Latest from bnok24
News18
34 minutes ago
- Sport
- News18
Mohamed Salah Tops PFA Player of the Year Nominations After Stellar Season
The 33-year-old played a crucial role in Liverpool's Premier League title victory last season, contributing 29 goals and 18 assists. The Egyptian star was voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association, securing nearly 90 percent of the votes—the largest winning margin this century—and is a strong favourite to win the PFA award. The Egyptian King is looking to claim his third crown 👑Mo Salah could become the first three-time PFA Players' Player of the Year. The Liverpool star's record-breaking season sees him voted into the Top Six.🫡 #PFAawards — PFA (@PFA) June 20, 2025 Salah is joined on the shortlist by his Liverpool teammate Alexis Mac Allister, Arsenal's Declan Rice, Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, and Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes. Palmer, who won the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the 2023-24 season, was a surprising inclusion on the list given his struggles with Chelsea last season. Rice excelled in midfield for Arsenal, achieving a career-high nine goals and providing 10 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions. Fernandes was one of the few bright spots in Manchester United's worst top-flight campaign since 1973-74, with eight league goals and 10 assists. This year's awards ceremony will take place in Manchester on August 19.
France 24
37 minutes ago
- Politics
- France 24
Top Iran, EU diplomats to hold nuclear talks
Israel, saying Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, launched a massive wave of strikes a week ago, triggering an immediate retaliation. On the ground, Israel's military said it struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the "research and development of Iran's nuclear weapons project". In Israel, sirens sounded after missiles were launched from Iran, the army said, while police said they, emergency response teams and bomb disposal experts were operating "at the site of a projectile impact" in a southern city. European leaders have urged de-escalation in Iran's war with Israel, while Trump has said he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to involve the United States in the fighting. Israel, the United States and other Western powers accuse Iran of seeking an atomic weapon, a charge that it denies. Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent -- far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a 2015 deal, but still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. 'A window now exists' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme. He will also address the UN Human Rights Council, the body's spokesman said. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said "a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution", while agreeing with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that "Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon". German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the United States was both aware and supportive of the meeting taking place in Geneva. "Iran should be mindful that it needs to show a new level of seriousness and trustworthiness if it wants to avoid a prolongation" of the war," he said. France's foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said the diplomatic route would be the only way to ensure Iran respects its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "Military solutions are not long-term solutions," he told French radio station Cnews. Iran's Araghchi, however, rejected any prospect of talks with the United States so long as Israel continues its attacks. "The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue," he said. 'Speculation' The UN Security Council is also due to convene on Friday for a second session on the conflict, which was requested by Iran with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday. Speaking to CNN, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi said that while Iran is the world's only non-declared nuclear power to enrich uranium to 60 percent, there was currently no evidence it had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead. "So, saying how long it would take for them, it would be pure speculation because we do not know whether there was somebody, you know, secretly pursuing these activities," Grossi said. "We haven't seen that and we have to say it." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran was "a couple of weeks" away from producing an atomic bomb. "If there's a chance for diplomacy the president's always going to grab it, but he's not afraid to use strength as well," Leavitt said. Any US involvement in Israel's campaign would be expected to involve the bombing of a crucial underground nuclear facility in Fordo, using powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses. 'Collateral damage' Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who supports the prospect of US involvement in the war, has sworn Iran will pay a "heavy price" after 40 people were wounded and several hospital wards destroyed in a missile attack. World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called attacks on health facilities "appalling", while UN rights chief Volker Turk said civilians were being treated as "collateral damage". In Iran, people fleeing Israel's attacks described frightening scenes and difficult living conditions, including food shortages and limited internet access. "Those days and nights were very horrifying... hearing sirens, the wailing, the danger of being hit by missiles," University of Tehran student Mohammad Hassan told AFP, after returning to his native Pakistan. "People are really panicking," a 50-year-old Iranian pharmacist who did not want to be named told AFP at a crossing on the border with Turkey. Nuclear sites On Thursday, Israel said it struck "dozens" of Iranian targets, including the partially built Arak nuclear reactor and a uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Iranian atomic energy agency chief Mohammad Eslami confirmed in a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog that the Arak reactor was hit, demanding action to stop Israel's "violation of international regulations". Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
News18
37 minutes ago
- Politics
- News18
Kerala Woman Dies By Suicide After 'Moral Policing', Family Defends Those She Mentioned In Note
Last Updated: A 40-year-old woman, died by suicide in Kerala after an alleged mob trial by SDPI workers, leading to three arrests. Her family later defended the accused and blamed a male friend. Three people were arrested after a 40-year-old woman allegedly died by suicide due to a mob trial in Kerala. According to the details, the three people were arrested based on clues from the woman's suicide note. However, in a twist, the family of the deceased woman defended the arrested men and instead accused one of her male friends of financially exploiting her. The woman was identified as Raseena, a mother of three. Her body was recovered from her residence in Pinarayi village of the state on Tuesday. According to the police, her suicide note suggested she faced public humiliation and distress caused by certain individuals, leading to the arrest of three people. However, Raseena's mother, Fathima, said on Friday that the arrested persons are relatives who had no role in her daughter's death. 'They are innocent. The real issue is that my daughter was cheated out of her gold and money," she told reporters, adding that the family plans to lodge a complaint against the young man from Mayyil village who used to visit Raseena regularly. 'She had around 40 sovereigns of gold when she got married, but now there's nothing left. She had also borrowed money from many people. We believe that man took everything. Her husband is a respectable man and knew nothing about it," Fathima said. Meanwhile, police confirmed that the suicide note suggested a state of emotional breakdown. 'She wrote that she was in a situation where she could no longer live," a police officer told reporters. Devices were recovered from those who had a role that allegedly led to her suicide, police said. All those involved in the alleged mob trial were questioned in detail, they said. Police added that Raseena's friend, identified as Rahees, will also be questioned to understand the full picture. Following a note recovered from the scene, police had arrested three workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political offshoot of the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), in connection with the case. The arrested were identified as VC Mubsheer (28), KA Faisal (34), and VK Rafnas (24), all residents of the same area. Police said the group allegedly questioned Raseena and her friend near a mosque, later assaulting the man and detaining him for several hours. They allegedly took away his mobile phone and tablet and summoned family members to an SDPI office before releasing him late at night. First Published: June 20, 2025, 15:05 IST
France 24
37 minutes ago
- Health
- France 24
More microplastics in glass bottles than plastic: study
Researchers have detected thee tiny, mostly invisible pieces of plastic throughout the world, from in the air we breathe to the food we eat, as well as riddled throughout human bodies. There is still no direct evidence that this preponderance of plastic is harmful to human health, but a burgeoning field of research is aiming to measure its spread. Guillaume Duflos, research director at French food safety agency ANSES, told AFP the team sought to "investigate the quantity of microplastics in different types of drinks sold in France and examine the impact different containers can have". The researchers found an average of around 100 microplastic particles per litre in glass bottles of soft drinks, lemonade, iced tea and beer. That was five to 50 times higher than the rate detected in plastic bottles or metal cans. "We expected the opposite result," PhD student Iseline Chaib, who conducted the research, told AFP. "We then noticed that in the glass, the particles emerging from the samples were the same shape, colour and polymer composition -- so therefore the same plastic -- as the paint on the outside of the caps that seal the glass bottles," she said. The paint on the caps also had "tiny scratches, invisible to the naked eye, probably due to friction between the caps when there were stored," the agency said in a statement. This could then "release particles onto the surface of the caps", it added. Wine fine For water, both flat and sparkling, the amount of microplastic was relatively low in all cases, ranging from 4.5 particles per litre in glass bottles to 1.6 particles in plastic. Wine also contained few microplastics -- even glass bottles with caps. Duflos said the reason for this discrepancy "remains to be explained". Soft drinks however contained around 30 microplastics per litre, lemonade 40 and beer around 60. Because there is no reference level for a potentially toxic amount of microplastics, it was not possible to say whether these figures represent a health risk, ANSES said. But drink manufacturers could easily reduce the amount of microplastics shed by bottle caps, it added. The agency tested a cleaning method involving blowing the caps with air, then rinsing them with water and alcohol, which reduced contamination by 60 percent. The study released by ANSES was published online in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis last month.
France 24
37 minutes ago
- Business
- France 24
Russian government, central bank spar over economic downturn
Moscow had shown unexpected economic resilience in 2023 and 2024, despite the West's sweeping sanctions, with massive state spending on the military powering a robust expansion. But economists have long warned that heavy public investment in the defence industry is no longer enough to keep Russia's economy growing. Businesses and some government figures have urged the central bank to further cut interest rates to stimulate activity. "The indicators show the need to reduce rates," Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg. "We must move from a controlled cooling to a warming of the economy," said Novak, who oversees Russia's key energy portfolio in the government. He described the current economic situation facing the country as "painful". The call for more cuts to borrowing costs comes a day after Moscow's economy minister warned the country was "on the verge of a recession". "A simple and quick cut in the key rate is unlikely to change anything much at the moment, except for... an increase in the price level," the central bank's monetary policy department chief Andrey Gangan said. The central bank lowered interest rates from a two-decade-high earlier this month, its first cut since September 2022. The bank, which reduced the rate from 21 percent to 20 percent, said at the time that Russia's rapid inflation was starting to come under control but monetary policy would "remain tight for a long period". The central bank has resisted pressure for further cuts, pointing to inflation of around 10 percent, more than double its four-percent target. Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 1.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the lowest quarterly figure in two years. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has typically been content to let his officials argue publicly over some areas of economic policy, is set to speak on Friday afternoon at the plenary session of the economic forum.
