The United Kingdom (UK) is set to begin a “match-making” service called the cancer vaccine launch pad (CVLP), which can match patients with suitable trials.

In the project, which will be run by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU), based at the University of Southampton, thousands of patients will be able to access “ground-breaking” cancer vaccines as part of an NHS trial.

The programme aims to improve patient access to clinical trials to test new investigational immunotherapies by speeding up the development of personalised cancer vaccines.

The vaccines are created by analysing a patient’s tumour and using that information to create a vaccine tailored to that individual.

The vaccines aim to create an immune “memory” that can prevent cancer from returning after surgery or chemotherapy.

The first trial will be testing a vaccine under development by the biotech company BioNTech SE.

Simon Crabb, SCTU clinical director, said the new scheme would “bring together different academic and industry partners who are developing cancer vaccines and allow patients across England to access trials of treatments that may not have previously been an option for them”.

“Cancer vaccines have the potential to improve the way we treat the disease, particularly for those cancers where treatment options are currently limited or very demanding on patients’ bodies,” Gareth Griffiths, director of the Cancer Research UK SCTU, said.

Donald Trump, the former US president, has been found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money trial he is facing.

The verdict was reached by a Manhattan jury on Thursday.

This makes Trump the first former president in US history to be convicted of a felony.

The verdicts read in the courtroom showed that the 34 counts stemmed from 11 invoices, 12 vouchers, and 11 from his former personal lawyer, who fronted the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star.

Trump was charged with falsifying business records to conceal the payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter she claimed happened with the former president in 2006.

Trump had pleaded not guilty and denied having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Prosecutors also accused Trump of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an unlawful plan to suppress “negative information” revolving around the adult film star.

Todd Blanche, the former president’s attorney, moved for an acquittal of the charges, but Juan Merchan, the presiding judge, denied the acquittal motion.

Trump called the hush money trial against him a “disgrace” and a “rigged trial”.

“We’ll keep fighting; we’ll fight til the end, and we’ll win because our country’s gone to hell,” Trump said.

“This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent.

“We don’t have the same country anymore; we have a divided mess. We will fight for our Constitution. This is long from over.”

Merchan fixed a sentencing hearing for July 11.

The military junta in Burkina Faso says it will extend its rule by another five years.

BBC reports the state-owned broadcaster as stating that Ibrahim Traoré, a captain and the country’s military ruler, will be eligible to contest the next presidential election.

Burkina Faso is one of the three countries in West Africa being ruled by juntas.

Traoré seized power on September 30, 2022.

The coup leaders had said their putsch would help fix the country’s political instability.

However, there has been an attempt to wrest power from the junta at least twice.

The decision to return to democratic rule after five years followed a national consultation meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital city.

A 60-month transition period will begin on July 2 this year, according to an amended charter.

“The elections marking the end of the transition may be organised before this deadline if the security situation so permits,” the charter reads.

Traoré said he took over power because Paul-Henri Damiba, his predecessor, could not address the insurgency confronting the country.

Damiba had seized power from President Roch Kaboré.

Since 2015, jihadist rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, have waged an insurgency against the West African nation that has led to the deaths of thousands and displacement of millions.