I don't want to turn this blog into a second-hand recycler of old news items, but some issues - eg H5N1, hunting in Malta, and whaling - are very close to my heart, and there just so happens that there's been a crop of relevant and important news stories in the last few days that are worth mentioning.

One of these stories was reported on Planet Ark a couple of days ago, and concerns Iceland and its pea-brained whalers, those unconcerned citizens who stuck two fingers up to world opinion and went off earlier in the year to stick grenade-tipped harpoons into life-forms considerbly more intelligent than themselves...

According to the article the Icelandic prime-minister, Geir Haarde, who is up for re-election this May, is considering whether or not to let the commercial hunts continue - explaining that the government must factor global criticism into its decision-making. He is quoted as saying that, "it's an equation with several elements in there - one is the market, one is world public opinion, one is tourism and so on - and we have to weigh all these together, and the different interests, before we come up with a new decision."

It's a fascinating thought - particularly in the light of the criticism being heaped on the illegal hunting of migratory birds in Malta - that world opinion could impact on a "tradition" (ie whaling) that previously seemed untouchable.

To quote further from the report, written by Reuter's Sarah Edmonds, 'While many Icelanders see no reason why whales should be treated differently from fish, some see the negative global reaction as cause for concern.

Baugur Group, owner of UK and Nordic retailers including House of Fraser, said in January that commercial whaling could prompt boycotts of Icelandic firms with foreign operations.

Scientist Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir worries that this is a bad time for Iceland to be on the wrong side of an increasingly vocal environmental movement.

"It's bad PR and there is no real reason for it," she said. "People are making more money out of whale watching." '