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March 4, 2014 Friday April 19, 2013
International Sea Shepherd says attacked by Japan whalers Activists in Southern Ocean criticise Australian govt for ‘broken promises’
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nvironmental activist group Sea Shepherd claimed yesterday that Japanese whalers attacked its vessels in the Southern Ocean. The group criticised the Australian government for “broken promises” to monitor whaling operations. Sea Shepherd said Japanese harpoon ships, the Yushin Maru and Yushin Maru 3, towed steel cables across the bow of the Bob Barker 11 times on Sunday in a bid to jam its propeller and rudder. When the Bob Barker launched two small boats to defend the ship and cut the steel cables, it alleged that a bamboo spear was thrown at crew members. High-seas confrontations are common between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese, who hunt whales off Antarctica under a “scientific research” loophole in the moratorium on whaling. A 2010 collision resulted in the sinking of Sea Shepherd’s speedboat Ady Gil Sunday’s incident was the third clash since the whaling
wrote a letter to Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt last week complaining about a lack of action after the earlier assaults, which he said went unanswered. “They knew this attack was imminent, and yet they did nothing. Hunt’s broken promises to monitor the whaling operations are evident in the broken bodies of the whales killed today,” he said.
‘Promise’ made
season started earlier this year. No one was injured. “Each time we have located the Nisshin Maru (factory ship), the Sea Shepherd fleet has been attacked by the whalers in night-time ambushes,” said Bob Barker’s captain Peter Hammarstedt. The ship’s helicopter
located the Nisshin Maru early on Sunday with a Minke whale on board while “slabs of whale meat were also photographed on the deck, along with the severed head of a recently butchered whale”. The Bob Barker has nine Australians on board and Hammarstedt said he
Prince George going to Australia, New Zealand
Hunt had initially promised to send a government ship to tail the warring groups during the annual hunt but opted instead for aerial surveillance. Sea Shepherd has previously described it as a “pretty cowardly” backing down to appease Japan due to ongoing free trade negotiations. Hunt was not immediately available for comment. The commercial hunting of whales is prohibited in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which was designated by the
…the Sea Shepherd fleet has been attacked by the whalers in night time ambushes… Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the ‘Bob Barker’
International Whaling Commission in 1994, but Japan catches the animals there under a “scientific research” loophole in the moratorium on whaling. Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice seeking to have its whaling research programme declared illegal, with a ruling due this year. AFP
Mandela service in Westminster Abbey
His father Prince William was nine months Commemorative tablet also to be placed old when made first big foreign trip there later this year
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he second in line to the British throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, will take their baby son Prince George with them on their tour of Australia and New Zealand next month. Kensington Palace confirmed the news on Sunday. The infant prince will travel with the couple around New Zealand from April 7 to 16, and then Australia from April 16 to 25. George – who under current constitutional arrangements is directly in line to become king of Australia and of New Zealand after his father William and grandfather Prince Charles – was born on July 22 last year. He has rarely been seen in public since. It had previously been announced only that William 31, and Kate, 32, were hoping to bring baby George
with them for what will be his first royal tour. They are planning on taking him along to a few specific engagements throughout the trip, their Kensington Palace official residence in London said as they gave out details of the tour – though final decisions might well be taken on the day. “There is no hiding the enthusiasm for this visit by both the duke and the duchess,” William’s private secretary Miguel Head told reporters. Though William has toured both countries several times, Kate has never been to either. “Taking a nine-month-old on a royal tour is not a first,” but hasn’t happened for a long time, said Head. “So there has been much to think about – as any new parent travelling long distance will recognise.” AFP
stone is to be laid in Westminster Abbey in London later this year, in memory of South Africa’s first post-apartheid president, Nelson Mandela. Yesterday around 2,000 people were expected in the abbey for a service celebrating Mandela’s life and work. The guests included members of the statesman’s family. Others due to attend included British Prime Minister David Cameron and South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. Prince Harry, fourth in line to the throne, will represent Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, the head of the Commonwealth. South African peace icon Desmond Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town, is to give the address. Mandela, who died in December aged 95, was welcomed to Westminster Abbey in 1996 during a state visit.
Ahead of yesterday’s service, the Very Reverend John Hall, the dean of Westminster, announced that a memorial stone would be placed in the abbey later this year. “Nelson Mandela was one of the most remarkable world leaders of the last century. His remarkable constancy under suffering stands as an example to everyone,” he said. “In addition, his capacity for forgiveness and his generosity of spirit show what humanity at its best can achieve. Among those commemorated at the abbey are Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare, John Wesley, Martin Luther King, Francis Drake, Edward Elgar, Oscar Wilde and C. S. Lewis. A statue of Mandela, unveiled in 2007 in his presence, stands across from the abbey in Parliament Square. AFP