BY NICK ROBERTSON – 07/23/24 8:13 PM ET

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Colorado will require dairies to test their milk supplies for bird flu every week, the state Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday, as concerns over the avian flu remain high nationwide.

State Veterinarian Maggie Baldwin said Colorado has “not been able to curb the spread of disease at this point,” after about three months of bird flu infection in the state’s livestock populations.

“We have seen devastating impacts of this disease not only to our dairy industry, but our poultry industry as well,” she said in a statement. “With the strong support of the dairy and poultry industries, we feel that this is the best next step in order to protect these vital industries in our state.”

Bird flu is of little risk to humans but has ravaged poultry and cattle populations across the country in the last year. The current outbreak has infected 11 people after contact with infected livestock.

More than 100 million poultry nationwide are infected with the current strain of avian flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 168 dairy herds have also reported infections.

Colorado’s milk surveillance program will help the state track and react to instances of the disease in cattle. Milk from infected cattle is safe to consume, as the pasteurization process of milk kills any pathogens.

The testing requirement was triggered by the mass infection of the state’s chicken population. About 70 percent of Colorado’s chickens were culled due to avian flu infection.

“Mandatory surveillance of highly pathogenic avian influenza across all of Colorado’s Grade A commercial dairies is a critical next step to tamping down the virus and protecting the food system,” state Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg said in a statement.

Colorado has the highest number of reported avian flu cases in the country, the state said.

Greenland police say they have apprehended veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson on an international arrest warrant issued by Japan

ByThe Associated Press

July 21, 2024, 10:14 AM

• https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/anti-whaling-campaigner-arrested-greenland-police-extradited-japan-112142232

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BERLIN — Greenland police said they apprehended veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson on an international arrest warrant issued by Japan.

Watson, a 73-year-old Canadian-American citizen, is a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society whose direct action tactics, including high-seas confrontations with whaling vessels, have drawn support from A-list celebrities and featured in the reality television series “Whale Wars.”

He was arrested Sunday when his ship docked in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, a police statement said. He later appeared before a district court to look into a request to detain him pending a decision on his possible extradition to Japan, the statement said.

Whale meat is an element of Japanese food culture, and the government says it supports the sustainable use of whales.

On Monday, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation said in an emailed comment that the veteran environmentalist would be detained in Nuuk at least until Aug. 15, following the court’s decision, to give the Danish justice ministry time to investigate the case and possible extradition. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Japan, according to the foundation.

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His foundation also said the Greenland court wouldn’t allow Watson’s release on bail as he was considered a flight risk.

The foundation described more than a dozen police officers boarding the vessel and leading Watson away in handcuffs when it stopped to refuel. The foundation said the ship, along with 25 volunteer crew members, was en route to the North Pacific on a mission to intercept a new Japanese whaling ship.

“The arrest is believed to be related to a former Red Notice issued for Captain Watson’s previous anti-whaling interventions in the Antarctic region,” the foundation said in an emailed statement on Sunday.

“We implore the Danish government to release Captain Watson and not entertain this politically-motivated request,” Locky MacLean, the foundation director, said in the statement.

Interpol, the international police body based in Lyon, France, which issues Red Notices for wanted people, confirmed that a valid one was outstanding for Watson at the request of Japan.

“It is each member country’s decision whether to arrest an individual who is the subject of a Red Notice, which is not an international arrest warrant,” the Interpol press office said.

Neither the Japan Coast Guard nor Japan’s Foreign Ministry, which had issued the international warrant for Watson, confirmed they are negotiating Watson’s handover. However, the coast guard, the primary investigative authority in Watson’s case in Japan, said Monday that officials were on standby if a handover is ordered.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with the European country and it is unknown if or when Watson would be handed over.

It’s not the first time his tactics brought him head-to-head with authorities. He was detained in Germany in 2012 on a Costa Rican extradition warrant but skipped bail after learning that he was also sought for extradition by Japan, which has accused him of endangering whalers’ lives during operations in the Antarctic Ocean. He has since lived in countries including France and the United States.

Watson, who left Sea Shepherd in 2022 to set up his own organization, was also a leading member of Greenpeace, but left in 1977 amid disagreements over his aggressive tactics.

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According to his foundation, Watson’s current ship, the M/Y John Paul DeJoria, was due to sail through the Northwest Passage to the North Pacific to confront a newly built Japanese factory whaling ship, “a murderous enemy devoid of compassion and empathy hell bent on destroying the most intelligent self-aware sentient beings in the sea.”

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Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo, Japan.