MEXICO CITY (AP) — After a brief stint with Rayo Vallecano, Colombia international James Rodríguez' next stop in Mexico's top flight will be eight-time champion Leon, one of three Mexican teams which have qualified for this year's Club World Cup.
James, who signed his contract on Monday was a free agent, after spending just six months in Spain where he played in seven games for Rayo Vallecano.
Leon did not disclose the financial details of the deal or the duration of it.
The 33-year-old midfielder will be with his third team in a year. In January of last year he signed with Sao Paulo in Brazil where he also had a six-month stay in which he played in 14 games, scoring one goal.
In qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, James is the leader in assists with four and Colombia is in fourth place after 12 rounds behind Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador.
The 32-team Club World Cup begins June 14 in the United States.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Colombia's James Rodriguez, left, and Uruguay's Jose Gimenez jump for a header during a Copa America semifinal soccer match in Charlotte, N.C., July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack, officials said Friday, killing at least four people. For only the second time, it used a new ballistic missile that it says flies at 10 times the speed of sound and is unstoppable.
The intense barrage and the launching of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile came days after Ukraine and its allies reported major progress toward agreeing on how to defend the country from further Moscow aggression if a peace deal is struck to end Russia’s almost 4-year-old invasion.
Months of U.S.-led peace efforts have failed to stop the fighting, however. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has made significant progress on the terms of a possible peace settlement in talks with Washington envoys. But Moscow has given no public signal it is willing to budge from its demands.
The attack comes amid a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington after Russia condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker in the North Atlantic. It also comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled he is on board with a hard-hitting sanctions package meant to economically cripple Moscow.
Ukrainian officials said four people were killed and at least 22 wounded in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, during the overnight attack as apartment buildings were struck.
Those killed included an emergency medical aid worker, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Five rescue workers sustained injuries while responding to the ongoing attacks, Ukraine’s security service said.
The attack damaged the Qatari Embassy in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Friday. He noted that Qatar has played a key role in mediating the exchange of prisoners of war.
He called for a “clear response” from the international community, particularly from the United States, which he said Russia takes seriously.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack was a retaliation to what Moscow said was a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month. Both Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump have rejected the Russian claim of the attack on Putin’s residence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that the Oreshnik streaks to its target at Mach 10, “like a meteorite,” and has claimed it is immune to any missile defense system. Several of them used in a conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack, according to Putin, who has warned the West that Russia could use the Oreshnik next against allies of Kyiv that allow it to strike inside Russia with their longer-range missiles.
Ukrainian intelligence says the missile has six warheads, each carrying six submunitions.
Russia didn’t say where Oreshnik hit, but Russian media and military bloggers said it targeted a huge underground natural gas storage facility in Ukraine’s western Lviv region. Foreign military aid for Ukraine is believed to pass through that region, which borders Poland.
Russia first used the Oreshnik missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. Analysts say it affords Russia a new element of psychological warfare, unnerving Ukrainians and scaring Western countries that supply weaponry to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine would be initiating international action in response to the use of the missile, including an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council and a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council.
“Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community. We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions,” he said in a post on X.
Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said that Russia struck critical infrastructure with a ballistic missile, but didn't give details. He said the missile traveled at a speed of 13,000 kilometers (more than 8,000 miles) per hour — which would be around Mach 10 — and that the specific type of rocket was being investigated.
In Kyiv, several districts were hit in the attack, said Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. In the Desnyanskyi district a drone crashed onto the roof of a multi-story building. At another address in the same district the first two floors of a residential building were damaged.
In Dnipro district, parts of a drone damaged a multistory building and a fire broke out.
Dmytro Karpenko's windows were shattered in the attack on Kyiv. When he saw that his neighbor's house was on fire, he rushed out to help him.
“What Russia is doing, of course, shows that they do not want peace. But people really want peace, people are suffering, people are dying," the 45-year old said.
Running water and electricity were disrupted in parts of the capital as a result of the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The attack took place just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alerted the nation about Russia’s intentions for a large-scale offensive. He said that Russia aimed to take advantage of the frigid weather in the capital that has made roads and streets perilously icy.
A previous version of this story corrected the style on Andriy Sadoviy to Andrii Sadovyi.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A rescue worker tries to put out a fire at a residential building damaged after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A residential building is seen damaged after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The dead body of a paramedic lies on the ground in front of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A residential building burns after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A residential building is seen damaged after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Rescue workers put out a fire at a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Rescue workers put out a fire at a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A residential building burns after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
