- Mali singer Traore child custody case postponed
- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- 'Devastated' Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Philippines says to acquire US Typhon missile system
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Beyond Work Unveils Next-Generation Memory-Augmented AI Agent (MATRIX) for Enterprise Document Intelligence
- Northern Superior Announces ONGold's Completion of Monument Bay and Domain Projects Acquisition in Manitoba
- ARIA Cybersecurity Solutions Partners with UFT to Protect Water Treatment Facilities from Dangerous Cyberattacks
- Clear Start Tax Named 2024 Orange County Register’s Top Workplaces for Exceptional Tax Resolution Service and Workplace Culture
- Ensysce Biosciences Regains Full Compliance with Nasdaq
- Tortoise Capital Completes Merger of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (NYSE: TPZ), Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE: TTP), and Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. (NYSE: NDP) and Conversion to Actively Managed ETF
- Tortoise Capital Completes Merger of Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. (NYSE: TYG) and Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE: NTG)
- Telomir Pharmaceuticals Confirms Copper Binding Capabilities of Telomir-1 and Expands Pipeline Into Wilson's Disease
- Datametrex Cancels RSUS
- South Star Battery Metals Announces Upsize of Non-Brokered Private Placement to Raise Up to US$3.20M, Extends Closing and Amended and Restated Stream Agreement
- Brightline Interactive Successfully Delivers A Scalable Immersive Simulation To A Global Government Service Integrator, Positioning Itself As A Leading Operating System For Processing And Visualizing Complex Information In 3D Space
- Urb NM is Named "Fastest Growing" Marijuana Brand in New Mexico
- Alset AI Broadens Investment Policy to Embrace Decentralized AI, Quantum AI, Quantum Computing, and Cryptocurrency Opportunities
- Strawberry Fields REIT Enters Into Agreement for Six Healthcare Facilities Located in Kansas
- NanoViricides is in a Great Position to Fight Potential Bird Flu Pandemic with a Drug that the Mercurial H5N1 Influenza A Virus is Unlikely to Escape
- Zomedica Launches Two New Quantitative Assays on the TRUFORMA(R) Platform: Canine NT-proBNP and Progesterone
EU states back plan to downgrade wolf protection status
EU member states on Wednesday voted in favour of lowering the protection status of wolves, in a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of strict hunting rules.
Representatives for the bloc's 27 countries backed a proposal to push for changes to an international wildlife convention that would see the species downgraded from "strictly protected" to "protected".
The European Commission, which initially put forward the plan, welcomed its approval by a qualified majority of member states during a meeting in Brussels.
Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago but, thanks to conservation efforts, numbers have rebounded, triggering howls of protest from farmers angered at livestock losses.
"Adapting the protection status will be an important step to address the challenges posed by increasing wolf population while keeping the overall objective to achieve and maintain a favourable conservation status for the species," commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz told reporters.
In 2023, there were breeding packs of grey wolves in 23 European Union countries, with a total population estimated at around 20,300 animals, bringing the elusive creatures into more frequent contact with humans.
In announcing plans to revise the species' status last year, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the "concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock".
Last year, von der Leyen herself lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that crept into its enclosure on her family's rural property in northern Germany -- leading some to suggest the matter had become personal.
The wolf became a "strictly protected" species under the 1979 Bern Convention, which the EU is a party to.
The text allows for the animal to be killed or captured only when it poses a threat to livestock, health or safety.
The commission's proposal would loosen such rules by demoting wolves to "protected" species.
Despite protests from animal rights activists, this would allow hunting to resume under strict regulation.
- 'Politically motivated' -
More than 300 environmental and animal protection groups opposed the move arguing it was premature since while population numbers have grown, their recovery is still ongoing.
"We see this as a proposal that is politically motivated and not at all based on science," Sabien Leemans, senior policy officer at environmental group WWF, told AFP.
This year has seen rolling protests by farmers in Brussels and around Europe against the bloc's tightening environmental requirements.
Wednesday's vote, once formally adopted by the bloc's environment ministers, will give the EU a mandate to push for a change in the Bern Convention at its next standing committee meeting scheduled for December.
A two-thirds majority is required to alter the text, which was signed by 50 countries, including the 27 EU members.
If the convention is changed, the commission will then be allowed to move to amend related EU rules.
P.Stevenson--AMWN