Whaling

AGADIR, Morocco - Japanese officials and environmentalists traded blame Wednesday as nations failed to reach a deal to curb whale hunts by Japan, Norway and Iceland that kill hundreds of whales every year.

CASABLANCA - A showdown looms this week over the 25-year ban on commercial whaling: Should it be eased, which might mean fewer whales are killed? Or should it remain - leaving Japan, Norway and Iceland to hunt down as many whales as they want? The International Whaling Commission begins a five-day meeting Monday in Morocco's Atlantic Ocean resort of Agadir - arguably its most important gathering since 1986, when a moratorium on commercial whaling halted the factory-style slaughter of tens of thousands of animals every year.