Japan bolts whaling commission, but tensions may ease

Japan has made good on years of threats by bolting the International Whaling Commission, but its decision may also offer a way out of tensions that looked inextricable.Japan, which calls whaling part of its cultural heritage, said Wednesday it would withdraw from the seven-decade-old commission which since 1986 has banned commercial killing of the ocean giants.Australia and New Zealand have been outraged by Japan's incursions into waters they consider a whale sanctuary and activists harassed the