AstraZeneca stops a late-stage lung cancer drug trial involving a treatment referred to as volrustomig. The decision comes only weeks after the company paused a separate study of a new heart disease treatment, adding to scrutiny over its clinical pipeline and raising fresh questions about the prospects for two closely watched medicines.

Researchers at Polytechnique Montréal are working on future pandemic preparedness in a biomedicine laboratory. Their experiments aim to better understand emerging biological threats and improve how health systems respond, reflecting a longer-term effort to build readiness for outbreaks before they become global emergencies.

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency destroys nearly 330,000 kilograms of illicit drugs in Lagos in a court-authorized operation. The drugs, with an estimated street value of about N301 billion, are burned at Navy Town in Ojo as part of an enforcement push targeting trafficking and the public health harm linked to narcotics.

Rain helps firefighters in eastern Belgium as they battle what is described as the country’s biggest wildfire on record. The blaze continues to spread amid wider fires across Europe and threatens to move toward the German border, underscoring the health and environmental risks that prolonged smoke and extreme fire conditions bring to nearby communities.

Brendan O’Carroll cancels planned “Mrs Brown’s Boys” Christmas and New Year’s specials and drops or postpones related live tour dates because he needs surgery. Recording for the seasonal programmes will not go ahead, with the 70-year-old comedian saying he requires medical treatment before returning to work.

Elaine Paige says she became addicted to sleeping pills during her theatre career and relied heavily on them while performing. She describes the experience as dreadful and says she has now stopped taking the tablets, drawing attention to the pressures of performance work and the risks of dependence on prescribed sleep medication.