META MAG

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rugby league's bid to crack into the U.S. sports market returned to Las Vegas on Saturday with its mission to convert Americans to thisrugged brand of footballdrawing almost 50,000 fans to Allegiant stadium.

Australia National Rugby League US

It's the third consecutive year Australia's National Rugby League has showcased the gritty sport in the entertainment capital.

How many locals showed up among the thousands of traveling fans from Australia and England on a day that saw three matches was not immediately clear, but the showcase delivered on the entertainment stakes capped by a cliffhanger between two historic rivals.

The NRL has committed until 2028 to play regular season matches in Las Vegas as part of a strategic plan to broaden an international audience for the sport and increase its sports betting revenue by playing Prime Time in the entertainment capital.

Australia has been courting the US market since 1987when it played a State of Origin match between New South Wales and Queensland in Long Beach.

Bulldogs in derby win

A field goal in the second period of 'golden point' extra time by Canterbury Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton decided a brutally physical encounter against the St. George-Illawarra Dragons.

Tied at 14-14 at the end of regulation and with both teams missing chances in the first period of extra time, Crichton stepped up from 20 meters (yards) to nervelessly slot home his kick to give the Bulldogs a dramatic victory.

Crichton had earlier played in winger Jacob Kiraz for Canterbury's second try after Jacob Preston had opened the scoring for Canterbury.

The Dragons twice leveled the match with a rare try by prop Emre Guler, while Setu Tu scored acrobatically in the corner for a try on his NRL debut.

Dragons half Kyle Flanagan kicked a penalty goal in the final minutes of regulation to tie the game and force extra time.

Advertisement

Knights upset Cowboys

Earlier, the Newcastle Knights stunned the North Queensland Cowboys 28-18 in the NRL season opener.

The match was in the balance at 22-18 in the last 10 minutes, before Braidon Burns was penalized for a high hit on Knights star Kalyn Ponga and was sent to the sin bin by referee Ashley Klein.

Newcastle, which finished bottom of the NRL standings last season, seized on the extra man advantage with prop forward Trey Mooney barging over to seal the win.

Newcastle raced to a 12-0 lead with tries from Greg Marzhew and Fletcher Sharpe, before the Cowboys rallied after Heilum Luki and Murray Taulagi scored to level at 12-12 at half time.

Bradman Best and Dominic Young scored a quickfire double for the Knights after the break before Taulagi's second try narrowed the deficit.

Leeds thump Hull KR

Maika Sivo scored four tries as the Leeds Rhinos thumped Hull KR 56-8 in the first match at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday featuring two English clubs.

The Rhinos stormed to a 28-0 halftime lead. Converted tries to Brodie Croft, Keenan Palasia, Ryan Hall and a double to Sivo set the tone.

Leeds maintained momentum in the second half with former Parramatta Eel Sivo scoring twice more, while Croft added a second try and Cooper Jenkins crashed over twice.

Hull's only reply came through Joe Burgess, a lone consolation after their World Club Challenge win over theBrisbane Broncoslast week.

AP sports:https://apnews.com/sports

This time it was Hilary Knight's turn to provide a big laugh — with an assist from the "Saturday Night Live" writers — in the wake of a weeklong dust-up involving theUnited States women and men's Olympic gold medal-winning hockey teams.

Knight, the U.S. women's captain, along with teammate Megan Keller and men's team brothers Jack and Quinn Hughes, made a surprise appearance during "Heated Rivalry" star Connor Storrie's opening monologue on "SNL" on Saturday night.

With the Hughes brothers already on stage alongside Storrie, Knight and Keller joined them to a loud and lengthy ovation. The four players wore USA jerseys with their gold medals draped from their necks.

Knight opened by saying: "It was going to be just us, but we thought we'd invite the guys, too."

The remark was a clear reference to a controversy that arose when the men received a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump following their2-1 overtime win against Canadaon Sunday at theMilan Cortina Games.

Addressing the team over a speakerphone, Trump invited the men to his State of the Union speech, before adding he'd have to also invite the women, too. The president later said if he didn't invite the women, he'd risk being impeached, which led to the players laughing at a comment many saw as sexist.

Knight on Wednesdayreferred to the joke as being "distasteful and unfortunate."

Many of the men, meantime, said they laughed while being caught up in the celebration. Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman acknowledged they "should have reacted differently" to Trump's remarks.

The U.S. women, who also beatCanada 2-1 in overtimethree days earlier, politelydeclined Trump's invitation due to travel plans. The players traveled commercially and returned to North America late Monday evening, well after the men, who traveled on a charter flight paid for by the NHL and NHL Players' Association.

Jack Hughes scored the overtime goal for the men.

Advertisement

Keller scored the overtime goal for the women, with Knight tying the game in the final minutes of regulation.

Knight plays for the PWHL's Seattle Torrent, and made the trip to New York City a day after beingplaced on long-term injured reserve. Keller, who plays for Boston, scrambled to New York hours after playing in the Fleet's 3-2 shootout win at Ottawa earlier in the day.

Jack Hughes plays for the NHL New Jersey Devils, and Quinn for the Minnesota Wild.

Knight delivered another punchline after Quinn Hughes said the last time the men won gold was 46 years ago at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Knight followed by saying the women last won in 2018.

Laughing, Jack Hughes responded by saying, "nice burn," before turning to Storrie and saying: "These gold medals aren't just for us, they're for all hockey fans, yours' too."

When Storrie asked if he could try on one of the medals, all four players turned and said, "No."

"Heated Rivalry" has quickly become a hitfollowing its first season onHBO Max. Adapted from Rachel Reid's novel published in 2019, it features a plot revolving around a gay hockey romance in which two players from opposing teams carry out a secret, long-term relationship.

AP Olympic coverage:https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

SINGAPORE (AP) — Australian Hannah Green has won the HSBC Women's World Championship for a second time, holding off a fast-finishing American Auston Kim to claim a one-stroke victory on Sunday.

Singapore LPGA Golf

Green, the2019 Women's PGA Championship winner, closed with a 69, after an erratic back-nine with three birdies and three bogeys nearly opened the door for Kim.

Green tapped in for bogey at the last and a 14-under four-round total of 274 at the par-72 SentosaGolfClub and give her another title in Singapore after also winning here in 2024.

Kim had the equal-best round of the day with a 67 on the back off six birdies and an eagle, but bogeys at the second and especially at the par-3 15th ended her charge at 13-under 275, and one shot behind a faltering Green.

Advertisement

Minjee Lee, who had been co-leader with Green coming into Sunday's final round, mixed three birdies with three bogeys for a frustrating even final round 72 and was tied for third with Angel Yin (71) and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (68) of France at 11-under 277.

Top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul, who wonlast week's tournamentin her native Thailand, shot 73 Sunday and was 2-under 287 and tied for 31st. She was one shot behind defending championLydia Ko, who had a 72.

The 72-player, no-cut tournament was the second of three stops on the LPGA's early year Asian swing, with the final one next week at Hainan Island, China.

AP golf:https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Undermining this moment of relief for many repressed Iranians is that killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a perilously simple fix to a very complex problem.

Khamanei's rule was marked by mismanagement, and ultimately ended with one of the more brutal episodes of his trademark repression – the violence his regime meted out to keep power.

His removal has sparkedcelebrations in Tehran, as well as 40 days' official mourning and huge pro-regime crowds – but also a struggle for what remains of the regime to work outwhat comes next.

Israeli officials have hinted the strike was expedited to exploit a daylight window of opportunity when senior Iranian leaders met. And US President Donald Trump appears to have reached again for the Venezuela playbook, suggesting he had a successor in mind – as he did after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, anointing deputy leader Delcy Rodriguez as his preferred interlocutor.

When asked late Saturday, Trump notably declined to say who he thought would play that role in this case. Soon, though, Tehran will have to announce a succession plan.

But Iran is absolutely not as persuadable as Venezuela has been so far.

For 47 years, a theocracy has turned into an autocracy and kleptocracy. A large proportion of the country's more than 90 million people rely on the regime for their livelihood, and a minority have blood on their hands from helping it repress dissent.

When the Assad regime in nearby Syria collapsed in late 2024, its security forces had been hollowed out – and its economy ravaged – by years of civil conflict. Iran's security forces have just had a refresher course in the power of savagery,as they put down January's uprising.

The US and Israel seem united in their assessment that removing the top layer of Iran's regime will leave them in a better place.

As well as Khamenei, defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, head of the Iranian Security Council Ali Shamkhani, and commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Pakpour were all killed in a matter of hours. This is a security elite just recently reconstituted after the decimating of June's 12-day war.

Who steps in?

But history lacks good examples of air campaigns that have easily toppled regimes and led to replacements that the attackers preferred.

Advertisement

Hardliners will race to fill the void, simply to survive. They may be reluctant to be next in the US-Israeli crosshairs, but that fear has not led to a shortage of candidates in the past. Is it possible a consensus emerges that, to endure, the autocracy must make peace with the US and the region, and feign moderation for a while?

Perhaps. But that risks projecting the weakness Tehran is so allergic to.

There is no easy replacement government-in-opposition-on-a-box that Trump can promote.

Reza Pahlavi, heir of the long-deposed shah, cannot swan into Tehran and pick up the reins without risking an angry IRGC trying to kill him. There is no opposition really left inside Iran. As in Caracas, any solution will likely have to come from inside the remnants of the regime.

In many ways, missteps by Khamanei have made the US and Israel's job easier. His repression and economic mismanagement mean Iran is in desperate and self-evident need of change, his people yearning to be freer and richer.

His clear orders to retaliate so ferociously to these strikes – carried out, it seems, posthumously – have enraged most of the region, hitting neighbors who had urged the US to back away from strikes, now livid that their civilians have come under Iranian missile and drone attack. Iran seems to keep making itself weaker, but it does not stop.

A momentous risk now is fracture; that no single faction wins out, and patchwork violence and celebration split Iran, leading to a collapse that destabilizes not only the nation, but the region.

Trump's limited attention span and allergy to protracted military involvement simply reinforce this risk. The president lacks the political capital at home, the preparation of his electorate for war, or the resources in theatre to fight this battle for months.

He has also kept his goals slim and achievable. Iran's nuclear program, its missiles, and its ability to harass the US, he can claim, have taken another huge hit. Trump never explicitly declared regime change was his goal – he simply encouraged it. He can declare victory at a moment of his choosing, regardless of what it means for Iran's future.

The superior technology, intelligence and firepower of the United States and Israel enabled them to conjure a swift and simple solution to their enduring Iran problem. But it has yet to address the glaring and perhaps insurmountable complexities of Iran that have kept it a thorn in the United States' side for half a century.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

By Alexander Cornwell, Sarah El Safty, Yomna Ehab and Elwely Elwelly

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes

TEL AVIV/DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday it launched another wave of attacks on Iran, as Iranians grappled with uncertainty after the killing of their supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli strikes, while President Donald Trump warned of consequences for retaliation.

Hours after both nations said an air strike killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the military ‌campaign to overthrow the government of the Islamic Republic, its state media confirmed the 86-year-old leader's death on Saturday.

In another blow for Iran's leaders, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in strikes, broadcaster ‌Iran TV said.

The United States will hit Iran "with a force that has never been seen before," Trump warned on Sunday, if the Middle East nation hit back after the strikes.

"Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever been hit before," Trump ​said in a post on Truth Social.

He added, "THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!"

Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, said a temporary leadership council would be set up.

He accused the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned "secessionist groups" of a harsh response if they attempt action, state television said.

In remarks directed at Trump and his close ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said they had crossed a red line and would "pay for it".

A source briefed on the Israeli campaign told Reuters there had been no change in military strategy after the killing of Khamenei and that strikes would continue to target ‌Iranian officials and missile infrastructure.

SECOND DAY OF LOUD BLASTS HEARD

Several loud blasts were heard ⁠for a second day on Sunday in regional business hub Dubai and over Qatar's capital of Doha, witnesses said, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states.

Puffs of white smoke from missile interceptions were glimpsed in the skies over Dubai, while billows of dark smoke rose over its port of Jebel Ali, one of the busiest in the Middle East.

Iran, which has ⁠said it would target U.S. bases if attacked, hit a range of other targets, keeping the major oil-producing Gulf on edge.

Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Israel early on Sunday, with a series of explosions heard in Tel Aviv as Israel's sophisticated air defense system sought to intercept the latest Iranian offensive.

There was no immediate report of damage or injuries.

Trump said the air strikes aimed to end a decades-long threat from Iran and ensure it could not develop a nuclear weapon.

He sought to justify a risky gambit that seemed to ​contradict ​his professed opposition to American involvement in complex overseas conflicts.

Advertisement

"This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great ​Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated ‌by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump and Netanyahu told Iranians to pursue a rare chance to topple their clerical leaders.

LEADERS ALREADY FACED PRESSURE ON SEVERAL FRONTS

The leadership had already been under pressure from an economy hammered by sanctions, protesters who proved ready again to take to the streets despite fierce crackdowns and regional proxies severely weakened by Israeli attacks.

Israel and the United States timed the attacks to coincide with a meeting of Khamenei and his top aides, said two U.S. sources and a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

Khamenei was working in his office at the time of Saturday's attack, state media said. It also killed his daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law.

Experts said that while the deaths of Khamenei and other Iranian leaders would deal the country a major blow, it would not necessarily spell the end of Iran's entrenched clerical rule or the sway of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over the population.

Trump evoked the 1979 ‌storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, when Iranian student activists in coordination with radical clerics took 52 American hostage for 444 days, demanding ​the extradition of the deposed Shah from the United States.

Israel's military said it targeted Iran's ballistic missile and air defense systems with strikes on ​Sunday morning.

Iran's armed forces would soon retaliate again with their biggest offensive against U.S. bases and Israel, the ​Revolutionary Guards vowed in a statement on Sunday.

Iran responded to Saturday's initial attacks by launching hundreds of missiles and drones targeting U.S. troops and cities in Israel and Arab countries allied with ‌Washington, prompting widespread cancellations of Middle East flights.

The Pentagon said there were no U.S. deaths ​or injuries.

ONE OF GLOBAL AVIATION'S WORST DISRUPTIONS

Major Middle Eastern airports, including ​Dubai, the world's busiest international travel hub, were shut on Saturday after Iran's missile retaliation unleashed one of global aviation's most severe disruptions in years.

Dubai's landmark Burj Al Arab hotel and the airport, which handles more than 1,000 flights a day, were damaged in an overnight attack on sites across the Arab Gulf states that also hit airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.

On Saturday, Tehran warned that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, ​the narrow conduit for about a fifth of global oil consumption, raising expectations of a ‌sharp jump in oil prices.

The OPEC+ grouping of major oil producers is set to meet on Sunday and may consider a larger-than-planned output increase as several tanker owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended ​energy shipments through the Strait.

After Israel pounded Iran in a 12-day air war in June, joined by the United States, both warned they would strike again if Tehran persisted with nuclear and ballistic missile ​programs.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Simon Lewis, Clarence Fernandez and Michael Georgy; Editing by Sergio Non and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

LONDON (AP) — Theattack on Iranby the United States and Israel disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond Saturday as countries around the region closed their airspace and key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia were directly hit by strikes.

Lebanon Israel Iran US

Airports across the Middle East remained closed Sunday as the conflict moved into its second day. Emirates Airlines suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Sunday afternoon. The Qatar airport was closed until at least Monday morning, according to Qatar Airways. Israeli airspace also remained closed Sunday.

The closures have stranded tens of thousands of travelers around the world.

Hundreds of thousands of travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports Saturday after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced a "temporary and partial closure" of its airspace.

That led to the closure of key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the cancellation of more than 1,800 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines. The three major airlines that operate at those airports — Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad — typically have about 90,000 passengers per day crossing through those hubs and even more travelers headed to destinations in the Middle East, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Two airports in the United Arab Emirates reported incidents as the government there condemned what it called a "blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles" on Saturday.

Officials at Dubai International Airport — the largest in the United Arab Emirates and one of thebusiest in the world— said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said that one person was killed and seven others were injured in a drone strike. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.

Though Iran did not publicly claim responsibility, the scope of retaliatory strikes that Gulf nations attributed to Iran extended beyond the American bases that it previously said it would target.

"For travelers, there's no way to sugarcoat this," said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group. "You should prepare for delays or cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end."

Airlines that are crossing the Middle East will have to reroute flights around the conflict with many flights headed south over Saudi Arabia. That will add hours to those flights and consume additional fuel, adding to the costs airlines will have to absorb. So ticket prices could quickly start to increase if the conflict lingers.

The added flights will also put pressure on air traffic controllers in Saudi Arabia who might have to slow traffic to make sure they can handle it safely. And the countries that closed their airspace will miss out on the overflight fees airlines pay for crossing overhead.

But Mike McCormick, who used to oversee air traffic control for the Federal Aviation Administration before he retired and is now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said over the next few days these countries might be able to reopen parts of their airspace once American and Israeli officials share with the airlines where military flights are operating and how capable Iran remains at firing missiles.

"Those countries then will be able to go through and say, okay, we can reopen this portion of our space but we'll keep this portion of our airspace closed," McCormick said. "So I think what we'll see in the next 24 to 36 hours how the use of airspace evolves as the kinetic activity gets more well defined and as the capability of Iran to actually shoot missiles and create additional risk is diminished due to the attacks."

But it is unclear how long the disruption to flight operations could last. For comparison, the Israeli and U.S. attack on Iran in June 2025lasted 12 days.

'No one knows'

The situation was changing quickly and airlines urged passengers to check their flight status online before heading to the airport.

Advertisement

Some airlines issued waivers to affected travelers that will allow them to rebook their flight plans without paying extra fees or higher fares.

Jonathan Escott and his fiance had arrived at the airport in Newcastle, England, on Saturday only to find out that his direct flight to Dubai on Emirates airline was canceled, leaving everyone on the flight stuck there.

Escott left to go back to where he was staying with family, about an hour from the airport, but has no idea when he may be able to travel.

"No one knows," Escott said. "No one really knows what's going on with the conflict, really. Not Emirates, Emirates don't have a clue. No one has a clue."

At least 145 planes that were en route to cities like Tel Aviv and Dubai early Saturday were diverted to airports in cities like Athens, Istanbul or Rome, according to FlightAware. Others turned around and returned to where they took off from. One plane spent nearly 15 hours in the air after leaving Philadelphia and getting all the way to Spain before turning around and returning to where it started.

Numerous airlines canceled international flights to Dubai through the weekend, as India's civil aviation agency designated much of the Middle East — including skies above Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon — as a high-security risk zone at all altitudes.

Air India canceled all flights to Mideast destinations. Turkish Airlines said flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan were suspended until Monday and flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman were suspended.

The airline said additional cancellations may be announced, and many other airlines were suspending flights into the region through the weekend.

Travelers advised to be 'very creative'

U.S.-based Delta Air Lines and United Airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv at least through the weekend. Dutch airline KLM had already announced earlier in the week that it was suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv.

Airlines including Lufthansa, Air France, Transavia and Pegasus canceled all flights to Lebanon, while American Airlines suspended flights from Philadelphia to Doha.

Virgin Atlantic said it would avoid flying over Iraq, meaning flights to and from India, the Maldives and Riyadh could take slightly longer. The airline already was not flying over Iran and said all flights would carry appropriate fuel in case they need to reroute on short notice.

British Airways said flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain will be suspended until next week, and flights to Amman, Jordan, were canceled Saturday.

"Travelers should anticipate that there will be a lot of disruptions," Harteveldt said. "To be honest, if you haven't left home, chances are you won't be leaving home if you're supposed to travel to or through these destinations for at least several days, if not longer. And if you are returning home, you will have to be very creative about how you get home."

Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Adam Schreck in Bangkok, Sam Metz in Ramallah, West Bank, and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Pelle Larsson scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat beat the Houston Rockets 115-105 on Saturday.

Rockets Heat Basketball

Tyler Herro scored 18, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 and Kel'el Ware had a 13-point, 15-rebound game for the Heat. Andrew Wiggins — who needed eight stitches to close a laceration inside his mouth — had 12 points for Miami.

Kevin Durant finished with 32 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Rockets, who got 20 points from Amen Thompson and 14 from Reed Sheppard.

Both teams had double-digit leads early; the Rockets ran out to a quick 14-4 edge, the Heat answered with a 37-14 run to take a 41-28 lead. And then things settled down, with the sides staying relatively close the rest of the way.

Neither team had a double-digit lead in the second half until Larsson hit a pair of free throws with 1:52 left for a 113-103 lead.

The Rockets played without Jabari Smith Jr., sidelined with a sprained right ankle. He isn't expected to play in Washington on Monday either.

Advertisement

"We'll target when we return home," said Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who put Sheppard into the starting lineup in Smith's place.

Meanwhile, Miami was without Norman Powell — who'll miss at least one week with a right groin strain, sustained Thursday in a Heat loss at Philadelphia. Herro, who has been working his way back from injury as well, got the start in Powell's spot.

"I feel for Norm because he wants to be out there for all the games, especially these moments right now," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We'll treat him and we'll see where he is after the week."

Up next

Rockets: Visit Washington on Monday.

Heat: Host Brooklyn on Tuesday.

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