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Aug. 26 (UPI) — On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of Rasonque, a new treatment option for people with advanced pancreatic cancer.

A tablet taken once a day, the medication targets forms of a protein called RAS, which is a key driver of tumor growth in many patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the most common form of the cancer, the FDA said. This form of cancer develops in cells lining the ducts of the pancreas.

“Today’s approval provides a critical new option for patients facing an extraordinarily difficult and historically hard-to-treat cancer,” said Kyle Diamantas, acting commissioner of the FDA. “It is our fundamental duty to deliver more cures and meaningful treatments to patients as quickly as possible.”

A press release from the FDA said the approval demonstrates the agency’s “commitment to moving with urgency, reducing unnecessary delays and advancing innovative treatments.”

Rasonque has been approved for adults who have metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who have received at one least one prior systemic therapy or those who are not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy.

About 90% to 95% of the new cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed in the United States each year are this form, the FDA said, citing the National Cancer Institute. Johns Hopkins Medicine also said “the vast majority” of pancreatic cancer diagnoses are this form.

In a clinical trial, the new treatment improved median overall survival to 13.2 months from 6.7 months with standard chemotherapy, the FDA said.

“This drug showed unprecedented results in an area of high unmet need,” said Angelo de Claro, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence.

The agency granted this approval to Revolution Medicines Inc.

Manchester City are in advanced talks with Lille over a move for Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.

The Premier League side want to conclude the transfer this week after agreeing to sell Rodri to Barcelona.

It is understood Lille value the 18-year-old at 100 million euros (£85.6m).

Bouaddi impressed at this summer’s World Cup – starting all of Morocco’s five matches in their run to the last 16 – after a starring role in Lille’s Champions League victory over Real Madrid in 2024 announced him on the big stage.

He functions as a deep-lying conductor – much in the same vein as Rodri – and would complement summer signing Elliot Anderson, who is more of a box-to-box midfielder.

Bouaddi has played 88 times for Lille since making his debut in October 2023, three days after his 16th birthday, and helped them finish third in Ligue 1 last season.

Spain captain Rodri is set to complete a £65m move to Barcelona in the coming days on a four-year contract.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner has made 298 appearances across seven trophy-laden seasons at City after joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019 for a then club record £62.8m.

The 30-year-old missed much of the 2024-25 campaign with a serious knee injury, and parts of last season were disrupted by a hamstring issue.

However, he was back to his best at the World Cup in the summer, leading Spain to their second title and being named player of the tournament.

It remains to be seen how a successful move for Bouaddi would impact City’s interest in Chelsea‘s Enzo Fernandez, but well-placed sources maintain that City manager Enzo Maresca retains a strong interest in the Argentina midfielder.

Syrian authorities say they intercepted a shipment including missiles, rockets, and drones before it entered from Iraq.

Syria has seized a shipment of weapons, including missiles, at its border with Iraq, as authorities say they foiled an ⁠attempt to ⁠smuggle arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon, something the group denies.

Syria’s General Authority of Ports and Customs said on Thursday that the weapons shipment – which included long-range missiles, rockets and drones – was concealed inside “one of the oil tanker-trucks ⁠headed to the city of Baniyas”.

It was discovered during routine inspection procedures at the al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq after customs officers subjected the vehicle to a thorough search, Syria’s state news agency reported.

“According to the ministry, preliminary investigations based on evidence collected at the scene indicated that the shipment was intended to transit Syrian territory before being delivered to the Hezbollah terrorist militia in Lebanon,” SANA wrote, citing sources from Syria’s Interior Ministry.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group denied having any activity in Syria, dismissing the accusations in a statement on Thursday as “fabricated narratives with no basis in fact, aimed at harming Hezbollah”.

Syrian authorities are known to be hostile towards the group, as it was an ally of former president Bashar al-Assad before he was ousted in 2024 by members of the current government.

Following the seizure, Iraq said it would form ‌a high-level committee to investigate what happened. The military’s Joint Operations Command said Baghdad would coordinate with Syrian authorities to establish the circumstances of the attempted smuggling, hold those responsible to account, and strengthen security along the shared border.

The Baniyas route, where the tanker was passing through, has been used frequently in recent months for fuel movements between ⁠Iraq and Syria, since the main route through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by the Iran war.

“This seizure from Syria is part of a broader reshaping of the region that has occurred over the last couple of years, particularly the fall of the Assad regime in Syria,” said Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett, reporting from Lebanon.

“It used to be a very popular land route for Iran to traffic weapons and cash to its partner here in Lebanon, Hezbollah. They went from Iran, across Iraq, through Syria, and then here into Lebanon.”

“Under the Assad regime they [Iran] had very little trouble with that, but since the new [Syrian] President Ahmed al-Sharaa took power, he has been cracking down on that crossroad of smuggling,” Pett added.

A source at Syria’s Interior Ministry told SANA that “protecting Syria’s borders and safeguarding its national sovereignty remained a top priority, adding that it would not allow Syrian territory to be used as a transit route or launch point for arms smuggling or other activities that threaten the security of Syria or neighbouring countries”.

US President Donald ⁠Trump had spoken to Syria’s al-Sharaa about disarming Hezbollah, which is fighting Israeli forces occupying southern Lebanon. But Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said al-Sharaa had assured him that Syria would not ‌take sides in Lebanon’s internal affairs, including fighting Hezbollah.

Problems with after-death care came to light after the parents of Harriet Hawkins, who was stillborn at NUH in 2016, discovered her body had been allowed to decompose so badly that it had to be triple-bagged for her funeral.

A subsequent investigation found 17 areas of concern and prompted an examination by the independent maternity review into the after-death care provided to 16 other babies and one mother.

They found that one early gestation baby had been disposed of as clinical waste, the wrong baby had been passed to funeral directors and a mother who died had deteriorated so badly that her family were advised not to see her prior to her funeral.

“The Review found evidence of recurring examples of failure to protect the dignity of the deceased… including inadequate arrangements for undertaking paediatric post-mortems,” Ockenden said in her report.

The problems prompted the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which regulates mortuary care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to examine the trust’s services.

In an unannounced inspection, external, which was carried out in March 2026 but only published this week, it found three critical, six major and one minor shortfalls against its standards at the two hospitals run by the trust, the QMC and City Hospital.

The HTA found lack of freezer space at both Nottingham hospitals meant some bodies had been put in a refrigerated area instead.

Eight of the bodies were showing “advanced deterioration” because they had not been transferred to a freezer in time.

Instead of being conducted in a post-mortem suite, some baby post-mortem examinations were carried out in a lab that was inadequately ventilated, with support staff who had not been trained in mortuary care, the HTA found.

An accompanying audit found just more than half of the 145 recorded incidents that should have been escalated to the regulator were not.

Love Island’s Maura Higgins is reportedly in talks to host the new Blind Date reboot on Disney+

Maura Higgins could be poised to transition from seeking romance on television to assisting other singletons in finding “the one”.

The former Love Island contestant is said to be in advanced discussions to become the face of the reboot of Blind Date with streaming behemoth Disney+ reportedly preparing to commence filming later this year.

Maura, 35, initially rose to prominence on Love Island in 2019 before establishing an impressive television career on both sides of the Atlantic.

Since departing the villa, she has featured on programmes including Love Island USA, The Traitors US, Dancing On Ice and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.

Now sources suggest producers are convinced she represents the ideal candidate to follow in the footsteps of legendary presenter Cilla Black.

A TV insider told The Sun: “Discussions are at an advanced stage, with the show’s producers convinced Maura’s the perfect choice for the job.”, reports the Daily Star.

“Not only did she shoot to fame on a TV dating contest, she is now an internationally famous face which is what a global service like Disney need for one of their shows.

“Maura also has an unquestionable glamour combined with cheeky charm which has echoes of Blind Date’s most famous host.” Daily Mirror has reached out to Disney and Maura’s representative for a comment.

The original Blind Date became one of Britain’s most successful television programmes after launching in 1985, with Cilla Black at the helm. At its height, the show drew audiences of up to 17 million viewers before ultimately being axed by ITV in 2003.

A subsequent Channel 5 revival presented by Cilla’s dear friend Paul O’Grady aired between 2017 and 2019 but struggled to capture the original’s sparkle.

Reports of a fresh comeback initially surfaced last year, with executives said to be determined to secure a female presenter who could deliver a contemporary twist while maintaining its sentimental appeal.

It is understood the iconic wall dividing contestants from their prospective dates will be retained, though other aspects of the format may be modernised for today’s audience.

The development would represent another significant career achievement for Maura, whose public profile has continued to rise since her reality television debut.

The Irish star has established herself as one of the most prominent figures to emerge from Love Island and remains a consistent presence on television, red carpets and high-profile entertainment occasions.

Disney+ is anticipated to premiere the reboot at some point next year, with an official confirmation still to be announced.