Olympic flame for 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games arrives in Italy

The Olympic flame for the 2026 Winter Games, commonly known as the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games, arrived in Rome, Italy on Thursday afternoon, marking the start of a series of torch relay events.

Protected in a lantern, the flame landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport around 17:00 local time, and was carried off the airplane by Italian Olympic tennis champion Jasmine Paolini and Giovanni Malago, president of the Milan-Cortina 2026 organizing committee.

At around 19:00 local time, Italian President Sergio Mattarella received the flame at the Quirinale Palace, marking the beginning of the ceremonies leading to the official start of the flame journey on Saturday.

The flame will stay at the palace until an official lighting ceremony on Friday morning, when the cauldron will be lit in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry.

The start of the torch relay is scheduled to take place on Saturday morning at Rome's Stadio dei Marmi. Afterward, the relay will traverse 12,000 kilometers over 60 days across Italy, pass through more than 300 municipalities and feature celebrations in 60 cities, reach all 110 Italian provinces, and light up UNESCO sites along the route.

More than 10,000 torchbearers from all walks of life will take part in the relay, including figures from sectors of sports, culture, film and civil society.

The flame will see Christmas in Naples, New Year in Bari, and return to Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 26, 2026, the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Winter Games opening ceremony. The relay will conclude on February 6 at Milan's San Siro Stadium.

"Milan-Cortina is ready since the beginning of this journey, but at the same time, of course, these last two months, a little more than two months, are important for completing all the items of the organization, which I recognize is very complex, but this is a very feature, characteristic of our Games," said Malago earlier in the day at a Olympic flame handover ceremony in Athens, Greece.

The 2026 Winter Games will take place from February 6 to 22, 2026 in eight locations across northern Italy.

Olympic flame for 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games arrives in Italy

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Israel's attack on Beirut "should not have happened," while the Israeli military said it will continue its operations in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the Israeli military struck Hezbollah targets in southern Beirut's Dahieh suburb on Sunday, in response to firing into Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported an Israeli airstrike targeted a building in the Ghobeiri area in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The strike drew criticism from Trump, who said a regional peace deal, including Lebanon, was "very close" and urged all parties, especially Israel, to stand down.

"We are very close to a deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down," he wrote on Truth Social.

"This morning's attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran," he wrote.

Israel's Sunday strikes should not disrupt the diplomacy efforts for a U.S.-Iran peace deal, Trump said.

"There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel," the U.S. president added.

On the same day, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, during his inspection of the Northern Command, said Israeli forces will continue military operations in Lebanon in an effort to secure more favorable terms in future U.S.-mediated negotiations between the two sides.

Zamir said the IDF's operations in key areas such as the Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon were crucial, and that Israeli forces will continue their offensive and deepen their ground advance in necessary areas to eliminate security threats posed by Hezbollah.

He added that the IDF remains on high alert for potential developments on other fronts.

Trump says Israeli strike on Beirut should not have happened; Israel says it will continue Lebanon operations