NHL warns top players will not show up for Winter Olympics if venue is unsafe
The NHL says it is “disappointing” that the main ice hockey venue for the Winter Olympics will not be ready until the new year – and warned that its top players will not show up unless the ice is shown to be safe.The men’s and women’s tournaments are expected to be among the highlights of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games with the NHL stars showing up for the first time since 2014.However, the buildup continues to be marred by construction delays and questions over why the rink at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan is smaller and wider than in the NHL, as well as concerns over the quality of the ice.And while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) insisted on Tuesday that everything would be ready on time, the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, made it clear he was not entirely happy.“The fact that the building at this point still isn’t completed is – and I won’t use any other adjectives – disappointing,” Bettman said.
Meanwhile, the NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, warned organisers that the 14,700-seater arena had to be able to withstand three games in a day otherwise the players would not show up.“If the ice isn’t ready and it’s not safe, then we’re not going,” Daly said.“I mean, I think that’s pretty self-evident.”Construction delays have meant that there will be no ice in the arena before the new year – with the test event now being pushed back to 9-11 January.Now the IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, insisted that despite the hiccups, it would be a case of all right on the night.
“We need to push through and continue until the very last moment,” she said,“But we’re very impressed, very happy with everything that we’re seeing and hearing,As we get close, we just need to keep our finger on the pulse in terms of the ice hockey rink,Sign up to Sport in FocusOur picture editors select their favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown inafter newsletter promotionThe IOC sports director, Pierre Ducrey, also insisted that concerns around the small rink size had now been “successfully resolved” with the NHL and its players,“So we are very happy with where we stand at present,” he added.
Elsewhere the IOC made light of sluggish ticket sales, saying that 70% of the tickets for the Games had now been sold.
‘True activism has to cost you something’: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan on politics, paparazzi and parasocial fandom
Back in 2008, when Nicola Coughlan was at drama school, a guy in her class swaggered over and, with all the brimming confidence of young men in the noughties, asked her, “Do the Irish think the English are really cool?” Coughlan, born in Galway, mimes processing the question. “Well,” she said, “it’s quite complicated. Like, there’s a lot of history there, between the two countries. Like, there’s a lot going on.”The Guardian’s journalism is independent
From Eternity to Jamiroquai: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Eternity Out nowMiles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen star, along with Callum Turner, in a quirky metaphysical romantic drama from A24, in which, upon arriving in the afterlife, everyone must decide where, and with whom, they would like to spend eternity. Should Olsen’s character pick the man she settled down with (Teller) or her first love (Turner)?It Was Just an AccidentOut now This Palme d’Or-winning feature from Iranian director Jafar Panahi blends social realism with political commentary, as a man (Ebrahim Azizi) and his pregnant wife (Afsaneh Najmabadi), travelling with their young daughter (Delmaz Najafi), are involved in a minor car crash.Folktales Out now Documentary-makers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) follow a group of teens as they take a gap year at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway, where the emphasis is less on a traditional curriculum and more on dog sledding and survival skills.Five Nights at Freddy’s 2Out now Based on the second video game in the popular series, this sequel sees Josh Hutcherson reprising his role as night guard Mike Schmidt, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop back on puppet duty, for this horror about animatronic critters possessed from within by unquiet souls. Catherine BrayThe CharlatansO2 Academy Leeds, 6 December; touring to 12 DecemberReleased in October, the Charlatans’ 14th album We Are Love found the indie perennials continuing to push their sound via production help from Dev Hynes
The Guide #220: The best things we watched, read and listened to this year – that weren’t from 2025
We’ve just inched into December, which of course means Christmas list season. Already, five days in, plenty of publications have shared their cultural best-ofs for 2025 – you can read the Guardian’s best books and songs of the year right now, with our countdowns in TV, film and music coming very soon.Meanwhile, many of you will have been bombarded on social media by screengrabs of your colleagues/friends/enemies’ Spotify Wrapped playlists (though Mood Machine author Liz Pelly has written pretty convincingly about why you shouldn’t share yours). This year’s Wrapped includes a “listening age” feature, which uses the release dates of the music you streamed to determine how horribly out-of-date your tastes are – revealing to some users that they are, in fact, centenarians.But there is, of course, no shame in taking a break from the deluge of new releases to catch some forgotten or not-forgotten classics
A minimalist statement or just Pantonedeaf? ‘Cloud dancer’ shade of white named Pantone’s 2026 colour of the year
Hi, Emma! I’m so pumped to find out what colour 2026 is going to be. Fill me in!Brace yourself, Nick. Every year since 1999 Pantone chooses a colour for the year, a representation of the zeitgeist – from how we’re feeling to what we’re wearing, how we’re styling our homes and even our eyebrows. Last year’s was the darker shade of beige “mocha mousse”, the year before that was the soft, warm “peach fuzz”.This year’s pick is even more baffling
Jimmy Kimmel on the Trump administration: ‘They have better-quality cabinets at Ikea’
Late-night hosts tore into Donald Trump’s five-hour Truth Social posting spree and his inability to stay awake during cabinet meetings.Jimmy Kimmel wasted no time in returning to his favorite target – Donald Trump – on Tuesday evening. “I know I’ve said this before, but for real this time: he went completely off the rails last night,” the host began. “The man who is allegedly running the country banged out an onslaught of posts and reposts in a furious social media blitzkrieg that started at 7.09pm, went nonstop until almost midnight
Norman conquest coin hoard to go on show in Bath before permanent display
The coins were buried in a valley in the English West Country almost 1,000 years ago at a time of huge political and social turmoil.A millennium on, plans have been announced to bring the Chew Valley Hoard, 2,584 silver coins hidden shortly after the Norman conquest, back to the south-west of England.The feelgood story of how the coins, worth more than £4m, were found by a band of metal detectorists will be told but visitors will also be encouraged to reflect on how the world continues to be gripped by worries about conflict, the actions of the powerful and money.Sam Astill, the chief executive of South West Heritage Trust, which acquired the hoard for the nation last year, said the idea was not just about showing off the coins and telling their history.He said: “There will also be a conversation about turning points, turning points in history or in people’s lives
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Having nothing to say has never stopped Kemi holding a press conference | John Crace