MADRID: Spanish lawmakers on Thursday voted to end a ban on hunting wolves in the north of the country, three years after its introduction by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority leftist government.
Spain declared Iberian wolves living north of the Douro river a protected species in 2021, extending an existing hunting ban that was in place in the south over the objections of farmers who argued that it would lead to more attacks on their livestock.
Controlled hunting of the species had been allowed until then in the region which includes Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and Leon, and Galicia where the vast majority of the country’s Iberian wolves live.
The reversal of the hunting ban was introduced via an amendment to a law on food waste and approved with the votes of lawmakers from the conservative main opposition Popular Party (PP), far-right Vox, Basque regional party PNV and Catalan separatists JxCat.
The amendment introduced by the PP stipulates that the capture and killing of wolves may be “justified” in the event of a threat to the Spanish “productive system,” namely agricultural production.
It removes the wolf from a list of wild species under “special protection” north of the Douro.
Conservation group Ecologists in Action called the reversal of the hunting ban “irresponsible” while animal rights party PACMA described it as “the biggest step backwards in wildlife conservation in years.”
Members of the Bern Convention, tasked with the protection of wildlife in Europe and some African countries, in December agreed to lower the wolf’s protection status from “strictly protected” to “protected.”
Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe 100 years ago but their numbers have rebounded since then to the current population of 20,300, mostly in the Balkans, Nordic countries, Italy and Spain.
Spain reverses ban on hunting wolves in north
https://arab.news/rkupd
Spain reverses ban on hunting wolves in north
- An amendment stipulates that capture and killing of wolves may be 'justified' in the event of a threat to the Spanish agricultural production
- Conservation group Ecologists in Action called the reversal of the hunting ban 'irresponsible'
Burkinabe teen behind viral French ‘coup’ video has no regrets
- “Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video, posted by the 17-year-old, showing what appeared to be journalists reporting on an ongoing takeover by an unidentified colonel
- Posted on December 9 on TikTok, then shortly afterwards on Facebook, the post went viral, garnering more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of “likes”
PARIS: A Burkinabe teenager who used artificial intelligence to post fake news of a French coup on Facebook got more than he bargained for.
As well as millions of views and tens of thousands of “likes,” he also acquired a certain notoriety — and French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, was not amused.
And what he had planned as a money-making scheme only netted him seven euros, he said. But he has no regrets.
“Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video, posted by the 17-year-old, showing what appeared to be journalists reporting on an ongoing takeover by an unidentified colonel.
In one shot, the Eiffel Tower and the blue lights from a police car flashed in the background.
“Demonstrators have gathered to support the colonel who seems to have taken power yesterday,” said the reporters.
It was all fake, of course: the product of his online training in the use of artificial intelligence.
Posted on December 9 on TikTok, then shortly afterwards on Facebook, the post went viral, garnering more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of “likes.”
Last Tuesday, when Macron was asked about the video during a visit to Marseille, he spoke of his frustration at not having been able to force Facebook to take it down.
They had told him that it did not violate their rules, he said.
Money-making goal
In the end, it was the creator himself who deleted it, shortly after the French news media started contacting him.
Speaking to AFP, he explained that he had got into creating AI-generated videos last year after finding a training course on YouTube. But he only really started producing in October 2025.
He was taken aback by his sudden celebrity and that the French media was reporting on and even interviewing him.
He laughed about all the fuss in a video posted to his Facebook page.
But the teenager, who preferred to remain anonymous, was clear that his real aim had been to make money from advertising attached to his posts.
Not that he was living in poverty, he added.
“I eat, I can get to school, my parents take good care of me, thank God,” he told AFP.
But he wanted more to gain “financial independence,” he added.
He had seen “loads of pages that get millions of views” and had heard that TikTok paid money to producers, so he jumped into social media to see what he could do.
After a bit of trial and error, he latched on to AI-generated fake news because it generated more online traffic.
“I haven’t yet made a lot of money that way,” he admitted.
His Facebook page was not yet monetised, though he had made a little money from TikTok.
Normally, Africa is not a region that is eligible for monetization on the platform but he said he had found a way around that.
While his viral video on the fake coup in France may not have been a moneyspinner, he has used it to promote an offer of online training in AI-generated content on Facebook.
“There are people who have got in touch with me after this video, at least five people since last week,” he said.
For one hour’s coaching, he makes 7,000 CFA francs (10 euros).
No regrets
France is frequently the target of disinformation, in particular from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Since a string of military coups there, all three countries have distanced themselves from France, the former colonial power, and moved instead toward Russia.
The Burkinabe junta in particular has become adept at AI-generated propaganda videos. They have included false clips of celebrities such as singer Beyonce or Pope Leo XIV singing the praises of Ibrahim Traore, the military government’s leader.
Burkina Faso also has a group of influential cyberactivists who promote the government’s propaganda online, known as the “Rapid-Intervention Communication Battalion.”
The teenager behind the fake French coup video told AFP he was not part of that group.
But while his main motivation was far from being political, he was happy to take a passing shot at France.
“I also created this video to scare people,” he said.
Some French media personalities and politicians do not present a fair view of what is going on in Africa’s Sahel region, instead broadcasting “fake news,” he said.
He cited recent reports that the Malian capital, Bamako, was on the point of falling to jihadist forces.
Informed sources agree that if the military government there was in difficulty recently from a jihadist blockage of supply routes, it has not so far been threatened to the point of losing power.
The French authorities “have no regrets about publishing false statements on the AES,” said the teenager.
“So I’m not going to regret publishing false things about them!“
