Follow the latest news on the US midterm elections 2022
The election problems faced by Arizona’s largest county, Maricopa, started early and lingered throughout the day.
As polls begin to close in this week's US midterm elections, a problem with printing toner meant some of the county’s vote tabulating machines could not accept ballots.
It was a problem that occurred at about 60 out of the county's 223 locations. In some instances, it led to long queues and lots of frustration.
Voter Robert Moody said there was “zero confidence in their voting machines because there were more ballots being rejected by the machines than being accepted”.
In a trend led by former president Donald Trump, election integrity has been at the forefront of these midterms, with dozens of Republican candidates who have questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election on the ticket.
The right immediately jumped on the problem in Arizona to question the electoral process.
Mr Trump weighed in on his official account on his social media platform Truth Social.
“There’s a lot of bad things going on,” he said in a video.
Mr Trump claimed officials in Maricopa County were trying to “delay” people to stop them voting and urged Republicans to stay in line and vote.
Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, filed an injunction that was rejected by a judge, trying to extend the polls opening hours from 7pm to 10pm.
The county spent much of the day frantically trying to address the issue and calm a voting base already harbouring some concerns over election integrity following Mr Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 presidential election.
On social media, some high-profile far-right personalities said they were on their way to the state amid the controversy.
“There is nothing that happened here today that would indicate, in my opinion, a need to be out here to address some injustice,” said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which oversees the elections.
Mr Gates urged voters to accept the count.
“We need people to acknowledge the results.”
With 843,000 early ballots counted in Maricopa, the Democratic candidates for senator and governor have sizeable leads.
Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly leads with 59 per cent of the vote, compared with his Republican counterpart Blake Masters, on 39 per cent.
Katie Hobbs, the Democratic choice for governor, leads Ms Lake — a disciple of Mr Trump — by 16 points.
Earlier in the day, Ms Lake vowed that if elected, she would be the media's “worst freaking nightmare for eight years”.
The former news anchor has yet to say whether she would accept the results of the election should she lose.
The results are not surprising as Republicans tend to cast their ballots in person on the day, meaning the margins are likely to be close.
Outside the county’s tabulation centre, at a secure fortress-like structure in downtown Phoenix, surrounded by dozens of police officers, a man who identified himself only as Larry G was calling for the county to count all the ballots by hand.
“We still want a headcount. It’s not about who is winning today, it’s about getting rid of the fraud and the theft from now on,” he said.
Larry, wearing a stars-and-stripes tie and holding an American flag, said he was convinced the 2020 election was stolen.
It is a refrain that was echoed repeatedly throughout the campaign by both of the state's highest-profile candidates, Ms Lake and Mr Masters.
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Poacher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERichie%20Mehta%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nimisha%20Sajayan%2C%20Roshan%20Mathew%2C%20Dibyendu%20Bhattacharya%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.6-litre%2C%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E285hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E353Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh159%2C900%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Company%20profile
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Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
HOW TO WATCH
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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.
