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One man was arrested after he strapped himself to the front of Japan's embassy, while protesters also gathered outside the hotel where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) started three days of informal talks.

"Stop the slaughter" and "Save the whales," read handmade posters held up by protesters outside the hotel near London Heathrow airport, where the talks are to continue until Saturday.

The IWC meeting comes as Japanese whalers are locked in a struggle with conservation activists who threw acid at crew members of a ship participating in Japan's annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean.

Japan was enraged by Monday's attack and said it would raise the incident at the meeting. Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said it was "not permissible to use violence to try to force through one's opinion".

Japan's deputy whaling commissioner Joji Morishita added: "Even if people disagree with each other, they can still come together and talk calmly and reasonably about the issues that concern them."

"It happens in other international organisations, but it has been lacking in the IWC in recent years."

Hogarth, an American, helped persuade Japan last year to suspend its plans to kill humpback whales for the first time in four decades.

Japan says whaling is part of its culture and kills up to 1,000 whales a year, exploiting a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals, although the meat ends up in supermarkets.

Australia has stepped up its opposition to whaling under new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and has sent a ship to monitor the Japanese mission, but Canberra condemned the activists' attack and appealed for restraint from both sides.

In central London meanwhile, police were called in by Japan's mission after the man apparently scaled the front of the embassy building before attaching himself to a balcony.

Martin Wyness, an activist for US-based anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd International, climbed up the building to take the Japanese flag down to half mast.

He also unfurled a banner stating: "Japan Stop Your Illegal Whaling."

"I've lowered the Japanese flag to half mast in tribute to the whales they have killed," said the 50-year-old, who staged a similar stunt at the embassy in January.

"Norway and Iceland admit they kill whales for their meat, but Japan still pretend they do it for research. We want the IWC to encourage Japan to start behaving like a responsible nation."

A police spokeswoman said Wyeness was arrested for trespassing.

Photo : AFP

Vocabulary

deadlock, n: situation when progress is impossible; stalemate

to be enraged, v: to be very angry

to exploit, v: to use selfishly for one's own advantage

loophole, n: something that can be used to escape from a situation or rule

mammal, n: animal that is born as animal and given milk to drink from its mother

to condemn, v: to show ones disapproval

restraint, n: act of holding back or controlling

tribute, n: action that shows ones great respect

stunt, n: a special action that is performed to attract attention

to trespass, v: to go to a place where one is not allowed to go

Questions

1. What does IWC stand for?

a. Internal War Council

b. Ineffective Whaling Constraints

c. International Whaling Commission

d. Incomprehensible Waffle Competition

2. What do the protesters try to achieve?

a. Whaling should be made legal.

b. Countries must stop killing whales.

c. Fishermen must be protected from whales.

d. Japan should reduce the price of whale meat.

 3. What happened to crew members from a Japanese whaling ship?

a. Conservation activists threw acid at them.

b. The Whaling Commission charged them a fine.

c. Australia arrested them for trespassing in their waters.

d. They had to take a test to receive their hunting licence.

 4. What do the Japanese do with the whales they kill for research?

a. Give them to the Zoo.

b. Donate them to schools.

c. Sell the meat in supermarkets.

d. Release them back into the wild.

5. Why did Martin Wyness lower the Japanese flag to half-mast?

a. to try and steal it

b. to burn it in protest

c. to mourn for the dead whales

d. to be able to reach it more easily

Synonyms

Which of the following words or phrases replace the ones from the passage best?

 1. bitter

a. new

b. fierce

c. impossible

d. repeated

 2. strap

a. tie

b. invite

c. throw

d. expose

 3. gather

a. shout

b. demand

c. congregate

d. demonstrate 

4. raise

a. cancel

b. uphold

c. bring up

d. withdraw

 5. scale

a. paint

b. climb

c. search

d. photograph

KEY

Questions   1. c, 2. b, 3. a  4. c, 5. c. 

Synonyms   1. b, 2. a, 3. c, 4. c, 5. b

By Ajarn Horst Baelz