US President Joe Biden speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. AP
US President Joe Biden speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. AP
US President Joe Biden speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. AP
US President Joe Biden speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. AP

Joe Biden invokes JFK in 'cancer moonshot' initiative


Kyle Fitzgerald
  • English
  • Arabic

Marking the 60th anniversary of John F Kennedy's moonshot address, President Joe Biden said the US must use its resources to "end cancer as we know it".

Harking back to Kennedy's pitch to land a man on the Moon, Mr Biden promoted his administration's plan that "is bold, ambitious and, I might add, completely do-able".

The president, who lost his son Beau to cancer in 2015, presented a new government-backed study aimed at identifying blood tests for the detection of at least one form of cancer.

US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy introduces US President Joe Biden at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. EPA
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy introduces US President Joe Biden at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. EPA

If successful, it would provide a less-invasive way of detecting cancer early, the White House said.

"The cancer moonshot is one of the reasons why I ran for president," Mr Biden said at the John F Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library in Boston, Massachusetts.

More than 1.9 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the US this year, the American Cancer Society forecasts. Breast cancer was expected to lead new diagnoses with more than 290,000 cases.

The American Cancer Society also projected 609,360 cancer-related deaths to occur in the US in 2022, or about 1,670 a day.

Mr Biden said in February that he hoped to cut cancer death rates in the US by 50 per cent within the next 25 years.

“Today, we have many of the building blocks needed to make significant progress combating cancer but we must come together to equitably deliver on this promise,” the White House said on Monday.

David Letterman waves as President Joe Biden passes on the receiving line following his address. AP
David Letterman waves as President Joe Biden passes on the receiving line following his address. AP

As part of his address, Mr Biden will also sign an executive order establishing an initiative to ensure innovative technology designed to eradicate cancer is manufactured in the US.

His 'cancer moonshot' drive was designed to invoke Kennedy's space programme, which received significant public backing.

But Mr Biden's cancer programme is more modest and relies on private investment.

"When president Kennedy committed to putting a man on the Moon and bringing him back, the President … had the building blocks to know what was possible,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“Today, we have many of the building blocks needed to make significant progress preventing, detecting and treating cancer.

Joe Biden in 2011 with his son, US Army Capt Beau Biden, who died from a cancer-related illness. AFP
Joe Biden in 2011 with his son, US Army Capt Beau Biden, who died from a cancer-related illness. AFP

Efforts to reduce deaths are set to focus on lung cancer. Mostly attributable to smoking, it causes more cancer-related deaths in the US than any other, the American Cancer Society said.

More than 130,000 people this year are expected to die from the disease.

The American Cancer Society says lung screening has helped to drive down the cancer death rate by 32 per cent from its peak in 1991 to 2019, the most recent year for which numbers are available.

But only 5 per cent those eligible are being screened for lung cancer.

"We don't do enough to help patients and families navigate the cancer-care system," Mr Biden said.

"There's bewilderment, feeling of being on your own, frustration as hospital said doctors can't easily share your medical records."

He said that in detection, every minute counts.

Beau Biden and family — in pictures

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs

Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor

Power: 843hp at N/A rpm

Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km

On sale: October to December

Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital

Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (87')

Athletic Bilbao 1
Williams (14')

Museum of the Future in numbers
  •  78 metres is the height of the museum
  •  30,000 square metres is its total area
  •  17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
  •  14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
  •  1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior 
  •  7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
  •  2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
  •  100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
  •  Dh145 is the price of a ticket
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg

Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg

Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports

Stormy seas

Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.

We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice. 

Indika
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2011%20Bit%20Studios%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Odd%20Meter%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%205%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20series%20X%2FS%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)

Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports

Various Artists 
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
​​​​​​​

%3Cp%3EMATA%0D%3Cbr%3EArtist%3A%20M.I.A%0D%3Cbr%3ELabel%3A%20Island%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Maestro
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBradley%20Cooper%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBradley%20Cooper%2C%20Carey%20Mulligan%2C%20Maya%20Hawke%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2024%20Dubai%20Marathon%20Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWomen%E2%80%99s%20race%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Tigist%20Ketema%20(ETH)%202hrs%2016min%207sec%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Ruti%20Aga%20(ETH)%202%3A18%3A09%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Dera%20Dida%20(ETH)%202%3A19%3A29%0D%3Cbr%3EMen's%20race%3A%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Addisu%20Gobena%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A01%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Lemi%20Dumicha%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A20%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20DejeneMegersa%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A42%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: September 12, 2022, 9:57 PM`