In his 1997 satirical novel Great Apes, the English author Will Self pokes fun at humanity’s self-regard as the planet’s dominant species. The novel’s protagonist wakes up one day in a London where it is Pan troglodytes – chimpanzees – who rule the Earth, not Homo sapiens.
In a superficial sense, the chimps’ world looks much like our own – business, technology and economics are as advanced as ever – but the chimps wear clothing on their top halves only, communicate with sign language and are grouped in extended communities where the pecking order is defined and enforced by frequent violence. The few humans left cling on as brutish figures of fun in the world’s zoos or as a bedraggled, endangered species in remote jungles, roaming wild and lacking any self-awareness.
As a way of showing up the haughty superiority often displayed by humankind towards the great apes, our nearest genetic relatives, Self’s novel remains a powerful piece of commentary. Nearly 30 years later, we are coming to better know and understand these intelligent creatures with whom we share so much. However, the more we learn, the more we will have to grapple with some profound questions, such as: what does it mean to be human, what is “personhood”, and if apes can – as some argue – be thought of as non-human persons, should they have the same kind of rights that we do?
Such questions are not exercises in niche philosophy. Scientists are continuously learning more and more about apes’ behaviour and internal life, and these findings tend to uncover further commonalities between humans and their evolutionary kin. Last month, scientists from Cornell University in the US released research on Bornean orangutans that revealed the primates possess a vocal communications range of previously unknown depth and intricacy. Orangutans, much like us, also use facial expressions, touch and gestures to communicate emotions and information.
Plenty of animals communicate, one may argue, but that does not make them deserving of “rights”. Perhaps not, but how many animals also tease each other? According to research published in February by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences, all great ape species “engage in intentionally provocative behaviour, frequently accompanied by characteristics of play”. The team identified 18 distinct teasing behaviours that included tickling, tug of war, hair pulling and poking with an object. These, the scientists argue, draw on “complex cognitive abilities: understanding social norms, theory of mind, anticipating others' responses and appreciating the violation of others’ expectations”.
There is little doubt that our relationship with the great apes is complicated. Even referring to them as “animals” can, for many people, feel as if something important is missing – we resemble each other too much to consider chimps, gorillas, orangutans or bonobos in the same way we regard cats and dogs, let alone creatures with whom we have little connection, such as fish or insects. Few doubt that apes should be protected, but some argue that their particular kinship with humans demands a rights-based approach.
Perhaps the best-known advocates of such a position are the philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, whose seminal book The Great Ape Project (published just a few years before Self’s novel) was accompanied by a declaration on the great apes that its authors hoped the UN would adopt.
Does conferring personhood upon apes – something that they cannot understand – actually do anything to protect them?
This called for the “extension of the community of equals to include all great apes: human beings, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans”. This community would be a moral one “within which we accept certain basic moral principles or rights as governing our relations with each other and enforceable at law”. Prime among the rights to be defined for people and great apes alike would be the right to life, the protection of individual liberty and a prohibition on torture.
To those who opposed the inclusion of apes in such a legal or moral community, the declaration stated, “we respond that human guardians should safeguard [apes’] interests and rights, in the same ways as the interests of young or intellectually disabled members of our own species are safeguarded”.
It was a bold take on humanity’s privileged position as the Earth’s dominant species but it failed to gain widespread international traction. It has also been critiqued many times over the years. An interesting dissection of the rights-for-apes argument came in April 2018 from US environmental anthropologist Dr Adam Johnson. In an article called The Personhood and Rights of Apes, Dr Johnson used a non-western conception of personhood derived from the Akan, an ethnolinguistic group along Africa’s Gold Coast that have close contact with several ape species.
The Akan, Dr Johnson says, have a word – onipa – that is a synonym for “human” but also refers to a special social status enjoyed by an entity “that belongs to a moral community which carries with it moral responsibilities”.
“Onipa, according to the Akan, have access to rights and responsibilities that are afforded to beings with the ability to reflexively reason,” Dr Johnson argues. “Reason allows individuals to engage with the moral community, and even those that fail or refuse to fully participate are still afforded rights and dignity belonging to all persons because they possess the capacity to reason.
“The question then becomes: do apes have the capacity to reason reflexively? Do they have the capacity to consider the implications of their decisions and engage in the greater moral community?”
In his view, the answer is no; as humans are the only species that engages with the nature of personhood and rights in the first place, this renders us “a non-arbitrary category separate from all other animals, including the apes”.
It is a compelling point. Moving beyond the laudable position of wanting to do good by vulnerable ape species, does conferring personhood and rights upon them – things that they cannot understand – actually do anything to protect them? In addition, would granting special status to some non-human species merely redraw the boundaries of privilege, leaving many more creatures without comparable legal protection?
Nevertheless, some countries have been open to persuasion on this issue. In 2008, Spain’s parliament became the first legislature to back the Great Ape Project’s call for core rights for non-human primates. Dozens of countries have banned the use of wild animals – including apes – in circuses and several, including the UK, Japan and the Netherlands, have ended experimentation on great apes on ethical grounds.
More recently, however, a broader push towards ascribing rights to nature in general has been gaining ground. In 2021, the Magpie River in Quebec, Canada was granted legal personhood by the local authorities in an attempt to protect it. A year earlier, a Maori tribe in New Zealand succeeded in having the country’s third-largest river granted the same rights as a human being, with a board appointed to act on its behalf. Similarly, Article 71 of Ecuador’s constitution says nature “has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes”. Such developments contain the same spirit of those great-apes campaigners who seek to extend protective rights beyond humanity.
But perhaps whether apes should have rights is not the correct question for now. There are immediate wrongs to right: all great ape species face threats from hunting, habitat destruction, trafficking and human population growth. These are issues that can be confronted by using and improving existing animal protection legislation and government policy. But as we learn more about intelligent species, the issue of their “personhood” – and our humanity – will not go away.
SEMI-FINAL
Monterrey 1
Funes Mori (14)
Liverpool 2
Keita (11), Firmino (90 1)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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Fixtures
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWednesday%2C%20April%203%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EArsenal%20v%20Luton%20Town%2C%2010.30pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EManchester%20City%20v%20Aston%20Villa%2C%2011.15pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EThursday%2C%20April%204%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ELiverpool%20v%20Sheffield%20United%2C%2010.30pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
Playing records of the top 10 in 2017
How many games the top 10 have undertaken in the 2017 ATP season
1. Rafael Nadal 58 (49-9)
2. Andy Murray 35 (25-10)
3. Roger Federer 38 (35-3)
4. Stan Wawrinka 37 (26-11)
5. Novak Djokovic 40 (32-8)
6. Alexander Zverev 60 (46-14)
7. Marin Cilic 43 (29-14)
8. Dominic Thiem 60 (41-19)
9. Grigor Dimitrov 48 (34-14)
10. Kei Nishikori 43 (30-13)
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Final results:
Open men
Australia 94 (4) beat New Zealand 48 (0)
Plate men
England 85 (3) beat India 81 (1)
Open women
Australia 121 (4) beat South Africa 52 (0)
Under 22 men
Australia 68 (2) beat New Zealand 66 (2)
Under 22 women
Australia 92 (3) beat New Zealand 54 (1)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE%20SPECS
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AIDA%20RETURNS
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
ASIAN%20RUGBY%20CHAMPIONSHIP%202024
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Five personal finance podcasts from The National
To help you get started, tune into these Pocketful of Dirham episodes
·
Balance is essential to happiness, health and wealth
·
What is a portfolio stress test?
·
What are NFTs and why are auction houses interested?
·
How gamers are getting rich by earning cryptocurrencies
·
Should you buy or rent a home in the UAE?
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Astra%20Tech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdallah%20Abu%20Sheikh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20technology%20investment%20and%20development%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
Company profile
Name: GiftBag.ae
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2011
Number of employees: 4
Sector: E-commerce
Funding: Self-funded to date
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
