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Labour will not take the UK back into the European Union, Keir Starmer will declare tonight.

In comments likely to infuriate many of the partys members, the Labour leader will say he would not rejoin the single market, the customs union or bring back freedom of movement if he becomes prime minister.

He will say re-running the Brexit debate would ensure Britain remained stuck for another decade.

Starmers remarks put him at odds with London mayor Sadiq Khan, who recently said the UK should go back into the single market.

Speaking at an event organised by the Centre for European Reform think tank this evening, Starmer will say: There are some who say We dont need to make Brexit work. We need to reverse it. I couldnt disagree more.

Because you cannot move forward or grow the country or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if youre constantly focused on the arguments of the past.

So let me be very clear: with Labour, Britain will not go back into the EU. We will not be joining the single market. We will not be joining a customs union.

The reason I say this is simple. Nothing about revisiting those rows will help stimulate growth or bring down food prices or help British business thrive in the modern world.

It would simply be a recipe for more division, it would distract us from taking on the challenges facing people and it would ensure Britain remained stuck for another decade.

The Labour leader will add: We will not return to freedom of movement to create short-term fixes. Instead we will invest in our people and our places, and deliver on the promise our country has.

Starmer will say his plan will deliver on the opportunities Britain has, sort out the poor deal Boris Johnson signed, and end the Brexit divisions once and for all.

See more here:
Keir Starmer Says Labour Will Not Take The UK Back Into The European Union - HuffPost UK

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has recommended for approval trastuzumab deruxtecan for patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd; Enhertu) has been recommended for approval by the European Medicines Agency for patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received 1 or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens, according to a press release from AstraZeneca.1

The recommendation for approval, which was made by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, is based on results from the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast03 trial (NCT03529110) assessing T-DXd vs trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.2 Topline results included a reduction in the risk of death or disease progression by 72% in the T-DXd arm vs the T-DM1 arm (HR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.22-0.37; P <.0001).

This recommendation reflects the transformative progression-free survival benefit seen in the DESTINY-Breast03 trial compared [with] T-DM1, supporting [T-DXd] as a potential new standard of care and setting a new benchmark in the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. If approved by the European Commission, patients in Europe may be able to benefit from this important medicine earlier in the treatment of their disease, improving their chance for better outcomes, Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of Oncology Research and Development at AstraZeneca, said in the press release.

The FDA approved T-DXd in May 2022 for patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.3 Moving forward, the European Commission will evaluate the treatment for the indicated patient population and decide on its approval.

More:
European Medicines Agency Recommends T-DXd for Approval in European Union in Advanced HER2+ Breast Cancer - Cancer Network

Thousands of protesters rallied in Georgia's capital Tbilisi on Sunday, calling for the government to resign due its failure to get European Union candidate status for the Caucasus country.

More than 35,000 people gathered in front of theGeorgian parliament, blocking traffic and waving European flags.

Several opposition parties and pro-EU organisations had called on citizens to pressure the ruling Georgian Dream party over the weekend.

Protests have also targeted the founder of the party, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who holds no official political position but seemingly maintains control over the government.

"We demand that Ivanishvili relinquish executive power and transfer it, respecting the Constitution, to a government of national unity," organisers said in a Facebook post.

A new government must "carry out the reforms demanded by the EU, which will automatically give us the status of a candidate for EU membership," the post added.

Georgia had applied for candidacy status alongside Ukraine and Moldova just days after Russia's invasion on 24 February.

EU leaders said last month that they were "ready to grant candidate status" to Georgia but only after significant reforms had been carried out to the judiciary, electoral system and press freedoms.

"The future of Georgia is in the EU," said European Council President Charles Michel.

The announcement was hailed as "historic" by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.

"We are ready to work with determination over the coming months to obtain candidate status," she wrote on Twitter.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has added that his government is mobilised to meet EU requirements on time so that we get candidate status as soon as possible.

Continue reading here:
Tens of thousands hold pro-EU, anti-government protests in Georgia - Euronews

A visiting European Union delegation to ICRISATs regional hub in Mali, led by H.E. Ambassador Bart Ouvry has commended ICRISAT and reaffirmed the groupings support for the Institutes work in improving food and nutritional security for Malian farmers.

The Ambassador was accompanied by Kristina Khnel, Ambassador of Sweden and representatives of the Embassies of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark who visited the hub on the 29th June.

Ambassador Ouvry congratulated ICRISAT on winning the 2021 African Food Prize and for celebrating 50 years of delivering scientific and humanitarian impacts globally.

This research center deserves our support; it develops solutions to enable Sahelians to increase the quality and quantity of food. A fundamental issue in view of the world food situation, said H.E Bart Ouvry following a tour of ICRISATs facilities.

In his opening presentation, Dr Ramadjita Tabo, Regional Director, ICRISAT-West and Central Africa gave an overview of ICRISATs work over 50 years.

Founded in 1972, ICRISATs mission is to help build the capacity of 600 million people to overcome hunger, poverty and environmental degradation in the semi-arid tropics through climate-resilient agriculture, said Dr Tabo.

In close collaboration with national research systems and their partners ICRISAT has fostered success in agricultural research by developing new high-yielding, nutrient-rich, crops varieties adapted to the various agro-climatic zones.

The institute has also led the development and dissemination of improved varieties and hybrids of sorghum, millet and groundnut, which have enabled farmers to improve their productivity, supported by technologies for water conservation and integrated management of soil fertility such as the micro-dosing of fertilizers. Through its gene banks, the Institute conserves valuable genetic resources of millet, sorghum and groundnuts.

Smart Food

The visit began with an exhibition of Smart Food products made from millet, sorghum, groundnuts and cowpeas.

Speaking at the event Ms Agathe Diama, Head Regional Communications and Smart Food Coordinator, ICRISAT West and Central Africa spoke on the growing importance of Smart Food.

The Smart Food initiative aims to promote a healthy diet through the production and development of nutrient-rich, climate-resilient and locally available crops in order to improve the nutrition and living conditions of smallholder farmers, said Ms Diama.

The Smart Food initiative aims in particular to provide children with a balanced daily food intake through the use of cereals bio-fortified with iron and zinc, added Dr Tabo.

The delegation also visited ICRISATs modern aflatoxin laboratory, the gene bank and experimental greenhouses. Demonstrations were provided using digital technology for agricultural surveys and innovative port-harvest equipment which were commended for overcoming traditional data gathering challenges.

ICRISAT EU Collaboration

ICRISAT Director General, Dr Jacqueline Hughes said the visit by the delegation was both warmly welcomed and encouraging given the escalating food security challenges facing developing nations in view of changing geo-politics, climate change and weak institutional frameworks, as but some of the issues facing predominantly agrarian based developing economies.

ICRISAT recognises the generosity and progressive support the EU delivers to addressing some of the most critical challenges facing small holder dry land farmers today, and we have been delighted to work in partnership to deliver the required solutions being called for.

Our collaboration on the EU funded project, Enhancing crop productivity and climate resilience for food security and nutrition in Mali is but one exemplar of this approach.

We look forward to continuing engagement with our friends and partners in the EU to strengthen our collaboration in order to better respond to the food and nutritional needs of approximately 2.1 billion people in the drylands said Dr Hughes.

ICRISATs regional research center located in Samanko, a few kilometers from Bamako, hosts several other research institutes (Worldveg, ICRAF, IITA, ILRI) working on improving crop productivity and climate resilience for food security and nutrition in Mali.

Background

The development of agriculture and the improvement of food and nutritional security is a major area of intervention for the European Union.

The EU-funded project Enhancing crop productivity and climate resilience for food security and nutrition in Mali is being implemented by ICRISAT. The project aims to contribute to the sustainable increase of agricultural productivity and farmers incomes in the context of climate change in four regions (Sikasso, Kayes, Segou and Koulikoro), targeting 10,000 producers.

The Netherlands and Germany are also funding research projects through ICRISAT for the scaling up of improved groundnut varieties and new high-yielding and nutrient-rich varieties of sorghum and millet.

Excerpt from:
EU delegation commends ICRISAT's work in improving food and nutrition security in Mali - Mali - ReliefWeb

Google has been targeted once again by European consumer groups, this time over its account sign-up process. The Bureau Europen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC) alleges that Google uses unclear, incomplete and misleading language at every step of the registration process and also frames the more privacy-friendly options as missing out on advantages.

This is not the first time that Google has found itself locking horns with European regulators over privacy regulations. Here are some of the recent incidents when Google was targeted for its anti-privacy actions.

In 2019, French data protection watchdog CNIL (Commission Nationale de lInformatique et des Liberts) fined Google 50 million euros for breaching the European Unions online privacy rules. This was the biggest such penalty levied against a US tech company at the time. This was also the biggest fine that came after the European Union enacted its landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The fine was imposed on Google because it allegedly lacked transparency and clarity in the way it informs users about its handling of personal data and failed to properly obtain their consent for personalised ads.

CNIL took the decision based on investigations after complaints from two non-governmental organisations, None Of Your Business (noyb) and La Quadrature du Net (LQDN). Googles appeal was dismissed by Frances Conseil dEtat, the top French court for administrative law, which also concluded that the company did not make it clear to Android users how it processes their personal information.

CNIL slapped Google with a 100 million euro fine in 2020 for dropping tracking cookies without appropriate user consent. According to CNIL, Google had deposited cookies on user devices without their express consent, thereby not complying with requirements under GDPR. The data protection watchdog also found that information about cookies provided to site visitors was inadequate.

It noted that a banner displayed by Google did not provide specific information about the tracking cookies. Google appealed the decision but the top French administrative court once again found the fine appropriate and proportional.

CNIL fined Google 150 million euros in January 2022 for making it difficult for internet users to refuse cookies. According to CNIL, even though Google provided a virtual button on Google.fr and YouTube to allow the immediate acceptance of cookies, there was no equivalent method to refuse them so easily. The authority said that Google had three months to comply with its orders or face an extra penalty payment of 100,000 euros a day. This also meant that Google had to provide French internet users simpler tools for refusing cookies, in order to guarantee their consent.

Originally posted here:
A look at some of Google's recent privacy battles in the European Union - The Indian Express