MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City midfielder Rodri returned to action on Tuesday after eight months out with an ACL injury.
The Ballon d'Or winner was initially expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery in September, but came on as substitute in City's 3-1 win against Bournemouth.
His return to fitness means he is likely to be available for the Club World Cup, which kicks off in the United States next month.
Rodri's last game was against Arsenal, when he was injured in 2-2 draw on Sept. 22.
ACL injuries can take from six months to a year to heal. Rodri also sustained meniscus damage, but has been back in training for weeks.
City's season unraveled soon after Rodri was ruled out — with the team effectively surrendering the league title before the turn of the year and ending the season without a trophy for first time since 2017 after losing Saturday's FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.
But there is still the chance to lift silverware in the offseason when City takes part in the newly-expanded Club World Cup.
Rodri played only three games for City this season before his injury.
He was awarded the Ballon d'Or for the best male soccer player in the world in October — collecting the trophy on crutches.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Manchester City's Rodrigo runs on the pitch during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)
The U.S. State Department is firing more than 1,300 employees on Friday in line with a dramatic reorganization plan from the Trump administration that critics say will damage America's global leadership and efforts to counter threats abroad.
The department has begun sending layoff notices to 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers with assignments in the United States, according to a senior department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
Staff began to receive notices shortly after 10 a.m. Friday saying their positions were being “abolished” and that they would be losing access to the department's headquarters in Washington as well as their email and share drives by 5 p.m., according to a copy of one of the notices obtained by The Associated Press.
Foreign service officers affected will be placed immediately on administrative leave for 120 days, after which they will formally lose their jobs, according to a separate internal notice. For most civil servants, the separation period is 60 days, it said.
“Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices,” the notice says.
While lauded by President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their Republican allies as overdue and necessary to make the department leaner, more nimble and more efficient, the cuts have been roundly criticized by current and former diplomats who say they will weaken U.S. influence and the ability to counter existing and emerging threats abroad.
The Trump administration has pushed to reshape American diplomacy and worked aggressively to shrink the size of the federal government, including mass dismissals driven by the Department of Government Efficiency and moves to dismantle whole departments like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Education Department.
USAID, the six-decade-old foreign assistance agency, was absorbed into the State Department last week after the administration dramatically slashed foreign aid funding.
A recent ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for the layoffs to start, while lawsuits challenging the legality of the cuts continue to play out. The department had advised staffers Thursday that it would be sending layoff notices to some of them soon.
The job cuts are large but considerably less than many had feared. In a May letter notifying Congress about the reorganization, the department said it had just over 18,700 U.S.-based employees and was looking to reduce the workforce by 18% through layoffs and voluntary departures, including deferred resignation programs.
Rubio said officials took “a very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused.”
“It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions,” he told reporters Thursday during a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.”
He said some of the cuts will be unfilled positions or those that are about to be vacant because an employee took an early retirement.
The American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents U.S. diplomats, said Friday that it opposed the Trump administration’s cuts during “a moment of great global instability.”
“In less than six months, the U.S. has shed at least 20 percent of its diplomatic workforce through shuttering of institutions and forced resignations,” the organization said in a statement. “Losing more diplomatic expertise at this critical global moment is a catastrophic blow to our national interests."
If the administration had issues with excess staffing, “clear, institutional mechanisms” could have resolved it, the group said.
“Instead, these layoffs are untethered from merit or mission. They target diplomats not for how they’ve served or the skills they have, but for where they happen to be assigned. That is not reform,” AFSA said.
Former U.S. diplomats echoed that sentiment, saying the process is not in line with what Congress had approved or how it’s been done under previous administrations.
“They're doing it without any consideration of the worth of the individual people who are being fired,” said Gordon Duguid, a 31-year veteran of the foreign service under Trump and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. "They’re not looking for people who have the expertise ... they just want people who say, ‘OK, how high’” to jump.
He added, “That’s a recipe for disaster.”
In a notice Thursday, Michael Rigas, deputy secretary for management and resources, said that “once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy.”
The department told Congress in May of an updated reorganization plan, proposing cuts to programs beyond what had been revealed a month earlier by Rubio and an 18% reduction of U.S.-based staff, higher than the 15% initially floated.
The State Department is planning to eliminate some divisions tasked with oversight of America’s two-decade involvement in Afghanistan, including an office focused on resettling Afghan nationals who worked alongside the U.S. military.
The department's letter to Congress noted that the reorganization will affect more than 300 bureaus and offices, saying it is eliminating divisions it describes as doing unclear or overlapping work. It says Rubio believes “effective modern diplomacy requires streamlining this bloated bureaucracy.”
That letter was clear that the reorganization is also intended to eliminate programs — particularly those related to refugees and immigration, as well as human rights and democracy promotion — that the Trump administration believes have become ideologically driven in a way that is incompatible with its priorities and policies.
Lee reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Amiri from New York.
Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Department of State at https://apnews.com/hub/us-department-of-state.
The headquarters of the Department of State is seen, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
A sign is seen outside the headquarters of the Department of State, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
FILE - Federal workers and supporters rally outside of the State Department, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gives a media briefing during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur Friday, July 11, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as he boards his flight before departing from Subang Air Base, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on Friday, July 11, 2025, after attending the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as he boards his flight before departing from Subang Air Base, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on Friday, July 11, 2025, after attending the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
