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Kamala Harris Dominates 2028 Democratic Primary Poll at 30%
Kamala Harris leads the 2028 democratic primary frontrunners with 30% support, as Gavin Newsom says he won’t run if she enters the race.
Kamala Harris leads the 2028 democratic primary frontrunners harris field with 30 percent support among Democrats, according to a new Focaldata/Financial Times poll released Sunday, Oct. 11. California Gov. Gavin Newsom trails at 15 percent, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are tied at 9 percent.
The survey of 2,553 U.S. adults, conducted Oct. 2 to Oct. 5, shows the former vice president commanding a field she has not officially entered. Harris has not announced a 2028 campaign but has not closed the door either, saying in a February podcast interview that she has not decided whether she would run again.
Her standing complicates every other Democrat’s calculation. Newsom told CNN in September he would not run if Harris entered the race, calling a contest between the two Californians mutual assured destruction. No other contender has made that pledge.
Why Harris Commands the Field Without Campaigning
Harris occupies what analysts describe as a shadow incumbency. She was the party’s most recent presidential nominee, served four years in the White House, and can argue that her 107-day campaign in 2024 was an exceptionally poor test of her political abilities.
That resume gives her a claim on the party’s future while tying her to its immediate past. Democrats who want to turn the page on the Biden years must first contend with the woman who spent four years at his side and then lost to Trump, 312 electoral votes to 226.
Veteran Democratic strategist Joe Trippi told Newsweek that potential candidates would be foolish not to include her possible entry in their planning. No one, including Vice President Harris, will get a cleared field, Trippi said.
Reverend Al Sharpton, who hosted the National Action Network’s 35th anniversary convention in New York, said Harris received the strongest reception by far at the gathering. I think that she has a unique special standing, Sharpton said, pointing to her vote total and the abbreviated campaign.
Harris won 83 percent of Black voters in 2024, according to Pew Research Center. Trump nearly doubled his support among Black voters between 2020 and 2024, rising from 8 percent to 15 percent.
Sharpton said voters would consider other candidates if Harris declined to run but would be reluctant to abandon her if she entered. He singled out Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as alternatives attracting attention.
Still, Sharpton cautioned against assuming Harris could simply inherit their support. I think she will have a certain amount that will go to her automatically but she still should work for it, not take anything for granted, he said.
Other Democrats Are Moving Ahead Anyway
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has left open the possibility of a 2028 run. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has established a $20 million political action committee and visited battleground states. Neither has promised to defer to Harris.
Ocasio-Cortez offered the clearest indication that Harris’ influence has limits. Asked about her political future, the New York Democrat told The New York Times: I don’t think that my decisions would come down to deference.
Some Democrats in Republican-leaning states have gone further, treating an association with Harris as a potential liability. Kansas Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton said Harris should stay away from his campaign. In Alaska, Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign rejected an unsolicited fundraising appeal from Harris.
In the Senate, colleagues are not rushing to endorse. I think we’re going to have a very, very, very messy and very big primary, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital. It’s going to be every Tom, Dick and Harry. And that’s probably where it should be.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he has backed Harris before but has made no decisions about who he would support. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said the party should sort out the field after the midterms.
Harris herself has urged Democrats to focus on November. Asked in Detroit whether she would run in 2028, she said she had not decided and warned that 2028 won’t matter without success in 2026. She returned to the campaign trail last week alongside Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
On the Republican side, Vice President JD Vance leads with 38 percent support, followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 24 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 9 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has fueled speculation about another White House bid, saying in August: It’s no secret that I want to be president. Rubio has been more cautious, saying during a visit to Colombia in September that he has no plans at this time.
What Comes Next for the 2028 Democratic Primary Frontrunners Harris Field
The immediate test is the midterms. Harris has framed 2026 as the priority, and senators across the spectrum have echoed that message. The longer she waits to decide, the longer she can enjoy the advantages of a prospective candidacy without facing the scrutiny of an actual one.
But the party cannot wait indefinitely. If Harris enters, Democrats will have to decide whether her 2024 defeat was due to exceptional circumstances or a reason to choose someone else. If she stays out, candidates who have been courting her former supporters can pursue them more openly.
A July University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll found Ocasio-Cortez leading the prospective 2028 Democratic primary field in New Hampshire with 22 percent support among likely Democratic primary voters. Harris registered 5 percent in that survey.
Until Harris decides, she remains the 2028 democratic primary frontrunners harris benchmark that every other candidate must measure against. She can influence the contest without participating. The question is how long other Democrats will allow her that luxury.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who leads the 2028 Democratic primary poll?
Kamala Harris leads with 30% support among Democrats, followed by Gavin Newsom at 15% and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pete Buttigieg tied at 9%, according to a Focaldata/Financial Times poll.
Has Kamala Harris announced a 2028 presidential run?
No. Harris has not announced a campaign but has said she has not decided whether she would run again. She has urged Democrats to focus on the 2026 midterms.
What did Gavin Newsom say about running in 2028?
Newsom told CNN in September that he would not run if Harris entered the race, describing a contest between the two Californians as mutual assured destruction.
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Health and Fitness
Hair Dye Safety: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Unproven
A practical hair dye safety guide: patch tests, bleach timing and scalp care, using celebrity colour changes as a cautionary case study.
The outcome you want is straightforward: a new colour that looks good, holds up, and leaves your scalp where it belongs. The fastest way to lose it is to copy a celebrity’s finished result while skipping the part of the process nobody photographs. That gap is where hair dye safety usually fails.
Jacob Elordi spent a weekend in New York City hiding his. According to Elle, the actor was photographed on two dates with Kendall Jenner, at Paranormal Activity on Broadway on Saturday and outdoors in fall layers on Sunday. He wore a beanie both times and added a hoodie on the second day for extra coverage. Even so, a patch of blond showed at the back of his hat. He has not said why he changed colour, and he has not shown the full look.
That concealment is a useful starting point for a health conversation, because it separates the outcome from the process. Blond is a result. Testing, timing and a professional who knows what your scalp can take is the process. Most hair damage happens when someone chases the first without the second.
Why Hair Dye Safety Matters More Than The Shade
Your scalp is skin. It absorbs, it reacts, and it remembers.
A dye applied to a calm scalp and the same dye applied to skin that is already irritated or freshly relaxed are not the same event. Dermatologists and dye manufacturers have long recommended patch testing before application, and most box kits carry the instruction on the leaflet. Allergic reactions to hair colour are a recognised, documented problem, not a freak accident. This is the strong end of the evidence: contact allergy to dye chemicals exists, it can develop after years of uneventful use, and once it appears it tends to persist.
The weak end is where most online argument lives. Questions about repeated dye exposure and long-term cancer risk have been studied for decades with mixed results. Research is still ongoing. No single study justifies panic, and no single study justifies dismissal either. Anyone who tells you the matter is settled is selling something.
What the celebrity coverage does establish is narrower and more reliable: professionals do not apply colour to an untested scalp, and they do not treat colour as a five-minute decision.
Hair Dye Safety Steps That Actually Hold Up
First, patch test 48 hours ahead. A small amount of dye behind the ear or on the inner forearm, left alone, tells you what your immune system thinks before your whole head finds out. Skip this and you are gambling on a reaction you cannot undo.
Second, be honest about your hair’s history. A relaxer, a recent henna application or a bleach job from six weeks ago changes what the next chemical can safely do. Salons in Lagos, Accra and Nairobi handle this daily, and the good ones ask. If yours does not ask, volunteer it.
Third, treat bleach as the serious step it is. Lifting dark hair to blond means removing pigment, and removing pigment means chemical stress on the shaft. Doing it in one sitting to save time raises the odds of breakage and scalp burns. Two sessions with a gap between them is slower, and safer.
Fourth, know what natural means on a label. Henna and herbal dyes are not automatically gentler. So-called black henna has been repeatedly flagged by dermatologists and regulators because it is often mixed with the same dye chemicals used in conventional colour, and applied to skin rather than hair. A plant on the box is not a safety guarantee.
Fifth, space out chemical services. Colour, relaxer and bleach inside the same fortnight is a schedule for damage. Give the scalp weeks, not days.
The Mistakes That Undo Everything

The biggest one is chasing a specific shade in a single appointment. The second is dyeing over an irritated scalp because an event is coming. The third is assuming a salon visit is protection. A salon reduces risk. It does not remove risk, and no stylist can test your immune system on your behalf.
None of this is exotic. Hair dye safety is mostly bookkeeping: what your scalp has already been through, and when.
It is worth noting that AOL reported Jenner’s platinum bob at the end of October, worn for a Paris, Texas Halloween costume. The same report notes she had gone blonde before, for looks referencing Pamela Anderson and Marilyn Monroe. Even with professional teams, this is a repeated, staged exercise across years, not one dramatic afternoon. AOL also reported that actor Paul Anthony Kelly went bleach blonde for a television role, in his case with highlights styled around the part rather than a full-lift from dark.
Meanwhile, AOL UK reports that Olivia Jade has been photographed in New York with art dealer PC Valmorbida following her reported split from Elordi. Personal lives move quickly. Scalp recovery does not.
Your First Step Today
Before you book anything, arrange a patch test. If you are using a box dye, test with the product you intend to apply, not a different brand. If you are going to a salon, ask to be tested before the appointment, and if they refuse, take your scalp somewhere else. That single step is the difference between hair dye safety being a phrase in an article and something you have actually done.
The realistic result is a colour you wanted, on a scalp that is not itching, weeping or shedding. You will not get certainty about every long-term question, because nobody can give you that today. What you get is control over the risks that are known and manageable, and a habit of not treating a preliminary headline as a diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need a patch test before dyeing my hair?
Yes. Patch testing 48 hours ahead is standard guidance from dye manufacturers and dermatologists. It will not predict every reaction, but it is the cheapest way to find out whether your skin tolerates a product before it goes on your whole scalp.
Is hair dye linked to cancer?
The research is mixed and still ongoing. Studies over several decades have not produced a settled answer, and no single study justifies either panic or dismissal. The risks that are well documented and manageable are skin-related: irritation and contact allergy.
Are natural or herbal dyes safer than conventional ones?
Not automatically. Products marketed as black henna, for example, have been repeatedly flagged because they are often mixed with the same dye chemicals found in conventional colour. Read the ingredient list rather than the front of the box.
World News
WTO Urges Africa To Build Regional Value Chains
WTO’s Okonjo-Iweala told an Abuja conference Africa must build regional value chains, citing 3% of global exports against 30% of critical minerals.
The final score out of Abuja reads 3 to 30, and it is the reason the World Trade Organisation spent Monday pressing African governments on regional value chains. Africa holds nearly 30 per cent of the world’s critical mineral reserves, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, nickel and graphite. It accounts for only three per cent of global exports. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala used those two numbers to open a conference titled Africa and the Geoeconomics of African States, Integration, Power and Structural Transformation.
The event was organised by the International Centre for Regional Integration and Trade Research at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and staged in the capital on Monday. Okonjo-Iweala was represented by Jan Yves Remy, identified in the News Agency of Nigeria account as a WTO adviser on international trade. The room included the WTO chair for Nigeria, a vice chancellor, and a federal government delegation. It did not include a single trade figure that flattered the continent.
What The WTO Means By Regional Value Chains

The director-general’s argument is about where value is booked, not how much raw material moves. “Africa must move beyond exporting raw materials to processing and manufacturing products locally to retain more economic value,” she said, according to the Peoples Gazette. She described the African Continental Free Trade Area as a geoeconomic instrument for expanding production and creating regional value chains.
The baseline is thin. Intra-African exports accounted for about 17 per cent of the continent’s merchandise exports in 2024. That is the number the AfCFTA is supposed to move, and it has barely moved.
Nigeria’s Lithium Factories And The Processing Test
Vice President Kashim Shettima made the parallel case for downstream industry at the same conference. “Resources confer potential. It is the capacity to process, transform, innovate, and negotiate that converts potential into prosperity,” he said, per Premium Times. Shettima, represented by Tope Fasua, the president’s special adviser on economic affairs, cited cocoa and crude oil as commodities the continent ships out without the plants to manufacture from them. He said the federal government is supporting three lithium-processing factories, in Nasarawa, Kaduna and Abuja.
Three plants do not build a value chain. They are a test case: if lithium leaves Nigeria as concentrate and returns as cells, the processing argument failed on its own home ground.
The Obstacles Named Are The Expensive Ones
Okonjo-Iweala listed infrastructure gaps, institutional weaknesses and non-tariff barriers as the major obstacles to implementing the continental agreement. The remedies she proposed — roads, ports, electricity, shipping connections, trade finance, efficient customs and predictable regulation — are capital-intensive and slow. Customs reform is unglamorous and decides whether a truck sits at a border for two days or two weeks.
The Gap Between Signing A Deal And Trading Under It
Prof. Ngozi Egbuna, the WTO chair for Nigeria and director of the hosting centre, put the implementation problem in plain terms. Signing agreements and establishing a continental market, she said, does not automatically produce economic benefits. The real test of the AfCFTA is whether African businesses can trade across borders, create jobs and retain economic value. She urged scholars to push research into negotiations and public policy rather than leaving it in journals.
Prof. Pat Utomi supplied the sharpest contrast of the day: Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo sit on critical minerals while recording some of the world’s highest poverty levels. Endowment, in other words, is not a scoreboard.
Bond Anyaehie, vice chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, argued that trade liberalisation on its own does not build collective economic power, and called for infrastructure development, industrialisation and competitive local enterprises. Okonjo-Iweala’s final ask was intellectual: universities and the African Trade Group of WTO Chairs should strengthen research, training and policy engagement.
A note on scope. No game results, roster moves, injury reports or league records appear in the reporting cited here. Every figure above is a trade statistic, and it is treated as one.
The Standings Implications Of Regional Value Chains
The conference produced no binding commitments, no timetable and no financing pledge. What it produced was a public accounting. A continent holding roughly 30 per cent of the minerals that batteries, turbines and defence supply chains depend on, and capturing three per cent of global exports, is not short of geology. It is short of processing capacity, power, ports and customs systems that function.
That is the standings picture the WTO wants changed. The push on regional value chains is a demand that the 17 per cent intra-African export share rise, and that the margin on cobalt, lithium and cocoa be earned on the continent instead of abroad. Until the lithium plants in Nasarawa, Kaduna and Abuja run at scale, the score stays 3 to 30.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly did the WTO ask African countries to do?
Strengthen regional value chains, industrialisation and infrastructure so the continent increases its share of global trade. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Africa must move beyond exporting raw materials to processing and manufacturing locally to retain more economic value.
How large is Africa’s share of global exports?
About three per cent, according to Okonjo-Iweala’s remarks in Abuja, despite the continent holding nearly 30 per cent of the world’s critical mineral reserves including cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, nickel and graphite.
What share of African trade stays inside Africa?
Intra-African exports accounted for roughly 17 per cent of the continent’s merchandise exports in 2024, a figure the African Continental Free Trade Area is intended to raise.
National
NAJA Names Weststar Chairman Auto Legend For 2026
NAJA names Weststar chairman Benson Uwatse a Nigeria Auto Legend for 2026. What the December award confirms, what it leaves open, and why distributors dominate.
The Nigeria Auto Journalists Association has selected Chief Benson Uwatse, chairman of Weststar Associates Limited, as the recipient of its Nigeria Auto Legend Award. The honour is due to be presented at the 19th Nigeria Auto Industry Awards, scheduled for Thursday, December 3, 2026, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. When NAJA names Weststar chairman a legend that evening, he will be the third industry figure to hold the title.
That much is confirmed by three separate Nigerian publications. The rest — what the award measures, why this recipient, and what it says about the country’s vehicle market — requires separating the announcement from the analysis built on top of it.
What NAJA Has Confirmed, And What It Has Left Open
ThisDay, Independent and New Telegraph all reported the selection, and their accounts share near-identical phrasing: the same description of Weststar’s remit, the same reference to three decades with Mercedes-Benz, the same list of past winners. That pattern is consistent with a circulated announcement rather than three independent investigations.
None of the three reports links to a standalone NAJA statement. None quotes Uwatse. The selection process, the composition of any judging panel and the criteria that separate a legend award from an ordinary industry prize are not disclosed.
Confirmed: the award has two previous recipients. Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, founder of Elizade Nigeria Limited and chairman of Toyota Nigeria Limited, took it first in 2017. Dr Cosmas Maduka, president and chief executive of Coscharis Group, followed. Uwatse is the third — meaning NAJA names Weststar chairman to a list that has so far honoured only distributors of foreign brands.
Why NAJA Names Weststar Chairman For Its Legend Award
The citation rests on longevity and brand stewardship rather than on any published metric. Weststar began operations in February 2008, assuming responsibility for Mercedes-Benz sales and after-sales work in Nigeria. Its remit spans passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, alongside dealer support, marketing, technical training, genuine spare parts supply, warranties and after-sales service.
Uwatse’s own association with the brand runs back more than three decades. Before chairing Weststar, he served as managing director of MB Automobile Services Limited, one of the authorised Mercedes-Benz dealers in the country. The association has said his record reflects the kind of sustained industry commitment the award exists to mark.
Beyond that, the public record is thin. The reports give no age, no education, no earlier career, no ownership stake in Weststar and no figure for vehicles sold or revenue earned under his chairmanship. Any profile that supplies those details is filling gaps, not reporting.
The Roll Call Describes A Distribution Economy, Not A Manufacturing One
Read the three names together and a structural fact appears that none of the individual reports states outright. All three honourees built their businesses on distributing foreign brands. Ade.Ojo’s Elizade grew around Toyota. Maduka’s Coscharis Motors secured franchises for BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and Ford. Uwatse’s Weststar holds Mercedes-Benz.
None of the citations rests on a vehicle designed or manufactured in Nigeria. NAJA’s legend list works, in effect, as a map of imported brand power in the domestic market — a record of who controls access to foreign badges rather than who builds cars locally. That is a fact about the industry’s shape. It is not a verdict on the recipients’ commercial skill, which the award is explicitly designed to honour.
New Telegraph reported that the sector continues to contend with changing market conditions, rising vehicle acquisition costs, evolving distribution models and the need to strengthen local automotive development. The award coverage does not say how any of the three honourees has addressed that last item.
The Missing Context Of Who Can Actually Buy
Weststar operates in the premium and luxury segment, a narrow slice of Nigerian demand. The macro picture around it is stark. An International Monetary Fund 2026 Article IV assessment, cited by New Telegraph, estimated that 63 per cent of Nigerians were living below the national poverty line, with about 27 million people facing food insecurity in autumn 2025.
Those figures describe the country in which a luxury vehicle distributor operates. They are background, not an indictment of the award. But they explain why an industry prize for brand-building carries weight inside the trade and little visibility outside it: the business being celebrated serves a small fraction of the population.
No market share, unit sales, employment or tax contribution figures are attached to the Uwatse citation. The award, as reported, rewards tenure and representation. It does not attempt to quantify either.
A Legacy Measured In Franchises, Not Factories
The December ceremony will be the first real test of what the honour means in practice. Two things bear watching: whether the association publishes the criteria behind the legend award, and whether a fourth recipient eventually comes from vehicle assembly rather than vehicle distribution.
For now, the confirmed record is narrow and clear. NAJA names Weststar chairman Benson Uwatse a Nigeria Auto Legend on December 3, 2026, in Lagos, alongside Michael Ade.Ojo and Cosmas Maduka. His three decades with Mercedes-Benz are documented in the trade press and not in dispute. The numbers that would let an outsider weigh that career against the industry’s wider needs are missing. Until they are published, the award stands as a professional community’s judgment on one of its own — significant inside the market, unverified outside it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who did NAJA name as the 2026 Nigeria Auto Legend?
The Nigeria Auto Journalists Association selected Chief Benson Uwatse, chairman of Weststar Associates Limited, the authorised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria. The award is scheduled to be presented at the 19th Nigeria Auto Industry Awards on Thursday, December 3, 2026, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Who were the previous winners of the Nigeria Auto Legend Award?
Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, founder of Elizade Nigeria Limited and chairman of Toyota Nigeria Limited, was the first recipient in 2017. Dr Cosmas Maduka, president and chief executive of Coscharis Group, was the second. Uwatse is the third recipient.
What does Weststar Associates do in Nigeria?
Weststar commenced operations in February 2008, taking responsibility for Mercedes-Benz sales and after-sales activities in Nigeria. Its remit covers passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, plus dealer support, marketing, technical training, genuine spare parts supply, warranties and after-sales service.
Has Uwatse or NAJA issued a direct public statement?
None of the three published reports reviewed links to a standalone NAJA statement or quotes Uwatse directly. The reports carry near-identical language, which is consistent with a circulated announcement. The selection criteria and judging process have not been disclosed.
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