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In breaking news from the Antarctic Japanese whalers have taken two activists hostage after they boarded the whaling ship Yushin Maru. The BBC tells us;

The Sea Shepherd campaign group said the two – a Briton and an Australian – had been assaulted and tied to the radar mast by the Japanese crew.

They said they wanted charges of kidnap to be filed in Australia.

Minoru Morimoto, of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), admitted the pair had been detained but denied they had been assaulted or harmed.

He said the Sea Shepherd’s accusations that the two men were tied up were “completely untrue”.

“It is illegal to board another country’s vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future,” he added.

You can read the full report HERE and watch the video HERE.

UPDATE 17Jan:

The AP wire tells us:

Australia said Thursday it would send a ship to pick up two anti-whaling activists who jumped on a Japanese harpoon vessel from a rubber boat in Antarctic waters, offering a solution to a tense, two-day standoff on the high seas.

The protesters from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society scored a victory with their stunt, bringing Japan’s whale hunt to a standstill while officials scrambled to resolve the faceoff.

The Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking will pick up the two activists, an Australian and a Briton, and return them to their anti-whaling vessel as soon as the details can be arranged, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said. Continue Reading…

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