One man thinks the Second World War may soon start; the other can’t remember who the leaders of France and Germany are.
Both are running for US president, an all-consuming and sleep-depriving job often described as the hardest in the world.
Joe Biden, 81, and Donald Trump, 77, are the presumed nominees for the Democrats and Republicans in this year’s general election, leaving Americans to choose between two candidates who are well past their prime.
Each is making gaffe after gaffe, raising questions about their fitness for office and whether they can function properly at the helm of global affairs.
A Quinnipiac University poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans think Mr Biden and Mr Trump are both too old and mentally unfit for the White House.
The issue is particularly acute for Mr Biden, who is already the oldest president in US history. If he is re-elected on November 5, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.
According to the poll, 67 per cent of voters think he is too old to effectively serve another term, compared with 57 per cent for Mr Trump.
Barely a day goes by without Mr Biden making some sort of slip – verbal or physical.
A recent news conference in which he tried to refute his image as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” only made things worse.
The description came from Robert Hur, a Republican lawyer who said Mr Biden mishandled classified documents after he left the vice presidency in 2017. The former prosecutor said in a report that charges should not be brought because jurors would feel sorry for Mr Biden due to his age.
At a news conference that day, a defiant Mr Biden told reporters that his “memory is fine”.
Then, moments later, he mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi as the leader of Mexico.
Republicans seized on the blunder as another example of what they say is Mr Biden’s diminishing mental acuity.
The issue has gathered so much attention that even the liberal-leaning New York Times published an editorial questioning the US President’s “cognitive sharpness and temperament”.
But even as Republicans attack Mr Biden for his age, they studiously avoid discussing the cognitive issues their candidate, Mr Trump, who turns 78 in June, is encountering.
In a recent speech, he said Mr Biden is “cognitively impaired”, before warning that the President could start “World War Two” – which ended in 1945.
He called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban “the leader of Turkey” and repeatedly confused his Republican challenger Nikki Haley with former Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Last month, he devolved into speaking gibberish at a rally, saying: “We can’t do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on.”
Not to be outdone, Mr Biden this month confused the late German chancellor Helmut Kohl with former chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron with former French leader Francois Mitterand, who died in 1996.
Ms Haley, 52, who trails Mr Trump distantly in polls, this week highlighted some his lapses and alluded to his increasing use of Nazi-like rhetoric, saying he is becoming “more unstable and unhinged”.
Not only is he running for office, Mr Trump is also simultaneously fighting four federal criminal indictments, and recent civil cases have found him liable for sexual assault and fraud.
Dr Sandi Petersen, vice president of health and wellness at Pegasus Senior Living and an expert on ageing, said Mr Biden is a victim of stress and time.
“The continued stress of the role and the even more stressful campaign trail will not be kind to him in terms of his ability to lead, think critically and meet the daunting challenges of the future in the country,” Dr Petersen told The National.
“I think the recent memory lapses are symptomatic of this decline and may represent a threat to his ongoing well-being, as well as his ability to lead effectively.”
The assessment is not much better for Mr Trump. The former president last month bragged about a cognitive test he took while in office, boasting that he was able to correctly identify a whale among a series of other animals.
“When one considers his legal and financial troubles, as well as the stress of campaigning, is it any wonder that the stress levels he is enduring would result in lapses?” Dr Petersen asked.
“The body, as we age, is hypersensitive to rising cortisol [a stress hormone] levels.
"Both Biden and Trump, from both physical and mental health perspectives, are undoubtedly under the influence of stress hormones that affect both memory and mood.
“That, coupled with the normal response to ageing, will not bode well for them in a highly visible, highly stressful role.”
The presidency requires frequent international travel across time zones and chronic sleep deprivation makes it harder for people to retrieve information, especially newer memories.
“People who are put in a position where they are not able to consistently get restorative sleep, if that's something they need, can have reduced ability to attend, can look like they're not paying attention to what's going on and could potentially look like they're not able to remember what has been immediately said to them,” Dr Christina Prather, director of George Washington University’s division of geriatrics and palliative medicine, told The National.
The US public should not only be concerned about the two candidates’ minds. Dr Prather said there was the “very real possibility” that either could suffer a health crisis.
“Anyone's ability to withstand a major health event as they go into advanced age is entirely personal but also is reduced as someone ages,” she said.
But getting older is not all doom and gloom.
“Over the course of a lifetime, our reactivity often decreases and one's life experience favours more rational and less reactive decision making,” Dr Prather said.
“That is what we should be looking for … their ability to do the position, not necessarily their numeric age.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
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Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
If you go:
Getting there:
Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.
Getting around:
Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The%20specs%20
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Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
%3Cp%3E1.%20Singapore%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Switzerland%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Denmark%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Ireland%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Hong%20Kong%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%20Sweden%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%20Taiwan%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%20Netherlands%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%20Norway%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
