RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Typically, Klint Kubiak talks with his younger brother, Klay, quite a bit.
Just not this week.
Klint is in the midst of preparing for his first game as offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. Klay has the same job with the San Francisco 49ers and is on the verge of his first game as an NFL coordinator.
Conveniently for the Kubiaks, their teams open the season by playing each other Sunday at Lumen Field.
“It’s a really cool thing,” Klay said Thursday. “It’s a cool experience, it’s pretty rare, so we treasure them for sure, but it’s a little awkward during the week, but it’ll be fun on Sunday.”
The two coached against one another last preseason, when Klint was the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator and Klay a passing game specialist for the 49ers. Otherwise, there haven’t been many head-to-head battles for the brothers dating back to childhood.
Football was critical to the Kubiaks starting in childhood. Each played for Colorado State — Klint was a safety and Klay a quarterback — and their father, Gary, won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Denver Broncos as a part of a coaching career that spanned four decades.
Klint's desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an NFL coach was something that built up over time.
“I think all of us dream of playing forever, when you play, and eventually that day ends and you start thinking of what’s next,” Klint said. “I was fortunate to get a start with Mike Sherman at Texas A&M. Grateful for him, moving me from defense to offense and getting me started there.”
Klint also credited his mother, Rhonda, for emphasizing that there was more to life than football.
“It’s about family, it’s about going to school, it’s about getting an education,” Klint said, “and I’m lucky to have that in my life.”
Thankfully for the Kubiaks' parents, they don’t have to worry about picking sides since their kids won’t be scheming against one another. Klint sought to downplay the significance of Sunday’s meeting, noting that it’s just one of 17 regular-season games.
But given how the communication between the brothers has dried up, it’s clearly anything but another week.
“We’re giving each other our space,” Klay said, “and look forward to seeing him on Sunday.”
Observers can expect to see similarities in the teams' offensive schemes. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan is familiar with Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold from their shared season in 2023 — when Klint was the 49ers' passing game coordinator.
The way Shanahan sees it, there are bound to be similarities in how the 49ers and Seahawks operate on offense.
“It’s always different how you adjust to your players, but I know they’re going to be a balanced team that wants to put Sam in some good situations and give that ball to their good running backs,” Shanahan said. “Then it usually comes down to third down, so it’s real similar to us. There’s window dressing that’s different, but the way that they want a game to go, I think it’s going to be very similar to how we want it to go.”
The NFC West rivals tend to play close games, with or without the sibling rivalry.
“It’s interesting that we’re on the same sides of the ball, so we’re really not competing against each other,” Klay said. “That’s for (defensive coordinator Robert) Saleh to figure out. And same for him.”
AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow in Santa Clara, California, contributed to this report.
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FILE - San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, right, talks with offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak, left, during practice at the team's NFL football training camp July 24, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak walks on the field during the NFL football team's training camp July 26, 2025, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.
Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
Iran previously closed its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June.
Here is the latest:
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members were “gravely concerned” by the developments surrounding the protests, and that they “strongly oppose the intensification of the Iranian authorities’ brutal repression of the Iranian people.”
The statement, published on the EU’s website Thursday, said the G7 were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and condemned “the deliberate use of violence” by Iranian security forces against protesters.
The G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent in violation of international human rights obligations,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.
“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.
“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”
“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”
Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.
Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.
Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.
Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.
Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,
Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.
“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.
Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.
Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.
The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.
Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.
State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.
Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
