For several weeks now I had been seeing news reports claiming that Japan had successfully bribed enough island nations to gain a majority at the International Whaling Commission.  Well, it seems those reports were not true:

Pro-whaling nations, led by Japan, lost the two key votes of the International Whaling Commission’s annual meeting Friday, an indication they may not have the majority necessary to take control of the body and try to repeal its ban on commercial hunting.

Oh well, looks like the Japanese lost this round, but the whaling battle is far from over.  Japan is planning its comeback as we speak, while eating whale burgers, of course.