Olympic cauldrons lit as Milan-Cortina 2026 opens

The Olympic cauldrons were lit simultaneously in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo as the 2026 Winter Games opened on Friday.

The cauldron lighting ceremony took place at Milan's Arco della Pace and Cortina's Piazza Angelo Dibona.

After the Olympic flame arrived in Italy on December 4, 2025, the torch relay traversed 12,000 kilometers across the country, involving more than 10,000 torchbearers from all walks of life.

Milan-Cortina 2026, which features 116 events across 16 disciplines, is held from February 6 to 22. It marks the third time that Italy has hosted the Winter Olympics, following Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 and Turin in 2006.

31 killed, about 170 injured in blast in Pakistani capital

At least 31 people were killed and around 170 others were injured after an explosion ripped through a mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan's federal capital city of Islamabad, police and government officials said.

Confirming the casualties, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon said that the explosion happened in the Shi'ite mosque located in the Shehzad Town area of Islamabad, prompting authorities to impose a state of emergency in all the major hospitals nearby.

He said that the injured are being treated in various hospitals in Islamabad and adjoining Rawalpindi city, adding that the death toll might further rise as several people among the injured are in critical condition.

Iran, U.S. hold talks amid tense standoff, with core differences unresolved

Iranian and U.S. delegations held their latest round of talks on Friday in Muscat, Oman, amid a weeks-long standoff, offering a glimmer of hope for de-escalating the regional tensions at the negotiation table.

While both sides have agreed to reconvene and continue their discussions, little headway was made on a range of key differences, including uranium enrichment.

Experts caution that this lack of major breakthrough means the root causes of hostility between the two nations, and the broader escalation of tensions, remain largely unsolved. As a result, they believe, the region's future situation remains fraught with uncertainty, with no definitive resolution on the horizon.

Several thousand people evacuated in southern Spain amid storm Leonardo

Torrential rains brought by storm Leonardo have forced the evacuation of around 3,000 to 5,000 people across southern Spain, including the entire population of the small hillside town of Grazalema in Cadiz province, local authorities said on Thursday.

The evacuation order was issued after days of exceptionally heavy rainfall raised the risk of flooding, landslides and structural damage. Juanma Moreno, president of the Andalusia region, said the move was taken as a precaution and urged residents to remain calm as evacuations proceed in an orderly manner.

Storm Leonardo has caused rivers to overflow across parts of Andalusia and Extremadura, leading to school closures, widespread transport disruption and the suspension of most rail services. Emergency teams are also searching for a woman swept away by floodwaters in the province of Malaga.