Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s cancer has reportedly spread further, with his son, Hunter Biden, describing the former president’s condition as increasingly difficult and painful.

Hunter Biden made the disclosure during an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Friday, saying his 83-year-old father is battling cancer that has already spread to his bones.

“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden said, describing the illness as “very painful and very debilitating in many respects.”

He did not provide further details about where the cancer may have spread, while Biden’s office has not publicly disclosed additional information about the extent of the former president’s illness.

Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis

Joe Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis was first made public in May 2025. At the time, his office said he had prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9, classified as Grade Group 5, with metastasis to the bone.

Despite the seriousness of the diagnosis, his office said the cancer appeared to be hormone-sensitive, a characteristic that can allow doctors to manage the disease through treatment.

Biden has also undergone treatment for other health concerns. His office said he had surgery in September 2025 to remove skin cancer lesions and completed radiation treatment for prostate cancer the following month.

His wife, Jill Biden, has previously acknowledged the long-term nature of her husband’s illness.

Speaking on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast, she said the family understands that cancer will remain part of his life, describing the situation as a daily challenge.

Did Biden’s Health Affect His Presidency?

Hunter Biden was also asked about his father’s health and whether his battle with cancer may have affected his performance while he was still president.

The question was particularly significant because of Joe Biden’s widely criticised 2024 presidential debate against Donald Trump, after which concerns about his age and fitness intensified and he eventually ended his reelection campaign.

Hunter Biden acknowledged that watching his father struggle during the debate was “shocking.” However, he said the family did not know at the time that Biden had cancer.

He also rejected the suggestion that he could have controlled or influenced his father’s decisions.

Hunter Biden further said that Biden was not someone whose decisions could simply be taken away from him, stressing that his father had always made his own choices.

Biden Continues Public Engagement

Despite his illness and departure from the White House, Hunter Biden said his father remains active and committed to issues he considers important.

Joe Biden has continued to make occasional public appearances, including serving as a keynote speaker at the Maryland Democratic Party Gala in June.

“He’s still doing his thing,” Hunter Biden said, adding that his father continues to believe strongly in the United States.

“As long as he’s alive,” Hunter Biden added, “I promise you, he is going to continue to fight.”

Hunter Biden’s Legal History and Presidential Pardon

The interview also comes against the backdrop of Hunter Biden’s highly controversial legal history.

In June 2024, Hunter Biden was convicted on three federal felony charges relating to the purchase and possession of a firearm while addicted to a controlled substance. He later pleaded guilty to federal tax charges involving unpaid taxes.

In December 2024, then-President Joe Biden issued his son a presidential pardon covering the federal offenses. The decision generated significant controversy because Biden had previously indicated that he would not pardon his son.

The latest disclosure about Joe Biden’s health adds another chapter to the former president’s post-White House life, as his family continues to deal publicly with a serious cancer diagnosis.

For now, however, Hunter Biden’s comments provide the latest account of the progression of the illness, while further medical details have not been publicly released by Joe Biden’s office.

Russia is reportedly intensifying efforts to recruit fighters from Africa as casualties mount on the battlefield, with investigators warning that foreign recruits are being drawn into a recruitment network that allegedly stretches from local intermediaries to international coordinators.

According to sources cited in the report, the recruitment operations function through multiple layers. Individuals who make direct contact with prospective recruits may represent only one part of a broader network involving financiers, transport facilitators and foreign-based coordinators.

“The people making contact with recruits are often only one part of a much larger chain involving financiers, transport facilitators and foreign coordinators,” a source told NewsDay, stressing that arresting local recruiters alone may not be enough to dismantle the networks.

The source argued that authorities would need to follow financial transactions and identify the international figures coordinating the recruitment activities if they are to effectively disrupt the operations.

Russia’s reported recruitment push comes amid the heavy human cost of its war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has accused the Russian military of treating foreign fighters as expendable manpower, claiming that they are frequently deployed in some of the most dangerous areas of the battlefield.

“They use them on the most difficult directions on the battlefield,” Sybiha said in an interview broadcast by PBS on July 3.

His comments point to concerns that foreign recruits, particularly those with limited military experience, could face exceptionally high risks once deployed.

The Kyiv-based war-crimes watchdog Truth Hounds estimates that Russia could seek to recruit about 18,500 foreign fighters in 2026, representing a nearly sixfold increase from the beginning of the war.

Researchers say African recruits constitute an important part of this effort.

Kenza Rharmaoui, one of the authors of an April 29 report examining Russia’s alleged exploitation of foreign fighters, said interviews with former recruits and other sources indicated that some Africans sent to the battlefield remained in combat for only a short period before being killed or captured.

According to Rharmaoui, the people interviewed had generally spent less than two months—and in some cases about a month—in combat before their involvement ended.

Beyond the dangers of combat, researchers have raised concerns about the difficulty foreign recruits may face if they attempt to leave after signing contracts.

Rharmaoui warned that recruits should not assume that entering a military contract with Russia would necessarily provide an easy route home.

Her message to potential recruits was blunt: once they enter the system, leaving may not be straightforward.

The allegations highlight the increasingly international dimension of the Russia-Ukraine war, where manpower shortages and battlefield casualties are reportedly driving efforts to attract recruits from countries far from the conflict.

For African youths considering such offers, the reports underscore the importance of understanding exactly who is recruiting them, what contracts require, where they may ultimately be deployed and what legal protections or avenues for withdrawal are available.

The recruitment networks described in the reports also raise a wider question for governments across Africa: how much of this activity is taking place through local intermediaries, and who ultimately finances and coordinates the operations?

As Russia’s demand for additional manpower grows, investigators say identifying and disrupting the networks behind foreign recruitment—not merely arresting individual recruiters—will be critical to understanding and potentially stopping the flow of recruits into the war.