Japan to resume whaling

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/29/world/asia/ap-as-japan-whaling.html

Under Tokyo's revised proposal, it plans to catch up to 333 minke whales, about one-third of what it used to kill, each year over the next 12 years, the Fisheries Agency and the Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement Monday. The plan will be evaluated after six years.

Australia, which brought the International Court of Justice case against Japan, said it might send a boat to shadow the Japanese fleet.

Attorney-General George Brandis told the Senate that Australia was "very disappointed" by the resumption of whaling and had taken the matter up at "the highest levels" in a bid to get Japan to change its mind.

If diplomacy fail, Australia will consider sending a Customs and Border Protection Service patrol boat, Brandis said. He did not say what role such a boat might play, but it would likely try to gather evidence of illegal conduct.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/world/asia/japan-hacking-shinzo-abe-whale-hunting.html?_r=0

The Japanese authorities said they were investigating whether the hacking group Anonymous was behind a computer attack that shut down Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s personal website on Thursday.

A person claiming to be part of the group of activist hackers claimed responsibility for disrupting access to the site, saying in a message posted on Twitter that the attack was carried out in retaliation for Japan’s resumption of whale hunting in the Antarctic.

Hackers linked to Anonymous have targeted websites related to whale and dolphin hunting before. The group claimed responsibility last month for the shutdown of several government sites in Iceland, another nation that practices whaling.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35128301
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said his country is "very disappointed" by Japan's decision to resume whaling in the Antarctic.

He made the comments after arriving in Tokyo for his first visit to North Asia since becoming leader of Australia.

Mr Turnbull has vowed to raise the issue with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe.

In 2014, Australia won a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled that Japan's Antarctic whaling programme was illegal.

Japan says its hunts are carried out under a clause in the International Whaling Commission's moratorium allowing for whales to be killed for research purposes.

But the ICJ ruled that the Antarctic hunt programme was insufficiently scientific to count, prompting Tokyo to suspend that hunt for a year.

Japan has since brought in a new, smaller Antarctic "research" whaling programme, but critics say it is still illegal. Australia has not ruled out resuming legal action.