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France 24
an hour ago
- Sport
- France 24
France beat England at Euro 2025 as Miedema completes Dutch century
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore netted within three minutes of each other towards the end of the first half as Les Bleues deservedly defeated England in Zurich. Laurent Bonadei's team are level on three points with leaders the Dutch, who cruised past Wales 3-0 earlier on Saturday, after striking a big blow in the battle to qualify from possibly the hardest group at the tournament. France face underdogs Wales next on Wednesday while England have a huge clash with the Netherlands, again at the Letzigrund Stadium. The French were better all over the pitch, driven by the sparkling wing play of Baltimore and Delphine Cascarino, while Keira Walsh's lovely strike with three minutes remaining made the scoreline flatter unconvincing England. Not even Lauren James' return to the starting XI could inspire England, the Chelsea star way below her best as the Lionesses struggled to put any pressure on France until it was too late. Alessia Russo thought she had given England the lead in the 16th minute when she prodded home on the rebound after Pauline Peyraud-Magnin kept out Lauren Hemp's shot, only for the goal to be ruled out for a razor-thin offside in the build-up. From there, France took the initiative, pushing England back into their own half and dominating possession, and they had a deserved lead through Katoto in the 36th minute when the Lyon forward guided home Cascarino's low cross. And three minutes later Baltimore made the scoreline accurately represent the balance of play with a wonderful individual goal, easily skipping around Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson before rifling her finish into the top corner. Walsh found the top corner with England's first strike on target and Sarina Wiegman's team almost snatched a point in the dying moments when Selma Bacha cleared Michelle Agyemang's shot off the line and saved the result for France. Miedema's century Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal as the Netherlands swept past Wales to take the initiative in the group. Manchester City striker Miedema opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time in Lucerne with a beautiful curling strike, completing her century of goals for her country. Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts netted the other goals after the break to give Wales a rude awakening in their major tournament debut. "They defended really well and I'm glad my goal helped to start it all up," said Miedema. "In the second half, you saw that we can play a bit more, and eventually we also scored two really good goals." Andries Jonker's team are top on goal difference while Wales already have their work cut out to qualify. Rhian Wilkinson's side could easily have been behind before Miedema, who was a doubt for the tournament after suffering a hamstring injury in April, struck, as Jill Roord crashed a rocket of a shot off the post in the 35th minute. Pelova doubled the Oranje's lead two minutes after the break when she rifled home from Danielle van de Donk's pass, and the Arsenal midfielder set up Brugts to make absolutely sure of the points in the 57th minute with a perfect deep cross. © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
Shubman Gill, the 'Prince' who is now India's new cricket king
The 25-year-old's second century of the match took his overall tally for the game to 430 runs, a figure bettered by India great Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket's all-time leading run-scorer, just three times in a series, let alone a match, during his celebrated career. Following his commanding 269 in the first innings, Gill also became the first batsman in 148 years of Test history to make score of 250 and 150 in the same match. All that came after Gill's 147 in his first Test as captain, India's five-wicket loss in last week's series opener at Headingley. But beyond the statistics, it is the way Gill has played that has impressed seasoned observers. In the first innings at Edgbaston, he batted in near flawless-fashion for eight-and-a-half hours, with his offside driving standing comparison with cricket's most elegant batsmen. But in the second innings, with quick runs required to set up a declaration, Gill made 161 off just 162 balls, including 13 fours and eight sixes. India are now well-placed given England, with seven wickets standing, still need a mammoth 536 more runs on Sunday's final day to achieve what would be a Test record fourth-innings victory chase of 608. 'Outrageous' "Gill is outrageous," England fast-bowling great Stuart Broad, well used to working out world-class batsmen during a career that yielded 604 Test wickets, told Sky Sports after Saturday's close. "As a bowler, I'd be looking for technical things so I could expose him, but he's not shown any obvious signs of dismissal and he's played stylishly. He's played with huge responsibility, under big pressure. "It's breathtaking... He deserves all the applause he will get." Gill was drafted into India's under-19 side as for their victorious 2018 World Cup campaign, shortly after scoring a century for Punjab in just his second first-class Ranji Trophy match. He made his one-day international debut in 2019, but it was in his first Test series, in Australia in 2020/21, that he came to the fore, notably with a fluent 91 in India's thrilling series-clinching win at the Gabba. His first Test hundred came a year later, in Chattogram. A month later, aged 23, he became the youngest to make an ODI double-century, smashing 208 off 149 balls against New Zealand. Born in Fazilka, near the border with Pakistan, before moving to Mohali aged eight to be nearer better cricket facilities, the nickname 'Prince' has clung to Gill to the extent of sometimes appearing on his bat-stickers. An opener and then a number three, Gill now occupies the number four position held by childhood hero Virat Kohli, with his 269 surpassing Kohli's unbeaten 254 against South Africa in Pune in 2019 as the highest score by an India Test captain. As a boy, Gill wanted to know what Kohli's scores and achievements were when he was his age. And when Kohli first saw Gill in the nets in New Zealand in 2019/20, he said he didn't even have 10 percent of the talent when he was Gill's age. Yet last year, when England went 1-0 up in Hyderabad, a second-innings duck saw Gill's Test average fall below 30 for the first time. But then India coach Rahul Dravid, himself an outstanding batsman, resisted the temptation to drop Gill, who then made a second-innings century in a 106-run win in Visakhapatnam and another, in Dharamshala, during a series India won 4-1. Gill succeeded Rohit Sharma as India captain after the latter announced his retirement from Test cricket in May, with 'King' Kohli calling time on his Test career just a few days later. A few months ago,when asked about potential leaders, Rohit said "the boys aren't ready yet". But Gill, who started this series with a modest Test average of under 36, looks as if he might be now.
France 24
2 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Iran's Khamenei makes first public appearance since Israel war: state media
The octogenarian leader was shown in a video broadcast by state television greeting people and being cheered at a mosque as worshippers marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, an important date for Shia Muslims. Khamenei, 86, can be seen on stage dressed in black as the crowd before him, fists in the air, chants "The blood in our veins for our leader!" State TV said the clip was filmed at central Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosque, named for the founder of the Islamic republic. Khamenei, in power since 1989, spoke last week in a pre-recorded video, but had not been seen in public since before Israel initiated the conflict with a wave of surprise air strikes on June 13. His last public appearance was two days before that, when he met with members of parliament. Israel's bombing campaign followed a decades-long shadow war with Iran, and was aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied. The strikes killed more than 900 people in Iran, its judiciary has said, while retaliatory Iranian missile barrages aimed at Israeli cities killed at least 28 people there, according to official figures.
France 24
2 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Spain ruling party bars members from hiring sex workers
Sanchez, 53, is facing the biggest crisis of his seven years in power. That was heightened on Monday by the detention of a former top official in his Socialist party, Santos Cerdan, in an investigation involving allegations of corruption and hiring sex workers. In a bid to right the ship, the Socialist party announced that "soliciting, accepting or obtaining sexual acts in exchange for money" was now banned for party members, punishable by "the maximum sanction, expulsion from the party". "If we believe a woman's body is not for sale, our party cannot allow behaviour contrary to that," Sanchez said. "These are difficult times for everyone, without a doubt," he told party leaders at a meeting in Madrid, once again apologising for trusting those caught up in the growing scandal. But he also reiterated his refusal to step down. "The captain doesn't look the other way when seas get rough. He stays to steer the ship through the storm," he said. The party also announced a leadership shake-up, replacing Cerdan as its number three official with 44-year-old lawyer Rebeca Torro. The meeting started behind schedule after another close Sanchez ally, Francisco Salazar, who had been due to take a top leadership post, resigned. Online news site said Salazar had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by several women who had formerly reported to him in the party. Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos has also been implicated in the investigation into kickbacks for public contracts. The conservative opposition People's Party (PP) held a meeting of its own, looking to capitalise on the Socialists' stumbles. "We're the only alternative to this state of decline," said PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, calling his party the answer to Spain's divisions and "political fatigue". © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 hours ago
- Business
- France 24
Elon Musk announces creation of his new ‘America Party'
A day after asking his followers on X whether a new U.S. political party should be created, Elon Musk said on Saturday that the "America Party is formed." "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!" he said in a post on X. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." The announcement from Musk comes after President Donald Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which the billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla fiercely opposed. Musk spent hundreds of millions on Trump's re-election and led the Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration aimed at slashing government spending, but the two have since fallen out over disagreements about the bill. Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government. Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill. Republicans have expressed concern that Musk's on-again, off-again feud with Trump could hurt their chances to protect their majority in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.
