#Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NE

[newssplashy]

Jamel Myles took his life on the first week of school following four days of unbearable mockery and shun by fellow students at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School who said he looked like gay.

A 9-year-old boy from Denver in Colorado is reported to have committed suicide after he could not bear incessant bullying by his school mates, some of whom asked him to kill himself because he was gay.

The deceased, Jamel Myles took his life on the first week of school following four days of unbearable mockery and shun by fellow students at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School who said he looked like gay.

His distressed mother, Leia Pierce said: “Four days is all it took at school. I could just imagine what they said to him.

“My son told my oldest daughter the kids at school told him to kill himself. I’m just sad he didn’t come to me.”

Leia Pierce said she only became aware of her son’s condition over the summer when he personally revealed it to her, but little did she know that the youngster was facing problems at school.

 READ MORE: Man kills mother heartlessly, chops the body into pieces

“He went to school and said he was gonna tell people he’s gay because he’s proud of himself,” Leia Pierce added.

She is calling for an action against bullying which has become a dangerous trend among the youth.

“We should have accountability for bullying. I think the child should, because the child knows it’s wrong.

"The child wouldn’t want someone to do it to them. I think the parent should be held (accountable) because obviously the parents are either teaching them to be like that, or they’re treating them like that,” she said.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

The 47-year-old Englishman is a former accountant and investment banker.

Many Manchester United fans are usually more concerned with what happens on the pitch than who occupies which position in the Boardroom.

However, in recent times, the lack of success in terms of trophies has led to frustrated fans calling out the club’s Executive Vice-Chairman, Edward Gareth Woodward, more popularly known as Ed Woodward.

But how much information do you have about Mr. Woodward’s profile and life?

The 47-year-old Englishman is a former accountant and investment banker and that explains why he has been very successful in bringing in more and more sponsors.

But aside his accounting background, Woodward also has a background in science from his high school and colleg e years.

READ ALSO:

Having attended Brentwood School in Brentwood, Essex from 1983 to 1989, he went on to study Physics at the University of Bristol graduating in 1993. 

Woodward officially graduated as a qualified Chartered Accountant in 1996 after further educating himself in the sector.

He started his career by working in the accounting and tax advisory department of a company called PricewaterhouseCoopers.

He was, however, later to join J.P. Morgan & Co. as an investment banker in the mergers and acquisitions department in 1999.

Woodward continued to advance his career and was an advisor to Malcom Glazer and the entire Glazer family during their successful takeover of Manchester United in 2005.

Following the takeover, the Glazer family formerly hired him in a "financial planning" role.

READ ALSO:

However, Woodward would rise to become Manchester United’s Executive Vice-Chairman following the departure of David Gill in 2013.

Currently, he is the most powerful man on the Man United board, but even he had humble beginnings.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

"There is a heightened risk of a downside funding scenario, where a deterioration in investor sentiment limits access to market funding," Moody's said, noting that "Turkish banks are highly reliant on foreign currency funding."

Turkish lira slumps once again after Moody's downgrades 20 financial institutions.

The currency had stabilized after its huge slump earlier in August, but is falling once again.

By Tuesday morning, it was trading at 6.3 against the dollar.

You can follow the lira's movements at Markets Insider.

After a week out of the spotlight, the Turkish lira is once again slumping Wednesday as fears over the state of the country's fragile financial system intensify.

Although still significantly stronger than a few weeks ago, the lira has slumped to 6.3 against the dollar by 9.30 a.m. BST (4.30 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, a low not seen in around two weeks.

The main catalyst for the move lower appears to be the decision of ratings agency Moody's on Tuesday to downgrade the credit rating of 20 Turkish financial institutions. In downgrading the banks, analysts from Moody's cited what they called a "substantial increase in the risk of a downside scenario," for Turkey's lenders.

"There is a heightened risk of a downside funding scenario, where a deterioration in investor sentiment limits access to market funding," Moody's said, noting that "Turkish banks are highly reliant on foreign currency funding."

The note, authored by vice president/senior analyst Carlo Gori and MD/financial institutions Sean Marion, suggests that the Turkish banking sector faces a potential funding crisis:

"In the next 12 months around USD77 billion of foreign currency wholesale bonds and syndicated loans, or 41% of the total market funding, needs to be refinanced. The Turkish banks hold around USD48 billion of liquid assets in foreign currency and have USD57 billion compulsory reserves with the Central Bank of Turkey, which would not be entirely available."

"In a downside scenario, where investor sentiment shifts, the risk of a prolonged closure of the wholesale market would lead most banks to materially deleverage, or to require external funding support from the government, or the Central Bank."

SEE ALSO: Turkey's economic crisis has gone off the radar — but there's a huge chance it could get a whole lot worse

Issues in Turkey started in early August when the Trump administration placed a series of sanctions against Turkey in retaliation for its refusal to release Andrew Brunson. Brunson is an American pastor detained by Turkish authorities for his alleged support for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and the Gulenist movement, both of which are accused of being involved in 2016's failed coup against President Erdogan.

Those sanctions include the announcement of a doubling of tariffs on metal imports into the US from Turkey, which was the initial catalyst for the great turmoil in financial markets over the past few weeks.

At one point during the worst of the crisis, the lira was down more than 40%.

The lira's collapse has plunged the entirety of the emerging market space into chaos, with contagion causing the likes of the South African rand, the Argentine peso, and the Indonesian rupiah, to slump in response.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Let that woman go.

In every romantic relationship you find yourself in, guys, it is never enough for love, affection and effort to flow from just one side to the other – usually from yours to hers.

Some women are content to be takers, either giving nothing back or offering too little in return, compared to what they get from their romantic unions.

It’s about time you got better from your relationship, too. So you should let any woman go who refuses to do for you, any of the five things listed below.

 1. Doesn’t spoil you

Really, men deserve to be spoilt, too. And while this does not take away from the duty you owe your woman to spoil and make her feel like a queen at all times, it still needs to be said that you, too, need pampering, surprise dates, visits to exotic places, and other affordable comforts that tallies with your present position in life.

2. Doesn’t support you

She should be your number one support and cheer leader. Women are actually quite good at this. If yours isn’t and doesn’t look interested in changing anytime soon, let that woman go, abeg!

You really need and deserve someone who stands by you through the journey to greatness, just as you should be on her journey to hers.

Since we are here, it is important for you to realise that your woman’s life and yours can run concurrently. Never allow her abandon her dreams for yours, neither should you be the one to douse the fire in her eyes. That’s waaaaay worse.

ALSO READ: Ladies, if he does not do these 5 things for you, let him go

3. Doesn’t give you peace of mind

Women need peace of mind from you in the sense that you give them the opportunity to trust your loyalty to them, and your unwavering faithfulness to them.

But guess what? They owe you this duty too! You don’t need a woman who constantly has something to complain about, who lacks the emotional intelligence required to keep you happy, unstressed, mentally stable and content with life.

 4. How about some respect?

Respect is reciprocal. She gives your yours and she deserves hers, too.

5. Doesn’t care about your sexual satisfaction

There are women who overrate the importance of having a vajayjay. They think all they need do during sex is to just lay there and let you have your way. They believe that ‘giving’ it to you is enough work already.

But of course, that’s not enough and you deserve better than a woman who offers nothing but wack sex, and refuses to chance or put in any effort to grow out of it.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

The stunning Idia Aisien adds another feather to her media cap by being announced as the host for the upcoming Glitz Style Awards in Ghana.

The annual Glitz Style Awards, a celebration of all things fashion and elegance has announced award-winning media personality Idia Aisien as the host for the 2018 edition.

Idia is an award winning media personality who is known for her roles as an international television presenter, model and brand ambassador. She is also the recipient for the 2017 ELOY Awards Presenter for the Year for Terrestrial and online platform.

 The Glitz Style awards is an annual event that celebrates style trend - setting individuals who defy the odds with their fashion style. The 2018 edition of the Glitz Style Awards will be at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on September 1st and the event is sure to be graced by celebrities and high profile personalities from Africa. The Glitz Style awards provides the opportunity for the fashion industry to celebrate and promote the creative talents in Africa, and we are excited to see Idia nail hosting the award in stunning outfits.  

For more information, visit www.idiaaisien.com 

Instagram handle for Idia Aisien @doctoridia

Press Contact for Idia Aisien Management, The PR Boy @theprboy_

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

"There is a heightened risk of a downside funding scenario, where a deterioration in investor sentiment limits access to market funding," Moody's said, noting that "Turkish banks are highly reliant on foreign currency funding."

Turkish lira slumps once again after Moody's downgrades 20 financial institutions.

The currency had stabilized after its huge slump earlier in August, but is falling once again.

By Tuesday morning, it was trading at 6.3 against the dollar.

You can follow the lira's movements at Markets Insider.

After a week out of the spotlight, the Turkish lira is once again slumping Wednesday as fears over the state of the country's fragile financial system intensify.

Although still significantly stronger than a few weeks ago, the lira has slumped to 6.3 against the dollar by 9.30 a.m. BST (4.30 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, a low not seen in around two weeks.

The main catalyst for the move lower appears to be the decision of ratings agency Moody's on Tuesday to downgrade the credit rating of 20 Turkish financial institutions. In downgrading the banks, analysts from Moody's cited what they called a "substantial increase in the risk of a downside scenario," for Turkey's lenders.

"There is a heightened risk of a downside funding scenario, where a deterioration in investor sentiment limits access to market funding," Moody's said, noting that "Turkish banks are highly reliant on foreign currency funding."

The note, authored by vice president/senior analyst Carlo Gori and MD/financial institutions Sean Marion, suggests that the Turkish banking sector faces a potential funding crisis:

"In the next 12 months around USD77 billion of foreign currency wholesale bonds and syndicated loans, or 41% of the total market funding, needs to be refinanced. The Turkish banks hold around USD48 billion of liquid assets in foreign currency and have USD57 billion compulsory reserves with the Central Bank of Turkey, which would not be entirely available."

"In a downside scenario, where investor sentiment shifts, the risk of a prolonged closure of the wholesale market would lead most banks to materially deleverage, or to require external funding support from the government, or the Central Bank."

SEE ALSO: Turkey's economic crisis has gone off the radar — but there's a huge chance it could get a whole lot worse

Issues in Turkey started in early August when the Trump administration placed a series of sanctions against Turkey in retaliation for its refusal to release Andrew Brunson. Brunson is an American pastor detained by Turkish authorities for his alleged support for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and the Gulenist movement, both of which are accused of being involved in 2016's failed coup against President Erdogan.

Those sanctions include the announcement of a doubling of tariffs on metal imports into the US from Turkey, which was the initial catalyst for the great turmoil in financial markets over the past few weeks.

At one point during the worst of the crisis, the lira was down more than 40%.

The lira's collapse has plunged the entirety of the emerging market space into chaos, with contagion causing the likes of the South African rand, the Argentine peso, and the Indonesian rupiah, to slump in response.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Daddy Freeze wants to rid Christianity in Nigeria – of what he calls – scams, but he’s selling his scam, solely as the answer against everything else.

He attacks, disparages, insults, fudges and takes advantage. He has a few talking points, never wants to hear anything else and uses his scam to promote food sales as well as an online nonsense he calls a church.

He roves in deception. He felt he could destroy the Church and use that to make a name for himself or build something, but he lacks originality, lacks new ideas, he’s frightened and those who learn from him are unlikely to be better than him – a very low thinking individual.

Everything he’s so certain of, or thinks he knows – against true Churches – is false. Nothing he can ever say that cannot be convincingly countered.

Real Christians thrive on true Faith and true Hope but he calls it a scam. He thought selling despondency and asperity could cast them off their pedestal of Faith, but he failed.

He never talks about electricity, because he knows the Church is not responsible for electricity cuts – a major problem in Nigeria. He talks about poverty, but the Church does not control what people earn, or spend, or the general conditions of living.

Also Read: Nigeria, Christianity, Electricity & Poverty

 Scams in Service of Poverty

Internet fraud seems to be the most popular in Nigeria, but there are massive amounts of frauds and scams elsewhere.

There are corporate frauds, those that go on without detection, but align with products, purchase, or service.

It is often a way to make more, on the side – along regular earnings. There are also approvals motivated by frauds, so it benefits those involved.

It looks from the outside like many of those involved would never need such, but it seems Nigeria bends most people to desperation to pay for the failures of the society.

There are so many unexpected costs, rising costs, and several losses that can come from any direction. These, aside fear of poverty or saving or assets, made many turn to fraud to maintain a standard.

There are also losses from cheating by others. Nigeria has governments’ dedication to corruption. There are also frauds churches with fake pastors, hypocrites and massive greed.

Also Read: What is that daddy freeze afraid of? & Addiction of daddy freeze

 But fraud is wickedness and a sin. In situations where fraud is the purpose, great progress is rarely made. There is progress, but a lot of it is a sham.

Most problems in Nigeria often result from scams, frauds and corruption, but sometimes the immediate problem seem to be incompetence, cronyism, nepotism, apathy, laziness, low standards, low quality, etc.

If the ATM of a major bank is always down on weekends or evenings, or there are always queues of people in the sun looking miserable like they are there to beg, it is mostly caused by some futility somewhere that if really queried may align with some corporate fraud culture.

Seems extreme to say, sorry; there may not be actual fraud in operations, but the fraud culture of negligence – and absurdity goes, even for a private organization yelling innovation but common efficiency they can’t, says everything.

The solution maybe simple, incremental, or reachable, but because the change may rip off persons benefiting from the situation, it would likely remain that way.

Also Read: Churches are NOT Business Centers

 Daddy Freeze Scam

There are several people living within their means and focused on integrity in spite of frauds and scams everywhere. They sometimes seem to let their guards down and trust certain others, but learn the same lesson that reminds them of the culture.

One sign of a scammer is one who calls everything a scam – all the time. They carry in their heart that this thing is a scam, genuine or not.

They’re continually on guard against scams. All their intellectual ability is to question everything. But they are often perpetrators, who know what they can do, but don’t want it done to them.

The noise of Daddy Freeze all the time that Church in Nigeria is a scam, or fraud, or his disparaging of the Old Testament, or anything with genuine Christianity shows that he’s a scam trying to do what he accused others of doing.

But at least he is failing: he’s selling shirts, getting vain donations, adverting food, helping blogs get clicks, selling audio CDs, getting idlers to wear his shirts and helping Nigeria stay distracted.

These were not the successes he anticipated, and his supporters always beg him to help them travel – showing they need heavy help.

He had in the past balked at criticizing government, responding to people he had chosen his own struggle, but of late, he has been attacking the government, because the failure of his lie campaign is coming at him faster and he’s testing all kinds of alternatives.

It is unfortunate for any individual to be brainwashed by Daddy Freeze: a destroyer, a liar, talentless, atheist and terminally obtuse.

Also Read: Daddy Freeze’s Atheism  & Are Christians in Nigeria Brainwashed?

 Churches are not responsible to build factories in Nigeria. Manufacturers can do that. Churches are not meant to provide free education in Nigeria, but Churches can provide specialized education and Solutions Universities, etc. Churches are for true Faith, true Hope and Worship – in Spirit and in Truth.

There was a message many years ago, with centers around Nigeria. They had semblance of temple worship but – centrally – against Christ Jesus and Christianity. The buildings were cool, the branding was great, and it seemed to grow.

Several years later it failed, faded and became forgotten. Of late, one of the old centers in Mainland [Lagos] has – now – been converted to a Church.

Written by Nneka Okumazie

Twitter/IG: Okumazie

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

He said the current government has done more for Nigerians despite operating with fewer resources than were available in the past.

Despite working with fewer resources than was at the disposal of previous governments, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, believes President Muhammadu Buhari's administration has done more for Nigerians.

The minister said this while hosting a former minister and Ekiti State governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who paid him a courtesy visit, according to a report by The Punch.

While distinguishing the ideals of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), Fashola said Buhari's government has carried out infrastructural projects without any political bias. According to him, this is why the current government has done more for Nigerians despite operating with fewer resources than were available in the past.

He said, "Our developmental initiatives are party blind, they are people focused, they are Nigeria centred. The housing project, federal secretariat project, transmission projects are all projects that were initiated while the opposition party governed the state (Ekiti). I went there on a tour to ensure that these projects were going on and what this visit does is just to bring that into sharper focus now.

"People say, in my view wrongly, that there is no difference between us and them (opposition). There are lots of differences and these can be seen in our attitude to development, spending, the type of infrastructure that President Buhari believes in, real infrastructure, not stomach infrastructure.

"There are fundamental ideological differences about how an economy and a government should be run. I think people must focus on those differences about how this government is doing more with fewer resources."

Fayemi seeks Fashola's help to develop Ekiti

During his visit, Fayemi said he hopes to prevail on Fashola to ask for the help of his ministry to implement developmental works in the state.

He said, "This is more of a private courtesy call on the minister and I am delighted to be here. I’ve come to solicit for assistance, his (Fashola’s) ministry is very crucial to the success of our state, particularly with regards to the developmental works around infrastructure such as power, housing and works."

Fashola told the governor-elect that his experience should serve him well in executing his duties for the good of the people of the state.

"I don't envy you because this is not an easy time to be a leader. However, I am sure that your previous experience in the state and at the national level will ultimately serve the interest of Ekiti people," he said.

Fayemi defeated the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, aka Eleka, in the July 14 gubernatorial election as he won 197,459 votes to his opponent's 178,121 votes.

On October 16,  2018, he'll take over from incumbent, Ayodele Fayose, who defeated him in the 2014 gubernatorial election after his first stint as governor between 2010 and 2014.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Aston Martin has announced plans to go public and float on the London stock exchange later this year, following half-year results that saw profits and sales reach record levels for the high-end British car maker.

Aston Martin plans to launch IPO in London later this year, and is expected to be valued at £5 billion.

The luxury British car maker saw half-year profits reach record levels after seven consecutive profitable quarters. The public listing of over 25% shares could see it enter the FTSE 100.

The company plans to pivot towards the Asian market, aiming to increase the proportion of Asian sales from 16% to over a quarter of total sales annually.

"This is a monumental moment," chief executive Andy Palmer said.

Aston Martin has announced plans to go public and float on the London Stock Exchange later this year, following half-year results that saw profits and sales reach record levels for the high-end British car maker.

The firm is expected to be valued at around £5 billion ($6.44 billion) at the IPO. The decision to publicly list comes after seven consecutive profitable quarters and represents a turnaround for the car maker which has been bankrupt seven times.

"This is a monumental moment," chief executive Andy Palmer told the Financial Times.

"When I started in 1979 there were lots of British car companies. Over the course of my career those have disappeared. Car making in the UK is in a healthy state, but companies are foreign owned. Now we will have an independent British car company again."

The company reported a 14% climb in revenues in the opening half of the year, hitting £449.9 million ($580 million), and a rise of pre-tax profits from £20.1 million to £20.8 million ($25.9 million to $26.8 million), helped by growing demand in Asia and the launch of three new sports car lines.

The firm reported a 24% pre-tax profit margin, once the costs of preference shares and other measures were removed from consideration.

The plans for listing, due to happen later this year, will see at least 25% of the shares float on the stock market. It is possible that the firm could end up in the blue chip FTSE 100 index, although that will depend on the stock's early performance.

Company backers, Italian group Invest Industrial and the Kuwaiti investment fund Investment Dar will sell some shares, and Daimler which owns a 4.9% stake will remain a shareholder.

Aston Martin expects to sell 6,200 to 6,400 cars this year, rising to 7,100 to 7,300 next, climbing to 9,800 in 2020 once a new production plant is completed. The company plans to make 14,000 cars per year in the long run through both the original Aston Martin badge and the relaunch of its Lagonda brand as a luxury electric car maker.

The firm plans to adjust its global sales balance, reducing its focus on the UK market which represents 30% of its current sales and putting more emphasis on Asia where it believes sales will rise from 16% to over over a quarter, with the help of a new sports utility vehicle that will be ready in 2020.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

A Facebook ad for birth control app Natural Cycles has been banned by Britain's advertising watchdog on the grounds it is misleading. The Advertising Standards Association questioned claims that Natural Cycles is a 'highly accurate contraceptive app.'

A Facebook ad for birth control app Natural Cycles has been banned by Britain's advertising watchdog on the grounds it is misleading.

The Advertising Standards Association questioned claims that Natural Cycles is a "highly accurate contraceptive app."

The app, which has just been greenlit in the US, is already under investigation in Sweden after a hospital revealed 37 women had reported unwanted pregnancies after using the app.

Natural Cycles, the app which claims to be an effective method of contraception, has had a Facebook ad banned after it was deemed to be misleading by the Advertising Standards Association (ASA).

Natural Cycles, which has just been greenlit by the Food and Drug Administration to launch in the US, claims it can provide by protection-free birth control by tracking a woman's menstrual cycle through her body temperature.

Using an algorithm developed by the company, the app then shows the user whether she is either on a fertile day or a non-fertile day, in which case it claims it is safe to have unprotected sex. The app costs £39.99 ($51.50) a year or £5.99 ($7.71) a month, and comes with a thermometer.

The ASA investigated a paid-for Natural Cycles ad on Facebook in July 2017, which claimed: "Natural Cycles is a highly accurate, certified, contraceptive app that adapts to every woman’s unique menstrual cycle. Sign up to get to know your body and prevent pregnancies naturally."

The ASA found that Natural Cycles had exaggerated the app's "typical-use" failure rate — i.e. how often it fails when someone doesn't use it 100% correctly, as is often the case with contraceptives.

Natural Cycles told the ASA that clinical trials showed it was 93% effective with typical use, but the ASA's investigation found that this figure was exaggerated, and a more realistic figure was 91.7%. It also found that Natural Cycles requires far more input from the user than other contraception methods, and that only 9.6% of inputted cycles in the app could be considered "perfect-use."

"We considered that in isolation, the claim 'clinically tested alternative to birth control methods' was unlikely to mislead. However, when presented alongside the accompanying claim 'Highly accurate contraceptive app', it further contributed to the impression that the app was a precise and reliable method of preventing pregnancies which could be used in place of other established birth control methods," the ruling concluded.

"Because the evidence did not demonstrate that in typical-use it was 'highly accurate' and because it was significantly less effective than the most reliable birth control methods, we considered that in the context of the ad the claim was likely to mislead."

The ASA banned the ad from appearing on Facebook and warned Natural Cycles not to say that the app was a highly accurate method of contraception, or to exaggerate its efficacy in preventing pregnancies.

Business Insider has contacted Natural Cycles for comment. A spokesperson told the Guardian: ;"We respect the outcome of the investigation by the ASA into one Facebook advertisement, which ran for approximately four weeks in mid-2017. The investigation was initiated nearly 12 months ago and the advertisement was removed as soon as we were notified of the complaint."

This is not the only time an investigation has called the efficacy of Natural Cycles as a contraceptive into question. The company is under investigation in Sweden after a hospital reported that 37 of 668 female patients who sought an abortion between September and December 2017 had been using the app.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

The event themed “Youths in Business, Fund, Run and Grow your business and Ideas” will hold at Landmark Event Center, VI on Friday August 31, 2018.

Tush Awards will be celebrating its 10th year anniversary this August with a youth conference where you can win N1Million business grant.

The first ever Tush Awards youth Conference will hold at the Landmark Event Center, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos Friday August 31, 2018.

Themed “Youths in Business, Fund, Run and Grow your business and Ideas”, the keynote address of the conference will be given by Group MD & Founder, Courteville Plc, Dr Adebola Akindele.

Panelists at the conference

There'll also be panel sessions which will include seasoned professionals from various industrial sectors. Some of the panelists are CEO, X3M Ideas Group, Steve Babaeko; Group Head, Customer Service Management, Wema Bank, Kemi Aina; Group Head, SME Banking, Sterling Bank, Ezinne Okoroafor; Head, Pulse Nigeria, Osagie Alonge.

Other panelists include CEO, Workbay Co-Space Nigeria, Gbenga Aiyeremi; Head, Consumer Market, Insights & Analytics, Ecobank, Ikechukwu Kalu; Founder, Valencia College, Ibadan, Goodness Morakinyo and Veteran Actor & Entrepreneur, Basorge Tariah.

Prizes to be won

 Winner - N500, 000 + 3 Months free serviced office (Co-working Space) First Runner-up - N300, 000 + 3 Months free serviced office (Co-working Space) Second Runner-up – N200, 000 + 3 Months free serviced office (Co-working Space) Third Runner-up – 3 Months free serviced office (Co-working Space)

How to win

Follow @TushAwards on Instagram, Upload a minute video stating why you need the grant. All videos will be reposted with the hashtag #TushAwards2018 #AYTASMEPitch as from August 18. Top 20 Most Viewed Entries would be selected for the next stage.

For the next stage, you will be required to physically pitch to judges at Tush Awards Youth Conference. You must be following @TushAwards for your entry to count.

Take your chance now and you could be the winner.

Event details

Date: Friday August 31, 2018

Venue: Landmark Event Center, Oniru, VI, Lagos

Time: 9:00am

The grand finale of the Tush Awards will hold in December 2018 in Lagos and promises to be grand.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Let that woman go.

In every romantic relationship you find yourself in, guys, it is never enough for love, affection and effort to flow from just one side to the other – usually from yours to hers.

Some women are content to be takers, either giving nothing back or offering too little in return, compared to what they get from their romantic unions.

It’s about time you got better from your relationship, too. So you should let any woman go who refuses to do for you, any of the five things listed below.

 1. Doesn’t spoil you

Really, men deserve to be spoilt, too. And while this does not take away from the duty you owe your woman to spoil and make her feel like a queen at all times, it still needs to be said that you, too, need pampering, surprise dates, visits to exotic places, and other affordable comforts that tallies with your present position in life.

2. Doesn’t support you

She should be your number one support and cheer leader. Women are actually quite good at this. If yours isn’t and doesn’t look interested in changing anytime soon, let that woman go, abeg!

You really need and deserve someone who stands by you through the journey to greatness, just as you should be on her journey to hers.

Since we are here, it is important for you to realise that your woman’s life and yours can run concurrently. Never allow her abandon her dreams for yours, neither should you be the one to douse the fire in her eyes. That’s waaaaay worse.

ALSO READ: Ladies, if he does not do these 5 things for you, let him go

3. Doesn’t give you peace of mind

Women need peace of mind from you in the sense that you give them the opportunity to trust your loyalty to them, and your unwavering faithfulness to them.

But guess what? They owe you this duty too! You don’t need a woman who constantly has something to complain about, who lacks the emotional intelligence required to keep you happy, unstressed, mentally stable and content with life.

 4. How about some respect?

Respect is reciprocal. She gives your yours and she deserves hers, too.

5. Doesn’t care about your sexual satisfaction

There are women who overrate the importance of having a vajayjay. They think all they need do during sex is to just lay there and let you have your way. They believe that ‘giving’ it to you is enough work already.

But of course, that’s not enough and you deserve better than a woman who offers nothing but wack sex, and refuses to chance or put in any effort to grow out of it.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

He rambles on, apologizes, tries to play a song on a small portable stereo, and does a little dance. The camera does not cut away.

In the opening of “Thunder Road,” the main character, Jim Arnaud, tries to deliver a funeral eulogy for his mother. There is no question that Jim, a boyish police officer, loves his mom. But after a few minutes, there’s also no question that he is having a minor meltdown in front of a room full of people.

He rambles on, apologizes, tries to play a song on a small portable stereo, and does a little dance. The camera does not cut away.

This eulogy is one in a series of mortifications that Jim, played by Jim Cummings, undergoes in the movie, at the hands of frustrated co-workers, a sharp-tongued ex-wife and his own unimpressed preteen daughter.

“It’s like a much sadder version of my life, or the ghost of Christmas future,” Cummings, who also wrote and directed “Thunder Road,” said by phone from Los Angeles. “I’m creating this horrible, pathetic version of what my life could have been and then finding empathy and comedy in that.”

The singular vision of Cummings’ film placed it squarely within the interests of Bruno Barde, the longtime director of the Deauville American Film Festival, which opens Friday. The 44-year-old festival in the resort town of Deauville, France, puts a spotlight on American independent cinema.

“Thunder Road” fits the mold of a small-scale film willed into being by determination, obsession and a modest budget.

“'Thunder Road’ partakes in the established independent film tradition of the ‘self-made man’ who writes, directs and plays the main character,” Barde said, aligning its antihero with “the great tradition of American comedies from Charles Chaplin to Woody Allen and the Coen brothers.”

Like the other American films featured at Deauville, “Thunder Road” had its world premiere elsewhere, at South by Southwest. It will screen in a competition selection that cherry-picks primarily from standouts at Sundance and SXSW, such as Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace,” “American Animals,” Jennifer Fox’s “The Tale,” “Puzzle,” and “Blindspotting.”

The jury, led by actress Sandrine Kiberlain, includes writer-director Stéphane Brizé, whose films “At War” and “The Measure of a Man” had their premieres in Cannes.

“In the U.S., the independent cinema doesn’t benefit from all the help we have in France. But at the end, we see the result of a strong need. And a masterpiece is always the result of a strong need,” Brizé wrote in an email, declaring his “eternal curiosity about these films which sometimes come from nowhere.”

It will be up to Brizé and the rest of the Deauville jury to judge “Thunder Road,” which will compete for attention with a fleet of stars such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Morgan Freeman, Shailene Woodley and John Grisham.

But the film — named after the 1975 Bruce Springsteen song, which in turn borrowed the title of a Robert Mitchum movie — certainly bears the stamp of a strong need.

Cummings, 31, made “Thunder Road” after first making a short by the same title that was composed solely of the funeral monologue. It had taken him a few years to find his feet, eventually working as an associate producer on “Krisha,” directed by Trey Edward Shults. Before then, he put in time as a production assistant at Industrial Light and Magic.

“I was very much a nobody,” Cummings said, his voice bearing the softest trace of growing up in New Orleans (alongside seven siblings).

Cummings’ ready self-deprecation might make him sound like just another poster boy for underdog indie filmmaking. But the director retains his own, perhaps Jim Arnaud-like, quirks of expression and enthusiasm. He happily explained, for example, that being both director and star “saved time on set and an extra meal” and saved him from having to “download” all the specifics of his character ���into another person’s brain.”

Playing Jim Arnaud, the fresh-faced Cummings brings a hapless candor that suggests the character is only barely keeping up, whether it’s during a dinner conversation with the family of his squad-car partner, or playing patty-cakes with his daughter. The episodic film is essentially one long slow-motion breakdown, culminating in a very public rebuke in the parking lot of the police department.

In many Hollywood comedies, Arnaud might be portrayed as just another man-child to mock. Cummings, who has made a number of comedic shorts, did state a fondness for the obliviously gauche British character Alan Partridge played by Steve Coogan. But “Thunder Road” makes a case for Arnaud as a good-hearted goof, the sort of guy that a sister or brother might worry about and maybe not fully understand.

“It’s OK for the audience to not know how to feel when they’re watching something, because you can lure them in and disarm them with comedy and then you get to talk about big stuff,” Cummings said.

Cummings’ strategy is reflected in the film’s use of long takes in shooting scenes. It’s a way of resisting the rhythm of reaction shots that might cue the viewer to laugh at a scene or feel a certain way. In the story itself, we’re also encouraged to take Arnaud seriously through the compassionate character of his partner, and boundlessly patient friend, Nate (Nican Robinson).

The resulting emotional payoffs earned “Thunder Road” its share of plaudits: the top narrative prize at SXSW, a plum slot in an independent showcase held in Cannes, and a Variety review pronouncing Cummings “a born filmmaker” who had made “one of the most authentic eulogies you’ve ever seen in a dramatic feature.”

The film’s Deauville showing will lead into a national release in France. In the United States, it screens in October at more than 15 theaters under the auspices of Alamo Drafthouse. It will also be available on video on demand this fall, and next year, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Cummings said.

Cummings is keeping his options open but does have at least one project on the horizon that promises to continue his particular brand of tonally complex emotion with an intriguing premise.

“I’m in development for a TV show about astronauts coming back to the suburbs. Which is another melancholy comedy,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Nicolas Rapold © 2018 The New York Times

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Viganò, the former chief Vatican diplomat in the United States, spent the morning working shoulder to shoulder with the reporter at his dining room table on a 7,000-word letter that called for the resignation of Pope Francis.

ROME — At 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò showed up at the Rome apartment of a conservative Vatican reporter with a simple clerical collar, a Rocky Mountains baseball cap and an explosive story to tell.

Viganò, the former chief Vatican diplomat in the United States, spent the morning working shoulder to shoulder with the reporter at his dining room table on a 7,000-word letter that called for the resignation of Pope Francis, accusing him of covering up sexual abuse and giving comfort to a “homosexual current” in the Vatican.

The journalist, Marco Tosatti, said he had smoothed out the narrative. The enraged archbishop brought no evidence, he said, but he did supply the flair, condemning the homosexual networks inside the church that act “with the power of octopus tentacles” to “strangle innocent victims and priestly vocations.”

“The poetry is all his,” Tosatti said.

When the letter was finished, Viganò took his leave, turning off his cellphone. Keeping his destination a secret because he was “worried for his own security,” Tosatti said, the archbishop then simply “disappeared.”

The letter, published Sunday, has challenged Francis’ papacy and shaken the Roman Catholic Church to its core. The pope has said he won’t dignify it with a response, yet the allegations have touched off an ideological civil war, with the usually shadowy Vatican backstabbing giving way to open combat.

The letter exposed deep ideological clashes, with conservatives taking up arms against Francis’ inclusive vision of a church that is less focused on divisive issues like abortion and homosexuality. But Viganò — who himself has been accused of hindering a sexual misconduct investigation in Minnesota — also seems to be settling old scores.

As the papal ambassador, or nuncio, in the United States, Viganò sided with conservative culture warriors and used his role in naming new bishops to put staunch conservatives in San Francisco, Denver and Baltimore. But he found himself iced out after the election of Pope Francis.

Then in 2015, he personally ran afoul of Francis. Viganò's decision to invite a staunch critic of gay rights to greet the pope in Washington during a visit to the United States directly challenged Francis’ inclusive message and prompted a controversy that nearly overshadowed the trip.

Juan Carlos Cruz, an abuse survivor with whom Francis has spoken at length, said the pope recently told him Viganò nearly sabotaged the visit by inviting the critic, Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who became a conservative cause célèbre when she refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

“I didn’t know who that woman was, and he snuck her in to say hello to me, and of course they made a whole publicity out of it,” Francis said, according to Cruz.

“And I was horrified and I fired that nuncio,” Cruz recalled the pope saying.

Now, three years later, Viganò appears to be trying to return the favor.

Known for his short temper and ambition, Viganò has clashed with superiors who stunted his ascent in the church and has played a key role in some of the most stunning Vatican scandals of recent times.

While Viganò, who was once criticized by church traditionalists as overly pragmatic, has aligned himself with a small but influential group of church traditionalists who have spent years seeking to stop Francis, many of his critics think his personal grudges are central to his motivations.

After one church leader shipped him out of the Vatican to America, thwarting his hopes of receiving a scarlet cardinal’s hat, Viganò's private 2011 memos — many of them deeply unflattering to the leader responsible for his ouster from Rome — were leaked and splashed around the globe.

Supporters of Viganò, who did not return a request for comment, bristle at the notion that his letter calling on the pope to resign represents the fury of a disgruntled excellency. They portray him as principled and shocked by what he sees as the destruction of the church he loves.

Tosatti said the archbishop had explained to him that, as a bishop, he felt a deep responsibility to the church and that, as a 77-year-old man, he wanted to clear his conscience for when his moment came. But he said the archbishop was also infuriated by a recent article in the Italian press sympathetic to Francis and critical of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI — and felt he needed to retaliate.

Viganò is well versed in Vatican infighting. In 1998, Viganò became a central official in the Vatican’s powerful office of the secretary of state. In the letter, he writes that his responsibilities included overseeing ambassadors out in the world but also the “examination of delicate cases, including those regarding cardinals and bishops.”

It was then he says he first learned of the abuses committed by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the American Catholic leader whose history he says Francis knew about for years — and covered up.

In 2009, then-Bishop Viganò was moved to another job in the Vatican City State, a job with less influence over policy but with power over some of its revenue.

Known as parsimonious, he turned Vatican City’s deficit into a surplus. But his hard-management style prompted complaints, and anonymous emails alleging he was inappropriately promoting the career of his nephew began making the rounds in the Vatican. His style and rigor on vetting Vatican contracts also bothered some leaders, including Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, and an anonymous report in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale claimed he had designs on the Vatican’s security services.

Cardinal Bertone, who Viganò writes in the letter “notoriously favored promoting homosexuals,” banished him to the United States.

Throughout his power struggle, Viganò wrote urgent appeals to Benedict to stay in the Vatican.

He said he needed to stay because his brother, a Jesuit biblical scholar, was sick and needed care, and he accused Bertone of breaking his promise to promote him to the rank of cardinal.

In 2012, when he was already in the United States as nuncio, or ambassador, the letters started appearing in leaks eventually pinned on the pope’s butler. The scandal consumed the Vatican and prompted intense blowback.

But Viganò's brother, Lorenzo Viganò, told Italian journalists that his brother “lied” to Benedict that he had to remain in Rome “because he had to take care of me, sick.” To the contrary, he said he had lived in Chicago and was fine and hadn’t talked to his brother in years over an inheritance dispute.

Viganò maintained his position as ambassador in the United States after the election of Francis. But in the letter published Sunday, he alleged the former Cardinal McCarrick “orchestrated” the selection of bishops blinded by a gay ideology that he blames for the sex abuse crisis.

Yet Viganò has been accused of covering up misconduct as well. According to documents disclosed as part of a criminal investigation into the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese, he ordered bishops in April 2014 to quash an investigation into accusations that Archbishop John Nienstedt engaged in sexual misconduct with adult men and adult seminarians.

Viganò, anticipating the criticism, gave Tosatti a statement denying those reports Wednesday.

After angering Francis during the Kim Davis episode, Viganò was called back to Rome to explain himself. In a sign of his desire to move back permanently, he refused to give up his Vatican apartment. Reports in the Italian media this week asserted that after removing Viganò from his position, Pope Francis also kicked him out of the apartment.

But Viganò returned from his Milan home often enough, joining forces with traditionalists antagonistic to Francis.

And he returned this summer to get working on the letter.

About a month ago, Tosatti said he received a call from the archbishop, asking if he could meet with him in a discreet place. Viganò told the reporter his story but said he wasn’t ready to go on the record.

But when news of decades of widespread clerical abuse in Pennsylvania broke, Tosatti urged the archbishop to tell his story. On Aug. 22, he returned, this time with a written statement.

Tosatti said that he saw no documents or other evidence, and after three hours, they finished.

The archbishop asked Tosatti if he knew anyone who could publish it in English and Spanish. Tosatti sent the letter to the National Catholic Register, which is owned by a company that runs several conservative Catholic platforms often critical of Francis.

“They are all tied,” said Tosatti, who said he alone helped draft and distribute the letter.

Its publication was delayed, not so that it would blow up Francis’ trip to Ireland over the weekend amid the sexual abuse crisis, he said, but so that it could be translated.

After they were done writing it, Tosatti said he accompanied Viganò to the door and bowed to kiss his ring, only to see the hand pull back.

Tosatti explained that it wasn’t a personal respect he wanted to show, but respect for his office and authority.

“It’s not for you,” Tosatti recalled telling him as tears welled in the archbishop’s eyes. “It’s for the role you have.”

The archbishop told him, “Now that I have finished, I can leave, and leave Rome, too,” according to Tosatti.

“Where will you go?” Tosatti recalled asking.

“I will not tell you so that when they ask you, you will not have to lie — and I will shut off my phone,” the archbishop said, according to the reporter, who said that both men suspected the Vatican of tapping their phones.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Jason Horowitz © 2018 The New York Times

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Germany luxury brand Buben & Zorweg makes safes for the ultra-rich. The company estimates that their average customer has around $4 million in disposable income.

Germany luxury brand Buben & Zorweg makes safes for the ultra-rich.

The company's bespoke-made safes can cost over $386,000 and can be customized extensively to the client's specification.

The company estimates that their average customer has around $4 million in disposable income.

Head of design Eberhard Hagmann recalled making a safe for a customer who wished to safeguard an antique worth $40 million.

When you own inanimate objects worth as much as several houses, no cost is too great for the safe in which you store those objects securely.

Peace of mind, as they say, is priceless.

If you did want to put a price on it, though, German luxury brand Buben & Zorweg would like it to be $263,800 for their Solitaire Vision model.

For that princely sum, clients receive a safe hand-crafted in Germany, protected by 16mm-thick bulletproof spy glass, housing 46 watch-holders, a humidor and, of course, a Bluetooth-enabled HiFi speaker system.

If you really wanted to push the boat out, you could opt for the Treasury — Buben & Zorweg's most expensive base model — which starts at $386,000 in the US.

The 600 kg (1,323 lb) Goliath is adorned with Italian nappa leather and features a giant flying minute tourbillon clock right in the middle.

If you thought that Buben & Zorweg's safes were just for show, though, think again — all their safes are VdS-certified (the highest mark of quality available).

So, who buys them?

Unsurprisingly, it's rich people — the company estimated that their average customer has around $4 million in disposable income.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Eberhard Hagmann, head of design, said: "More and more, they want a good design, so when you see this object, you don't know if it's a safe or not.

"It's furniture."

Apparently, clients come to the company with photos of their homes so that the safes can match their decor, and the level of customisation available is infinite.

"Everything is possible at Buben & Zorweg," the company's head of international marketing, Michael Arnsteiner, told Business Insider.

He says the company also builds bespoke safe rooms for clients, which start at €400,000 ($463,000).

Hagmann recalled once designing a safe to match the interior of his client's Aston Martin One-77.

As far as what customers put in these safes, which alone are worth more than the average person's most prized possessions, Hagmann says it varies, from guns to a Jimi Hendrix guitar. The designer once made a safe to hold one antique for a client worth $40 million.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS

[newssplashy]

Gillum’s narrow defeat of former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, the front-runner, marked one of the most significant upsets of the primary season and was a major victory for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Democrats nominated Andrew Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, and Republicans tapped Rep. Ron DeSantis for governor Tuesday, setting the stage for a ferocious general election in the country’s largest swing state between one of President Donald Trump’s most unabashed allies and an outspoken progressive who would be Florida’s first black governor.

Gillum’s narrow defeat of former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, the front-runner, marked one of the most significant upsets of the primary season and was a major victory for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. It sets up twin governors’ races in neighboring Southern states between left-leaning African-Americans banking on the region’s new, diversifying electorate, and ardent, Trump-style nationalists.

Georgia’s Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams will now be joined by Gillum, while its Republican candidate, the secretary of state, Brian Kemp, has a mirror to the south in DeSantis.

And here, with redistricting looming after the next census, Medicaid expansion on the line and control of the most crucial presidential battleground at stake, the Florida governor’s race is shaping up to be a titanic showdown. The specter of two young, hard-charging politicians who represent the beating heart of their parties facing off will supercharge the fall campaign.

“We’re going to make clear to the rest of the world that the dark days that we’ve been under, coming out of Washington, that the derision and the division that has been coming out of our White House, that right here in the state of Florida we are going to remind this nation of what is truly the American way,” Gillum told jubilant supporters in Tallahassee.

In Arizona, Republican primary voters chose the establishment favorite, Rep. Martha McSally, to replace Trump’s most outspoken critic in the Senate, Jeff Flake, in a contest that evolved into a test of which candidate could embrace Trump most snugly. In the Arizona governor’s primary, Democrats again chose an outspoken progressive over a pragmatist.

Lifted by a June endorsement from Trump, DeSantis, 39, overwhelmed Adam Putnam, the state agriculture commissioner and one-time favorite for the nomination, taking 57 percent of the vote to Putnam’s 37 percent with all precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

But the surprise of the night was Gillum’s victory over Graham, the daughter of governor-turned-senator Bob Graham. Propelled by an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders and financing from Tom Steyer, George Soros and Collective PAC, a group dedicated to electing African-Americans, the 39-year-old mayor surged at the end of the campaign to upset Graham, the establishment pick.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Gillum won 34 percent of the vote while Graham had 31 percent, the AP reported.

Beyond Graham, Gillum defeated five other rivals. Three opponents — Graham, Philip Levine and Jeff Greene — far outspent the Tallahassee mayor.

Campaigning in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood on Saturday, Gillum relished his underdog status.

“My opponents have spent, together, over $90 million in this race. We have spent four” million, he said. “Money doesn’t vote. People do.”

Gillum edged Graham, a former North Florida congresswoman who finished second, and Levine, the former Miami Beach mayor who finished third after dropping nearly $30 million of his personal fortune into the campaign. Graham, a moderate, had been considered the favorite in a midterm year in which many Democratic women have fared well.

But her centrism and the implicit case for electability proved to be of little asset in a year emotions have gripped both parties.

In the final weeks of the election, Gillum aired an ad trumpeting his support for universal health care, legalizing marijuana and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He is also a vocal advocate of impeaching Trump.

Addressing supporters at her election night party at a bar in downtown Orlando just before 10 p.m., Graham called Gillum a friend before, during and after the campaign.

“I said, ‘Now, Andrew, go out and win this damn thing,'” she said. “Because this is too important.”

Gillum’s unexpected nomination represents a sharp break with recent Florida midterm elections in which Democratic voters nominated somewhat bland moderates to try to win in a purple state. Instead, they lost over and over again: Democrats have not held the Florida governor’s mansion in two decades, and they lost the past two governor’s elections by a single percentage point.

Gillum argued Democrats needed to back a progressive who could expand the electorate by attracting more black, Latino and millennial voters who might otherwise sit out the midterm.

“We’re showing that we can bring together the Bernie Sanders wing of the party and the Hillary Clinton wing of the party,” he said in a recent interview. Democrats cannot win, he added by “trying to be Republican-lite.”

Florida Democrats have long considered Gillum a rising star in a state party with few of them. He was elected to the city commission while still a student at Florida A&M University, and he spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

But only in the last few weeks of the governor’s race did Gillum start looking like a serious contender. Early on, he struggled to raise serious money, as donors worried about an FBI investigation into City Hall corruption — an inquiry that DeSantis wasted no time in raising Tuesday night. “He’s embroiled in corruption scandals,” he said. “This guy can’t even run the city of Tallahassee.”

The mayor, who has said he is not the investigation’s target, consistently placed fourth out of five in public polls, despite outperforming his opponents in debates with his charisma on stage and grass-roots support in the audience.

His poor showing in surveys, however, kept his rivals from attacking him, allowing Gillum to move up unscathed by the pointed television attacks that engulfed Graham, Levine and Greene, a billionaire Palm Beach real estate investor, who spent nearly $40 million but finished fourth.

DeSantis’ victory represented another emphatic demonstration of the president’s iron grip on the Republican Party. DeSantis steadily gained notoriety on the right, and attention in the Oval Office, last year by frequently appearing on Fox News to defend Trump.

The president took notice of DeSantis, a Navy veteran, and praised his candidacy in December. Trump’s near-endorsement prompted a flurry of lobbying by Republicans urging him to refrain from offering his formal blessing. And among the party officials counseling restraint was Vice President Mike Pence, who served with Putnam in the House.

But Trump was grateful for DeSantis’ televised advocacy, believed the former JAG officer looked the part of a governor and had little relationship with Putnam. In June, Trump offered, as he put it on Twitter, his “full Endorsement.”

Recounting his intervention in the Florida race last week at a rally last week in West Virginia, Trump said of DeSantis: “He was at three, and I gave him a nice shot, and a nice little tweet — bing bing — and he went from three to like 20 something.”

DeSantis was almost certainly winning more than 3 percent of the vote when Trump weighed in, but there is little doubt that the president’s support dramatically reshaped the race.

DeSantis trumpeted the endorsement in his advertising and basked in the president’s praise when they stood together on stage in Tampa in late July.

Putnam fought back, emphasizing his deep knowledge of Florida and chiding DeSantis for his television ubiquity. The son of a citrus farming family who was elected to the state Legislature when he was 22, he went on to serve in the House leadership in Washington.

“Florida’s not picking an apprentice; we’re picking a governor,” Putnam said.

In the House, Donna Shalala, the secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, defeated state Rep. David Richardson in a Miami district Democratic primary.

Her Republican opponent will be Maria Elvira Salazar, a former Spanish-language television journalist who on Tuesday bested a crowded field, including a rival who said as a child she went up on a spaceship with aliens. Democrats are expected to pick up the liberal-leaning seat, which is currently held by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a veteran Republican who is retiring.

In Orlando, Rep. Darren Soto, the first Puerto Rican elected to Congress from Florida, fended off a Democratic primary challenge from former Rep. Alan Grayson, a liberal firebrand who has struggled in his attempt to return to Washington.

In Arizona, just three days after the death of Sen. John McCain, Republicans demonstrated how much the party had drifted from McCain’s pragmatic style of politics to Trump’s hard-line nationalism.

After asking the president to stay out of the race, McSally, who would not say how she voted in 2016, sought Trump’s endorsement this month.

McSally, one of the first women to fly in combat for the Air Force, handily beat two far-right conservatives who divided that part of the electorate: the former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, whom Trump pardoned last year, and Kelli Ward, a former state senator who garnered nearly 40 percent in a 2016 primary against McCain and sought to capitalize on his death Monday by saying “political correctness is like a cancer.”

McSally will now take on the Democratic primary victor, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, in a contest that could help decide control of the Senate.

Speaking to supporters, McSally called for a moment of silence for McCain, but then quickly targeted Sinema. “It’s a choice between a doer and a talker, between a patriot and a protester,” McSally said.

Sinema also bowed to McCain and placed herself in his tradition of “always putting country over party,” saying that Arizonans need “an independent voice” in the Senate.

In the governor’s race there, liberal Democrat David Garcia defeated his centrist opponent, Steve Farley, to take on Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican who may be vulnerable in November.

Garcia, a former executive at the state education department, has sought to rally progressives, urging them to “imagine no wall in southern Arizona.” Farley argued that Democrats can only win in a red-tinted state by presenting themselves as pragmatists.

In Oklahoma, Republicans nominated Tulsa business executive Kevin Stitt in the runoff for governor, spurning former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, who was attacked for being insufficiently supportive of Trump. With Gov. Mary Fallin, the Republican lame duck, leaving office with dismal approval ratings, Democrats believe they could be competitive in what is generally a deeply conservative state.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Patricia Mazzei and Jonathan Martin © 2018 The New York Times

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ▷NEWS