11.   Japan has faced sharp criticism from the West for its whale hunting.

12.   Norway even defied world opinion, faced protests and braved sanction threats so it could resume commercial whale hunting last year despite a global ban.

13.   Norway opened its whale hunting this month despite widespread international condemnation.

14.   The increasing acceptance of Norwegian whale hunting was also evident at the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Zimbabwe this year.

15.   The traditions and the industry they support must be acknowledged in nay appraisal of the Japanese attitude to whale hunting.

16.   The United States on Thursday suspended its controversial proposal to allow an American Indian tribe to return to whale hunting.

17.   Whale experts believe their numbers are increasing because of an international ban on whale hunting.

18.   Activists demanded that the whale hunting and processing boat cease taking live whales and threatened continued nonviolent actions.

19.   Both boats were in international waters off the Norwegian coast and were trying to stop whale hunting, the Greenpeace statement said.

20.   Three Greenpeace activists detained by police in this southwestern city in a protest over whale hunting have been released after spending a day in jail, police said Tuesday.