BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — La Liga will hold a minute of silence before this weekend’s matches in memory of the victims of the two deadly train accidents in the country in the past week.
At least 43 people were killed in southern Spain last Sunday when a high-speed train jumped the track and caused a second train passing the other way to derail. That was followed by another crash on Tuesday when a commuter train outside Barcelona hit a retaining wall that collapsed, killing one person.
The father of Getafe player David Cordón was among the victims of the first incident, the Madrid-based club said. Getafe plays at Girona on Monday. Cordón is unavailable due to injury.
The incidents have stunned the nation that leads Europe in high-speed rail travel and has millions of workers who rely on commuter service every day.
Despite its recent turmoil and coaching change, Real Madrid visits Villarreal in an important game on Saturday with the chance to retake the lead.
A win by second-placed Madrid over third-placed Villarreal would let it leapfrog Barcelona and recover the lead before its top rival plays Real Oviedo on Sunday.
Villarreal, which has played one less game, trails Madrid by seven points. So the match at home is an opportunity — perhaps its last — to keep alive its outside bid at a run for the title.
Against lowly Oviedo, Barcelona will try to shake off last weekend’s loss at Real Sociedad, which ended an 11-game winning run for Hansi Flick’s side.
Sociedad, for its part, is at home against Celta Vigo on Sunday. It remains undefeated in four games across La Liga and the Copa del Rey under new American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, who has taken it into ninth place.
Vinícius Júnior helped to placate Madrid’s angry fans by scoring one goal and assisting on three others in a 6-1 rout of Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday.
He has been targeted for jeers by Madrid’s fans for the team’s poor play and for him reportedly not supporting now ex-coach Xabi Alonso, who was fired last week and replaced by Álvaro Arbeloa.
Brahim Díaz is expected to return to Madrid practice on Thursday after he helped Morocco reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations where it lost to Senegal 1-0. Díaz flubbed a chance to potentially win it when he chipped a penalty in stoppage time right into the arms of the goalkeeper before Senegal's goal.
Barcelona midfielder Fermín López, who was close to a move to Chelsea in the summer, is on a tear. He has 10 goals across all competitions, including two in a 4-2 win at Slavia Prague.
Pedri, the motor who makes Barcelona’s passing game go, hurt his right hamstring in Prague and was substituted early in the second half. The club says he will be out for a month.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
View of the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates with Vinicius Junior his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and Monaco in Madrid on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid players observe a minute's silence for the victims of the train collision in Adamuz, ahead of during a Spanish the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and Monaco in Madrid on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. warned the transitional council in charge of Haiti against making changes to the troubled country’s government late Wednesday, as pressure mounts for the unelected body to move toward elections for the first time in a decade.
In a statement posted on X, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti wrote that “The United States would consider that any person who supports such a destabilizing initiative, which favors the gangs, would be acting against the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people, and will take appropriate measures accordingly."
The U.S. Embassy added that such a maneuver would undermine efforts to establish “a minimal level of security and stability” in Haiti, where gang violence is surging and poverty deepening.
The statement came as some members of the council are at odds with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, although it wasn’t immediately clear why. The council met behind closed doors earlier Wednesday.
A spokesman for the prime minister’s office said he could not comment on the situation. The council’s seven members with voting powers did not return messages asking for comment.
Meanwhile, Laurent Saint-Cyr, the council's leader, said in a statement that he opposes any push to undermine government stability ahead of Feb. 7, when the council is provisionally scheduled to step down.
“As major institutional deadlines for the Nation approach, any initiative likely to fuel instability, confusion or a breakdown of trust carries serious risks for the country," he wrote. “Haiti cannot afford to make unilateral decisions or engage in short-sighted political calculations that would compromise the stability and continuity of the State, as well as the well-being of the already sorely tested population.”
It's the latest episode in years of political chaos that erupted after Haiti's last elected president, Jovenel Moïse, was slain at his home in July 2021.
The council has been one of the country's top authorities since April 2024. It was created with the help of Caribbean leaders after powerful gangs forced the closure of Haiti’s main international airport and targeted key state infrastructure in a series of unprecedented attacks that eventually led former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.
The council was charged with selecting Haiti’s prime minister in a bid to quickly bring some stability to the beleaguered country.
Fils-Aimé is the third person chosen by the council. A businessman and former head of Haiti's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he was appointed in November 2025 after the council fired previous leader Garry Conille.
The council is supposed to step down by Feb. 7, but it’s unclear if that will happen. Critics say some council members are trying to stay in power longer, and many fear the move could unleash a fresh round of violent protests.
The Feb. 7 deadline was approved in early 2024 on the assumption that Haiti would have held general elections to elect a new president. Gang violence has prevented officials from holding elections so far, although they are tentatively set for August, with a runoff to be held in December.
A new U.N. report released Wednesday noted that “national stakeholders remain divided over the transitional governance architecture that is to lead the country to elections.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the unraveling situation in Haiti.
“Haiti has entered a critical phase in its process of restoring democratic institutions,” said Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, special representative of the U.N. Secretary General in Haiti. “Let’s be clear: the time for political maneuvering is over.”
Panamanian Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba noted at the meeting that Haiti is at a “critical juncture,” with only 18 days left for the transitional presidential council’s mandate to end.
“The persistent nature of violence … remains of utmost concern,” he said.
Several U.N. Security Council members noted that Haiti needs to quickly move toward a democratic transition as gangs continue to seize control of more territory.
“There’s a need to approach this deadline with a sense of responsibility … to sustain continuity of state and avoid any disruptions that may undermine the operation of national institutions,” said Ericq Pierre, permanent representative of Haiti to the United Nations.
Gangs control an estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, and they have seized swaths of land in the country’s central region.
More than 8,100 killings were reported across Haiti from January to November last year, “with figures likely underreported owing to limited access to gang-controlled areas,” according to the U.N. report.
Haiti’s National Police has been trying to quell gang violence with help from a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that remains understaffed and underfunded.
The mission is transitioning into a so-called “gang suppression force” that would have the power to arrest suspected gang members.
Haiti’s government also has been working with a private military contractor to launch drone strikes targeting suspected gang members, but which have also killed civilians. The strikes killed more than 970 people from March to December last year, including 39 civilians, 16 of them children, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A previous version of this report incorrect described Garry Conille as the first person chosen as prime minister by the transitional council. He was the second.
Associated Press reporter Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti contributed to this report.
A youth crosses a street littered with garbage in downtown in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
