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  • Khadijah Farrakhan, ‘first lady of Nation of Islam’ as wife of famous pastor, dies at 90


    Khadijah Farrakhan, longtime wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, died on Saturday, the Nation of Islam has announced. She was 90.

    “Mother Khadijah” worked alongside her provocative and charismatic husband for decades, helping lead their religious and sociopolitical movement, which espouses Black self-reliance. Its home base was Mosque Maryam on the south side of Chicago, where the pair lived.

    “The Honorable Minister @LouisFarrakhan with deep sadness yet with profound gratitude to Allah informs you that his beloved wife of 72 years, the first lady of the Nation of Islam, Mother Khadijah has returned to Allah (may Allah be pleased),” a statement by the Shura Executive Council said.

    Her death came only seven months after devotees had marked Khadijah’s 90th birthday. The statement said funeral services are to be announced.

    Mosque Maryam remembered Farrakhan as “a devoted follower” with “a precious soul, a sweet heart.”

    In a post on Facebook, R&B artist ZaRio Son Rise recalled her as “a true queen, a righteous woman, and one of the greatest examples of dignity, faith, loyalty, and grace our generation has ever witnessed.”

    Born Betsy Ross, Khadijah Farrakhan married her husband, then named Louis Walcott, in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953. The two had nine children. Their eldest son, Louis Farrakhan Jr., died in 2018, and son Joshua Farrakhan died in 2023.

    Khadijah Farrakhan converted to Islam in 1955, the same year that her husband joined the Chicago-based movement after being heavily influenced by Malcolm X, his friend from Boston. The pair changed their names around that time.

    Louis Farrakhan stepped into the organization’s leadership vacuum shortly after Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Among his most significant accomplishments was the Million Man March on Washington in 1995.

    Two years later, Khadijah Farrakhan spoke before a gathering of America’s Black women in Philadelphia dubbed the Million Woman March.

    “A nation can rise no higher than its women,” she told the crowd. “We focus on women but cannot lose sight that we must rise as a family — men, women and children.”


  • Hornets send Miles Bridges to Phoenix Suns as offseason shakeup continues, AP source says


    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets are continuing their offseason overhaul.

    The Hornets have agreed to trade forward Miles Bridges, a 2029 first-round draft pick and a 2027 second-round pick to the Phoenix Suns for guard Grayson Allen, forward Royce O’Neale and a 2033 first-round pick, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

    The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because the trade, which was first reported by ESPN, still needs to be approved by the league.

    The trade comes on the heels of the Hornets sending star point guard LaMelo Ball to Minnesota as part of a deal that brought them Naz Reid, draft picks and pick swaps.

    That appears to have set off a major restructuring in Charlotte just months after the team improved its win total by 24 games from last season under second-year head coach Charles Lee.

    The Hornets lost in the play-in game to Orlando.

    The 6-foot-7 Bridges, 28, was the longest-tenured player on the Hornets roster, joining the team as a first-round draft pick in 2018 out of Michigan State.

    In seven seasons, he averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 46.1% from the field and 33.8% from 3-point range. His best season came in 2023-24 when he averaged 21 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 34.9% from beyond the arc.

    He sat out the 2022-23 season following accusations of domestic abuse.

    Bridges was arrested in June 2022 on the eve of free agency on charges including felony child abuse and injuring a child’s parent. The NBA forced him to to sit out while his legal case was pending. He ultimately pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge in November 2022.

    Bridges was suspended for 30 games in April 2023 by the league but received a 20-game credit because he missed the entire 2022-23 season.

    Charlotte never made the playoffs with Bridges’ tenure with the team.

    The trade opens the door for Reid, one of the league’s top reserves, to potentially start at power forward.

    The 6-foot-3 Allen grew into a solid scorer in his three seasons with the Suns, averaging a career-high 16.5 points and 3.8 assists per game, though injuries limited him to just 51 games.

    He’s the third former Duke player to join the Hornets roster.

    The 30-year-old is considered an elite 3-point shooter, though his accuracy dipped to 34.9% from long range last season.

    O’Neale, 33, is a versatile veteran entering his 10th NBA season. The 6-foot-6 forward spent the past 2 1/2 seasons with the Suns and averaged a career-high 9.8 points per game last season while shooting nearly 41% from beyond the arc.

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    AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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    AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba


  • George Russell beats Verstappen and the heat to win Austrian Grand Prix and boost F1 title chances


    SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — George Russell showed he can stand the heat in more ways than one as he won the Austrian Grand Prix to revive his Formula 1 title chances.

    Racing in a heatwave with a broken drinks system, Russell held off Max Verstappen and his own teammate Kimi Antonelli to turn his controversial pole position into a dominant win.

    It’s the first win for Russell, excluding sprint races, since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Russell said it was “incredible” to win again after struggling to compete with Antonelli when his teammate racked up five straight victories earlier in the season.

    “It’s been a tough couple of months with some really tricky races, with races that felt like everything was going against me, then some races with some tough performances,” he said.

    Verstappen took the fight to Mercedes with his upgraded Red Bull car at the team’s home race, but couldn’t get close enough for a shot at Russell and finished on the defensive against Antonelli. The top three were separated by just two seconds at the finish.

    Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari failed to build on his breakthrough win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last time out, fading badly in the race despite qualifying well, with the seven-time champion fifth and teammate Charles Leclerc eighth.

    Russell takes back second in the standings from Hamilton with his seventh career win and cuts Antonelli’s lead to 40 points.

    “I have a lot of confidence in myself, knowing I can do it. I have less confidence in being able to get everything aligned with the car, the set-up and the tires, because it’s just been so up and down for me,” Russell said.

    Antonelli was left to rue mistakes he said cost him valuable seconds early in the race.

    “It was a shame that I joined the party a bit too late,” the 19-year-old driver said.

    Russell’s smart win

    Russell took pole Saturday with a lap time set as a yellow flag was displayed for a crash by Verstappen. Russell argued he’d lifted off enough to be safe and the stewards agreed.

    Sunday’s win showed off Russell’s smart approach to racing in a different way as he managed his pace and stayed out of trouble, even as those behind him lost time battling each other for position.

    Leclerc had started second, with Hamilton third, but they gradually dropped back through the field on a track where they lacked power compared to Mercedes and also had difficulties with tire wear.

    Hamilton didn’t give up without a fight, bringing back memories of his fierce battles with Verstappen in 2021. Hamilton and the Dutch driver fought side by side in the early part of the race and Verstappen complained Hamilton had forced him wide into a gravel trap.

    Fourth place for Oscar Piastri was a positive sign for McLaren, with defending champion Lando Norris seventh, but it came with a warning from team principal Andrea Stella.

    It was an example of “excellent strategy” but “we are not in a position to fight for victories and podiums on pure pace at the moment,” Stella said.

    Cadillac feels the heat

    The heatwave sweeping Europe made this the first race of the year to be run under F1’s “heat hazard” rules, with drivers required to use cooling vests or carry an equivalent weight in ballast. They lined up for the pre-race Austrian anthem in cooling gear and carrying umbrellas.

    Overheating brakes were a hot topic, with Antonelli among those struggling to stop the car. Both Cadillac drivers retired early, with the team’s crew rushing to put out a small fire on Valtteri Bottas’ car before Sergio Perez reported smoke.

    F1’s newest team is launching an investigation into the issues.

    “We have made progress in terms of pace and the gap from the rear of the field is growing, but we need to ensure we have the reliability to demonstrate it,” team principal Graeme Lowdon said.

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing


  • The military is searching for a US Marine missing off the coast of California


    SAN DIEGO (AP) — Multiple agencies continued to search Sunday for a U.S. Marine who went missing during a training exercise off the coast of southern California, military officials said.

    Crews began searching for the Marine early Thursday morning, shortly after midnight, according to a Navy news release. The Marine was reported missing from the USS Anchorage during integrated training between the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

    It’s at least the second time in six weeks that the U.S. military has been forced to look for missing members. The remains of the second of two U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during military exercises in Morocco were recovered in May, the Army said, ending a multinational search operation that deployed air, naval and artificial intelligence assets.

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all who are affected during this difficult time,” the Navy said in the news release this week about the missing Marine.

    The Navy transitioned from search-and-rescue efforts to a search-and-recovery operation Friday evening. The Marine’s name was being withheld pending the notification of family.

    The search has covered about 2,400 square miles (6,200 square kilometers) and involved three surface ships and 12 aircraft from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force, officials said.

    The USS Anchorage is an amphibious transport dock ship based at Naval Base San Diego.


  • In blow to DC Studios, ‘Supergirl’ is no match for ‘Toy Story 5’ at box office


    NEW YORK (AP) — In a setback for Warner Bros.′ revamped DC movie operations, “Supergirl” was absolutely no match for “Toy Story 5” at the box office, opening a distant second to the Pixar blockbuster.

    After a near-record debut for an animated movie, “Toy Story 5” remained No. 1 at the box office with $70 million in domestic ticket sales and another $89.1 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release has in two weeks quickly amassed $585 million globally, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.

    “Supergirl,” however, failed to lift off. It opened with $38 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. It added $30 million in overseas markets.

    Craig Gillespie’s superhero spinoff is the second big-screen release from James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were tapped to lead DC Studios in late 2022. Their first release, 2025’s “Superman,” grossed $618 million worldwide, a strong-enough start for Gunn and Safran.

    But “Supergirl” flopped with both critics and moviegoers. Reportedly trimmed significantly after test screenings, Gillespie’s film landed poor reviews (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a “B-” CinemaScore from audiences.

    The poor opening weekend for “Supergirl” puts it behind the disappointing debuts of DC busts like “The Flash” ($55 million in 2023) and “The Green Lantern” ($53 million in 2011), and only barely ahead of “Joker: Folie à Deux” ($37.7 million in 2024).

    David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe, noted superhero movies no longer drive the box office like they did pre-pandemic. There are fewer yearly releases, and the box office in the genre is down approximately $3.5 billion annually from its highs in 2017-2019.

    After huge successes like “Wonder Woman” ($822 million in 2017) and “Captain Marvel” ($1.13 billion in 2019), female-fronted superhero movies have also taken a downturn.

    “You’ll hear general explanations like ‘the audience lost interest.’ Yes, they did,” said Gross. “But no one has been able to explain why it happened so suddenly and so completely. Why female superheroes in particular, after their sensational starts? We don’t understand it either.”

    The stumble for “Supergirl,” which cost $170 million to make, comes as Warner Bros. Discovery, the film studio’s parent company, is preparing to be acquired by Paramount Skydance. David Ellison, Paramount chief executive, recently met with Gunn and Safran.

    The next DC release is “Clayface,” a body horror take on the DC character, to be released in October. Gunn’s “Superman” follow-up, “Man of Tomorrow,” is currently in production. It’s dated for July 2027.

    Gunn, who serves as a producer on “Supergirl,” handed directing duties to Gillespie, the filmmaker of “I, Tonya” and “Cruella.” Milly Alcock, who briefly appeared in “Superman,” stars as Supergirl, or Lara Zor-El, a younger cousin to Superman who’s more of a party girl than a world saver.

    Paramount Pictures’ “Jackass: Best and Last” was the weekend’s other new wide release. The latest stunt compilation from Johnny Knoxville and company opened with a modest $8.4 million from 2,855 North American theaters. While that’s a good result for a movie that cost just $10 million to make, the 2022 installment, “Jackass Forever,” debuted with $23 million before ultimately grossing $80 million worldwide.

    Olivia Wilde’s dinner party comedy “The Invite” notched one of the best per-screen averages of the year. Opening on seven screens in New York and Los Angeles, it debuted with $379,104, good for a per-screen average of $54,158.

    Wilde’s third film as director stars herself, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton as a pair of San Francisco couples who meet for an impromptu night together. A24 acquired the film after its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere. The indie distributor is hoping “The Invite,” which will expand next week and go nationwide on July 10, can revive the largely dormant summer comedy.

    The micro-budget horror phenomenon “Obsession” continued to hold unusually strong. It took third place on the weekend with $9.8 million in its seventh weekend of release. Curry Barker’s film, made for less than $1 million, has now collected $233.9 million domestically for Focus Features, plus $108.9 million internationally.

    Such legs, however, haven’t materialized for Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day.” In the Universal Pictures’ third weekend of release, it slipped to fifth place with $8.1 million in domestic theaters. Spielberg’s UFO tale has grossed $193.7 million globally in three weeks.

    Top 10 movies by domestic box office

    With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

    1. “Toy Story 5,” $70 million.

    2. “Supergirl,” $38 million.

    3. “Obsession,” $9.8 million.

    4. “Jackass: Best and Last,” $8.4 million.

    5. “Disclosure Day,” $8.1 million.

    6. “Backrooms,” $4.3 million.

    7. “Scary Movie,” $3 million.

    8. “Masters of the Universe,” $2.2 million.

    9. “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity,” $2 million.

    10. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $1.6 million.


  • NASA races to save Swift telescope from falling back to Earth with daring rescue mission


    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is racing to save an aging telescope from falling back to Earth with a daring rescue mission.

    The $30 million salvage operation gets underway as soon as this week with the planned launch of a robotic lifesaver.

    NASA hired startup Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the Swift Observatory to a higher orbit where it can continue hunting for some of the universe’s biggest explosions. A three-armed spacecraft built by Katalyst will chase after Swift once it takes off from an atoll in the Pacific’s Marshall Islands aboard an airplane-launched Pegasus rocket. Liftoff could occur as early as Tuesday.

    Scanning the cosmos since its launch in 2004, Swift has been sinking faster and faster because of recent intense solar activity. It needs to get to a higher, more stable orbit as soon as possible to survive.

    NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope — also at risk — could be next.

    Like Swift, Hubble is losing altitude as the sun erupts with one flare after another. Katalyst Space CEO Ghonhee Lee said his company’s next-generation robot, still in development, could save the day for the much bigger Hubble in a couple years.

    Only China has attempted a mission like the upcoming one, successfully boosting a satellite into a higher graveyard orbit four years ago.

    “This is the first American space robot to go up and do anything like this,” Lee told The Associated Press. “NASA has all these big senior observatories … all of them can benefit from a service like this. So what we’re proving with this mission is this is a new play in the playbook that’s available.”

    It will take Katalyst’s autonomous spacecraft, named Link, about a month to rendezvous with Swift and catch it, and another couple months to raise its orbit from the current 224 miles (360 kilometers) to the desired 373 miles (600 kilometers).

    The 1.6-ton (1.4-metric ton) gamma ray observatory must be above 185 miles (300 kilometers) for the rescue to work. It’s expected to reach that point of no return in October, according to the latest estimates.

    Roughly the size of a small kitchen refrigerator with a 40-foot (12-meter) solar wingspan, Link sports three arms with a reach of just over 3 feet (1 meter). Each arm has two finger-like pinching grippers that resemble the hands of a Lego mini figure.

    If all goes well, Swift could be back in business by September, according to Lee.

    Worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Swift was never designed to be repaired, let alone retrieved by hands — human or otherwise. That’s what makes this so challenging, according to company officials, who stress there is no guarantee it will work.

    NASA signed a contract with Katalyst last September with only two requests: It has to be a rush job, but please don’t make things worse. Nine months later, the company is ready to rumble.

    “I have to be honest. No one thought it was going to be possible. No one thought we would get as far as we’ve already gotten today,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA’s astrophysics director.

    NASA has bought a little more time for Swift, turning off all scientific instruments to slow its descent. Observations ceased in February.

    NASA’s science mission chief Nicky Fox said it’s worth the effort.

    “If we let Swift reenter, we would lose that telescope. We would lose a lot of capability,” she said. “We don’t currently have the budget to build another one to replace that.”

    While everything cannot be saved in space, Swift is special, said Domagal-Goldman.

    True to its name, Swift is designed to pivot quickly to capture late-breaking astronomical events such as gamma ray bursts and exploding stars. With more discoveries expected by the Webb Space Telescope and soon-to-launch Roman Space Telescope, Swift, if saved, would be busier than ever as “NASA’s first responder.”

    Katalyst sees Swift as the jumping-off point for a new repair business in space. The company’s next-generation robotic rescuer, scheduled to fly next year, will tackle satellites as high as 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) up. Lee envisions hundreds of robots in orbit one day, not only fixing and hoisting satellites but also refueling them and building solar farms, data centers and other platforms.

    Thirty-six-year-old Hubble, which received repeat servicing by spacewalking astronauts during the shuttle era, could follow in 2028 with a life-extending Katalyst boost.

    “It’s a national treasure,” Fox said. “People love Hubble.”

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    This story corrects spacecraft name to Link.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


  • Inside country legend Alan Jackson’s triumphant finale concert


    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The time has come for country music superstar Alan Jackson to hang up his signature Stetson hat.

    The genre traditionalist from Newnan, Georgia, whose career kicked off in the 1980s and exploded shortly thereafter in the oft-cited ’90s country wave with heartfelt songs for the working man who’d rather be drinking, or fishing, or ideally both, has sold over 60 million records across his storied career. And on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, he brought his touring career to an end.

    The event titled “Last Call: One More for the Road — The Finale” was a triumphant swan song for the performer, a celebration of his life and career with some help from the artists he directly inspired.

    Nashville’s all-stars came out in droves

    It was a concert in two movements.

    The first two hours were made up of a marathon run of Jackson covers from some of the biggest names in contemporary country. And each performer had a personal story to share. Carrie Underwood sang “Everything I Love” after revealing that Jackson was her first ever concert, in 1994 at the Tulsa State Fair. Thomas Rhett warmed up the crowd with “Small Town Southern Man,” an appropriate choice for a singer currently living the song’s lyrics — he’s a father to four girls.

    The Texas-born and bred Miranda Lambert performed “Dallas.” Lainey Wilson got the crowd moving with “Tall, Tall Trees.”

    “It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite Alan Jackson song … but I had to try,” said Luke Combs before launching into “Hard Hat and a Hammer.”

    Each performer played with Jackson’s backing band, save for Eric Church, who opted to cover “Someday” with just his voice and an acoustic guitar.

    It was an All-Star night for one of country music’s most colossal voices. Other guest performers included Luke Bryan, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Little Big Town, Jake Owen, Jon Pardi, Lee Ann Womack and a slew of super talented members of Jackson’s own family: Adam Wright, Big City Brian Wright and Carlisle Wright.

    Five years ago, the 67-year-old music giant Jackson shared that he has a degenerative nerve condition that affects his balance called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which he was first diagnosed with a decade prior. He said it was a genetic condition, and its effects on his ability to walk and perform had become more noticeable. One dollar of every ticket sold on Saturday night the CMT Research Foundation, an organization that funds research to find a cure for Charcot-Marie-Tooth.

    When it was time for Jackson to hit the stage after 9:35 p.m. — after a storm delay of about an hour — he was met with ear-piercing cheers. The singer appeared stiff as he walked to his microphone, but once he picked up his guitar for the opener “Gone Country,” he was immediately back in action with that smoky baritone and timeless songs, though strumming was kept to a minimum.

    “It’s overwhelming,” he addressed the crowd before assuring them he would not spend too much time on “that last show stuff … I’m not dead!”

    A night to remember

    The Country Music Hall of Famer ran through his best-known hits with real ferocity: “I Don’t Even Know Your Name” arrived quickly, as did “Livin’ on Love,” “Summertime Blues” and the moody “Midnight in Montgomery,” as the music videos for each played on a giant screen behind them.

    He made it a point to walk from side to side of the stage, greeting each section while championing his band and the power of “real country music.”

    “If anyone has lived the American dream,” he said later, while seated on a stool, “It’s me.”

    Anecdotes flowed from there. He talked about writing “I’d Love You All Over Again” for his wife on their 10th wedding anniversary and how the radio from “Chasin’ that Neon Rainbow” is currently in the Country Music Hall of Fame museum. And he mentioned that “Drive (For Daddy Gene” was written after his father died.

    An hour into his set, Jackson teased the audience by saying he needed some help for the next song. Out emerged George Strait for their collaborations “Designated Drink” and “Murder on Music Row.”

    Then came an incredible run of hits: “Little Bitty,” “Country Boy,” “Good Time” and “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” among them, the latter written and recorded following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

    Blockbuster singles followed: “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” “Remember When,” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” the latter recording famously featuring the late “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett.

    Fireworks were launched into the sky for “Chattahoochee.”

    Alan Jackson’s story continues

    Just because this is the end of Jackson’s touring career doesn’t mean it is the end of his music career. On Thursday, two days before the final concert blowout, Jackson released a country cover of Orleans’ “Still the One,” to celebrate his 50-year relationship with wife and high school sweetheart Denise Jackson. She was a cheerleader practicing a dance routine to the soft rock classic; he was instantly smitten.

    For those who missed Jackson’s final bow, the show will be released later in the year as an NBC concert special. But for those who were in the stadium — in the middle of a huge storm — it was an unrepeatable and unmistakable night.


  • Messi becomes first to score in 7 straight World Cup games while extending goals record


    ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Lionel Messi didn’t have much time to try to become the first to score in seven consecutive World Cup games.

    Argentina’s superstar did it anyway as a second-half substitute.

    Messi made it seven straight while extending the all-time men’s World Cup scoring record with his 19th goal in Argentina’s 3-1 victory over Jordan in a group stage finale on Saturday night.

    In his first match since turning 39 three days earlier, Messi scored on a free kick in the 80th minute after being taken down just outside the penalty area. The low kick barely above the grass surface split two Jordan defenders into the left corner of the net.

    It was his 72nd career goal on a free kick, including his 12th for Argentina. Messi now has 123 international goals — second all-time to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 145 — in 202 appearances.

    Messi had been one of only three players to score in six consecutive World Cup games along with France striker Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho.

    “What you’re seeing, I’m seeing the same thing,” coach Lionel Scaloni said through a translator. “It’s a little bit of an uncomfortable situation every single time people ask because I no longer know what to say.”

    Messi also scored on a free kick against Nigeria in the 2014 World Cup and is among six players since records are available dating to 1966 who scored two free kick goals in the World Cup. He joined Pelé, Rivellino, Téofilo Cubillas, Bernard Genghini and David Beckham.

    “I am very happy for him, for the moment he is having,” Giovani Lo Celso said in translated remarks after becoming the first Argentine other than Messi to score in this tournament, also on a free kick in the 19th minute. “The truth is that seeing him every day excites, excites and infects a lot. So obviously seeing him like that for us is very important.”

    Messi didn’t start because Argentina had already clinched first place in Group J, and the game was further meaningless because Jordan was already eliminated from the knockout stage.

    Nevertheless, the decidedly pro-Argentina crowd of 70,649 at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys was eager to see him.

    Fans started chanting Messi’s name as soon as the second half started, and cheered loudly when he came off the bench merely to go through warmups.

    The roar was louder when he stepped onto the field in the 60th minute, replacing Lautaro Martinez, who scored on a penalty kick in the first half.

    For all the accomplishments of the eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or as the best player in Europe, Messi has never won the golden boot as the top scorer in each World Cup. This is his sixth.

    Messi now has six goals in this tournament, two clear of Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Júnior and Erling Haaland.

    Messi had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami that slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup.

    The knockout round for Argentina begins Friday in South Florida, and in this expanded 48-team tournament that would be the first of five matches in 17 days if La Albiceleste makes it to the final on July 19.

    “Today he could have played 90 minutes,” Scaloni said. “He wanted his teammates to have time on the pitch and to save himself also for what’s coming up now. He doesn’t think so much about the numbers that people are talking about.”

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Austria, Algeria trade goals in stoppage time, both advance at World Cup with stunning 3-3 draw


    KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Algeria and Austria knew that a pedestrian draw Saturday night would have sent both to the knockout round of the World Cup.

    They delivered a thrilling 3-3 draw instead.

    In the wildest finish of the group stage, Algeria took the lead in stoppage time only for Austria to answer on the final play of the game, making it a win-win result for those teams and a heartbreaking loss for Iran, which was eliminated from the tournament.

    “I’ve been a coach for about 40 years. I don’t remember a game that had such a dramatic course, and such an unexpected trajectory,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said, shaking his head. “Even at the beginning of the match, if someone would have said it would be 3-3, nobody would have believed it. Somebody would have won an incredible bet, I guess.”

    The game was tied 2-all in the closing minutes, and Algeria looked as if it was content to run out the clock and allow both teams to advance, when Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal of the game. That put Austria on the verge of elimination, only for Sasa Kalajdzic to head in the equalizer a couple of minutes later, rescuing Das Team’s World Cup hopes.

    “The locker room is madness,” Rangnick said with a smile. “If Alfred Hitchcock — who had nothing to do with soccer, didn’t really like soccer — if he had written such a drama, I would have said he was completely mad.”

    Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer also had goals for Austria, which finished second behind Argentina in Group J to advance for the first time since 1982. Its reward is a matchup with European champion Spain on Thursday in Los Angeles.

    Rafik Belghali also scored for Les Fennecs, who became the ninth of 10 teams from Africa to advance. They finished third in the group but get a potentially easier Round of 32 matchup with Switzerland on Thursday night in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    “It’s a feeling of being extremely happy,” Mahrez said. “We’re obviously happy, and it was the objective when we arrived — it was to go beyond the first round. That’s what we did, and we’re all very happy.”

    Iran would’ve advanced as one of the eight best third-place teams had Austria or Algeria won. But when Kalajdzic scored in stoppage time to tie the game one last time, it meant Team Melli was eliminated in heartbreaking fashion.

    “When you have 3-3,” Rangnick said, “nobody can assume that it was an agreement (to tie) or anything like that.”

    The first three World Cup matches at Arrowhead Stadium had seen the home of the Kansas City Chiefs flooded in the light blue of Argentina, yellow of Ecuador and highlighter orange of the Netherlands. But in the city’s group finale, the Algeria green and red of the Austrians were complemented by thousands of locals just happy to score a less expensive World Cup ticket.

    Many of those locals appeared to be rooting for Algeria, though, which has made its training base in nearby Lawrence, Kansas, and has struck up a unique friendship with the small college town home to the University of Kansas.

    Few of those new fans of Les Fennecs probably knew about the “Disgrace of Gijón.”

    Yet longtime Algeria supporters had been waiting 44 years for some World Cup revenge against Austria. At the 1982 tournament, Austria and West Germany seemingly quit playing after the latter took a 1-0 lead, because that outcome ensured both would advance at the expense of Algeria, which protested to FIFA to no avail and was eliminated from the World Cup.

    Some were curious whether the expanded 48-team field would result in a “Disgrace of Kansas City,” since both teams knew by kickoff that a draw would send them through. Instead, a crowd of 69,045 on Saturday night was treated to a dramatic 90-plus minutes.

    Austria struck first when Arnautovic perfectly timed a run between two Algerian defenders, found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Oussama Benbot, and overcame a stumble to score his record-extending 49th career goal for his nation.

    Algeria answered just before halftime, when Belghali’s left-footed shot easily beat Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager.

    The frenetic pace continued early in the second half on a hot night in Kansas City.

    Not content with a 1-1 draw, Austria’s Konrad Laimer sent a sharp pass across the field that Sabitzer finished to regain the lead — and give Iran some hope — only for Algeria to answer minutes later, when Mahrez scored off a perfect cross from Houssem Aouar.

    It remained 2-2 down the stretch, and Algeria began to play keep-away as an antsy crowd began to hoot and whistle. But just when it seemed that would be it, Mahrez and Kalajdzic ended the group stage of the World Cup in memorable fashion.

    “I think the match was a little crazy. It sort of went beyond the limits of everyone’s endurance,” said Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic. “Let’s celebrate our promotion, so to speak, let’s rest and then we will begin again for the next round.”

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  • Iran narrowly knocked out of tumultuous World Cup on Austria’s last-second goal


    Iran has been eliminated from the World Cup, narrowly failing to advance past the group stage in a politically charged tournament where the team played its matches amid tight restrictions imposed by the United States.

    Iran missed the round of 32 by one spot in heartbreaking fashion.

    It finished third in Group G with three points earned with draws against Belgium, New Zealand and Egypt. Iran appeared to have advanced via tiebreakers when Algeria scored a stunning stoppage-time goal to go ahead of Austria 3-2 Saturday night, but Austria tied it back up seconds later on the game’s final play. Their draw ensured Iran’s elimination.

    It was one last painful moment for Iran in a World Cup that’s been tumultuous, on and off the pitch.

    The Iranians have been playing while Tehran negotiates with Washington on terms of a deal meant to permanently end the war that began earlier this year. Tensions continued Saturday when Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, in a likely response to overnight airstrikes by the U.S. Hours later, the U.S. said it struck multiple Iranian military targets after it said Iran attacked a ship near the Straight of Hormuz.

    During the World Cup, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei and players complained about numerous complications, including travel restrictions, visa denials for support staff and quick departures from the U.S. after matches.

    U.S. officials have said all restrictions were known before the tournament.

    The U.S. and Israel began the war on Feb. 28 by attacking Iran, which retaliated with attacks in the region and by asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz.

    In March, Iran sought to move its group-stage matches to Mexico, with which it has diplomatic ties. Its request to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana was granted two weeks before the team’s arrival.

    After Iran was eliminated Saturday night, the team sent a statement expressing “heartfelt appreciation to the wonderful people of Mexico, especially the beautiful city of Tijuana.”

    “Leaving Tijuana is truly difficult for all of us,” the statement said.

    At its first match, several hundred Iranian Americans protested outside the stadium, calling for change in Tehran and waving the pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flag. Thousands more poured into the stadium to watch them play, and the pre-game national anthem was met with a mix of cheers and boos.

    For the first two matches, near Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before and had to return to Mexico immediately after each game. The U.S. then eased its restrictions, allowing the squad to travel to Seattle two days before Friday’s match against Egypt. If Iran had advanced, it would have played its next match in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    “We were treated very, very badly,” Ghalenoei said after Friday’s draw with Egypt left the Iranians clinging to hope they would get to the next round. “I hope the world becomes aware of these issues.”

    “What these young Iranian national team players have done should be recorded in history,” Ghalenoei said. “Why? Because the host treated us in the worst possible way.”

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here