The Milan Cortina Olympics ended Sunday as the twin flames in co-host cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were extinguished during a closing ceremony inside the ancient Verona Arena, roughly mid-distance between the far-flung mountain, valley and city venues that made these the most spread-out Winter Games ever.
In declaring the 2026 Games over, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry told local organizers that they “delivered a new kind of winter games and you set a new, very high standard for the future.”
The next Winter Games will be held in neighboring France, which received the Olympic flag in the official handover earlier in the ceremony. Following the same spread-out model, the 2030 Winter Games will stage events in the Alps and Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea, while speedskating will be held either in Italy or the Netherlands.
A total of 116 medal events were held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering this year, over the course of 17 days of competition. With the final events wrapping up just hours before the ceremony, the 50-kilometer mass start men’s and women’s cross country medals were awarded by Coventry inside the Arena. [snip]
The Milan Cortina Games spanned an area of 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles), from ice sports in Milan to biathlon in Anterselva on the Austrian border, snowboarding and men’s downhill in Valtellina on the Swiss border, cross-country skiing in the Val di Fiemme north of Verona and women’s downhill, curling and sliding sports in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The closing ceremony concluded with the Olympic flames extinguished at the unprecedented two caldrons in Milan and Cortina, viewed in Verona via video link. A light show substituted fireworks, which are not allowed in Verona, to protect animals from being disturbed.
The Milan Cortina Paralympics’ opening ceremony will also take place in the Verona Arena, on March 6, and the Games will run until March 15. (our emphasis)
We didn't watch some of the Games; like most people (we suspect) we had favorite events that we followed. But what we saw was top notch. Kudos to Italy for putting on a safe, well-organized, beautiful Winter Olympics. Bravo!
Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East.
Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.
Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.” Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.
His comments sparked immediate backlash from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called for the State Department to clarify its position on them.
Egypt’s foreign ministry called his comments a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”
“Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions,” the League of Arab States said... (our emphasis)
Send a fundamentalist Baptist preacher with no diplomatic experience to be Ambassador to Israel and this is the embarrassment you get. Dangerous.
The US and Canada urged their citizens in parts of Mexico to shelter in place on Sunday as a Mexican cartel retaliated for the death of its leader. [snip]
In videos shared online, burning vehicles and plumes of smoke could be seen rising from Puerto Vallarta and other cities in Mexico.
The US Embassy in Mexico said in a statement on its website that no airports have been closed, but most domestic and international flights were canceled in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. All ride-sharing services are suspended in Puerto Vallarta, the embassy said.
Puerto Vallarta media reported that cars near a Costco and several other stores were set on fire. Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Flights already on their way to the region from the US turned around, and Air Canada said it was suspending operations to Puerto Vallarta on Sunday and Monday.
"While no airports have been closed, roadblocks have impacted airline operations, with some domestic and international flights canceled in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta," the US State Department said. "Seek shelter and remain in residences or hotels."
Flights to Mexico City, Edmonton, Houston, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Denver, Detroit, and Toronto were canceled on early Monday morning, per the Puerto Vallarta Airport. [snip]
The Mexican government said the retaliatory violence came after it killed Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, on Sunday.
The State Department announced last week that it had sanctioned Kovay Gardens — a Mexican timeshare resort — and 17 other companies and five individuals linked to "timeshare fraud schemes" organized by the Jalisco cartel.
"Many of these individuals and entities are based in or near Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination that also serves as a strategic stronghold for CJNG," a press release from the Treasury Department said.
In 2024, the US State Department said it would pay a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Cervantes. The department said that under Cervantes, the cartel has killed rival trafficking groups and law enforcement.
We hope Mexico had a follow up plan for quelling the violence that was inevitably going to follow the Cervantes' killing. The reach of these cartels in Mexico is jaw-dropping.
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