Thomas Watkins is Washington bureau chief at The National
June 28, 2024
If ever there was a moment President Joe Biden needed to come out swinging against his rival Donald Trump, it was at last night’s debate.
Here was a chance for the 81-year-old commander-in-chief to put to rest the widespread view that he is too frail for the world’s toughest job and isn’t fit for a second term in the White House.
But instead of delivering any knockout blows, Mr Biden seemed punch drunk and against the ropes as he gave a dismal performance that will be remembered as a turning point in this year’s presidential election.
Only three years separate Mr Biden and Trump, 78, but the President looked and sounded much older than his heavily made-up opponent, presenting awkward optics and viral memes for Democrats who have spent months claiming Mr Biden is sharp as a tack behind closed doors.
The stiff gait Mr Biden has developed in recent months was obvious as he shuffled on to CNN’s debate stage in Atlanta, looking pale, tired and a bit bewildered. When he delivered his opening remarks, his voice was hoarse and at times barely audible, presumably because of his days of preparation ahead of the debate.
Trump meanwhile appeared energised as he swaggered on to the stage before opening the debate with his signature lines on how Mr Biden is “killing our country”.
A debate watch party Thursday, in Scottsdale, Arizona. AP
After a faltering start, Mr Biden soon began making gaffe after gaffe, appearing to lose his train of thought and frequently struggling with his lifelong stutter.
“The truth is, I'm the only president this … decade that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did,” Mr Biden said early on, glossing over the fact that 13 Marines were killed during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 2021.
He then asserted that America is home to “one thousand trillionaires” (there aren't any) before correcting himself to say billionaires.
At one point, Mr Biden answered a question on tax policy by saying something about “Covid” and that “we finally beat Medicare.”
“I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either,” Trump said after another statement.
And on abortion rights, one of the most crucial issues for voters in this election, Mr Biden should have been able to hammer Trump, who has boasted of being responsible for ending the federal right to terminate a pregnancy.
But instead of delivering a succinct talking point, Mr Biden went into a confusing explanation about the three trimesters.
Snap polls on US networks found that the vast majority of viewers thought Mr Biden fared worse than Trump. Even Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that her boss got off to a “slow start” before he ended with a “strong finish”.
While it's true Mr Biden did pick up steam at points during the debate, it will be his slack-jawed look of befuddlement as he listened to Trump's statements that will be remembered by the tens of millions of Americans who tuned in to watch.
Most frustrating for Democrats was that Trump repeatedly handed Mr Biden clearly nonsensical and fallacious statements that anyone seeking the White House should have been able to swat down as absurd.
The former president repeated debunked claims of “fraud” during the 2020 election, said the US was “almost 100 per cent” paying for Nato, said Mr Biden had directed the criminal prosecutions against Trump and falsely claimed the President had spent 10 years calling black people “superpredators”.
Mr Biden personally attacked his rival but, unlike in 2020 when he told a rambling Trump to “shut up”, nothing seemed to stick, even when he accused the “convicted felon” of “having sex with a porn star … while your wife was pregnant”.
As soon as the debate ended, a stream of hand-wringing Democratic pundits said it was time for Mr Biden to step aside to allow for another candidate to come forward, though such talk is unlikely to come to much.
Hillary Clinton, who has previously debated with both Mr Biden and Trump, this week wrote in an op-ed that Trump had set the bar so low for himself that he can claim to have won the debate as long as he doesn’t “literally light himself on fire.”
In the end, it was the Democratic candidate who managed to self-combust.
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
