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Bluefin tuna export ban is rejected 

Thursday when a U.S.-backed proposal to ban export of Atlantic bluefin tuna was overwhelmingly rejected at a United Nations wildlife meeting.

Japan won over scores of poorer nations with a campaign that played on fear that a ban would devastate their economies.

The Japanese also raised doubt that such a radical move was scientifically sound.

In another blow to conservationists, a proposal at the meeting to ban the international sale of polar bear skins failed to pass.

With stocks of the once-abundant Atlantic bluefin tuna down 75%, the defeat of the proposal was a stunning setback for the Americans, Europeans and their conservationist allies who had hoped the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, would protect the species.

"Let's take science and throw it out the door," said Susan Lieberman, director of international policy with the Pew Environment Group in Washington.

"It's pretty irresponsible of the governments to hear the science and ignore the science," she said. "Clearly, there was pressure from the fishing interests. The fish is too valuable for its own good."

Japan, which imports 80% of the tuna, had heavily lobbied delegates to kill the proposal. The Japanese even held a reception Wednesday night for uncertain delegates that included plenty of bluefin sushi. 

President Obama signs healthcare overhaul into law 

In a crowded White House ceremony that was both partisan celebration and recognition of history in the making, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) raised their arms like victors at a pep rally; Victoria Kennedy, widow of health reform champion Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, blew a kiss; and Vice President Joe Biden -- as he embraced Obama -- was caught by an open microphone using an obscenity, exclaiming "This is a big . . . deal."

Obama said the moment was proof that a polarized political system could still produce substantial change to help everyday people.

"Today, after almost a century of trying; today, after over a year of debate; today, after all the votes have been tallied -- health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America," the president said. "It is fitting that Congress passed this historic legislation this week. For as we mark the turning of spring, we also mark a new season in America."

He spoke from a lectern in the East Room, surrounded by congressional Democrats and guests who played parts in the law's adoption. 

Japan marks 15th anniversary of subway gas attacks 

Japan on Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of the deadly 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gas attacks, with families of victims leaving flowers at the scene of some of the deaths.

Train staff held a moment of silence at the Kasumigaseki subway station at 8 am, roughly the hour when the Nazi-developed sarin gas was released into packed commuter trains during the morning rush hour.

In all, 13 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured, many of them severely, when the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult attacked stations and trains simultaneously.

The Kasumigaseki district of Tokyo is the centre of the Japanese government.

Shizue Takahashi, whose husband was one of the two victims at Kasumigaseki station, urged cult followers to compensate the injured and bereaved.

"That the government offered a helping hand to victims doesn't mean the cult believers are exempt from their responsibility for compensation," she said.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his transport minister Seiji Maehara also paid tribute to victims.

"I pledged in front of the victims' souls that I'll do my best to ensure transport safety, including taking anti-terror measures," Maehara told reporters.

The cult was founded by Shoko Asahara, a bearded, half-blind former acupuncturist who preached of a coming apocalypse.

Asahara, 55, and nine other cult members are currently awaiting execution on death row, while three others remain at large.

After the subway attack, the Aum cult renamed itself Aleph -- after the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet -- and deposed Asahara. But authorities say hardcore followers still revere him and are actively recruiting younger generations who may not know about or remember the Aum crimes.

The group now has about 1,500 members in Japan, a third of whom live in compounds, and about 200 followers in Russia.

The cult was never outlawed in Japan, thanks to the country's constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, although it was banned from teaching Asahara's violent dogma and remains under close surveillance.