World

U.S. retains figure skating team gold at Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics

MILAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) --The United States successfully defended its title in the figure skating team event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday, with Japan finishing a close second and host Italy taking bronze.

World

Austria's Karl wins men's snowboard parallel giant slalom at Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Austria's Benjamin Karl won the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday, while host nation Italy - led by seven-time Olympian Roland Fischnaller - fell short of the podium.

World

Britain, U.S., Italy and Sweden reach mixed doubles curling semis at Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Britain, the United States, Italy and Sweden secured spots in the semifinals of the mixed doubles curling competition at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Sunday.

World

Nicaragua scraps visa-free entry to Cubans

MEXICO ‌CITY, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Nicaragua has ended visa‑free ‌entry for Cuban citizens effective Sunday, ending ‌a policy that allowed thousands of Cubans to transit the Central American country in recent years on their journey ‍north to the United States.

World

Germany's Langenhan claims men's singles luge gold at Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Germany's multiple-time world champion Max Langenhan won the men's singles luge gold medal at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Sunday, delivering a dominant performance through all four runs.

World

"Send Help" tops North American box office for 2nd consecutive weekend

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Twentieth Century Studios' thriller "Send Help" stayed atop the North American box office chart with an estimated 10 million U.S. dollars this weekend as the Super Bowl took a chunk out of the box office.

World

Cultural fusion marks "Year of the Horse" celebrations in Cairo

CAIRO, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cairo's Swiss Club hosted celebrations on Sunday for the 2026 Chinese Spring Festival, welcoming the Year of the Horse with food, art and performances that drew nearly 1,000 Egyptians and more than 200 Chinese residents.

World

Annual high-level economic policy conference opens in Saudi Arabia's AlUla

ALULA, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The second edition of AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies opened here on Sunday, centering on the opportunities and challenges facing emerging market economies amid profound global economic changes.

World

France's Alexis Lebrun defends European Top 16 title

MONTREUX, Switzerland, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- French table tennis player Alexis Lebrun successfully defended the men's singles title at the 2026 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup by beating Slovenia's Darko Jorgic 3-1 for the second straight year here on Sunday.

World

Norway's Eitrem breaks Olympic record in men's 5,000m speed skating win at Milan-Cortina Games (updated)

MILAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian world record holder Sander Eitrem broke the Olympic mark here on Sunday to claim the gold medal of the men's 5,000 meters speed skating event at the Milan-Cortina Games.

World

3 dead after truck crashes into cargo van in SW Romania

BUCHAREST, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Three people, including two children, were killed and one man was injured on Sunday afternoon after a head-on collision between a truck and a cargo van in Caras-Severin County in southwestern Romania, authorities said.

World

France wins biathlon mixed relay gold at Milan-Cortina 2026

ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- France captured gold in the mixed 4x6km relay, the opening event in biathlon at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, while host nation Italy claimed silver and Germany secured bronze on Sunday.

World

Venezuela frees prominent opposition members as prisoner releases continue

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa ‌and prominent lawyer Perkins Rocha have been freed from jail, their families said in separate statements on Sunday, the latest high-profile ‌releases by the government in Caracas, which is under pressure from the U.S. to free political prisoners.

World

Feature: New Year vibes spark China-Zambia connections at Lusaka temple fair

LUSAKA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of people in Zambia's capital on Sunday got a front-row taste of Chinese New Year traditions as a Spring Festival temple fair brought vibrant performances and rich aromas to Lusaka, an event organizers said helps deepen people-to-people ties under the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.

World

1st LD Writethru: At least 5 killed as residential building collapses in N. Lebanon

BEIRUT, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed when a residential building collapsed on Sunday in northern Lebanon's city of Tripoli, local TV channel Al-Jadeed reported.

World

Norway's Eitrem breaks Olympic record in men's 5,000m speed skating win at Milan-Cortina Games

MILAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian world record holder Sander Eitrem broke the Olympic mark here on Sunday to claim the gold medal of the men's 5,000 meters speed skating event at the Milan-Cortina Games.

World

U.S. skier Johnson wins women's downhill as Vonn crashes at Milan-Cortina Games

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- American alpine skier Breezy Johnson won the women's downhill in a tightly contested race overshadowed by a serious crash involving her star teammate Lindsey Vonn at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics here on Sunday.

World

Temple fair in Uganda celebrates people-to-people exchanges ahead of Chinese New Year

KAMPALA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Uganda launched the China-Uganda Year of People-to-People Exchange on Sunday in the capital, Kampala, during a temple fair held to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.

World

China's Wang Chuqin retains singles title at table tennis Asian Cup (updated)

HAIKOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Top-ranked Wang Chuqin of China beat Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto 4-2 in the men's singles final to defend his title at the Asian Cup table tennis tournament here on Sunday.

World

Italian PM Meloni slams 'illiberal drift' after comedian quits TV show

ROME, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Italian Prime ‌Minister Giorgia Meloni accused centre-left opponents of trying to silence their critics in the entertainment world ‌after a self-declared right-wing comedian pulled out of a hugely popular show.