I was alerted to a recent newspaper article talking about thousands of Hindu devotees who are flocking to a village in Nepal ahead of the planned sacrifice of more than 300,000 animals to Gadhimai, the Hindu goddess of power. Devotees believe that sacrificing animals will bring them good luck and prosperity for their families. Blood [...]

The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was established in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission, with 23 countries supporting it and Japan opposing it. It covers 50 million square kilometres of ocean surrounding Antarctica. I remember throughout the 1980s writing letters to environment ministers diligently pushing for the sanctuary. But is it a ‘paper tiger’? On [...]