US President Joe Biden's re-election campaign is in further disarray after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Even before Saturday's shooting, Mr Biden's bid to stay in the White House was facing an existential crisis, with fellow Democrats calling on the President, 81, to step aside after a poor debate performance and subsequent gaffes underscored his apparent cognitive decline.
Now Mr Biden must address the split screen of his own seemingly feeble physical and mental state contrasted with Trump's bloodied and defiant pose after a bullet nicked his ear at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Further complicating Mr Biden's messaging is the fact that his campaign has had to pull many of the negative advertisements that had been planned to attack Trump.
Mr Biden has cited Trump's refusal to accept the results of the 2020 elections, his involvement in riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and his overall rhetoric to make the case to the American people that Trump is a would-be dictator.
The Biden campaign had invested tens of millions of dollars in advertisements attacking Trump as a threat to democracy, but observers say that argument has lost resonance with voters now that the former president has become the victim of the most extreme form of anti-democratic assault.
The President must now overcome the “common perception that he's weak, or the weaker of the two candidates”, John Feehery, a Republican strategist, told The National.
Mr Feehery said the argument that Trump is a threat to democracy had failed to land with many voters even before the shooting, as it resonated more with wealthy liberal voters than everyday Americans who care more about the kitchen table and economic issues.
Experts suggest Mr Biden could continue to portray himself as a “good steward for America” but move away from attacks on Trump and focus on issues such as the economy and reproductive rights.
But anything Mr Biden says this week may be largely drowned out by the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump is expected to be feted as a hero as he is officially nominated as the party's presidential candidate.
“I think that this week for [Biden], he has to recalibrate and he is not going to win it this week, he's not going to make the comeback this week,” Mr Feehery said.
“So he's got to just give the Republicans their time and apply the strategies from there.”
A quiet mutiny that had been gathering momentum among Democrats to pressure Mr Biden to step down appears to have quelled since the shooting but many remain unhappy with the President and see him as having little chance of beating Trump in the November 5 election.
In a debate with Trump last month, Mr Biden gave a widely criticised performance in which he frequently failed to finish sentences, muddled words and looked ill.
At a Nato summit last week, he referred to his own deputy, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump” and mixed up the names of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
Mr Biden was due to give an interview to NBC News that would be broadcast late on Monday. Biden officials told US media the President's campaign would be stepped up again after the broadcast, with a message that would contrast his vision for the future with that of Trump, who frequently speaks in apocalyptic terms about the state of the US.
"While I think the messaging needs to be reshaped or reworded in some way, the core piece of truth there does not change," Democratic strategist Alyssa Batchelor told The National.
"President Biden did a really great job of addressing the nation and addressing that we solve our differences at the ballot box, not with political violence."
Ms Batchelor said it was unlikely for the shooting or its aftermath to have a lasting impact on the vote in November, amid a constantly evolving and unpredictable news cycle.
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
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.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%207%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Adam%20Yates%20(GBR)%20UAE%20Team%20Emirates%20%E2%80%93%203hrs%2029min%2042ses%3Cbr%3E2.%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%20%E2%80%93%2010sec%3Cbr%3E3.%20Geoffrey%20Bouchard%20(FRA)%20AG2R%20Citroen%20Team%20%E2%80%93%2042sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EGeneral%20Classification%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3E2.%20Lucas%20Plapp%20(AUS)%20Ineos%20Grenaders%20%E2%80%93%2059se%3Cbr%3E3.%20Adam%20Yates%20(GBR)%20UAE%20Team%20Emirates%20%E2%80%9360sec%3Cbr%3ERed%20Jersey%20(General%20Classification)%3A%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3EGreen%20Jersey%20(Points%20Classification)%3A%20Tim%20Merlier%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3EWhite%20Jersey%20(Young%20Rider%20Classification)%3A%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3EBlack%20Jersey%20(Intermediate%20Sprint%20Classification)%3A%20Edward%20Planckaert%20(FRA)%20Alpecin-Deceuninck%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
