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After his son Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, Biden spearheaded the Cancer Moonshot initiative in an effort to cut cancer death rates and improve the lives of people affected by the deadly disease.

Wishes for a speedy recovery poured in for former US President Joe Biden after his office on Sunday announced that he has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” prostate cancer. In a statement, the Democrat’s office said that his cancer was characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) and has spread to his bones. It said that cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management, and the Biden family was reviewing options for possible treatment plans. 

American lawmakers from both sides– Democrats and Republicans– took to social media to pay tribute to the 82-year-old leader. 

US President Donald Trump, who has long derided Biden over his cognitive abilities, said he was “saddened” by the news for his former political rival’s health. Taking to his Truth Social platform, the Republican leader said, “Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

Former President Barack Obama also wished his former colleague a full recovery. Biden has served as Vice President of the United States under the Obama administration. 

In a message posted in X, Obama said, “Michelle and I are 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.”

After his son Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, Biden spearheaded the Cancer Moonshot initiative in an effort to cut cancer death rates and improve the lives of people affected by the deadly disease.

Biden’s Vice President, Kamala Harris, who stepped in as Democratic nominee in the battle against Trump after Biden dropped out of last year’s presidential election, also reacted to his health update and said and said she and her husband, Doug Emhoff, were saddened to hear the diagnosis. 

“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. We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery,” she wrote on X. 

“We are keeping him, Dr. Biden, and their entire family in our hearts and prayers during this time,” she added, referring to Biden’s wife, Jill Biden. 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement, said, “I’m thinking of the Bidens as they take on cancer, a disease they’ve done so much to try to spare other families from. Wishing you a speedy, full recovery.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also reacted, saying, “President Joe Biden is a great American patriot. Paul and I join the millions across the country and around the world praying for him to have strength and a swift recovery in the battle against cancer. Sending love to him and his family.”

The Indian Embassy in Portugal issued a response following a protest organised by Pakistani nationals outside the Chancery building near the Embassy office in Lisbon. Calling the demonstrations a “desperate provocation”, the Embassy said that India responded firmly through “Operation Sindoor.”

“Embassy of India in Portugal responded firmly with ‘Operation Sindoor’ to the cowardly protest organised by Pakistan near our Chancery building. We thank the Government of Portugal and its police authorities for their support in ensuring the safety and security of the Embassy,” it wrote in a post on X. 

The post also included photos of Indian officials standing on the balcony of the embassy office with the banners on the wall, which read: “Operation Sindoor is not yet over”.

Calling the protest “cowardly,” the Embassy said, “India will not be intimidated by such desperate provocations. Our resolve remains unshaken.”

India’s Ambassador to Portugal, Puneet Roy Kundal, also took to X and said that the protests organised by Pakistan were met with a silent yet strong and resolute message that “Operation Sindoor is not yet over”. 

“All the Embassy officers were steadfast in this approach,” he added. 

India-Pakistan Tensions

Indian armed forces on May 7 launched Operation Sindoor, under which they destroyed nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The targeted military operation was in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were killed by terrorists on April 22.

India has clarified that its response was focused, measured, and non-escalatory. However, Pakistan escalated the conflict after it launched a swarm of drones and missile attacks on Indian territory, compelling New Delhi to respond.  

After days of fighting, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart, and both sides reached a ceasefire deal applicable on land, sea, and air.

Israel will ease its blockade and let limited amounts of food into Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday, after the military announced it had begun “extensive ground operations” in the northern and southern parts of the enclave.

Facing mounting pressure over an aid blockade it imposed in March and the risk of famine, Israel has stepped up its campaign in Gaza, where Palestinian health officials said hundreds have been killed in attacks in the past week, including 130 overnight.

“At the recommendation of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), and out of the operational need to enable the expansion of intense fighting to defeat Hamas, Israel will allow a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Eri Kaneko, a spokesperson for U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher confirmed the agency had been approached by Israeli authorities to “resume limited aid delivery,” adding that discussions are ongoing about the logistics “given the conditions on the ground.”

Israel made its announcement after sources on both sides said there had been no progress in a new round of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Qatar.

Netanyahu said the talks included discussions on a truce and hostage deal as well as a proposal to end the war in return for the exile of Hamas members and the demilitarisation of the enclave – terms Hamas has previously rejected.

The Israeli military suggested in a later statement that it could still scale down operations to help reach a deal in Doha. Military chief Eyal Zamir told troops in Gaza that the army would provide the country’s leaders with the flexibility they need to reach a hostage deal, according to the statement.

Israel’s military said it had conducted a preliminary wave of strikes on more than 670 Hamas targets in Gaza over the past week to support “Gideon’s Chariots”, its new ground operation aimed at achieving “operational control” in parts of the enclave. It said it killed dozens of Hamas fighters.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in the week to Sunday alone, at least 464 Palestinians were killed.

“Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by (overnight) Israeli bombardment,” Khalil Al-Deqran, Gaza health ministry spokesperson, told Reuters by phone.

The Israeli campaign has devastated Gaza, pushing nearly all of its two million residents from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March to try to pressure Hamas into freeing its hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the entire Gaza Strip and controlling aid.

Israel has retrieved thousands of items belonging to the country’s most famous spy after a covert operation in Syria. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared some of the 2,500 items from the Syrian archive relating to Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who infiltrated the political echelon in Syria, with Cohen’s widow. Sunday marked 60 years since Cohen was hanged in a square in Damascus.

The items recently spirited into Israel include documents, recordings, photos, and items collected by Syrian intelligence after his capture in January 1965, letters in his own handwriting to his family in Israel, photographs of his activity during his operational mission in Syria and personal objects that were taken from his home after his capture.

Suitcases of items brought to Israel included worn folders stuffed with handwritten notes, keys to his apartment in Damascus, passports and false identification documents, missions from the Mossad to surveil specific people and places, and documentation of all the efforts of his widow, Nadia Cohen, begging world leaders for his release from prison.

Cohen’s success in Syria was one of the Mossad spy agency’s first major achievements, and the top-secret intelligence he obtained is widely credited with helping Israel prepare for its swift victory in the 1967 Middle East War.

Eli Cohen managed to forge close contacts within the political and military hierarchy of Israel’s archenemy in the early 1960s, ultimately rising to become a top adviser to Syria’s defense minister. In 1965, Cohen was caught radioing information to Israel. He was tried and hanged in a Damascus square on May 18, 1965. His remains have yet to be returned to Israel, where he is regarded as a national hero.

In 2019, actor Sacha Baron Cohen portrayed Eli Cohen (no relation) in a six-episode Netflix series called “The Spy.”

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