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March 29, 2025
 

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David Fickling
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2021
Starvation is as much a threat to Afghan women as the Taliban
In an aid-dependent economy already in deep trouble, the removal of tens of thousands female workers, many supporting large families, will only add to those facing hunger.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2021
COVID-19 vaccines may become a viable business. That’s a problem.
Inoculations have been distributed to almost every person on the planet. But, traditionally, they been unprofitable for the pharmaceutical industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2021
What 16th-century Venice teaches us about crypto
If Bitcoin and its ilk are to survive, they will need to find a way to betray their libertarian roots and cut their own deals with the state.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2021
Indonesia can’t afford the luxury of Australia’s carbon habit
A business based on mining, hauling and burning heavy rocks to spit out electrons struggles to survive everywhere that fuel-free renewables manage to take root.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2021
Climate targets must 'be realistic and demand the impossible'
About a third of all human greenhouse emissions in history have happened since 1997, when world leaders adopted the Kyoto Protocol with an ambition of limiting such pollution.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2021
The pandemic will be more deadly this year — particularly for India
The more people infected in emerging countries, the more opportunities COVID-19 will have to develop into fresh strains and prolong this death and misery.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2021
Florida toxic waste crisis could be key to China rare earths fight
Concerns about China's control over rare earths are probably overblown given how abundant they are.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2021
COVID-19 isn’t over, and the next wave may be worse
While we're increasingly talking about the coronavirus in the past tense, the worst may still be ahead of us. Infections worldwide rose 47% during March from a lull in late February.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2021
Gas won’t save a nation that can’t fill up its tank
Despite its world-beating exports of coal and liquefied natural gas, Australia is seriously short of oil.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2021
Turning the tide on two centuries of emissions
Climate and energy plans presented in China's 14th Five Year Plan this month represent the most important policies in determining the fate of the planet.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2021
China’s weaponization of rare earths is bound to backfire
There was a time when China could cause the world to tremble by threatening its supply of rare earths. It's long in the past.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2020
We’re never going to mine the asteroid belt
One factor rules out most space mining at the outset: gravity. It guarantees that most of the solar system's best mineral resources are to be found under our feet on Earth.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2020
Beyond Meat takes on tough rival in China: tofu
Beyond Meat Inc., the U.S. maker of plant-based burgers and sausages, announced a new product designed to crack China, the world's biggest meat market: imitation ground pork.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2020
Zero hour is coming for emissions. Believe it.
Any targets laid out by politicians will find themselves up against institutional inertia, unintended consequences and political pushback.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2020
Australia's money laundering detectives have been out at the pub
Unlike cash laundering, which involves a relatively small number of casinos and businesses, invoice-based laundering can take place between almost any two companies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2020
Capitalism caused climate change; it must also be the solution
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the the biggest drop in emissions in history and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2020
Jacinda Ardern landslide is a vote for COVID-19 competence
Shutting down New Zealand's economy at a time when there'd been just 102 cases was a political gamble, but one that's paid off.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2020
New Zealand gives U.S. a lesson in pandemic democracy
The U.S., a nation founded on the principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights, would do well to heed the example given by New Zealand.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2020
Australia's miners carve themselves an ugly heritage
Digging iron ore out of the ground and carrying it to port inevitably involves conflicts between miners and the Aboriginal traditional owners.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020
Coal’s last refuge crumbles with China’s renewables plan
If Asia — and in particular China, which accounts for about half the world's coal consumption — can't break the habit, devastating climate change will be unavoidable.
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Massive quake kills at least 150 in Myanmar and Thailand
Medical workers treat a earthquake survivor on a bed in the compound of a hospital in Naypyitaw on Friday, after an earthquake in central Myanmar.
Student suicides in Japan hit all-time high
A volunteer handles an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call center, a suicide hotline center in Japan's capital.
Tourist submarine sinks in Red Sea of Egypt, leaving 6 people dead
The interior of a Sindbad submarine vessel at sea off Hurghada, Egypt, in August 2024, in this still image obtained from video.
Yellow sand blankets cities across Japan
The Meteorological Agency forecast the yellow sand to move away from eastern Honshu by 6 p.m. on Wednesday. But it will continue to cover parts of western Honshu and Shikoku until Thursday morning, it said.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Hanami season to have record ¥1.39 trillion economic impact on Japan
Cherry blossoms along a road in Tokyo on Tuesday. The 2025 cherry blossom season is expected to have an economic impact of around ¥1.39 trillion on Japan.
Tokyo Series proves to be big business for MLB — and Japanese companies
An advertisement featuring Shohei Ohtani in Tokyo.
New SDF command will be key for contingency planning, Australian commander says
A Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K "Super Auk" from JS Shiranui prepares to land on HMAS Brisbane during Exercise Malabar 2023 while off the coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties
By Anton L. Delgado

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