🧵 The Headline: Les Bleus Banish 2002 Ghosts Twenty-four years after Senegal’s legendary upset in 2002, Didier Deschamps’ men navigated a high-stakes opening fixture with tactical maturity. After a tightly contested, scoreless first half where Senegal’s physical organization frustrated the French front line, France accelerated their play in the second half to secure a definitive 2-0 victory. ⏱️ Key Match Timelines & Tactical Breakdown The First Half: Senegal Stand Strong Defensive Rigor: Senegal matched France step-for-step in the opening 45 minutes, maintaining a rigid 4-3-3 shape. Missed Opportunities: The best chance of the half fell to Senegal's Ismaïla Sarr just before the break, but his shot cleared the crossbar. Sadio Mané forced a sharp save from Mike Maignan in the 40th minute, leaving the game balanced 0-0 at halftime. The Second Half: France Accelerates 58' — Penalty Drama: Kylian Mbappé went down inside the penalty area after a last-ditch challenge from Sadio Mané. Following a lengthy VAR review, the referee determined the attacker initiated contact and waved play on amidst boos from the crowd. 66' — GOAL (France 1 - 0 Senegal): The breakthrough came via a spectacular tactical adjustments. Michael Olise found space out wide and delivered a perfect ball into the path of Kylian Mbappé, who found a pocket of space and rifled a low shot into the bottom-right corner. 82' — GOAL (France 2 - 0 Senegal): With Senegal pushing numbers forward, France launched a swift counter-attack. Adrien Rabiot carried the ball forcefully through the midfield before playing a precision through-ball to substitute Bradley Barcola. Faced one-on-one with Édouard Mendy, Barcola calmly chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper. 📊 Records & Milestones This match marked a monumental historical milestone for France's captain: 57 International Goals: With his opening goal, Kylian Mbappé officially equalled Olivier Giroud as France's joint all-time top goalscorer. He achieved this feat in his 99th international cap. 13 World Cup Goals: Mbappé's goal also leveled him with legendary figures Lionel Messi and Just Fontaine for total World Cup goals scored, placing him just three shy of Miroslav Klose’s tournament record. 📋 Starting Lineups France (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernández; Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Olise, Dembélé (Barcola 81'), Doué (Cherki 86'); Mbappé. Senegal (4-3-3): Mendy; Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhaté, Diouf; Camara (Diarra 76'), I. Gueye (Ciss 87'), P. Gueye (I. Ndiaye 82'); Sarr (Mbaye 74'), Jackson (Dieng 82'), Mané.

Pretty sure you said we wouldn’t even get a seat or one percent in Great Yarmouth. We smashed reform to bits we won ten out of ten contested seats and reform didn’t even come close. 🤷‍♂️

𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳𝘀 "New Zealanders shouldn't have to choose between their career and their right to free speech," says ACT Public Service spokesperson Todd Stephenson. "Today ACT is announcing a 2026 election policy to stop professional regulators acting as ideological enforcers. ACT will, if returned to Government, introduce legislation to this end. "New Zealand has a growing problem. Professional regulators were set up to ensure competence, safety, and ethical conduct. Increasingly, they're using their powers to police people's lawful opinions. "Teachers, nurses, real estate agents and other professionals are discovering that holding the wrong view can put their livelihood at risk. "We've seen a real estate agent with a spotless 30-year record banned from working for five years because she refused to attend ideological training. "We've seen nurses dragged through disciplinary processes over lawful social media posts made in their own time. "We've seen the Teaching Council spend teachers' registration fees making political submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill, then pursue a teacher who publicly disagreed. "When regulators can threaten your career over your personal beliefs, freedom of expression exists only on paper. "More than 200,000 New Zealanders work in regulated professions. Every one of them should be free to participate in public debate without wondering whether their registration is on the line. "ACT's legislation will restore common sense and draw a line around what regulators can and cannot do. ACT will: Ban regulators from disciplining members for lawful expression outside their professional practice. Require regulators to remain institutionally neutral on political and ideological issues. Restrict mandatory training to matters directly related to professional competence and public safety, not affirmation of contested ideological positions. Strengthen judicial oversight so courts can properly rein in regulators that exceed their statutory authority. "To be absolutely clear, professional misconduct will still be professional misconduct. If a nurse harms a patient, a teacher abuses a student, or a professional breaches their duties, regulators should come down hard. "But if somebody expresses a lawful political opinion, supports a political party, signs a petition, attends a protest, or posts a view online in their own time, that is none of their regulator's business. "ACT believes professionals should be judged on how they do their job, not whether they hold fashionable political views. It's time to put ideological regulators back in their lane."

1) Nine Democrats are running in the hotly contested race for an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council. @samdelgadoDC and @maustermuhle interviewed them all. 51st.news/at-large-candidate…

How President Tinubu's Foreign Policy Is Reshaping Africa and Repositioning Nigeria in the World On April 16, 2025, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Amb. @YusufTuggar paid a working visit to Niamey for high-level talks with his Nigerien counterpart—a meeting conducted, by all accounts, in a spirit of fraternity and good neighbourliness. The outcomes were substantive: commitment to revitalising the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission; advancing the Kano-Katsina-Jibiya-Maradi Railway; the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, Trans-Saharan Highway, and Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic projects; and enhanced counter-terrorism and border security cooperation. The significance of this is crucial. The border between Nigeria and Niger is 1,500 kilometres of porous, contested terrain through which insurgents, smugglers, and trafficked persons move with regularity. Security along that frontier affects both countries significantly. The @officialABAT administration's decision to pursue diplomatic normalisation with Niger's military government, without abandoning its democratic principles, reflects the difficult but necessary pragmatism of a country that must live with its neighbours long after the summit declarations have faded. ~MOHAMMED ABIODUN is a Historian, he writes from the FCT @NigeriaMFA @OfficialAPCNg @nentawe1 #TinubuGains

Access to the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly a quarter of global oil flows, remains contested. Vessel tracking and maritime trade data offer key insights into the ongoing dispute: cs.is/4cspt0G

Can Indiana be that contested area of Morocco that Nolan got push back for filming in with the world's largest conveyor belt or has it already been assigned?

NEW ZEALAND AND IRAN SHARE POINTS IN WORLD CUP OPENER 🚨🔻 TENSE DRAW IN OPENING GROUP GAME 🔺🚩 New Zealand and Iran have played out a hard fought draw in their World Cup opener with both sides taking a valuable point to start their campaign It was a tightly contested match with moments for both teams but neither could find the decisive breakthrough as defenses held firm until the final whistle A balanced result that keeps the group wide open #football #worldcup #cristianoronaldo #messi #NewZealand #Iran

Did John walk 80 feet between 12:22am and 12:24am, which would take him from the street into the house? The data says so. Did Karen reconnect to the WiFi at 12:36am? The data says so. Did Jen McCabe search "hos long to die in cold" at 2:27am? The data says so. Plenty of data lines up with the defense. However, every bit of data from every source was contested.

It was always going to come to this, wasn't it? Friday's @SuperRugbyAM final will be contested by bitter rivals Dogos and Pampas, after both teams triumphed in their semifinal clashes. This will be a cracker! therugbypaper.co.uk/all/worl…

EGYPT AND BELGIUM SHARE POINTS IN TIGHT WORLD CUP CLASH 🚨🔻 TOUGH DRAW IN HIGH INTENSITY ENCOUNTER 🔺🚩 Uruguay and Saudi Arabia may have shared points earlier, but attention now shifts as Egypt and Belgium also split the points in another tightly contested World Cup battle Both sides had moments to win it but strong defensive structure and missed chances meant the game ended level leaving everything open in the group A result that keeps the pressure rising as the tournament heats up #football #worldcup #cristianoronaldo #messi #Egypt #Belgium

🇫🇷 FRANCE IN CONTROL! The French are closing in on a winning start to their World Cup campaign. ⚽ Kylian Mbappé (66') ⚽ Bradley Barcola (82') After a tightly contested first hour, Les Bleus found another gear. Mbappé broke the deadlock before Barcola added a second to put the result beyond doubt. Senegal battled bravely but have struggled to turn their efforts into clear-cut chances, while France have punished them when it mattered most. ⏱️ 84' | 🇫🇷 France 2-0 Senegal 🇸🇳 Can the Lions of Teranga mount a late comeback, or are France cruising to all three points? #FRASEN #WorldCup2026 #France #Senegal #Mbappe #Barcola #LesBleus 🇫🇷⚽🔥

All four have accounts of the crucifiction and the resurrection. Even Mark's sparse and contested account of the empty tomb is a direct contradiction of the Quranic account in An-Nisa.

He wasn't touching the floor because of his bad defense and bad offense, he has both don't get it wrong. He'll get blown by on defense and on offense he'd hog the ball and force an ultra contested layup over a 7 footer 😭😭😭

That chart is from a pro-choice advocacy site and deliberately conflates common effects with rare complications and contested science. And you're pivoting. Again. You did not answer the question.

This method has worked in the past with highly contested legislation like the civil rights act and will work for The Save America Act also. The majority is there and it might take weeks if not longer but this legislation is so important to Americas future.

France can finally bury the ghosts of 2002 with this victory over Senegal. A closely contested first half, but French quality, told after the break, with Michael Olise pulling the strings and conducting the French orchestra to what now looks like a memorable 2-0 win.

I didn't say a team's entire offense should be dictated by contested 3s but if the possession ends in that when what you were going for didn't work, that's good offense. The Spurs just abandoned everything else and started chucking 3s.

“While Ethiopia held highly contested general elections, Christian communities were burying their dead and thousands of civilians were fleeing their homes. The massacres are the latest episode in a continuing wave of violence against Christians in Oromia and add to mounting concerns regarding atrocities committed against the Amhara people throughout Ethiopia.”

The only wrong Obi did to this man was to support him when he contested for the Anambra governorship in 2021. Mr. Valentine is 55 years old. Obi is older than him by 9 years. Valentine does not fall within the range of a youth. The Nigerian Youth Policy, that of the AU and the UN, all classify a youth as between 16 and 35, with the Nigerian youth policy and the AU specifically pegging the maximum at 35. There is part of the world where a 64 year old man like Old is classified as too old to lead. Out of envy, Mr. Valentine is throwing tantrums at a man who has never once mentioned his name since he left him and moved to the APC. Personally, I would prefer to partner with a politician like Wike, who is very frank, than someone like Mr. Valentine. Currently, people like @Chigozieialex are giving Mr. Valentine hope that they can replicate a movement like the Obidient Movement with their Valiant Movement. The mistake they make is that they don't understand the grace that Mr. Peter Obi carries. To replicate the Obidient Movement is to replicate the grace that Obi has. Incidentally, it doesn't come by mere wishes.