MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City fans taunted Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior ahead of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday by unfurling a giant banner of Rodri kissing the Ballon d'Or.
The Spain midfielder was voted the best player in the world last year ahead of Madrid forward Vinicius.
Madrid had boycotted the gala ceremony in Paris in October when Rodri was presented with soccer's most prestigious individual award.
“Stop crying your heart out” read a message on the banner inside Etihad Stadium in reference to a hit record by Manchester rock band Oasis.
On Monday, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti defended the club's Ballon d'Or no-show.
“I don’t think it was the wrong decision,” he said. “We didn’t want to participate because we thought that Vinicius was the winner of the Ballon d’Or.
“And this doesn’t mean we have no respect of Rodri that won the Ballon d’Or because he is a fantastic player. But I think we thought, and I thought, that Rodrigo deserved to win the year before.”
City manager Pep Guardiola had said earlier that there was no bad blood between the rivals after the controversy — and defender Ruben Dias also downplayed it.
“Being very honest with you, I didn’t spend one second thinking about if it was disrespectful or not. I was happy with Rodri. I was there. I celebrated with him that night,” Dias said.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester City's fans hold up a banner before the start of the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti, left and Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola share a laugh before the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior reacts during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
The Trump administration on Monday invoked a “state secrets privilege” and refused to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law — a case that has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension with the federal courts.
The Trump administration’s top intelligence officials face Congress for back-to-back hearings this week to testify about the threats facing the United States and what the government is doing to counter them. The briefing will take place at 10 a.m. ET.
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Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas says the news that several top Trump national security officials texted war plans in a group chat that included a journalist on a secure messaging app will come up.
But Cotton said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that he’d like to keep the focus on the subject for the hearing, which is threats facing the United States and what the government is doing to counter them.
FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, are among the officials set to appear on Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee.
When Ash Lazarus Orr went to renew his passport in early January, the transgender organizer figured it would be relatively routine.
But more than two months on, Orr is waiting to get a new passport with a name change and a sex designation reflecting who he is. The delay has prevented him from traveling overseas to receive gender-affirming care this month in Ireland since he refuses to get a passport that lists an “inaccurate sex designation.”
Orr blames the delay on President Donald Trump, who on the day he took office issued an executive order banning the use of the “X” marker as well as the changing of gender markers.
“This is preventing me from having an accurate identification and the freedom to move about the country as well as internationally,” said Orr, who is among seven plaintiffs — five transgender Americans and two nonbinary plaintiffs — who have sued the Trump administration in federal court over the policy.
▶ Read more about the lawsuit challenging the policy
Whether to return to the federal workforce is a decision confronting thousands of fired employees after two judges this month found legal problems with how Trump is carrying out a dramatic downsizing of the U.S. government. One ruling by a California federal judge would reinstate 16,000 probationary employees.
On Monday, the Trump administration sought to stop giving fired workers any choice by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the rehiring orders. It was not clear how quickly the nation’s high court could rule on the emergency appeal, which argued that U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, went beyond his legal authority.
Although it is unknown how many federal workers are taking up the offers to return to work, some employees have already decided to move on, fearing more reductions down the road.
Others who were asked to return were immediately put on administrative leave, with full pay and benefits, or offered early retirement. For those who chose to return, some say the decision came down to their dedication to the work and a belief that what they do is important.
▶ Read more about the choice that fired federal workers now face
Trump and Vance are scheduled to have lunch in the White House private dining room at 12:30 p.m. ET, according to the White House. Later, Trump is expected to sign executive orders at 2 p.m. ET.
The Trump administration’s top intelligence officials face Congress for back-to-back hearings this week, their first opportunity since being sworn in to testify about the threats facing the United States and what the government is doing to counter them.
FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, are among the witnesses who will appear on Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and on Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee.
Tuesday’s hearing will take place one day after news broke that several top national security officials in the Trump administration, including Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic.
The annual hearings on worldwide threats will offer a glimpse of the Trump administration’s reorienting of priorities, which officials across agencies have described as countering the scourge of fentanyl and fighting violent crime, human trafficking and illegal immigration.
▶ Read more about Tuesday’s briefing
The Trump administration on Monday invoked a “state secrets privilege” and refused to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law — a case that has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension with the federal courts.
The declaration comes as U.S. District Judge James Boasberg weighs whether the government defied his order to turn around planes carrying migrants after he blocked deportations of people alleged to be gang members without due process.
Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, has asked for details about when the planes landed and who was on board, information that the Trump administration asserts would harm “diplomatic and national security concerns.”
Government attorneys also asked an appeals court on Monday to lift Boasberg’s order and allow deportations to continue, a push that appeared to divide the judges.
▶ Read more about the Trump administration invoking state secrets privilege
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One en route to New Jersey, Friday, Mar. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
