A SUNDAY TIMES investigation has exposed Japan for bribing small nations with cash and prostitutes to gain their support for the mass slaughter of whales. The undercover investigation found officials from six countries were willing to consider selling their votes on the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The revelations come as Japan seeks to break the 24-year moratorium on commercial whaling. An IWC meeting that will decide the fate of thousands of whales, including endangered species, begins this month in Morocco.
Japan denies buying the votes of IWC members. However, The Sunday Times filmed officials from pro-whaling governments admitting:
- They voted with the whalers because of the large amounts of aid from Japan. One said he was not sure if his country had any whales in its territorial waters. Others are landlocked.
- They receive cash payments in envelopes at IWC meetings from Japanese officials who pay their travel and hotel bills.
- One disclosed that call girls were offered when fisheries ministers and civil servants visited Japan for meetings.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapaty will become the new Commander-in-Chief of the...
During the U.S.-Iran talks in Lake Lucerne, Switzerland in late June, Iranian negotiators sent a private...
Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, acknowledged on Tuesday he does not have the authority...
Hamas has elected Khalil al-Hayya as the new head of its political bureau, placing one of...
