After decades, Japan to resume commercial whaling

TOKYO - Japanese fishermen set sail on Monday to hunt whales commercially for the first time in more than three decades after Tokyo's controversial withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, triggered outrage from environmental groups.

The planned hunts, while small and far from internationally protected waters, have also sparked anger in countries where whaling is considered outdated and harmful.

But in Japan, whaling communities hailed the return of the practice, with Tokyo defending it as a tradition that should not be subject to outside interference.