AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Germany goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen joined Ajax on loan from Barcelona on Tuesday as he aims to revive his national-team career with new coach Jürgen Klopp.
Ajax said the 34-year-old Ter Stegen signed a season-long deal that reunites him with the storied club’s new coach Míchel Sánchez.
Ter Stegen had a complicated 12th season with Barcelona and moved to Catalonian neighbor Girona on loan in January.
After three straight World Cups as understudy to Manuel Neuer, including a title in 2014, Ter Stegen was not selected for a fourth this summer. Germany went out in the round of 32 against Paraguay.
Ter Stegen played the last of his 44 games for Germany in June 2025 at the Nations League final four mini-tournament.
“Marc has an outstanding track record, and his qualities are widely recognized,” Ajax technical director Jordi Cruijff said in a statement.
Ter Stegen is the second Germany international joining the Amsterdam club, which is seeking to rebound from a chaotic season that ended in fifth place in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Julian Brandt last week signed a three-year deal as a free agent after his Borussia Dortmund contract expired.
Ajax already started in the qualifying rounds of the third tier Conference League and hosts Shelbourne on Friday in a first-leg game.
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FILE - Barcelona's goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen warms up prior to the start of the Copa del Rey soccer match between Guadalajara and Barcelona in Guadalajara, Spain, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rudy Garcia, File)
BAGHDAD (AP) — Millions of Shiite Muslims observed the annual Arbaeen pilgrimage Tuesday in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala, under the shadow of ongoing regional tensions and fears of another round of escalation in the U.S.-Iran war.
Arbaeen is held 40 days after Ashoura, which commemorates the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and members of his family, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D.
The operations command overseeing the Arbaeen pilgrimage at the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said on Monday that more than 4.88 million pilgrims had entered Iraq since the first day of the Islamic month of Muharram, which includes Ashoura and the period leading up to Arbaeen, with arrivals from various countries ongoing for what is considered one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings.
Millions more pilgrims typically come from different regions of Iraq to Karbala for the occasion.
Among the highest- profile foreign visitors was Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf Monday and continued on to Karbala to take part in the pilgrimage.
Araghchi's presence was a reminder of the delicate balancing act Iraq — which has close ties to both Washington and Tehran — has carried out since the beginning of the war. Iraq has found itself in the crosshairs of both sides and has sought to avoid getting pulled further into the conflict.
As usual, Iranian pilgrims arrived in large numbers, but some observers said the number of pilgrims from other countries had shrunk.
Aqeel al-Rubaie, 45, a pilgrim from Baghdad who was on his way to Karbala, said Iranian flags were particularly visible along the Najaf-Karbala road, while there were fewer flags than usual from European, Arab and other Islamic countries.
He attributed this to “the war and the events unfolding across the region, which have affected the number of Arab and foreign pilgrims."
Another pilgrim from Baghdad, Hassan al-Sarai, 35, said, “I hardly saw any flags other than Iranian ones, which were clearly visible along the road as well as inside and around the city of Karbala."
Volunteer processions providing food, water, medical care and other services lined the roads leading to Karbala from across Iraq.
The pilgrimage is taking place this year as Iraq faces difficult economic conditions following the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted Iraqi oil exports. More than 90% of Iraqi state revenues come from oil exports, making the country’s economy highly vulnerable to any interruption in crude shipments.
It also comes as Baghdad is wrestling with a difficult task it has set for itself: disarming the country's network of militias, many of them Iran-backed.
One of the most powerful Iran-backed militias, Kataib Hezbollah, said in a statement marking the occasion of Arbaeen that it rejects calls to disarm and remains committed to retaining what it described as the “weapons of the resistance."
Meanwhile in Iran, many observant Shiites unable to make the pilgrimage to Karbala held their own observances, which sometimes took on a political tone.
In the capital, Tehran, black-clad mourners rallied along a nearly 20-kilometer (12-mile) route to a Shiite holy shrine in the south of the city from a starting point in the central part of the city.
The mourners chanted slogans seeking retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in strikes by the U.S. and Israel, while some demonstrators trampled on U.S. and Israeli flags.
State media said similar rallies were held in other Iranian cities and towns.
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed.
Shiite Muslim worshippers march toward the Imam Hussein Shrine ahead of Arbaeen, the annual Shiite commemoration marking 40 days after Ashoura, in Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
An Irani Shiite Muslim weeps as he prays inside the holy shrine of Imam Abbas ahead of the Arbaeen festival in Karbala, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, center, is surrounded by security personnel as he walks during the Arbaeen commemoration in Najaf, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Shiite worshippers gather between the holy shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas, ahead of Arbaeen, the annual Shiite commemoration marking 40 days after Ashoura, at the Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Aerial photo shows Shiite pilgrims gathering between the holy shrine of Imam Hussein and the holy shrine of Imam Abbas ahead of Arbaeen, the annual Shiite commemoration marking 40 days after Ashura, in Karbala, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
