Italy's President Sergio Mattarella on Friday called for an Olympic truce to be respected during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games as conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip continue. Speaking in Rome at the Olympic torch lighting ceremony, Mattarella urged that hostilities stop for the duration of the sprawling winter sport showcase which opens on February 6. "Peace is coded into the DNA of the Olympics... Italy has asked that the truce be renewed and we hope that it is possible," Mattarella said.
Construction on the arena that is set to welcome NHL players back to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade is behind schedule and going right down to the wire. A test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena - the new, 16,000-seat venue that is being built on the outskirts of Milan - had to be moved, and new ones won't be until Jan. 9-11.
