BREAKING NEWS: Tomato traders assures Nigerians of price crash in July.

Text by: The Southern Post

In a recent announcement, tomato traders have assured Nigerians of an impending price crash in July. This news comes as a relief to many consumers who have been grappling with the high cost of tomatoes in the market.

In the market, tomatoes are being sold at the price of #7000 for a custard pall.

The tomato traders cited favorable weather conditions and an increase in tomato supply as the main reasons behind the anticipated price drop. With more tomatoes expected to hit the market in the coming month, consumers can look forward to more affordable prices and a return to normalcy.

Many Nigerians rely on tomatoes as a staple ingredient in their cooking, and the high prices in recent months have put a strain on household budgets. The news of an impending price crash in July is therefore welcomed with open arms by many who are eager to see some relief at the market.

While the exact extent of the price drop remains to be seen, tomato traders are optimistic that consumers will soon be able to enjoy tomatoes at more reasonable prices. This development is certainly a positive one for Nigerians across the country.

Cook-a-thon: “Please Everyone Should Forgive Me, I'm Rendering A Big Apology To The Whole World That I Am Very Sorry, I Don’t Deserve To Live; The Humiliation is Too Much, I Was Only Chasing After A Livelihood And Now This Embarrassment Has Come Upon Me” — Ghanaian Chef Ebenezer Smith Who Forged His Guinness World Record Breaks Down In Tears

Ebenezer Smith went viral days back after he claimed to have broken the World Record for the Longest Cooking Marathon Like Hilda Baci.

He was however arrested few days ago for fraud after a journalist reached out to Guinness world record to verify his claims where he bragged to have cooked for 802 hours (33 days nonstop).

He had also presented a fake plaque he printed by himself which he claimed was from Guinness World Records.

Police Arrest Woman Who Sold Her Sibling For N410K In Order To Give Her Boyfriend Money To Buy Items Required For Their Traditional Wedding

The men of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) have arrested a woman, identified as Blessing Okonkwo, age 24, who confessed to selling her three-year-old sibling, Friday Okonkwo, at the cost of N410,000 in Adamawa State.

According to Sahara Reporters, Okonkwo, who blamed her action on the biting hardship in the country, was said to have tricked her mother and taken the kid on false pretence of enrolling him in a school in the city of Mubi, where she lived, some 40 kilometers away.

She however sold him at a price of N410,000 to a buyer, one Efunaya Nabufe, age 35, who trafficked him to Enugu city in the southeastern state of Enugu.

“I used the proceed of the crime to buy a grinding machine so I can start a business and also gave my boyfriend N200,000 to buy items required for our tradition wedding,” Blessing said.

The mother of the victim, Hauwa Lawan who lives in Rimirgo in the Askira Uba LGA of Borno State narrated that, “She visited some time last year and lied to me that she would be taking her kid brother to enroll him in a school in the city, seeing there’s no good school in our village.

Ever since she took away the boy I never heard from him, because any time I called to hear his voice she kept telling me one lie or the other for one year now. I got tired of asking and since I least suspected my own daughter could do this to me, I didn’t raise any alarm.

As God will have it, she took a proposed husband home to her father in the southeast, the father demanded to know the whereabouts of his child first before attending to her marriage proposal.

Viktor meeting with Putin on Ukraine peace deal is 'appeasement' EU Leaders say

Text by: The Southern Post

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks on a potential Ukrainian peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, angering some European Union leaders who warned against appeasing Moscow and said he did not speak for the EU.

Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and Orban has visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and formed the “Patriots for Europe” alliance with other right-wing nationalists.

Then he went to Moscow on a “peace mission”, days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine against what the Western defence alliance has called Russia’s “unprovoked war of aggression”.

It was the first meeting of an EU leader with Putin in Moscow since April 2022, two months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Orban’s first since then, although the two have met elsewhere.

France 24

German's EURO 2024 dream end on Friday after Spain beat the host to secure the a place for the semi-final with a 2-1 win

A Mikel Merino goal in the final minute of extra time took Spain to a 2-1 win over Germany and into the Euro 2024 semis.

After a fiery yet goalless first half, Spain’s Dani Olmo latched onto an inch-perfect pass from Spanish wunderkind Lamine Yamal to give La Roja the lead on 51 minutes.

Niclas Fuellkrug struck the post with 14 minutes remaining but with the hosts staring at an early exit, Florian Wirtz slammed in a Joshua Kimmich knock-down in the 89th minute to take the game to extra time.

With a minute remaining in extra time and the game looking set for penalties, Olmo lofted a cross for Merino, who headed Spain into the semi-finals and on course for a record-breaking fourth Euros crown. 

Germany’s exit brings to an end the hosts’ hope of a summer fairytale Euros victory after a decade of poor performances at major tournaments, while also lowering the curtain on Toni Kroos’ stellar career.

The battle between the two most successful Euros nations, with three titles apiece, was billed as a final come early, with the in-form Spaniards against Nagelsmann’s reborn hosts.

Spain nominated Kroos as Germany’s most dangerous pre-match but the midfielder had a huge, even if unintended impact early, colliding with Pedri, who was then subbed off with a leg injury for Olmo.

Germany, with the oldest squad at Euro 2024, struggled with Spain’s speed during the first half, frequently coming into duels a fraction too late, but the two best chances of the opening half fell to the hosts—and both to Kai Havertz.

The Arsenal forward leapt highest to head a cross directly at Unai Simon early and then scuffed a tame shot at the goalie later in the half with just the ‘keeper to beat.

After a goalless first half, Nagelsmann took off surprise starter Emre Can for the pink-haired Robert Andrich, while the ineffective Leroy Sane was hooked in place of Wirtz.

The substitution who would make his mark however was Olmo, who gave Spain the lead six minutes into the second half, slicing through the sleepy Germany defence to perfectly place a Yamal pass past Manuel Neuer in the bottom left corner.

The goal kicked Germany into gear with Wirtz particularly dangerous.

The Bayer Leverkusen starlet linked with Fuellkrug on the counter with a quarter of an hour remaining but the striker, under heavy attention from the Spanish defence, could only hit the post.

With 10 minutes remaining Nagelsmann made his final substitution, bringing veteran Thomas Mueller from the bench.

But it was Wirtz -- 13 years his junior - who made the difference, skimming a Joshua Kimmich header across the grass and in at the far post in the final minute, sending the game to extra time.

Mikel Oyarzabal, on for Williams, curled a 104th-minute shot just wide of the post and Wirtz did the same a minute later with the goal beckoning.

Germany appealed strongly for a penalty in the second period of extra time, after a goal-bound Jamal Musiala shot clearly connected with Marc Cucurella’s outstretched hand.

After the penalty drama, Olmo curled in a cross for Merino, who leapt high to head the ball past Neuer and put Spain into the Euros semi-finals.

(AFP)

Can Labour repairs the United Kingdom's divided asylum system

Britain’s Labour Party officially came to power on Friday after 14 years in opposition. Now that it has the reins of government, Labour will have to pick up the pieces of a broken asylum system, including the Conservative Party’s controversial Rwanda policy.

Labour campaigned on the promise that it would put an end to the scheme, which called for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, where they would file their claims for admittance to the UK. The policy created a new and growing backlog of asylum claims after being deemed unlawful by the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court. Close to 120,000 people are meanwhile waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claims – three times the number in 2019, according to an analysis of Home Office figures by the Migration Observatory.

The other pressing task for Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be to address the issue of people crossing the English Channel in small boats from France, with record numbers of migrants reaching England in 2024 despite former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s promise to “stop the boats”. Starmer has pledged to “smash the gangs” responsible for sending people on the dangerous journey from across the Channel. More than 200 migrants have died trying to cross the Channel over the past decade, with at least 14 deaths in 2024.

While Labour wants to put the focus on improved law enforcement and fighting trafficking networks, the new government will quickly need to decide the fates of the tens of thousands of people who have entered the UK by irregular means since at least 2018, when significant numbers began being detected. This includes deciding whether migrants should be granted asylum – and, if not, what the other options are. FRANCE 24 spoke to Rob McNeil, deputy director at the Migration Observatory on how Labour might approach the issue.

While Conservative supporters say immigration is their top priority, the Labour electorate places the issue fifth. Could this translate to more flexible and humane measures on immigration in the future?

Migration is important for many people around the country irrespective of the party they vote for, but traditionally, supporters of the two main parties (Labour and the Tories) don’t have the same degree of focus on the issue. In the past, Labour voters haven’t been as motivated by migration as Conservative supporters. But a lot of traditional Conservative constituencies voted Labour this time. Given the scale of Labour victories in traditionally Conservative areas such as North East Somerset, it may be that many people who are more concerned about migration issues voted Labour this time. We will have to see whether that will have an impact on Labour's approach to migration.

There are certain events we can predict. Summer is upon us, and the small boat arrivals are likely to increase. There have been some suggestions of a "Biden effect", in which the new leadership of a country by a party that is perceived to be more open to migrants might incentivise more people to risk travelling to seek asylum in that country. But evidence shows that asylum seekers don’t always have a very clear knowledge of their destination country's immigration policies.

If there is a big increase in Channel arrivals, these are very visible, and they tend to stimulate public concerns. If so, we can expect public pressure on the government to do more to control irregular migration. Starmer’s approach has been to “smash the gangs”, a strategy that is not dramatically different from the Conservatives’ approach. One problem with this enforcement-based approach is that there is no evidence to suggest that after “smashing the gangs”, other gangs wouldn’t come to replace them

The clear difference between the two parties is Labour’s promise to cancel the Rwanda plan, which has not forcibly removed a single migrant from the UK but was intended to be a deterrent. Labour says it will deter people who do not have a valid claim for asylum from crossing the Channel by processing asylum claims swiftly and removing people whose claims are unsuccessful – this can be hard to do in practice.

On the other hand, could parties on the right – like Reform UK – push Labour to adopt more draconian policies?

With only four members in parliament, Reform UK aren’t likely to stop Labour from passing new laws. Reform have looked quite threatening to the Conservatives, but the idea that their policies are threatening to Labour doesn’t seem likely. Whether this drives the Conservatives to the right depends on the post-election thinking of the remaining Conservative MPs and party members.

In other words, Labour will have no particular need to listen to Reform because it is in a strong position (Labour won 412 seats, up 207 on their total from the 2019 election).

A more complex issue will be internal discussions on migration policy within Labour. Starmer’s policy has been somewhat consistent with the Conservatives’ policies: tackling irregular migration through enforcement and reducing small boat arrivals through policing. This may not be popular with all Labour members.

There are also questions about whether Labour's plans to reduce legal net migration through training of UK workers will be effective – but the expected trajectory of UK net migration is downwards, anyway, from the current historically high levels.

How could the Labour victory – and the results of France’s second round of snap legislative elections – affect the cooperation that currently exists with France to dismantle the networks trafficking migrants across the Channel?

We are going to have to wait and see. The UK and France both have an interest in combatting the international organised crime networks responsible for people-smuggling. Looking back at 2000, the Labour Party and [former French president] Nicolas Sarkozy worked together to close the Sangatte refugee camp, so irrespective of the political parties in charge on either side of the Channel there is scope for cooperation. But this will depend on diplomacy, so we must wait and see.

(FRANCE 24)