singapore, a paternalist city-state that has risen from poverty to great wealth with the help of hard work, diligence and lots of rules about civilised behaviour—like a giant prep school with its own army and airport.”

Excellent look by colleague @antonlaguardia.bsky.social at the Air Force’s strategy for defending Taiwan from an attack by China—and, one hopes, being prepared enough to do so that China never tries.

Why did war break out over the border between Cambodia and Thailand last week? We are left with theories but no answers in this senseless conflict. www.economist.com/asia/2025/07...

The world’s attention was briefly on Cambodia and Thailand this past week, where border clashes killed 43. But that’s a typical week in Myanmar, where @frontiermyanmar.bsky.social reports that at least 40 have been killed in airstrikes in Mandalay, Sagaing, and Shan since Monday.

"If a Trump-appointed Fed chair could control the votes of the FOMC, he could determine which countries have access to swap lines, and on what terms. Swap lines are the lifeblood of the entire global financial system. It’s hard to imagine a greater source of leverage for the administration."

Penny Wong is the most consequential Australian foreign minister in a generation. The @economist.com sat down with her in Malaysia, the country of her birth, to talk about her first term record and how to deal with Trump’s America. economist.com/asia/2025/07...

My cover story this week is on a fascinating global shift: the diminishing preference for baby boys around the world - and the first inklings of a bias towards girls. I'd love for you to read it. www.economist.com/briefing/202...