BERLIN (AP) — Small-town club Elversberg clinched promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time on Sunday by finishing runner-up in Germany’s second division behind already promoted Schalke.
Early goals from Bambasé Conté and David Mokwa, then another from Mokwa, gave Elversberg a 3-0 win at home over last-place Preußen Münster, enough for the team to finish ahead of Paderborn on goal difference.
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Elversberg's David Mokwa, right, and Preußen Münster's Paul Jaeckel fight for the ball during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's Bambase Conte, right, celebrates scoring their first goal of the game during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's David Mokwa, left, celebrates scoring their second goal of the game with Bambase Conte during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's David Mokwa, left, celebrates scoring their second goal of the game with Bambase Conte during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg will be the 59th club to play in the top division since the Bundesliga's formation in 1963.
“It's hard to grasp what just happened here,” Elversberg forward Luca Schnellbacher said. “It feels like a dream. I'd never have imagined that (Bayern Munich star) Harry Kane will be walking out at this ground.”
Elversberg, a town with 13,000 inhabitants in the southwest German state of Saarland, narrowly lost out on promotion last year in a playoff against Heidenheim, which was relegated from the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Elversberg was playing at fourth-tier level until 2022, when it won promotion to the third division, where the team only spent one season before earning promotion to the second in 2023.
Three teams were level going into the second division's final round, with both Hannover and Paderborn hoping for an unlikely favor from already relegated Münster against Elversberg, which had the better goal difference.
Hannover was on course to finish third for the promotion playoff when it was leading Nuremberg 3-2, but Luka Lochoshvili scored late for the visitors to let Paderborn move above Hannover into third place with a 2-0 win at Darmstadt.
As a result, Paderborn will face Wolfsburg in a two-leg playoff to decide which plays in the Bundesliga next season.
Wolfsburg, which finished third from bottom in the Bundesliga on Saturday, will host the first leg of their playoff on Thursday.
“We’re all a bit speechless,” Hannover captain Enzo Leopold said of letting the playoff spot out of grasp.
Schalke, which clinched promotion and the second division title with two rounds to spare, signed off with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig.
Fortuna Düsseldorf was relegated to the third division with a 3-0 loss at Greuther Fürth. Fürth’s three goals were enough to pass Düsseldorf on goal difference and clinch the relegation playoff place.
Braunschweig finished above Fürth on goal difference and can look forward to another season in the second division.
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Elversberg's David Mokwa, right, and Preußen Münster's Paul Jaeckel fight for the ball during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's Bambase Conte, right, celebrates scoring their first goal of the game during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's David Mokwa, left, celebrates scoring their second goal of the game with Bambase Conte during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's David Mokwa, left, celebrates scoring their second goal of the game with Bambase Conte during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A drone strike targeted the United Arab Emirates’ sole nuclear power plant on Sunday, sparking a fire on its perimeter. There were no reports of injuries or radiological release, but it highlighted the risk of renewed war as the Iran ceasefire remains tenuous.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, and the UAE did not blame anyone. It has however recently accused Iran of launching drone and missile attacks as tensions rise over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy waterway gripped by Iran, which is under a U.S. naval blockade.
The UAE has hosted air defenses and personnel from Israel, which sparked the war by attacking Iran with the U.S. on Feb. 28.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, Netanyahu's office said. Trump has suggested hostilities could resume. Iranian state television has meanwhile aired segments with news anchors holding rifles in an effort to prepare the public for war. Diplomatic efforts for a more durable peace have faltered.
Fighting has also heated up between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon despite a nominal ceasefire, further straining the wider truce.
The UAE Defense Ministry said three drones came over its western border with Saudi Arabia, with the other two intercepted. It was investigating who launched them. Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq have launched drone attacks targeting Gulf Arab states in the war.
The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant was built by the UAE with the help of South Korea and went online in 2020. It is the only nuclear power plant in the Arab world and can provide a quarter of the energy needs in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms that is home to Dubai.
The UAE’s nuclear regulator said on X the fire didn’t affect plant safety and “all units are operating as normal.” Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, later said he spoke by phone with his South Korean counterpart.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said the strike caused a fire in an electrical generator and one reactor was being powered by emergency diesel generators.
IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed “grave concern,” the agency said in a statement, and later spoke with the UAE's foreign minister.
It's the first time the four-reactor Barakah plant has been targeted in the war.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, whom the UAE has battled as part of a Saudi-led coalition, claimed to have targeted the plant while it was under construction in 2017, which Abu Dhabi denied.
The UAE signed a strict deal with the U.S. over the nuclear power plant, known as a “123 agreement,” in which it agreed to forego domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuel to ease any proliferation concerns. Its uranium comes from abroad.
That's very different from the nuclear program in Iran that is at the heart of long-running tensions with the United States and Israel.
Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, but it has enriched its uranium close to weapons-grade levels and is widely suspected of having had a military component to its program until at least 2003. It has often restricted the work of U.N. inspectors, including since the 12-day war with Israel last year.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed country in the region, but has neither confirmed nor denied having atomic weapons. Iran struck near Israel's Dimona nuclear facility during the war.
Nuclear plants have increasingly been targeted in wars in recent years, including during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. During the Iran war, Tehran repeatedly claimed its Bushehr nuclear power plant came under attack, though there was no direct damage to its Russian-run reactor or any radiological release.
Israel is coordinating with the U.S. about a possible resumption of attacks, said two people familiar with the situation, including an Israeli military officer. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing confidential military preparations.
Speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said “our eyes are also open” when it comes to Iran, and “we are prepared for any scenario.”
On Iranian state TV, presenters on at least two channels appeared armed during live programs.
One of them, Hossein Hosseini, received basic firearms training from a masked member of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Hosseini mimed firing a shot at the flag of the UAE.
On another channel, Mobina Nasiri said a weapon had been sent to her from a gathering in Tehran’s Vanak Square. “From this platform, I declare that I am ready to sacrifice my life for this country,” she said.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.
A woman walks past an anti-Israel mural in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past a pro-government mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk past a mural depicting a U.S. aircraft carrier under missile attack in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - This undated photograph released by the United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency shows the under-construction Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi's Western desert. (Arun Girija/Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation/WAM via AP, File)
A government supporter wears badges showing a portrait of the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian and Palestinian flags during a pro-government gathering at Islamic Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
