Asia: Japan ends this year's whale hunt It looks as though Japan's whale hunt is definitely over for the year. Japan's Fisheries Minister says the whaling ships have been called home, a decision which it says is “to ensure the safety of the whaling crew amid continuing harassment by anti-whaling group, Sea Shepherd”. Earlier this week Japan had announced a suspension of its whaling hunt. Not surprisingly, today the pursuing eco-warriors from Sea Shepherd are claiming it as their biggest victory yet. Africa: Blasts kill 25 in Tanzania Thousands of people crowded a stadium for safety Thursday after a military ammunition depot exploded and showered the city with a series of blasts, killing at least 25 and prompting a stampede getaway. In the mayhem of residents fleeing the blasts, more than 150 children lost track of their parents, and officials appealed for mothers and fathers to report to the stadium to reunite with their offspring. Americas: Canada confirms major cyber attack A “significant” cyber attack on two Canadian economic ministries, reportedly from China, that targeted financial records, did not compromise the 2011 federal budget, according to a senior cabinet minister. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp said hackers using China-based servers last month had broken into computer systems at the finance department and treasury board. “I wouldn't say it's the most aggressive [attack] but it was a significant one, significant that they were going after financial records. We were able to shut things down and protect information,” Stockwell Day, the treasury board minister, said on Thursday. “It slows down your internal operations for a while because we had to immediately shut down certain parts of the network … but those are all in the process of being reopened. The budget's on track and it's going to be a good budget.” Europe: Party girl on Berlusconi scandal One of the women who partied with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told CNN how she became a key figure in the scandal that is enveloping Italy. In her first television interview, Nicole Minetti paints a different picture of parties she attended with Berlusconi, his associates and a bevy of pretty women to lurid tales in Italian media. Berlusconi has been indicted for paying for sex with an under-age nightclub dancer, 17-year-old Karima el Mahroug, nicknamed “Ruby the heart-stealer.” The liaison allegedly happened last spring, at parties at his villa — something both she and he deny. Read the interview here. Europe: Belgians strip down to undies to protest 249 days of political stalemate A number of protestors took to the streets of Belgium and stripped down to their underwear in protest of the 249 days they have gone without a government. The group of about 50, mostly students, stripped to their underwear in the northern city of Ghent and stood to form the word “unity” after leaders of 6 million Dutch-speakers were pitted against those of 4.5 million French speakers. More than 1,000 people in the French-speaking town of Louvain-la-Neuve, carried the colours of the Belgian flag and formed the words “Een-Un” – “One is One” – in Dutch and French.
