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On 15-18 May, a team from the European Union (EU) Delegation to Ghana journeyed to Wa, Upper West Region, to monitor activities of the EU-Ghana Agriculture (EU GAP) the EUs largest programme in Ghana with 132 million.

Better and more resilient infrastructure is key to ensuring efficient agricultural practices and competitive agribusiness, both central objectives of the EU GAP. During their visit, the EU team visited two of the programmes infrastructure-related projects. First stop at Dorimon- Dabokpa to commission the first kilometres of 670 kilometres of feeder road to be rehabilitated. Deputy Head of Mission, Pieter Smidt Van Gelder, noted: The lack of efficient infrastructures is a major bottleneck to the development of agricultural production and processing. Our collective aim is to witness the transformative power these roads hold for the Upper West Region.

The trip then took the EU team to Busa Dam, awaiting rehabilitation. To support better irrigation of farming land, the EU together with the French Development Agency (AFD) is supporting the rehabilitation and construction of dams, boreholes and pumping stations in the Upper West. Thanks to this 47 million Agricultural Water Management Project, over 6,000 smallholder farmers will benefit from irrigation. The work is due to start in 2024.

Thirdly, we met with the private sector. Farmers and business owners also need updating of their expertise to adapt to a changing market and unpredictable climate. Through the EU Market Orientated Agriculture Programme (MOAP) implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), the EU is providing key skills to several Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) working in agriculture and agribusiness. The EU team had the opportunity to attend the graduation of 26 MSMEs from one of MOAPs training programmes on business skills. Mr Smidt Van Gelder congratulated them for a remarkable achievement as you are now equipped with essential business entrepreneurial skills and the knowledge to access financial services. These tools will undoubtedly contribute to the development and sustainability of your businesses.

Lastly, as part of the EU mission, the team paid a visit to a neem processing plant producing the first organic pesticide in the region. Beyond infrastructure and skills, sustainability is essential to ensuring that farming practices can stand the test of time and protect Ghanas environment and biodiversity. Led by the Tibourataa Women Group of farmers with support from MOAP and the Upper West Regional Agricultural Department, the plant transforms the neem seeds into organic pesticide, essential for ensuring both quality of farming products, protection of biodiversity and securing the health of farmers.

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EU Field Visit to Upper West: supporting infrastructure, business ... - EEAS

People protest against executions and detentions in Iran, in front of the Iranian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York City on December 17, 2022. (AFP)

Published: 19 May ,2023: 10:34 PM GST Updated: 19 May ,2023: 10:59 PM GST

The European Union on Friday condemned in the strongest possible terms Irans execution of three men linked to protests that flared up after the death last year of Mahsa Amini.

The EU urges the Iranian authorities to refrain from applying the death penalty and carrying out future executions, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrells office said a statement.

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The three men Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were hanged after an Iranian court convicted them on charges of killing security force members at a demonstration in the city of Isfahan in November.

Nazanin Boniadi, a British actor and activist of Iranian origin, tweeted that the three men had been executed after forced confessions and sham trials.

Iranian authorities brutally cracked down on protests that sprang up after the September 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who was arrested in Tehran for allegedly breaching the countrys strict dress rules for women.

Amnesty International and other rights groups have documented torture of arrested protesters.

The EU statement emphasized that Iranian officials must observe due process rights of detained individuals and ensure they are not subjected to any form of mistreatment.

It also called on them to abide by their obligations under international law, including respecting the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Fridays executions bring to seven the number of Iranians executed in connection with the demonstrations.

Read more:

Iran executes three men over violence during last years anti-government protests

US urges Iran not to execute three people in connection with protests

Iran executes five over armed drug smuggling

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EU slams Irans execution of three linked to protests - Al Arabiya English

The European Union of Women as an organisation is also celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

By Kirstie Smith

Published 17th May 2023, 17:46 BST

Updated 17th May 2023, 17:46 BST

The British branch of European Union of Women (EUW) held its spring conference in Warwick.

The group, which has around 200 members from all over the country including Warwickshire, held its event at the Delta Marriot Hotel.

Members also got to travel into the town and many also had a tour of St Marys Church.

Pat Taylor, chair of the British bran ch of the EUW, said: We thank the people of Warwick for their warm welcome and our visit to the Collegiate Church of St Mary inspired us to continue our work both nationally and internationally.

The EUW was one of many organisations that sprang up in Europe after the Second World War and this group focused on advancing the role of women in society.

The Union as a whole is also celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

Speaking about the Union, Pat said: We are a European wide network of women interested in political and social development and cultural exchange - we are friends without borders.

"Founded in 1953 immediately after WW2 we work for the strengthening of peace on the basis of justice and the free co-operation of peoples.

"We aim to encourage all European women to study and resolve common problems, building long term connections and friendships based on mutual understanding and the shared values of equality and freedom.

"The EUW has consultative status with the Council of Europe and also with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

The position of women in British and European society has changed in the past 70 years but there is still more work to be done.

The union also pays close attention to issues and conflicts across Europe, and like many, have expressed support to those in Ukraine.

Pat said: Our message of support that is that we in British Section stand with our Ukrainian sisters in their belief in freedom and justice and we sincerely believe that the greatest violence against women is war.

For more information go to: http://www.euw-uk.co.uk or search @EUW_British on Twitter.

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British branch of European Union of Women holds its spring ... - WarwickshireWorld

EMA has published recommendations for industry on good practices to ensure continuity in the supply of human medicines, prevent shortages and reduce their impact .

Medicine shortages are a global health problem and are increasingly affecting European countries. Shortages can lead to medicine rationing and delay in critical treatments, with a significant impact on patient care. In addition, patients may need to use less effective alternatives and face an increased risk of medication errors. Ensuring the availability of authorised medicines in the European Union (EU) is a key priority for EMA and the European medicines regulatory network.

The guidance describes the various stakeholders involved in the medicine supply chain and their responsibilities and role in the prevention and management of medicine shortages. It provides ten recommendations for marketing authorisation holders, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers to minimise the occurrence of medicine shortages and their impact. The recommendations include:

The recommendations are based on the analysis of causes of shortages and regulators first-hand experience in coordinating the management of shortages, and industry associations have been consulted.

The guidance has been developed by the HMA / EMA Task Force on the Availability of Authorised Medicines for Human and Veterinary Use, a joint working group established by EMA and the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) focusing on the availability of authorised medicines, and was presented at a multi-stakeholder workshop on shortages held on 1 and 2 March 2023.

It complements the guidance for patients and healthcare professionals organisations published last year to help prevent and manage shortages of human medicines.

More here:
Guidance for industry to prevent and mitigate medicine shortages ... - European Medicines Agency |

VATICAN CITY (CNS)World No Tobacco Day is observed every May 31 to highlight the harmful effects of tobacco on peoples health and the environment.

Because of the growing evidence of its dangers, St. John Paul II first banned smoking inside all Vatican buildings, including private offices, corridors and any rooms open to the public in 2002. And Pope Francis banned the sale of cigarettes in Vatican City State in 2018. Cigars, for now, are still available.

But centuries ago, when tobacco and its use by Indigenous communities were first discovered during Christopher Columbus expeditions to the Americas, the plant was warmly welcomed in Europe for its pleasurable and purported curative properties.

The Catholic Church played a major role in bringing tobacco to Italy, which is still the number one producer of raw tobacco in the European Union today.

It all started when Cardinal Prospero Santacroce, who was the papal nuncio to both Portugal and France, met Jean Nicot, Frances ambassador to Portugal, in Lisbon in 1561.

Tobacco from the Americas first reached Spain and Portugal through its explorers. And Nicot was such an avid enthusiast, he cultivated the plants in the royal gardens in Lisbon and convinced the French aristocracy, especially the Italian-born Queen Catherine de Medici of France, of its miraculous benefits. The formal botanical name for the tobacco plant, Nicotiana, comes from his name.

Also convinced of its benefits, Cardinal Santacroce brought tobacco to Rome in 1561, according to information provided to the public by a newly opened Museum of the Tobacco Shop in Rome. The tobacco powder or snuff became known as Santacroce powder or santa polvere, that is, holy powder.

Pope Pius IV tasked Cistercian monks with growing tobacco in the Lazio region in the 16th century, and other monastic communities started growing the crop in other regions in Italy.

It was Cistercian Father Benedetto Stella who published a 480-page magnum opus in 1669 titled simply, Tobacco, detailing its origin, history, cultivation, preparation, varieties, characteristics, virtues and versus or cons.

In fact, by that time, clear camps of opposition to tobacco use had formed, most notably against its use before or during Mass. Pope Urban VIII responded to fierce local complaints and banned its use in churches in the Diocese of Seville in 1642. His successor, Pope Innocent X, banned tobacco use inside St. Peters Basilica, but Pope Benedict XIII removed the penalty of possible excommunication in 1725.

On a moral level, the Catholic Church has never defined smoking as a sin, and the restrictions at the time seemed more concerned with problems of decorum and the dirty detritus tobacco use left behind.

On a fiscal level, however, one pope made a bold, innovative move, seeing the role tobacco could play in funding a states coffers.

Pope Alexander VII signed a decree soon after he was elected in 1655 establishing a monopoly over tobacco throughout the Papal States: it was the first nation-state to put tobacco under state control as a source of revenue, according to research by the Museum of Tobacco Shops.

That meant that in addition to the taxes levied on tobacco products, the Papal States reaped large profits from giving out commercial licenses to sellers and from fines to those operating without authorization.

The licensing contracts also included the sale of salt, whose price to the public was carefully controlled by the Papal States as it was considered a necessity.

Pope Benedict XIV had the first tobacco factory built in Rome in the mid-18th century in the citys more rural Trastevere neighborhood where it was powered by water from a fountain on the Janiculum hill.

By 1859, Blessed Pius IX decided to consolidate the three small and decrepit factories in Trastevere into one brand new processing plant that included housing nearby for workers and amenities like a nursery onsite for the women and mothers who worked there, Irene Ranaldi, an expert in urban sociology, told Catholic News Service May 18.

The new building, completed in 1863, included a vast square the pope named after his family, Mastai. And today it is the headquarters of Italys Agency for Customs Duties and State Monopolies.

The tobacco factory would be the last building built by a pope in the Papal States, she said, as just seven years later, the last of the Papal States and Rome fell to the independence movement and the unification of Italy was complete.

Still today, the buildings facade reminds passersby of its original purpose. A Latin inscription reads: Supreme Pontiff Pius IX constructed this workplace from the ground up in 1863 for the processing of nicotine leaves.

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Holy Smoke: A history of tobacco and the Catholic Church - America: The Jesuit Review