Director of the 2025 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala Yu Lei took part in the torch relay for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Rome on Saturday.
The relay began at the Stadio dei Marmi on Saturday morning, marking the start of a two-month journey ahead of next year's opening ceremony.
"In 2022, I was very fortunate to be part of the core creative team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The experience, especially witnessing the Milan-Cortina eight-minute presentation at the closing ceremony, is still vivid in my memory. It was broadcast worldwide through CMG. Being here in Rome today for the torch relay, I hope the Olympic spirit and the brilliance of the Winter Olympics will continue from Beijing to Milan," Yu said.
The opening leg of the torch relay began at Rome's Stadio dei Marmi and stretched about 30 kilometers, passing several historic landmarks.
Locals lined the streets to witness the event, proudly celebrating Rome's role in carrying forward the Olympic flame.
"I like it (the torch relay). Rome is an international metropolis that can host all these types of events," said Antonio, an Italian spectator.
The torch will traverse 12,000 kilometers over 60 days across Italy, passing through more than 300 municipalities, featuring celebrations in 60 cities, reaching all 110 Italian provinces, and lighting up UNESCO sites along the route.
More than 10,000 torchbearers from all walks of life will take part in the journey, including figures from the worlds of sports, culture, film, and civil society.
The relay will conclude on February 6 at Milan's San Siro Stadium.
CMG Spring Festival Gala director takes part in Winter Olympics torch relay in Rome
More than 1,000 people gathered in Berlin over the weekend to protest against U.S. threats of military intervention in Venezuela and voice support for the Venezuelan government.
The demonstrations, held on Saturday and Sunday in the German capital, drew participants who condemned the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and the naval deployments in the Caribbean.
Protesters said that the United States, under the pretext of counter-narcotics, deployed several warships in the Caribbean near Venezuela, and such a military threat was aimed at interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs.
"The military threat brings a great danger. The United States and Western countries, including Europe, are targeting at Latin American countries that refuse to yield to U.S. pressure and stick to pursue independent policies. They are trying to interfere in Latin American politics and install governments that are obedient to them," said Diedrich Franck, organizer of the protest.
Some protesters said the United States' open threat of ground operations to topple the Maduro government was aimed at seizing Venezuela's oil resources.
"The United States has long been treating Latin America as its backyard to exploit its raw materials and also the Latin American people. Venezuela is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world. There are very obvious interests for the United States to seize its resources and at the same time control the entire Latin American continent. Therefore any leftist, anti-imperialist government in Latin America is seen as a problem by the United States," said Max, a German scholar of modern history.
Washington has deployed around a dozen warships and 15,000 troops to the Caribbean Sea, which shares a significant amount of coastline with Venezuela. U.S. forces have carried out at least 21 known strikes since Sept. 2 on boats suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean and East Pacific, killing at least 83 people.
Protesters gather in Berlin against U.S. intervention in Venezuela
