Japan bolts whaling commission, but tensions may ease

Japan has made good on years of threats by bolting the International Whaling Commission, but its decision may also offer a way out of tensions that looked inextricable. Japan, which calls whaling part of its cultural heritage, said Wednesday it would withdraw from the seven-decade-old commission which since 1986 has banned commercial killing of the ocean giants. Australia and New Zealand have been outraged by Japan's incursions into waters they consider a whale sanctuary and activists harassed the whalers in often dangerous chases.

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