Whaling and gnashing of teeth

With pro-whaling nations winning their first vote at the International Whaling Commission since 1986, the body seems to be turning into an international-level version of the board game Risk, writes David Fickling.

More than half of the countries that voted in favour of the motion have no significant history of whaling (some are landlocked) and have only joined the commission since 2000. Less attention has been focused on the fact that the anti-whaling nations have been fighting back.

While 18 new pro-whaling nations have joined the IWC since 2000, 11 countries have signed up on the other side. For what it's worth, the new anti-whaling members are even more likely to be landlocked: they include the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Luxembourg, and, absurdly, San Marino.