Messi said he would retire before the final Argentina crowned World Champions Could Messi make it to the 2026 World Cup? WHAT HAPPENED? Messi confirmed he wouldn’t be retiring from international football after La Albiceleste’s 2022 World Cup final victory against France. The 35-year-old scored twice as Argentina drew 3-3 with Les Bleus after extra time and also netted a penalty in their 4-2 shootout win. Messi picked up the Golden Ball after the game to cap an outstanding individual tournament, and Argentina boss Scaloni is hopeful that he will be back for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States....

The Rams, bluntly, have already won. They won a Super Bowl behind Matthew Stafford. He did what he came to Los Angeles to do. The Lions, meanwhile, are still waiting to see what happens with their side of the deal. They already bundled the No. 32 pick they received from the Rams in the first round last year to trade up for Jameson Williams. But this year, they could end up in an even better spot with no movement whatsoever....

But that play aside — it wasn’t a bad call, anyway — Detroit coach Matt Patricia, who was then New England’s defensive coordinator, learned that new Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell knows what he’s doing. Bevell’s Seahawks put up almost 400 yards on a stingy Patriots defense that night. Yet most only remember that one, ill-fated play call. Now Patricia has Bevell running the Lions’ offense as a replacement for departed coordinator Jim Bob Cooter....

The recent high-profile deal has introduced a strong capitalistic note into an industry where grape growers are evaluated more for the quality of their crop than the returns they generate. Here’s the business model: Hill and his business partner, Richard Wollack, an exec at commercial-property broker CB Richard Ellis, plan to locate and buy promising unfarmed land in California, Oregon and Washington, plant grapes that will yield high-quality wines and then sell off the fully functioning vineyards after five years....

As for United’s opponent? Christos FC countered with a starting lineup including a plumber, an X-ray technician and a loan officer. U.S. third in Hex after favorable results As Christos midfielder Cody Albrecht addressed the media postgame, his mind already was shifting to back to reality, when he would report for work at defense contractor Northrop Grumman come early Wednesday morning. “I will be [there] at 7:30,” Albrecht said. “Pray for me....

Country singer Lisa Gentile made the allegations during a news conference alongside her lawyer, Gloria Allred, stating that she was attacked by the actor in 2002. Gentile, who said that she first became acquainted with Noth in 1998, said that the Law & Order star offered her a ride home after hanging out at a New York City restaurant with a group of their friends. “When we arrived at my apartment, he asked me if he could come up,” Gentile said in a statement....

Alston: Umm … what? Setoodeh: It’s Shakespeare! No words, I think, are more appropriate to begin our debate on this season’s “American Idol” finale. Like “Julius Caesar,” “Idol” has been full of tragedy this season: the early elimination of Melinda Doolittle; the bald man with the shiny head who wouldn’t go home; the Sanjaya parade of train recklessness. Alston: Oh, so we’re going high brow, huh? I think we can agree that this is, by far, the worst season of “American Idol” yet....

Gitanas Nauseda was in Warsaw addressing a remote session of Poland’s and Lithuania’s parliaments, marking the 230th anniversary of their joint constitution, Europe’s first such written democratic document, the Associated Press reported. “Lithuania will never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and will be taking steps toward ending the actual occupation of part of eastern Ukraine,” Nauseda said. “Whatever happens, we cannot allow Ukraine to slide back into the past....

The show which first aired on the BBC in 2003, saw comedians David Walliams and Matt Lucas wear women’s clothes and facial hair, with Desiree DeVere, a black woman played by Walliams in full blackface. Walliams also dressed up to play passenger liaison officer Moses Beacon and airline boss Omar Baba in In Come Fly With Me, which launched in 2010. Lucas also played the role of a Thai bride Ting Tong....

Identified as Shanae Brooke Edwards, the Australian woman is believed to have been murdered, with her final moments heard by a friend during a call made immediately before the apparent attack. Edwards, who is believed to have been working as an English teacher in the area, was seen on CCTV footage leaving her apartment at 3.35pm on Friday. She left to hike the popular Mount Mtatsminda, which overlooks Tbilisi....

Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia all saw the number of new voters registered in April 2020 down by at least 50 percent from April 2016, according to a report released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research. The analysis was first covered by USA Today. “The steep decline in new registrations may prove to be a sizable obstacle to what was set, pre-pandemic, to be a record election for turnout,” the report showed....

QUARTERBACKS Down: Josh McCown, Bears to Buccaneers McCown was a supersub in a Chicago West Coast offense loaded with receiving weapons. Tampa Bay doesn’t offer the same pop, as he’ll be leaned on more as an efficient caretaker to complement Lovie Smith ’s strong, reloaded defense. Value: Low-end QB2 MORE FANTASY FOOTBALL : QB preview podcast | Top 50 rankings | Experts mock draft RUNNING BACKS Up: Rashad Jennings, Raiders to Giants...

The pain may be described as dull and throbbing or sharp and severe, depending on the underlying cause. It is usually deeper than back pain and located on the upper back, just below the ribs. Kidney pain is classified as unilateral if one kidney is affected or bilateral if both kidneys are affected. The cause can be intrinsic (occurring within the kidneys), prerenal (related to an organ above the kidneys), or postrenal (related to obstruction or disorder below the kidneys)....

Because the pain is experienced inside the body, it can sometimes be confused with muscular back pain. The symptoms can also vary based on the underlying cause, ranging from a dull, creeping ache to a deeply intense pain accompanied by vomiting and fever. This article describes the signs and symptoms of kidney pain and what the pain may suggest about the underlying cause. It also looks at how kidney pain is diagnosed and treated, and when it is time to seek medical treatment....

A generation ago, there were few, if any, organized reading groups for kids. Today, hundreds of thousands of kids belong to them, says Vicki Levy Krupp, coauthor of “The Kids’ Book Club Book” (and Joanna and Ben’s mom). Popular authors like Lisa Yee and Tamora Pierce include book-club information on their Web sites and even solicit e-mail exchanges with kids. And publishers like Scholastic are offering online discussion groups such as Flashlight Readers (www....

The volcano began erupting just after 4:30 p.m. on January 5, the USGS said in an update. So far, the eruption is confined to Kīlauea’s summit region, and it isn’t threatening any nearby communities. Kilauea has been erupting regularly since 1983. Last month, it stopped erupting for the first time since September 2021. But its quiet period was short-lived. On January 5, earthquakes once again picked up around the volcano, and an eruption began shortly thereafter....

Reuters reported this weekend that the North Korean officials have not responded to behind-the-scenes outreach from the Biden administration since the new president was inaugurated in January, citing an unnamed senior administration official. The report comes ahead of a planned visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to South Korea and Japan, as the Biden administration looks to strengthen traditional American alliances to help contain China and North Korea....

Former United States Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun and former Director for Asian Affairs in the White House’s National Security Council Victor Cha both spoke to Newsweek at the end of a barren year for American and North Korean negotiators, with no real progress made on denuclearization or sanctions relief. Trump and his supporters consider North Korea a foreign policy win, and the president regularly claims that the historic detente between him and Kim could not have been achieved under any of his predecessors....