On January 2, 2021, four days before the deadly attack on the US Capitol, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger received a desperate call from Donald Trump, the president at the time.
In the now infamous hour-long call, which Mr Raffensperger recorded, Mr Trump not only threatened the official, but he also begged him to “find 11,780 votes” — enough for him win the state in the already concluded 2020 presidential elections.
I thought that... Secretary Raffensperger did a very good, respectful job of dealing with somebody who was not on the plane of reality
Gabriel Sterling
On the anniversary of the attack, The National sat down with Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, a lifelong Republican and one of the former president’s most vocal critics.
“At first, I was really upset not to be part of that call,” Mr Sterling said.
Speaking from the rotunda of the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta, Mr Sterling said that once he heard Mr Raffensperger’s record of the call, he changed his mind.
“I thought that [state’s attorney] Ryan Germany and Secretary Raffensperger did a very good, respectful job of dealing with somebody who was not on the plane of reality when it came to came to the election,” he said.
Mr Sterling, who has recently been questioned by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, said that he does not think that he would have been able to keep a cool head on the call.
“I don't know if I could have contained myself as much because I was still pretty angry about a lot of the stuff I had been going through the previous month,” he said.
A campaign of harassment that included threats of violence against both Mr Sterling and Mr Raffensperger and his wife started on November 9, 2020, after both sitting Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, lost their elections to Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
After Mr Perdue and Ms Loeffler called for the secretary’s resignation and fuelled Mr Trump’s claims of a stolen election, cars circled Mr Raffensperger’s house, his son’s residence was broken into, and his wife received “sexualised threats”.
Pictures of Mr Sterling’s home along with his address were posted online and intimidating emails became a regular occurrence.
“The secretary and I, we kind of put ourselves out there … we're going to get threats like that. It's not right, but it's not to be unexpected in the world we live in,” he said.
But the tipping point for Mr Sterling was a tweet directed at an election worker.
“I saw the tweet that had the little swinging noose in it and said, ‘May God have mercy on your soul’ and named the young man,” Mr Sterling said. “They tracked down family members of his, too. I guess at that point I said, this is all gone too far. And of course, on January 6, the worst outcome of that came true.”
In December 2020, Mr Sterling, who voted for Mr Trump in 2016, held a press conference at the Georgia capitol and pleaded with Mr Trump to “just stop”, condemning fellow Republicans Mr Perdue and Ms Loeffler for their actions.
“Mr President, you have not condemned these actions or this language,” Mr Sterling said at the Georgia state Capitol.
“Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop. We need you to step up. And if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some.”
While pedalling his stolen election theories, Mr Trump accused a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker, Ruby Freeman, of throwing away thousands of ballots, even showing security footage of Ms Freeman and others working during the recount at rallies across the country.
“She was terrorised … she had people coming to her house,” said Mr Sterling.
Trump backer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, even sent a publicist to Georgia to threaten Ms Freeman and her daughter into admitting that they broke the law.
“Me even saying the words right now just sounds so ludicrous that it has to be part of a bad movie plot … but her life and her daughter's life, Shay, were both wildly affected.”
The threats of violence became so extreme that both have been forced to move several times, and one of the men arrested at the US Capitol on January 6 had Ms Freeman’s name on what prosecutors are calling a “hit list”.
Mr Sterling said that Ms Freeman and her daughter are seeking some sort of recompense following the false accusations and the consequent upheaval in their lives.
“[Mr Trump] had many people around him telling him, none of this is true, and he chose not to listen to them, because it's not what he wanted to hear; it's not what leaders are supposed to do,” Mr Sterling said.
“And he kind of, you know, for lack of a better word, crapped over his own legacy by doing what he did at the end of it, and then really damages my party in future elections in this country by undermining it.”
Fuelled by Mr Trump's claims of electoral fraud, the Georgia state legislature has introduced a law that imposes new limits on voting, including the distribution of water or food to people waiting in long queues at polling places.
Critics of the law say it disproportionately affects black and brown voters, who traditionally vote Democrat.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act is a congressional bill named after a late Georgia congressman that is designed to strengthen the federal government's ability to respond to voting discrimination.
Mr Sterling expressed reservations over such legislation because he believes that it creates nationalised elections and eliminates voter identification laws from which his state has benefited.
“John Lewis was a hero … an icon and a lion of his generation. This final bill the bears his name, it does things that I think are not going to be long-term helpful to people's faith in elections because it can be nationalising elections,” said Mr Sterling.
“If you start standardising the rules across every state boundary and doing a one-size-fits-all, you're going to raise costs, you're going to actually make it more difficult for people to actually vote.”
Under Mr Raffensperger’s provision, a person who has not voted in two general elections can be declared inactive and consequently purged.
In 2019, about 309,000 names — 4 per cent of the state’s electorate — were purged from Georgia’s voter rolls. According to a report released by the ACLU of Georgia, 63 per cent of those voters were purged in error.
Mr Lewis served 17 terms as Congressman in Georgia’s fifth district, which includes the city of Atlanta and Fulton County, the largest in the state. He fought for voting rights his entire adult life, and spoke at the March on Washington in 1963.
Mr Lewis succumbed to cancer in July of 2020.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
Richard Jewell
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley
Two-and-a-half out of five stars
Naga
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
Essentials
The flights
Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes.
The stay
A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
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)
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Kibsons%20Cares
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HWJN
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
