Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit the US in the spring, very little about former vice president Joe Biden's campaign was conventional.
"I am a gaffe machine," he said last December before waging a behind-the-scenes general election campaign against Donald Trump in 2020.
Mr Biden, often referred to as Uncle Joe, has been in the public eye since the early 1970s as a senator from Delaware and then as vice president for two terms alongside former president Barack Obama.
Throughout, Mr Biden’s family tragedies, losing his wife and their daughter in 1972 and then a son in 2015, has defined a large part of his image with voters and created personal connection over loss and grieving.
As a candidate in six campaigns for the US Senate and three for the Presidential nomination, Mr Biden is known for his loose talk. Whether it was his claim in 2008 that you should have a "slight Indian accent" when visiting Dunkin Donuts, or when he wrongly assumed the mother of an Irish leader was dead in 2010, the Democratic nominee's list of gaffes runs long and is often followed by apologies.
But the verbal mishaps that accompanied Mr Biden for almost five decades in politics appear to be controlled as he wages the most important campaign of his life to defeat Mr Trump and win the presidency on November 3.
The lack of gaffes is largely in part because Mr Biden is running most of his campaign from his home in Delaware, with a minimum amount of public visibility and very little in-person engagement.
From the pandemic in March until Memorial Day on May 25, Mr Biden relied strictly on online campaigning, phone calls and tele-rallies.
By contrast, Mr Trump was promising a return to stadium rallies and clashed with the governor of North Carolina for putting in place health guidelines for the Republican convention that has now been cancelled.
John Zogby, the head of polling company Zogby Strategies, says Mr Biden's strategy is simply to let Mr Trump run against himself.
“Joe Biden is playing it wisely by allowing Trump to run against himself, and staying a bit behind the scenes has helped him,” Mr Zogby said.
“Being in his basement is not a problem because we [the public] have adjusted to all these changes. We can’t expect campaign rallies and knocking on doors.”
Mr Biden himself is seeing value in his minimalist strategy. His poll numbers are improving and is leading nationally by an average of nine points, compared with the three points Hillary Clinton led by at this stage of the campaign in 2016.
"The more that Donald Trump is out, the worse he does. I think it is wonderful that he goes out," Mr Biden said jokingly in an online event with Asian American and Pacific Islander voters this month.
Another distinction from the 2016 campaign for Democrats is Mr Biden and his campaign have led the effort to unify the party ranks between the centrist and leftist groups before the party's convention on August 17.
A New York Times poll from early July showed that an overwhelming majority of primary supporters of former progressive candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are now behind Mr Biden.
The Sanders and the Biden campaigns issued a joint platform laying out an approach to health care, climate change, criminal justice, the economy, education and immigration.
But, with 100 days left until the election, Mr Biden has yet to pick his running mate and a lot could change. Never in recent US election history has the vice presidential pick carried as much attention and intrigue as is the case today with Mr Biden. If he wins in November, Mr Biden, who will be 78 by the time he is sworn in, would be the oldest president to take office, making it uncertain that he would seek a second term in 2024.
The leading candidates for the VP position are US senators Ms Warren, Kamala Harris, Tammy Duckworth, Congresswoman Karen Bass and former national security adviser Susan Rice. The Trump campaign has been having trouble defining and attacking Mr Biden and could shift the attacks to his No 2.
Election observers expect the polls to narrow as the race enters its final three months. But Mr Biden is not taking any chances and is advising his followers on Twitter to “ignore the polls and register to vote".
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Supercharged%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20400hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20430Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Johnstone, Pickford, Ramsdale
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Godfrey, James, Maguire, Mings, Shaw, Stones, Trippier, Walker, White
Midfielders Bellingham, Henderson, Lingard, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse
Forwards Calvert-Lewin, Foden, Grealish, Greenwood, Kane, Rashford, Saka, Sancho, Sterling, Watkins
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
