A Greenpeace vessel trying to disrupt Japan's annual whale hunt in waters near Antarctica has run low on fuel and is returning to port, the group said.
The Esperanza spent 14 days trailing the factory ship Nisshin Maru, Greenpeace said in a statement on Saturday, claiming its actions during that time had kept hunter vessels traveling with the ship from carrying out their hunt.
Phones rang unanswered yesterday at Japan's Fisheries Agency and the Institute of Cetacean Research, the government-affiliated organization that oversees the hunt.
Japan has staunchly defended its annual killing of more than 1,000 whales, conducted under a clause in International Whaling Commission (IWC) rules that allows whales to be killed for scientific purposes.
Critics dismiss the Japanese program as a disguise for commercial whaling, which has been banned by the IWC since 1986.
Japan had planned to kill up to 50 endangered humpback whales this season, but backed away last month after strong international condemnation. It has a quota to kill 935 minkes and 50 fin whales.
On Tuesday, the Esperanza clashed with the whaling fleet, with each side accusing the other of dangerous tactics after Greenpeace activists failed to prevent the factory ship from refueling.
The clash came a week after an altercation with the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd that saw two activists taken into custody.
Japan and Australia eventually arranged for their return through the Oceanic Viking, an Australian customs vessel monitoring the fleet.
The Oceanic Viking was still tracking the whalers when the Esperanza left, Greenpeace said in its statement.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS