It looks like US President-elect Joe Biden will be getting the Saturday Night Live treatment from a new comedian, after Jim Carrey announced he was stepping down from portraying the politician on the long-running sketch show.
After six episodes spent playing the president-elect, Carrey, 58, will pass on the role of playing Biden, 78, to another actor for the remainder of SNL's season.
"Though my term was only meant to be six weeks, I was thrilled to be elected as your SNL president ... comedy's highest call of duty," the actor posted on Twitter. "I would love to go forward knowing that Biden was the victor because I nailed that ... But I am just one in a long line of proud, fighting SNL Bidens!"
Carrey was the third actor to play Biden on the show, which has been running on US TV since 1975, with the next president of the US having been previously played by actors Woody Harrelson and Jason Sudeikis. The latter played Biden during Barack Obama's terms in office.
"Thank you to Jim Carrey for showing up when it mattered," SNL tweeted back.
With Carrey bowing out, we take a look at nine other stars who have taken on the mantle of playing the big names in US politics …
Donald Trump, played by Alec Baldwin
The 30 Rock actor played the current US president for the entire duration of Trump's term in office.
And, after having played the same role for the past four years, in the wake of the 2020 US election results, the star took to Twitter to declare: “I don’t believe I’ve ever been this overjoyed to lose a job before!”
Kamala Harris, played by Maya Rudolph
The Bridesmaids actress was playing Harris even before she became the vice president-elect. Rudolph won an Emmy for her portrayal of Harris when she was still a senator. Returning to the show almost 10 years after she left as a long-running castmate, Rudolph said of playing the history-making politician: "I like being on call for SNL. It definitely helped me with my election anxiety, feeling like I'm actively involved."
Bernie Sanders, played by Larry David
The Curb Your Enthusiasm star started portraying the progressive politician back in 2015, during the first time Sanders ran for president. David said the role came about after he did a Sanders impression to his agent over the phone, who immediately called SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
“Then they were both on the phone 10 minutes later,” he revealed.
Hillary Clinton, played by Kate McKinnon
Current SNL cast member McKinnon played the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate opposite Baldwin's Trump during the 2016 election. Her portrayal won her an Emmy, and was mentioned in Clinton's memoir of the election, What Happened.
“On a very personal note,” said McKinnon during her Emmy acceptance speech, “I want to say thank you to Hillary Clinton for your grace and grit.”
George W Bush, played by Will Ferrell
The comedy star was nominated for an Emmy for playing the 43rd president. At the time, Rudolph played National Security advisor Condoleezza Rice, with Dean Edwards as Secretary of State Colin Powell.
In one sketch, Ferrell as Bush muses: “Donny Q Trump came in and suddenly I'm looking pretty sweet by comparison.” Adding that he might end up carved into Mount Rushmore “right next to Washington, Lincoln, and I want to say, uh, Kensington?”
Sarah Palin, played by Tina Fey
In what became one of SNL's most famous political portrayals, the Mean Girls actress played the Alaskan governor, after she was named John McCain's vice presidential nominee back in 2008. Fey, who won an Emmy for her work as Palin, admitted she took on the role after her daughter saw a picture of Palin in a magazine and mistakenly thought it was her.
Barack Obama, played by Jay Pharoah
The stand-up comedian and impressionist played Obama during his time as a cast member of the show. Pharoah replaced actor Fred Armisen, who had been playing the first black president of the US, with SNL creator Michaels saying "it might be time to shake it up".
Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton
The Canadian-American actor played Clinton on the sketch show, earning himself the nickname “Glue” for his ability to hold the show together. He portrayed the former president 18 times, with a December 1992 sketch, in which Hartman as Clinton goes into a McDonald’s and eats everyone’s food while waxing lyrics about politics, a standout.
George H W Bush, played by Dana Carvey
Although he's most famous for playing Garth in Wayne's World, Carvey also tried his hand at playing politics when he portrayed the 41st US president. Playing the senior Bush on SNL between 1987 and 2000, Carvey snapped up an Emmy in 1993 for his impersonation.
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Read more:
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Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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Six things you need to know about UAE Women’s Special Olympics football team
Several girls started playing football at age four
They describe sport as their passion
The girls don’t dwell on their condition
They just say they may need to work a little harder than others
When not in training, they play football with their brothers and sisters
The girls want to inspire others to join the UAE Special Olympics teams
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
The years Ramadan fell in May
Results
Stage three:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
5. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s
General Classification:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin Fenix, at 12s
4. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
Andor
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More on animal trafficking
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
