International
JUST IN: Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer
Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.
Biden, who left office in January, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms.
The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 out of 10. This means his illness is classified as “high-grade” and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK.
Biden and his family are said to be reviewing treatment options. His office added that the cancer was hormone-sensitive, meaning it could likely be managed.
In Sunday’s statement, Biden’s office said: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“After news broke of his diagnosis, the former president received support from both sides of the aisle.
President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he and First Lady Melania Trump were “saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis”.
“We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family,” he said, referring to former First Lady Jill Biden. “We wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
Former Vice-President Kamala Harris, who served under Biden, wrote on X that she and her husband Doug Emhoff are keeping the Biden family in their prayers.
“Joe is a fighter – and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” Harris said.
In a post on X, Barack Obama – who served as president from 2009 to 2017 with Joe Biden as his deputy – said that he and his wife Michelle were “thinking of the entire Biden family”.
“Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery,” Obama said.
In 2016, Obama tasked Biden with leading a “cancer moonshot” government-wide research programme.
In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I am very sorry to hear President Biden has prostate cancer.
All the very best to Joe, his wife Jill and their family, and wishing the president swift and successful treatment.”
The news comes nearly a year after the former president was forced to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election over concerns about his health and age.
He is the oldest person to have held the office in US history.
Biden, then the Democratic nominee vying for re-election, faced mounting criticism of his poor performance in a June televised debate against Republican nominee and current president Donald Trump.
He was replaced as the Democratic candidate by his vice-president, Kamala Harris.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer affecting men, behind skin cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 13 out of every 100 men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives.
Age is the most common risk factor, the CDC says.
Dr William Dahut, the Chief Scientific Officer at the American Cancer Society and a trained prostate cancer physician, told the BBC that the cancer is more aggressive in nature, based on the publicly-available information on Biden’s diagnosis.
“In general, if cancer has spread to the bones, we don’t think it is considered a curable cancer,” Dr Dahut said.
He noted, however, that most patients tend to respond well to initial treatment, “and people can live many years with the diagnosis”.
Dr Dahut said that someone with the former president’s diagnosis will likely be offered hormonal therapies to mitigate symptoms and to slow the growth of cancerous cells.
Biden had largely retreated from the public eye since leaving the White House and he has made few public appearances.
The former president delivered a keynote speech in April at a Chicago conference held by the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled, a US-based advocacy group for people with disabilities.
In May, he sat down for an interview with the BBC – his first since leaving the White House – where he admitted that the decision to step down from the 2024 race was “difficult”.
Biden has faced questions about the status of his health in recent months.
In an appearance on The View programme that also took place in May, Biden denied claims that he had been experiencing cognitive decline in his final year at the White House. “There is nothing to sustain that,” he said.
For many years, the president had advocated for cancer research.
In 2022, he and Mrs Biden relaunched the “cancer moonshot” initiative with the goal of mobilising research efforts to prevent more than four million cancer deaths by the year 2047.
Biden himself lost his eldest son, Beau, to brain cancer in 2015.
BBC
International
EU ready to hit US with 21-billion-euro tariff list
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
MILAN (Reuters) -The European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on U.S. goods if the two sides fail to reach a trade deal, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a newspaper interview on Monday.
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive deal.
Tajani also told daily Il Messaggero that to help the euro zone economy the European Central Bank should consider a new “quantitative easing” bond-buying-programme, and more interest rate cuts.
The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.
Tajani said the 21-billion-euro package of tariffs the EU has already prepared could be followed by a second set if a deal with the U.S proves impossible.
He added, however, that he was confident that progress could be made in negotiations.
“Tariffs hurt every one, starting with the United States,” he said. “If stock markets fall that puts at risk the pensions and the savings of the Americans.”
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
International
Senegal scraps Akon’s $6bn Wakanda-inspired city project
Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.
• Akon
The government of Senegal has cancelled Akon’s $6 billion plan to build a futuristic “Akon City” on the country’s Atlantic coast, after years of inaction and missed payments by the Senegalese-American singer.
Bloomberg reports that the project, first announced in 2020, was pitched as a tech-driven smart city inspired by Marvel’s Wakanda and promised to transform the quiet village of Mbodiène into a modern hub powered by solar energy and Akon’s own cryptocurrency.
But five years later, the Senegalese government has reclaimed most of the 136 acres of land initially allocated to the singer, after construction failed to begin and financial commitments were not met.
“That project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state agency responsible for developing coastal and tourism zones, told L’Agence de presse sénégalaise.”
Bloomberg reports on Wednesday that SAPCO said it would now pursue a scaled-down, state-backed tourism project in the same area, with a budget of 665 billion CFA francs (about $1.2 billion), largely sourced from private investors.
Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.
Despite the setback, officials say the revised plan could generate up to 15,000 jobs in its first phase, offering long-awaited economic hope for Mbodiène residents.
International
Russian minister commits suicide after sack by Putin
Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
Russia’s former transport minister Roman Starovoyt killed himself Monday, July 7, 2025, hours after being officially dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.
The country’s Investigative Committee confirmed the incident via a statement on Monday.
Authorities said Starovoyt’s body was found in a Moscow suburb after the firing was announced, with “suicide” being considered the most likely cause of death.
Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
He was previously the governor of the Kursk region, where Russia had battled a Ukrainian incursion.
The Investigative Committee said: “Today, the body of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt was found in his private car with a gunshot wound in the Odintsovo district.
“The main version (considered) is suicide.”
Russian state media and news agencies said Starovoyt shot himself.
It was not clear exactly when Starovoyt died.
(The Star.ng)
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