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Four British-Nigerians Who Won UK Parliament Seats

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The British citizens on Thursday, July 4, 2024, trooped out to the polling units to elect members of parliament that will form a new government.

In the election, the Labour Party won overwhelmingly to secure 412 seats out of 650 to end the 14-year rule of the Conservatives.

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Consequently, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer has been officially appointed as the British Prime Minister, after Rishi Sunak conceded defeat and resigned as Tory leader.

Four prominent British-Nigerians were victorious at the polls.

Kemi Badenoch returns as Tory MP despite Conservatives’ ouster

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Renowned British-Nigerian in the United Kingdom Parliament, Kemi Badenoch, won her seat in North West Essex in the July 4 Parliamentary elections.

Badenoch was re-elected as a Conservative Party member of Parliament despite a landslide loss of the Tories to the Labour Party.

She won with 19,360 votes defeating her main challenger, Labour’s Issy Waiter, who garnered 16,750 votes.

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Speaking shortly after her victory at the polls, Badenoch said, “Many of my friends and colleagues have lost their seats. They have served their country with distinction. Their service will never be in vain. But the public have spoken and they have said loud and clear that the Conservatives have lost their trust.”

Born on January 2, 1980, Badenoch served as Britain’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade from 2023 to 2024. She also served as the President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2022 to 2024.

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Resilient, bold and diligent, Badenoch was tipped to succeed the immediate past UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, as she showed interest after Liz Truss resigned in October 2022.

The 44-year-old British politician has been in the UK Parliament representing Saffron Walden as an MP from 2017.

Badenoch studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex and got a Master’s degree in 2003. She also studied Law at Birkbeck, University of London.

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She got married to Hamish Badenoch in 2012 and is blessed with three children.

Businessman Bayo Alaba wins Newcastle for Labour Party

British-Nigerian businessman, Bayo Alaba, won the Southend East and Rochford for Labour Party.

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Alaba won with 15,395 votes against the Conservative Party’s candidate, Gavin Haran with 11,368 votes.

Widely known as a successful former Parachute Regiment soldier, and youth mentor, Alaba is currently serving as the first black councillor for the London Borough of Redbridge.

Born and raised in Forest Gate, east London, Alaba is a Board Trustee for Phoenix Resource Centre, a sustainable charity with operations in the UK and abroad.

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Commenting on his victory, Alaba said, “The people of Southend East Rochford have put their trust in our changed Labour Party. Now is the time to deliver.

“This will be the greatest thing of my life. I will work every day to repay the trust you put in me,” he added.

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Former Shadow Minister, Taiwo Owatemi who staged comeback

A former Member of Parliament of Nigerian descent, Taiwo Owatemi, also won the UK Parliament election in Coventry North West for the Labour Party.

Owatemi polled 19,696 votes to defeat her main rival, Tom Mercer from the Tories, who secured 8,522 votes.

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She served as the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from September 2021 to September 2022.

Born on July 22, 1992, Owatemi who grew up in Plumstead was first elected into the UK Parliament in 2019.

The 31-year-old politician got a Master’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Kent. She worked at a cancer unit in Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust before venturing into politics.

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Owatemi was a member of Labour Friends of Israel and part of the delegation that travelled to the country in February 2023.

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After her victory in the election, Owatemi, who was a spokesperson for the Medical Research Council, said, “Words cannot express my gratitude to the people of Coventry North West. Your trust in me, in our shared vision, for a brighter future, is truly humbling.”

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“It is the honour of my life to represent you and I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure your voices are represented,” she added.

Chi Onwurah continues winning streak

Chi Onwurah has been re-elected as an MP to represent Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West for the Labour Party in the UK Parliament election.

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Onwurah came victorious with 18,875 votes on July 4 as the Labour Party recorded a landslide win that unseated the Tories.

Before the election, Onwurah born on April 12, 1965 was the Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy.

The 59-year-old born in Wallsend, who was first elected into the UK Parliament in 2010, defeated her closest opponent Ashton Muncaster of the Reform Party who had 7,815 votes.

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She attended Kenton School, Newcastle and got a degree in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College London.

In her remarks after the secured victory, Onwurah said, “Thank you from the Labour team to everyone in Newcastle Central and West for putting your confidence in Labour and electing me as your Member of Parliament. We will not let you down!”
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Fake Labubu Dolls Worth Millions Seized In London Raid Amid Growing Safety Fears

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Thousands of fake Labubu dolls believed to be worth millions of pounds have been seized at an industrial estate on the outskirts of London following a major crackdown led by Trading Standards and law enforcement agencies.

The operation, which followed weeks of investigation, traced the fake merchandise from a corner shop in Swansea, south Wales, to a warehouse complex in London.

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Officers discovered rooms stacked floor-to-ceiling with fake goods, but it was the imitation Labubu dolls at the centre of a viral TikTok craze that drew the most concern.

The dolls, produced by popular toy company Pop Mart, have surged in global demand, with some genuine pieces retailing for up to £80. The popularity of the brand helped the company double its revenue to £1.33 billion last year, according to Forbes. However, authorities say the boom has also attracted criminal enterprises looking to profit from the trend through counterfeit production.

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“The head comes off. The feet pull off. The eyes aren’t glued in,” said Rhys Harries, a Trading Standards officer, while examining one of the seized dolls. “These are clear choking hazards.”

Using a plastic tool modelled after a child’s throat, Harries demonstrated how easily parts of the fake dolls could become life-threatening. “These parts would get stuck and potentially cause choking,” he warned.

The scale of the operation was alarming. Border Force officials say they have intercepted hundreds of thousands of fake Labubu dolls at UK ports in recent months, with many traced back to manufacturers in China, Hong Kong, and Turkey.

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In one case, a mother from Caerphilly, Jade, recounted how fake Labubu dolls she bought for her six-year-old son Harri’s birthday began falling apart within hours. “The hook came off and ended up in his mouth,” she said. “Luckily he was old enough to spit it out and tell me.”

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Despite knowing the dolls were fakes, Jade said she bought them due to the high cost of the original ones and peer pressure from other children. She got the knock-offs for just over £10 each.

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Authorities say the rush to cash in on the craze has led to the use of substandard and potentially dangerous materials, including toxic plastics. Kate Caffery, deputy director of intelligence and law enforcement at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, said counterfeiting is the second most lucrative source of criminal income worldwide, after drug trafficking.

“There’s a complete disregard for safety,” Caffery said. “They’re made from anything from the inferior to the outright dangerous.”

READ ALSO:Nigeria’s Uche Nnaji’s Car Burgled At London Carpark, Rolex, Foreign Currency, Others Carted Away

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TikTok collector and plush toy enthusiast Meg Goldberger, 27, said she struggled to find genuine dolls due to scalpers bulk-buying authentic stock and reselling them at inflated prices. “They sell out in seconds,” she said. “Some resellers are using bots to buy hundreds at once.”

Investigators found invoice books showing the dolls were destined for locations across the UK. Some of the seized dolls will be used as evidence, while the rest will be stored in a secure location before being recycled or destroyed.

Pop Mart has been contacted for comment on the counterfeit issue, which authorities say is now a national concern.

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Young Catholics Converge On Rome For Pope Leo’s Vigil

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Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.

The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.

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It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II.

On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses.

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Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue.

On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.

Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.

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It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”.

French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland.

READ ALSO:Gunmen Invade Catholic Seminary School In Edo, Kill One, Abduct Three

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Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said.

– ‘What is his message?’ –

Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.

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On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.

Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held, and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.

Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented, and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.

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The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rise among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities.

Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome.

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“We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”.

As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed, “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”

– Raising voices –

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The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine.

READ ALSO:Pope Leo XIV Outlines A Path For A Modern Church That Follows Francis’ Steps

The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.

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In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth.

More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers.

Roman authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundating the city.

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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Three In Russia

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Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people and wounded two others overnight in western Russia, regional governors said on Saturday.

One woman was killed and two other people were wounded in an attack on an enterprise in Penza, the region’s governor, Oleg Melnichenko, wrote on Telegram.

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An elderly man was killed inside a house that caught fire due to falling drone debris in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev posted on Telegram.

In the Rostov region, a guard at an industrial facility was killed after a drone attack and a fire in one of the site’s buildings, acting Rostov governor Yuri Sliusar said.

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The military repelled a massive air attack during the night,” destroying drones over seven districts, Sliusar posted on Telegram.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory — 34 over the Rostov region — in a nearly nine-hour period, from Friday night to Saturday morning.

In Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, overnight Russian drone attacks left three people wounded, governor Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.

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Several buildings, homes and cars were damaged, he said.

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Russian forces have claimed advances in Dnipropetrovsk, recently announcing the capture of two villages there, part of Moscow’s accelerated capture of territory in July, according to AFP’s analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

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Kyiv denies any Russian presence in the Dnipropetrovsk area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in the more than three-year conflict, said Friday that he wanted peace but that his demands for ending Moscow’s military offensive were “unchanged”.

Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said only Putin could end the war and renewed his call for a meeting between the two leaders.

“The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness,” he wrote on X.

AFP

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