In the case of "United States of America vs Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins," the shark fins have prevailed.
The lawsuit stemmed from the US seizure of $618,956 worth of the fins, used in Asian soups, from the King Diamond II, an American vessel stopped about 250 miles off the coast of Guatemala in 2002.
The three-judge US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided the seizure of the 29,407 kilos of fins was not legitimate because the ship was not actually a fishing vessel. In shark finning, fishermen chop off the fins and dump the sharks back into the sea.
According to a 2000 US law, it is illegal for a "fishing vessel" to possess shark fins without the rest of the carcass. The Hong Kong firm, Tai Loong Hong, argued the boat was not a fishing vessel and was engaged only in trading.
Man auctions his life
A man in Australia is auctioning his life - his house, his job, his clothes and his friends - on eBay, after his marriage broke up, saying he wants to start a new life.
"It's time to move. A completely fresh start. I want to see where life takes me," Ian Usher, 44, told Australian television yesterday.
Mr Usher said he was auctioning his life as "a package" with his house in Perth valued at around US$385,000.
"Hi there, my name is Ian Usher, and I have had enough of my life! I don't want it any more! You can have it if you like!," reads his website www.alife4sale.com, which has a link to eBay for bidders.
Mr Usher said his life auction, which starts on June 22, included not only his house, a car, a motorbike, a jet ski and a spa, but also an introduction to "great friends" and a job at a rug shop in Perth for a trial two-week period.
"When it's over, I will just walk out the front door, take my wallet, my passport and start a new life," he said.
Tigers kill six in Bangladesh
Tigers stalking into Bangladesh villages around Sundarbans mangrove forests have killed six people and mauled 12 others over the last two months, forest officials said yesterday.
In the latest incident a fisherman was killed on Monday at Satkhali village near the vast swampy forest some 500 kilometres southwest of Dhaka. The Sundarbans is a Unesco World Heritage site and home to the Royal Bengal tiger.
The victims were attacked while they were either fishing or farming near the forests. Forest officials said the number of tigers sneaking into villages mainly at night has increased following the deadly cyclone that hit Bangladesh coasts late last year when the forest was depleted of food by Cyclone Sidr, which struck the Bangladesh coast.
Encouraged to stop driving
Tokyo businesses are to start offering benefits to elderly people who give up their drivers' licences, backing a police effort to cut back on the ballooning number of traffic accidents caused by drivers over 65.
Among more than 30 special offers, one small bank will give higher interest rates, while Mitsukoshi department store chain plans to provide free delivery from its Tokyo stores and a hotel will offer a 10 per cent discount on meals in a programme starting next month.
"Have the courage to give up your licence," the police say on their website. "If you have lost confidence in your driving... if your family says they are worried about you driving... please think about handing in your licence." Japan has the largest proportion of over-65s in the world and faces a growing problem with elderly drivers, who caused 100,000 traffic accidents last year.
Culture goes to the dogs
Guardians of Florence's cultural treasures fear proposals to allow pet owners in the region to take their dogs and cats to restaurants, theatres and other public places will spoil the Tuscan aesthetic experience.
Dog-owning film director Franco Zeffirelli, a resident of regional capital Florence, said he agreed with any law that safeguards "the dignity of 'man's best friend'", but believed it was going too far to sit them in the stalls with their owners.
A new law sponsored by opponents to "animal discrimination" is expected to fly through the regional assembly. It will scrap a ban on pets in public places, as long as they have the proper vaccination certificates and are kept on a leash. However, Florence museums director Cristina Acidini was horrified at the prospect of pets parading through the Uffizi Gallery past masterpieces by Leonardo, Michelangelo and Botticelli.
Tiny porpoise faces extinction
The vaquita, a tiny stubby-nosed porpoise found only in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, is on the brink of extinction as more die each year in fishing nets than are being born, biologists say.
A drop in vaquita numbers to as few as 150 from around 600 at the start of the decade could see the famously shy animal go the same way as the Chinese river dolphin, which was declared all but extinct in 2006.
The drop in numbers suggests they are getting tangled in fishing nets at a faster rate than they can reproduce. Female vaquitas only produce young once every two years and the genetic pool is now too small for effective breeding.