Latest news with #HadjaLahbib
Days of Palestine
3 days ago
- General
- Days of Palestine
Belgian Foreign Minister: What's Happening in Gaza Is a Humanitarian Catastrophe
DaysofPal – Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, has described the situation in Gaza as a major humanitarian catastrophe, affirming that Belgium is stepping up its diplomatic pressure on Israel in light of escalating violations. In comments made Sunday, Lahbib expressed grave concern: 'Even if I don't have the authority — or even if I did — to formally declare this a genocide, it is the responsibility of the international community to make that determination. But truly, what more do we need to witness? A humanitarian blockade, mass forced displacement, blatant violations of international law, and a clear intent to erase Gaza—what else must happen?' He condemned the dehumanizing rhetoric used by some Israeli officials, saying, 'They speak of Palestinians as if they are not human beings.' He emphasized the urgent need for action, noting that 'the humanitarian dimension remains the most critical and pressing.' Lahbib confirmed that Belgium has decided to escalate its diplomatic language in response to Israel's ongoing actions, which he stated 'violate international law and may constitute war crimes, as recognized by the International Criminal Court.' Belgium is also evaluating the possibility of launching an air bridge for humanitarian aid to Gaza—similar to past operations. However, such efforts would require Israel's approval to access its airspace. Lahbib noted that Belgium is in talks with other European countries to increase pressure and secure land access for aid convoys. 'There are hundreds of trucks waiting at the borders daily, trying to reach starving civilians. What is happening is, in every sense, a scandal,' he concluded. Shortlink for this post:
Business Wire
3 days ago
- Health
- Business Wire
Leyden Labs Lands €20 Million EIB Investment Facilitated by HERA to Advance Pandemic Preparedness Activities
LUXEMBOURG & LEIDEN, the Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Dutch clinical-stage biotechnology company Leyden Laboratories B.V. have signed a €20 million financing deal to advance development of the Company's broadly-protective antibodies to defend against seasonal and pandemic viral infections. Leyden Labs' lead program is a pan-influenza nasal spray currently in clinical development (PanFlu), which has the potential to provide first-in-class influenza protection and meaningfully reduce the burden of influenza infection, including in infection from Avian Flu (H5). The venture debt financing agreement is supported under the European Commission's InvestEU programme and specifically falls under 'HERA Invest.' This €110 million initiative from the European Health Union is meant to address biodefence, pandemic readiness and antimicrobial resistance in Europe, as a top-up to the European Union's InvestEU initiative, funded by the EU4Health programme. 'The COVID-19 pandemic taught us multiple lessons, including that we should strengthen the EU's preparedness and autonomy in key areas like bio sciences,' stated EIB Vice President Robert de Groot. 'With the support of the European Commission, the EIB backs highly innovative EU companies like Leyden Labs with venture debt, enabling them to grow and thrive in Europe. Technological innovations from companies like Leyden Labs are key for European competitiveness and the well-being of our society.' Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, added: 'Respiratory viruses are common and affect us all, especially the most medically vulnerable. Today's agreement reaffirms our commitment to invest in innovation to strengthen preparedness and protection against respiratory viruses. HERA Invest is a prime example of Europe at the forefront of medical advancements in response to serious threats to health.' 'We are thrilled with this endorsement of our approach and support from HERA and the European Investment Bank. This will accelerate our efforts to provide broad, universal protection against current and future viral outbreaks. We are grateful that HERA and the EIB understand the urgency and significance of investing in initiatives to ensure Europe is prepared for pandemic viruses. This concern is greater than ever given the increasing threat of an avian influenza outbreak,' said Koenraad Wiedhaup, co-founder and CEO of Leyden Labs. Leyden Labs' product candidates are nasal sprays that administer broadly protective antibodies directly to the respiratory mucosa. Leyden Lab's solutions are designed to work at the earliest moment, before the virus even reaches systemic circulation. Systemically administered vaccines primarily generate systemic protection against viruses, however, this may be a limitation that contributes to suboptimal efficacy. Airborne viruses, including influenza, do not directly enter systemic circulation, but rather, they enter the body through the nose and mouth. The Company's antibodies aim to protect against full viral families, so they keep working even when a virus mutates and evolves. This intranasal strategy also has the potential to benefit people with weakened immune systems because it does not rely on the person to be able to mount an immune response in order to be protective. The Company's novel approach has the potential to transform the way the healthcare ecosystem thinks about viral prophylaxis, while also providing an innovative solution for use both in times of seasonal outbreaks as well as pandemic emergencies. HERA's responsibility is to ensure that the EU and Member States are ready to act in the face of cross-border health threats. The €20 million proceeds of this financing will support further development of Leyden Labs' novel, non-vaccine approach to fighting respiratory viruses to contribute to European pandemic preparedness efforts. Background Information: Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA). The European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) supports projects that strengthen preparedness and response capacities in the field of health. HERA was established as a direct consequence of the lessons learned from the initial management of the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure a solid Union response to serious-cross border health threats and secure ready availability and accessibility of medical countermeasures. HERA's responsibility is to ensure that the EU and Member States are ready to act in the face of cross-border health threats, and its mandate covers both the strengthening of preparedness in advance of future emergencies and the implementation of a swift and efficient response once crisis hits. HERA Invest is a €110 million top-up to the InvestEU programme, funded by the EU4Health programme. It is implemented by the EIB and supports projects that focus on pathogens with pandemic potential, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear threats, and antimicrobial resistance. Together with HERA, the EIB assesses whether an operation meets HERA Invest's criteria. The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investment for EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners who will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. The Netherlands owns a 5,2% share of the EIB. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals and national priorities. More than 90% of its activity is in Europe. Over the last ten years, the EIB has made available more than €27 billion in financing for Dutch projects in various sectors, including research & development, sustainable mobility, drinking water, healthcare and SMEs. In 2024 the EIB Group, which also includes the EIB's subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), made available more than €3 billion for Dutch projects. Leyden Laboratories B.V. (Leyden Labs), founded in 2020, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in the Netherlands. Leyden Labs is working to free people from the threat of respiratory viruses, by leveraging its Mucosal Protection Platform to develop a portfolio of candidates aimed at providing protection against influenza, coronaviruses, and other respiratory viruses through a new class of broadly protective nasal sprays. Leyden Labs is supported by a strong syndicate of investors and ambassadors; VC investors include GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casdin Capital, F-Prime Capital, ClavystBio (a life sciences venture investor established by Temasek), Polaris Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Invus, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Byers Capital / Brook Byers and Bluebird Ventures. To learn more, visit CR9114, Leyden Labs' lead product candidate for the PanFlu program, is a human monoclonal antibody that protects against influenza in preclinical models. Leyden Labs holds an exclusive license from Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and commercialize CR9114.
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Euronews
EU to deploy 650 firefighters to wildfire high-risk zones
Hundreds of firefighters coming from across Europe and over 20 firefighting aerial vehicles will be pre-positioned in high-risk locations for wildfires across the bloc this summer, the European Commission announced on Monday. Almost 650 firefighters from 14 European countries are to be deployed in July and August in key high-risk locations in France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. This is the highest number since pre-positioning firefighters across the EU was launched in 2022. Greece will welcome half of those European firefighters with teams coming from Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Moldova, and Romania. Meanwhile, 22 firefighting aeroplanes and four helicopters will be stationed in 10 different member states. France and Greece will be the biggest recipients of the EU-supported summer fleet, to be coordinated and financed via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, with four medium amphibious aeroplanes each. France will also have one helicopter. Other countries on the receiving end of the summer fleet include Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. Hadja Lahbib, the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, said in a statement that the EU's "support is tangible and makes a difference on the ground". "Extreme heat and wildfires in Europe have sadly become the new normal. I am glad the EU has more to offer than just words of concern and consolation," she added. A further 19 ground firefighting teams, of around 30 firefighters each, and one advisory and assessment team, are also ready to be mobilised by the EU, while a dedicated wildfire support team is to be established at the EU's 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) to monitor risks and analyse scientific data. It will bring together 30 experts from EU member states as well as other countries participating in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, the European Natural Hazard Scientific Partnership (ARISTOTLE), and staff from the ERCC. Greece, which also tends to be heavily hit every summer, has already announced it will deploy a record number of firefighters, including elite units in high-risk areas, and nearly double its drone fleet. Since the beginning of the year, more than 166,000 hectares have been burnt across the 27 member states, nearly three times the average recorded over the same period between 2003 and 2024, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Romania has been the worst-afflicted EU member state so far this year with more than 120,000 hectares reduced to cinders. Authorities have blamed some of the wildfires on human action, including intentional burning to clear fields. France and Spain come next but the two countries, which are traditionally more impacted by wildfires, have had different experiences. Nearly 19,000 hectares had been burnt in France by 20 May, some 2.75 times the average of the past 20 years, while in Spain, this year's tally is so far lower than the 20-year average (8,195 hectares vs 13,059). Last year's cumulative burnt areas reached 383,317 hectares, above the average of the past 20 years. The most devastating years of the past decade were in 2017 and 2022 when nearly one million and just under 800,000 hectares were razed to the ground respectively. The spread of wildfires in Europe has been blamed on climate change which has led to warmer temperatures, prolonged drought and unpredictable weather patterns, as well as on demographic changes that have led to the desertification of rural areas in favour of urban centres, meaning the land is no longer managed in the same way. The fire season has, for instance, been extended beyond the traditional summer months and now spans from early May to late October while more and more countries in eastern and northern Europe are also starting to experience such fires. According to the European and Global Drought Observatories of the Commission's Joint Research Centre, there are warning drought conditions in the Baltic Sea region, northern France, Benelux, several regions of Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, western Romania, Bulgaria, and some regions of Greece. Most of Spain, Italy, and southern France, however, either don't have drought conditions or are in recovery. The European Commission has found that Chinese online retail giant Shein, known for its rock-bottom prices, engages in illegal commercial practices under EU law, after an investigation caried out with national consumer protection authorities. Investigators concluded that Shein lures customers with fake discounts, either by displaying false original prices or by using countdown timers that reset continuously to foster an artificial sense of urgency. The Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network - a body made up of the national authorities - also flagged serious gaps in transparency: inaccurate return policies, misleading sustainability claims, and confusing product labelling. Authorities also criticised the platform for making it difficult for users to contact customer service - limiting their ability to raise questions or complaints. Shein has been given one month to respond and outline how it plans to fix the issues. If the Commission sees no progress, the company could face fines. National authorities from Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands are overseeing enforcement. 'All companies selling products in the EU must play by our rules,' said Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Justice and Consumer Protection. 'Today's action sends a clear message: we will not shy away from holding e-commerce platforms to account, regardless of where they are based.' He added: 'EU consumer protection laws are not optional – they must be applied in all cases.' This isn't the first time a Chinese platform has come under scrutiny. In November, rival e-retailer Temu was also found in breach of EU consumer law. It used similarly problematic tactics and went a step further by "gamifying" the shopping experience with spin-the-wheel promotions and displaying fake product reviews. Alongside these consumer law probes, both Shein and Temu are under investigation for possible breaches of the Digital Services Act. The DSA probe focuses on algorithmic recommendation systems - how certain products are promoted to specific users - and the sale of illegal goods, such as items that fail to meet EU health and safety standards.
Euronews
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Eight EU countries form coalition on crisis preparedness
Eight EU countries on Thursday launched a coalition of the willing on crisis preparedness calling for "urgent, European coordinated action" to make the bloc more resilient to natural and man-made disasters. Crisis preparedness is a national competence across the EU but the new coalition of the willing - made up of Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, and Sweden - said in a statement that "efforts from member states and the EU's institutions" are needed "as crises have become increasingly cross-border, cross-sectoral and grow in complexity". "Russia is engaging in destabilising actions that could affect all member states. We can see that this capability could potentially increase if Russia is no longer as involved in Ukraine -- if we reach a peace agreement," Swedish Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin told Euronews. "That's why it is very important that all member states work on civil preparedness and strengthening resilience." "To have a credible military capability, we also need a credible ability to handle crises within our society. We must show that we will never give up. If an adversary were to launch an unjust attack against us, we need to make it clear that we are resilient — and present a robust society that is seen as not worth attacking," he added. Some of the threats the new coalition says the EU needs to bolster its preparedness and resilience against include military, hybrid, terrorist and criminal threats, foreign manipulation and interference, and other disruptions caused by natural or human-made disasters. Ministers taking part in the meeting agreed to develop and work on a Joint Coalition Agenda that would see them implement the Preparedness Union Strategy proposed by the European Commission two months ago. The Commission is arguing there is a need for harmonisation across the 27 member states as levels of crisis preparedness differ widely, due to varying threat assessments based primarily on geography. The plan by the EU's executive called for increasing stockpiles of essential equipment and supplies including medical countermeasures, critical raw materials, and energy equipment as well as improving cooperation between civilian and military authorities. The flagship initiative, however, was a call for member states to develop a 72-hour survival kit for citizens. This kit, Crisis Preparedness Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said at the time, ought to include food, water, medicines, a portable radio, a flashlight, spare batteries, chargers, cash, copies of important documents including medical prescriptions, spare keys, warm clothes and basic tools such as utility knives. The initiative was immediately branded by some as alarmist and fearmongering but a prolonged nationwide blackout in Spain last month saw the Commission partially vindicated. "In the Netherlands, we are already working hard on resilience, but it is important not to limit ourselves to national borders. Moreover, we can learn a lot from the countries around us that are already more advanced," David van Weel, the Dutch minister of justice and security said, citing Sweden, Denmark and the Baltic states as examples. "A resilient European Union makes us stronger and ensures that Europe is prepared for disruptions to society caused by different types of crises. It is also not just about emergency kits for EU citizens, but also, for example, repairing the electricity grid or other vital infrastructure. You can think trained citizens as civil protection workers to get destroyed electricity sheds up and running again, put out fires or provide first medical aid in a crisis," he added. The group plans to meet twice yearly, with the next meeting to be held in Sweden. Euronews understands that Poland and Germany have expressed interest in joining the coalition.
Euronews
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
8 EU countries form coalition of the willing on crisis preparedness
Eight EU countries on Thursday launched a coalition of the willing on crisis preparedness calling for "urgent, European coordinated action" to make the bloc more resilient to natural and man-made disasters. Crisis preparedness is a national competence across the EU but the new coalition of the willing - made up of Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, and Sweden - said in a statement that "efforts from member states and the EU's institutions" are needed "as crises have become increasingly cross-border, cross-sectoral and grow in complexity". "Russia is engaging in destabilising actions that could affect all member states. We can see that this capability could potentially increase if Russia is no longer as involved in Ukraine -- if we reach a peace agreement," Swedish Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin told Euronews. "That's why it is very important that all member states work on civil preparedness and strengthening resilience." "To have a credible military capability, we also need a credible ability to handle crises within our society. We must show that we will never give up. If an adversary were to launch an unjust attack against us, we need to make it clear that we are resilient — and present a robust society that is seen as not worth attacking," he added. Some of the threats the new coalition says the EU needs to bolster its preparedness and resilience against include military, hybrid, terrorist and criminal threats, foreign manipulation and interference, and other disruptions caused by natural or human-made disasters. Ministers taking part in the meeting agreed to develop and work on a Joint Coalition Agenda that would see them implement the Preparedness Union Strategy proposed by the European Commission two months ago. The Commission is arguing there is a need for harmonisation across the 27 member states as levels of crisis preparedness differ widely, due to varying threat assessments based primarily on geography. The plan by the EU's executive called for increasing stockpiles of essential equipment and supplies including medical countermeasures, critical raw materials, and energy equipment as well as improving cooperation between civilian and military authorities. The flagship initiative, however, was a call for member states to develop a 72-hour survival kit for citizens. This kit, Crisis Preparedness Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said at the time, ought to include food, water, medicines, a portable radio, a flashlight, spare batteries, chargers, cash, copies of important documents including medical prescriptions, spare keys, warm clothes and basic tools such as utility knives. The initiative was immediately branded by some as alarmist and fearmongering but a prolonged nationwide blackout in Spain last month saw the Commission partially vindicated. "In the Netherlands, we are already working hard on resilience, but it is important not to limit ourselves to national borders. Moreover, we can learn a lot from the countries around us that are already more advanced," David van Weel, the Dutch minister of justice and security said, citing Sweden, Denmark and the Baltic states as examples. "A resilient European Union makes us stronger and ensures that Europe is prepared for disruptions to society caused by different types of crises. It is also not just about emergency kits for EU citizens, but also, for example, repairing the electricity grid or other vital infrastructure. You can think trained citizens as civil protection workers to get destroyed electricity sheds up and running again, put out fires or provide first medical aid in a crisis," he added. The group plans to meet twice yearly, with the next meeting to be held in Sweden. Euronews understands that Poland and Germany have expressed interest in joining the coalition.
