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Whaling conducted by the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic is illegal and the government of Australia is covered by the law to stop it, said a group of Australian lawyers in a report published today.


The report, prepared at the request of the environmental organization International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), maintains that the Antarctic Treaty undertakes to examine the environmental impact of any activity that takes place in the waters of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean.


The boats used by Japan, says the report, complied with the regulations required for the hunting of whales in the Subantarctic, but not in the waters of Antarctica, and also very dangerous operations, including refueling at sea.


Professor of International Law at the National University of Australia and chairman of the group of lawyers who prepared the study, Don Rothwell, believes that the findings provide the legal basis for the Australian Government to act to stop the killing of whales.


Antarctica, Rothwell said, is one of the world with a legislation on environmental stricter, and Japan is not exempt from it.


A government delegation will attend the Canberra meeting of the Consultative Mechanism Treaty Atlantis next April, and the group of lawyers, this is the appropriate time to act legally against Japan.


Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, said last Monday that his government considered undertaking legal action when a diplomatic avenues are exhausted.


Earlier this hunting season, the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, said that unlike the 2007-2008 campaign, this year Australia will not monitor the operation of the Japanese fishing vessel Oceanic Viking.


Between November 2007 and April 2008, the "Oceanic Viking" filmed the operation of the Japanese whaling fleet, to use the images as evidence before an international tribunal.


Last season, the ships caught 551 whales in Japan's quota was allocated to 900, due to the persistent action of the Sea Shepherd, Animal Planet, which seeks to prevent the capture of whales.


Sea Shepherd has docked temporarily its vessel "Steve Irwin" in the port of Hobart, capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, southeast of the country

The anti-pornography campaign launched by the Government of the Communist Party of China (CCP) against the major Chinese portals, including Google and Baidu, has resulted in the closure of 726 web since January 5.


In a communique issued today, the Bureau of Special Operations Tackling lewd and Porno Content on the Internet, reported that one third of the web were not registered and violated Chinese laws on sexual content distribution.


The campaign, one month, was launched by the Public Security Bureau (police), the Executive, the Ministry of Culture and four other government agencies.


China is already the largest Internet market in the world, with nearly 300 million users, ahead of the U.S., but the CCP regime is also one of the censors of the planet, according to reports from NGOs such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) or Human Rights Watch (HRW).


The campaign "anti-porn" coincides with another policy that are being arrested activists and dissidents of the regime to avoid any protest in a year of anniversaries: the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan revolt against Chinese occupation, the Wall 30 years Democracy, and 20 years of the Tiananmen protests.


The latter is one of the hundreds of campaigns that the Chinese government has launched since the network moved into the Asian country in 1996.

The Indonesian Government wants the UN to make legally binding agreements that the scope of the Ocean World Conference at its meeting in May in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the newspaper reported today "The Jakarta Post."


"We hope that the UN supports the statement (final) and make it legally binding for all member countries," said Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Freddy Numberi.


"Protecting the oceans, we are saving the lives of all people living in small island states. That is why wealthy nations should contribute to the cause," said the minister, whose country thought to make binding agreements to the industrialized countries will be more willing to finance the fight against climate change.


"We have already lost some small islands by rising oceans," said Numberi.


Indonesia, an archipelago made up of over 17,000 islands, notes with concern the rising seas caused by climate change and its experts estimate that up to 2,000 islands will be gone by 2030 if the ocean level rises 8 and 29 centimeters, as expected.


The Ocean World Conference will be held from May 15 to 11 in Manado, north of Sulawesi, expected attendance of 7,000 delegates, including officials, experts and activists from some 120 countries.

China has blocked 244 new pornographic websites last week, the official agency Xinhua said, bringing the total number of sites closed in a campaign against the content "vulgar" to over 700.


Many of the affected sites were not registered and violated the laws on sexual content distribution, said the report.


China promised last week that the campaign, according to a Xinhua plans last month, would not be a "storm in a glass of water." Has been extended to cover content in mobile games, novels and radio programs online.


Google, Baidu and other major firms have also received a public reprimand for not being quick enough to erase the contents of affected sites and some blogs have been closed for posting "politically damaging information."


The offensive of the Internet has been described by analysts as another step in the battle of the Communist Party to silence dissent in a year of sensitive dates such as the 20th anniversary of the bloody government repression against pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

More than 50 U.S. celebrities have joined an initiative known as' The Presidential Pledge '(The Promise Presidential), sponsored by MySpace and actor Ashton Kutcher: a video recording of his testimony to make commitments to change next U.S. president, Barack Obama.


Among the participants are actresses Cameron Diaz, Eva Longoria, Marisa Tomei, Courtney Cox, Lucy Liu and Laura Linney, and the actors Tobey Maguire and Jason Bateman. Also included singers Sean P. 'Diddy' Combs, Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chilli Peppers).


The videos are available from Monday at www.myspace.com / presidentialpledge were directed, produced and edited by actress Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher's wife. Internet users are also invited to write their own promises and hang on the site.


"It is a platform that allows everyone, of any nation and around the world, personally engage with our new president, articulating a specific action or attempt to become agents of positive change," says Kutcher.


For example, Sean P. 'Diddy' Combs promises to "turn off the lights," Eva Longoria (of the television series' Desperate Housewives') is committed to plant 500 trees and Courtney Cox (the mythical 'Friends') states that "to help fight hunger in America .

Burger King was forced to close the application on Facebook that he had offered a Whopper for every ten friends removed from the pressure of this social networking site on the Internet.

Before the cancellation Whopper Sacrifice Campaign, 233,906 people were "slaughtered" by users of Facebook (removed from their lists of friends) to access a menu free of Burger King, the global fast food chain specializing in hamburgers .


Burger King this application could be installed for free by Facebook users who were rewarded with a Whopper for every ten friends removed from their list of contacts.


"Following constructive discussions with Burger King and the creators of the application is decided before the campaign to continue dealing with the restrictions," said a spokesman for Facebook.

In one of his last actions as president, George W. Bush on Monday commuted the sentences being imposed on two former border agents who had been convicted of shooting a Mexican drug dealer in 2005.


The two agents, who have purged some two years of the sentences, they could leave prison in the next two months.


Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compeán, who tried to cover up the shooting, was well received by members of the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress.


For a long time, both parties had argued that the agents just did their job to defend the U.S. border criminals. The legislators also argued that the sentences of more than 10 years in prison handed down against each of the former officers of El Paso, Texas, were too severe.


The Mexican government was opposed to the release of the accused and expressed its opposition to the measure, seen as a failure in law enforcement.


"This is a message of impunity for the actions of police officers which is frankly hard to understand," said Carlos Rico, undersecretary for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


"We express our strong opposition, but political operatives last minute were stronger than our efforts," said Rico.


Resentment by the guilty pleas, convictions and dismissals had deepened since the events in 2005. The case then unleashed an intense debate on undocumented immigration in the United States.


Ramos and Compeán became focus of conservatives and television, where his supporters called the heroes. Almost a bipartisan congressional delegation from Texas and other Republican and Democratic lawmakers had urged Bush to intervene in the case with a measure of leniency.


Bush pardoned the two men for their crimes, but decided to change their prison sentences because they were considered excessive and that they had already lost their jobs, freedom and their reputations, said a prominent official.


The decision of the president, who believes that the Border Patrol agents received fair trials and verdicts, not diminish the gravity of their crimes, added the official.


Both were found guilty of wounding a shot in the buttocks Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, who will be admitted drug trafficker, when he fled toward the Rio Grande on the border between Mexico and the United States after leaving a vehicle with marijuana. The officials said that in the shot because they believed he was armed.


Compeán and Ramos were sentenced to 12 years in prison and 11 years respectively. They were also each fined $ 2000 and sentenced to three years of supervised release. With Bush's decision, prison sentences expire on March 20 but remain intact fines and probation.


Bush, who leaves office on Tuesday, has issued 189 pardons and 11 commutations, which are slightly less than half of the measures granted by former presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan to two terms.


The stepfather of Ramos, Joe Loya, said that efforts to free his son had marked the entire family and said his daughter, Monica Ramos, told from New York to hear the news. "I could barely talk," he said.

Investigations into the crash of U.S. Airways landed at the Hudson River last week could take up to a year, but the lessons learned after the spectacular event will endure much more, said Monday one of the principal investigators of the case.

"I think this will be studied for decades," said Robert Benzon, investigator in charge of the case for the National Transportation Safety (NTSB, for its initials in Spanish).


Benzon said the fact that the 155 people aboard had survived the cut because the signs and that often accompany the air accidents, and indicated that the lessons of the successful fall on the Hudson River could improve the safety of aircraft.


"I think that something like this there is potential for the emergence of many good things, positive things in the long term," he said.


The Airbus A320 that acuatizó in the river on Thursday was on Monday in a field of dismantling of New Jersey, where he was guarded by employees of the company, federal investigators and police in New York.


"I was surprised it was that the plane intact," said James Marchioni, Weeks Marine supervisor in Jersey City. "Some of the lower panels appeared damaged, but otherwise was quite good."


Marchioni said the NTSB believes that would require "a week or two" to dismantle the vessel so that the parties could be sent to an undisclosed location, where they would be analyzed.


The search for the left engine of the ship was suspended until Tuesday due to ice on the river, that's too dangerous to send divers and sonar equipment.


The black boxes of the plane caught the sound of blows, the sudden loss of power in the engines and the calm of the pilot called for help, evidence supporting the counting of the crew of having collided with a flock of geese a few minutes off.


The pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, praised for helping save the lives of the passengers said the plane hit birds and lost the functionality of the two turbines shortly after investigators listen to "the sound of blows and a rapid reduction in engine noise, "said Kitty Higgins of the NTSB.


Sullenberger then discussed various possibilities of landing on runways in New Jersey before deciding to attempt a landing in the river, said Higgins.


Nine seconds before ditching, the pilot told passengers to prepare for the impact, said Higgins.


President-elect Barack Obama said Monday he had spoken with the pilot, a native of California, and he said: "I and my crew just did our job."


"That made me think, if everyone did their job _cualquiera that was éste_ as well as it did this pilot, we would be in fairly good condition," said Obama.


Sullenberger, the crew of the plane's pilot and the family are invited to the swearing in ceremony on Tuesday.


The five members of the crew have been harassed to give interviews to the media. But on Monday, the airline and the crew issued several press releases in which they demanded respect for their privacy.


However, the crew said "wanted to give their sincere thanks and appreciation for the amazing show of support, appreciation and good wishes they received from the people and the rest of the world from what happened on Thursday."


They also indicated they are willing to give interviews "when the appropriate time."

Russian natural gas began to flow to Ukraine on Tuesday after a suspension of nearly two weeks that left large parts of Europe, with cold and dark, highlighting the vulnerability and dependency of the continent against the Russian fuel.


Russian gas monopoly Gazprom began pumping gas to Ukraine at about 10:30 Moscow (0730GMT), said spokesman Boris Sapozhnikov by telephone from the station to measure Sudzha. Executives at other stations on the Ukrainian-Russian border, Pisarevka, also confirmed that it was getting gas.


Officials noted that the supplies could take 36 hours to cross Ukraine, which is the size of France, and to reach European customers. Europe gets about a fifth of its natural gas from Russia.


Russia suspended supplies on January 7 while the dispute with Ukraine over prices for 2009 and on accusations that Ukraine was stealing gas intended for Europe.


More than 15 nations in the Balkans and Eastern Europe were left fighting for alternative energy sources, with factories closed and millions of people shivering in unheated homes. Bulgaria and Slovakia, in particular, depend almost entirely on Russian gas.


Many questioned whether Russia and Ukraine could be reliable suppliers of energy and criticized by both nations in Europe have "hostage" during his contractual dispute.


Late on Monday, the two nations settled its lawsuit with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko, who witnessed the signing of an agreement between the heads of Gazprom and the Ukrainian company Naftogaz.


The agreement further states that Ukraine will receive gas at 20% discount on the average price this year in Europe, which Russia says is $ 450 per 1,000 cubic meters.


However, it is expected that natural gas prices for Europe to fall sharply this year due to reduced oil prices. For half the summer, Ukraine could be paying $ 150 per 1,000 cubic meters, said Ronald Smith, a strategist of Alfa Bank in Moscow.

Tens of thousands of people came on Monday in this capital on the eve of the swearing in of Barack Obama as the 44th president, while the country paid tribute to the assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.


Obama sought to honor Reverend King through voluntary service to others.


"Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be united as one people, in the same place where the dream of Dr. King still resonates," Obama said in a statement.


Obama showed his interest in bipartisan cooperation, which takes office when needed. One night before becoming president dined with his vice president, Joe Biden, and two prominent Republicans: former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Senator John McCain, the man he defeated last November in the presidential election.


Obama praised McCain during the meeting and asked for help to "make the dinner not only a bipartisan tradition in the presidential sworn, but a new way of dealing with the affairs of the people in this city."


Meanwhile, in his last days in the White House, President George W. Bush made telephone calls to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other world leaders to thank them for their assistance in the course of his eight years as president.


On the streets, big screens showing live broadcasts of television stations, attracting crowds of onlookers.


"Today, we celebrate the life of a preacher who, for over 45 years, shared in the shadow of Lincoln's dream of our nation," Obama said in his statement.


The life of King, the president-elect said, "was a life in the service of others with love."


On Sunday, after a celebration in the shadow of the monument to Abraham Lincoln _quien strongly opposed slavery in the Unidos_, Obama molded his last days as president-elect on the King, another giant figure in the history of the country.


The festivities began a day earlier with a journey by train from Philadelphia to Washington since Obama, following the route that took Lincoln in 1861, shortly before a civil war.


Obama said on Sunday that will take "more than a year to resolve the economic challenges and other challenges facing the country, but also sought to give a message of encouragement before thousands of jubilant people at a concert, emphasizing that" everything is possible in the United States. "


The former senator of 47 years will assume the presidency at noon on Tuesday at a time of economic crisis in the nation and two wars abroad. But the difficulties became the background for many who came in hopes of witnessing a moment that will change the country's history, takes up the post the first black president since its founding.


"I am so happy to live to see this wonderful event," said Betty Bryant, 70, who traveled in a rented bus from Augusta, Georgia, and stood in front of the Capitol to the ice pit. Bryant had planned to get up at 3:00 am on Tuesday to reach a place where they perform the swearing.


Uniformed soldiers patrolling the streets of Washington, in anticipation of the large deployment to monitor the swearing, the inaugural speech, parade and other celebrations. The authorities have reviewed suspicious packages and vehicles, and it seems everything is in order, said Richard Kolko, a spokesman for the FBI. "The city and people seem to have a good disposition and good spirits," he said. "Security is going well, that is what the whole plan."


Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was ordered not to participate in the festivities of the swearing on Tuesday, "to ensure continuity of government," said Dana Perino, spokeswoman for Bush.


Gates will continue in office by a decision of Obama, and is one of the people in line in presidential succession. It is normal that one of the officials of a new government to stay on the sidelines of ceremonies in the event of a calamitous attack.


Meanwhile, in the structures built for the occasion musicians Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman made his essay for presentation at the ceremony.

On Tuesday morning, first lady Laura Bush greet Michelle Obama and his wife on the porch of the White House and lead a brief visit. When Obama returned in the afternoon will have become president, Bush will be on the way to his retirement in Texas, and a group of trucks will take the belongings of a family while the other comes from the other.

On Monday morning, Obama visited the Walter Reed hospital in the armed forces to greet soldiers wounded in combat. The visit was not announced previously.

Then participated in a community redevelopment project in the Sasha Bruce House shelter for homeless adolescents, where he began to paint the walls with a roller and helped volunteers.

"We can not let anyone down," he said. "Everyone has to participate."

The elected vice president, Joe Biden, also participated in voluntary service, and his wife, Jill, and Michelle Obama.

Monday marks the U.S. at the federal level the 80 years of the birth of King, who preached peaceful resistance and equality among races.

Many believe that King paved the way for advancing to the Obama presidency. Others disagree with that assertion, and argue that Obama was never linked to the movement for civil rights in this country.