Jonathan Rosenthal
@journalistjon.bsky.social
19K followers 300 following 160 posts
International Editor at The Economist Previously covered Africa, banking, European business & finance
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journalistjon.bsky.social
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport

This week we have a change of pace in the International pages of @economist.com we have a great piece by @dlknowles.bsky.social where he takes a look at how pedal power is booming around the world, but also spinning up a new culture war. 1/
Reposted by Jonathan Rosenthal
henrymance.ft.com
Great piece. The only thing I worry about is that cycling (esp ebike hires) replace bus/ metro journeys, not car trips, and thereby worsen the economics of public transport without changing streets much. But hopefully I am wrong @dlknowles.bsky.social
journalistjon.bsky.social
Though bike lanes take up less than 2% of road space in Montreal (cars get 80% and pedestrians the balance), they are a hot issue in its mayoral election on November 2nd. Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the leading opposition candidate, wants to pause new bike lanes and remove some if the cause anxiety 4/
journalistjon.bsky.social
In London cyclists now outnumber cars in the City, the financial district, by two to one. Paris, where they now outnumber motorists across the whole city, is catching up with Europe’s traditional bike capitals, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. 3/
journalistjon.bsky.social
Though robotaxis have notched up impressive growth, they look ploddingly pedestrian compared with e-bikes. Waymo proclaims that its cars do around 250,000 trips a week. Yet in New York alone that number of trips is made every three days using the city’s bike-share scheme. 2/
journalistjon.bsky.social
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport

This week we have a change of pace in the International pages of @economist.com we have a great piece by @dlknowles.bsky.social where he takes a look at how pedal power is booming around the world, but also spinning up a new culture war. 1/
Reposted by Jonathan Rosenthal
dlknowles.bsky.social
By me this week - the happiest thing I've got to report of late, with a glorious trip over the summer to Montreal

"Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport."

www.economist.com/internationa...
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport
Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war
www.economist.com
Reposted by Jonathan Rosenthal
thegibbon.bsky.social
The stuff in the Baltic isn't really getting the traction over here it might. We're currently doing seabed surveys off Gdansk in Poland but have lost well over a week now to GPS jamming and spoofing originating in Kaliningrad making the vessel's systems show it as being off Sweden.
journalistjon.bsky.social
Russia's grey-zone conflict against the West is escalating at sea as well as in the air, as evident in drone incursions in Denmark and a the boarding of Boracay by France
This week in @economist.com we look at the threat posed by Russia's shadow fleet, and NATO efforts to counter it. A short 🧵 1/3
journalistjon.bsky.social
Crikey. That sounds worrying. I was aware of the GPS spoofing in the region and its effect on aircraft, but had not given much thought to the impact on precision navigation that is required for other things like the work you are doing.
journalistjon.bsky.social
Good question. I would think it is that he sees an opportunity and is pushing limits.
journalistjon.bsky.social
A long battle lies ahead. Shadow fleets surged after the war in Ukraine began, but they are likely to outlive it, having exposed the weakness of maritime governance. “I don’t think the genie is going back into the bottle,” says one expert
3/3
www.economist.com/internationa...
www.economist.com
journalistjon.bsky.social
Estonia's navy is at the frontline. It sometimes tracks dozens of shadow fleet vessels a day. But for its small fleet of MCM and patrol vessels, chasing tankers is“like smaller dogs trying to get to the big dog”, says a sailor involved in a pursuit earlier this year. 2/3
journalistjon.bsky.social
Russia's grey-zone conflict against the West is escalating at sea as well as in the air, as evident in drone incursions in Denmark and a the boarding of Boracay by France
This week in @economist.com we look at the threat posed by Russia's shadow fleet, and NATO efforts to counter it. A short 🧵 1/3
journalistjon.bsky.social
Come on @crisisgroup.org You have chosen to hold a discussion on the New Middle Eastern order on the one day in the year (Yom Kippur) that pretty much all Jews will be unable to attend. I don’t believe you deliberately intended to exclude Jews, but that’s what you’ve done.
journalistjon.bsky.social
"Worse than showing indifference, many Israelis deny the clear realities: that Gaza is in chaos and teetering on the edge of widespread starvation, and that Israel has played a major role in bringing about this terrible state."

This is worth reading
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Opinion | The Reasons Israelis Have Closed Their Eyes to Gaza
www.nytimes.com
journalistjon.bsky.social
I'm writing this week on the crisis in international law and have just come across the most spectacular example of judicial activism (in an ICJ case), where in two paragraphs a judge explains that he voted for something, even though he thinks it has no basis in law.

www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Jonathan Rosenthal
journalistjon.bsky.social
I've been reporting on the rising jihadist threat to the Sahel and Horn of Africa since 2014, and how it has spread to Mozambique and Congo. As the trends were getting worse, I hoped governments in the region and Western backers could turn the tide. Instead the slide continues.
journalistjon.bsky.social
I agree. Please tell that to France
journalistjon.bsky.social
Does Japan have a battlegroup stationed in the Baltics? Has Japan committed its nuclear deterrent (not that it has one) to Nato and European defence?
The point is for France to grow up and to treat the UK as an equal partner on European security.
journalistjon.bsky.social
Right now, that's besides the point. I wish they hadn't, but we are here now. Are you going to compromise European security today because of a vote in 2016?