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Uproar after Iran named vice-chair of UN body promoting democracy, women’s rights

Iran’s election as vice-chair of the United Nations Commission for Social Development is being slammed by human rights advocates and policy analysts, who have condemned the U.N.’s hypocrisy when it comes to its treatment of undemocratic regimes. 

The leadership role was approved without objection during a meeting of the commission, where delegates adopted agenda items and organizational decisions by consensus.

The United Nations has faced continued criticism over its inaction towards the regime’s violent crackdown against protesters in December and January. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres faced criticism for congratulating Iran on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz criticized the development, writing on X: ‘Yet another reason why we are not a member of, nor do we participate in, this ridiculous ‘Commission for Social Development.’’

Alireza Jafarzadeh, author of The Iran Threat and deputy director of the U.S. office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, also criticized the decision. ‘Having the Iranian regime in the leadership of a U.N. body tasked with promoting democracy, gender equality, tolerance and non-violence is appalling and like fox guarding the hen house,’ Jafarzadeh said. ‘The vast majority of the Iranian people are calling for regime change because the mullahs are the world’s leading human rights violators, misogynist to the core, and they slaughter the voices of dissent by thousands.’

He argued that Iran should face scrutiny rather than institutional advancement. ‘Instead, the Iranian regime must be a subject of intense investigation and accountability by all U.N. bodies for crimes against humanity and genocide, from the 1980s to January 2026 uprisings,’ Jafarzadeh said. ‘Decades of inaction by Western governments have emboldened the regime. This must stop now.’

‘By electing Iran to help lead a commission devoted to democracy, women’s rights and non-violence, the U.N. makes itself into a mockery,’ said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. ‘This is a regime that brutalizes women for not covering their hair, and that just massacred tens of thousands of its own civilians in two days.’

Neuer argued that governments had the ability to block the appointment but chose not to act. ‘The EU states know how to stop abusive regimes from winning these seats — they’ve done so in the recent past with Russia — but this time on Iran, they chose silence and complicity,’ he said. ‘By rewarding the Mullahs right after their slaughter of innocents, the U.N. has now sent a very dangerous message to Tehran.’

Lisa Daftari, an Iran analyst, said the optics of Iran holding a leadership role in a commission centered on social development and rights were deeply troubling.

‘For Iranian women who risk prison or worse just for taking off a headscarf, watching Tehran get a vice-chair on a U.N. social-development commission feels like a slap in the face.’

She added that broader patterns in U.N. voting and resolutions contribute to perceptions of bias.

‘When the same U.N. system has spent the last decade passing roughly 170-plus resolutions against Israel and only around 80 on all other countries combined, you don’t need a PhD to see there’s a bias problem,’ Daftari said. ‘When the U.N. has churned out well over a hundred anti-Israel resolutions in recent years while managing a fraction of that number on the world’s worst dictatorships, it looks less like moral leadership and more like political theater.’

Daftari rejected that procedural nature of United Nations committees and committees.

‘Some diplomats will wave this away as a procedural formality, but at the U.N. nothing is ever purely symbolic,’ she said. ‘The bottom line is that handing Iran’s regime a gavel on ‘social development’ confirms yet again that the place is biased and deeply hypocritical.’

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Dems dig in, guarantee shutdown with block of DHS funding

Lawmakers are jetting from Washington, D.C., without a deal to prevent a partial government shutdown. 

Their departure comes after the Senate was unable to send a full-year funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

Senate Democrats doubled down on their demands for stringent reforms to immigration enforcement and bucked multiple attempts Thursday to keep the agency open.

With both chambers now on their way to a weeklong recess, the agency is expected to shutter at midnight Friday. Unless a deal is struck before lawmakers return, DHS will be shut down for at least that period of time.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made the call to send lawmakers home and noted that if negotiations made a breakthrough, they would be on 24-hour notice to return. But talks, for now, are somewhere between baby steps and stuck. 

‘What it appears to me, at least at this point, is happening is the Democrats, like they did last fall, they really don’t want the solution,’ Thune said. ‘They don’t want the answer. They want the political issue.’ 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus blocked an attempt to pass the original DHS funding bill and a subsequent two-week funding extension. 

Their resistance comes after the White House unveiled the legislative text of the administration’s counteroffer, which several Senate Democrats balked at Thursday morning. 

‘The administration doesn’t actually want to reform ICE,’ Schumer said. ‘They never do it on their own. That is why we need — we are fighting for — legislation to rein in ICE and stop the violence.’

Senate Democrats have demanded a stringent list of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They weren’t persuaded by border czar Tom Homan that operations in Minneapolis would be drawn down as negotiations continue.

It was a déjà vu moment from months earlier, when Thune repeatedly tried to peel Democrats away from Schumer during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history but failed to break their blockade.

While there was optimism that negotiations were moving in a positive direction earlier this week, those hopes appeared to have shattered. 

‘At this point, it seems clear that the Democrats are going to walk away from that bipartisan conversation,’ a senior White House official said. ‘They’re going to shut the department down. They’re going to deprive Americans of critical services such as FEMA, such as TSA and what will be the third partial government shutdown of this Congress.’

Senate Democrats received the legislative version of Republicans and the White House’s counteroffer Wednesday night, but many said it was ‘not sufficient,’ and several Democrats leaving a closed-door meeting Thursday morning said a deal remained out of reach.

Given the stagnation in talks, Thune opted to go ahead with the scheduled recess, but made clear to lawmakers that if there was a breakthrough they would need to return.

‘Obviously, we’ve made it clear to people that they have to be available to come back and vote,’ Thune said. 

Talks of another counteroffer to the White House are in the works. Some Senate Democrats hope that the upcoming recess and likely closure of DHS will serve as a wake-up call to Republicans. 

Complicating matters is that several members of the House and Senate are expected to travel to Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference.

‘I still think the Republicans are in a bubble and do not understand the depth of the anger out there in the world,’ Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told Fox News Digital. 

‘And maybe this break will allow them to go home and get yelled at, not just by people who are progressive, but everybody who thinks that this agency is out of control and needs to be reined in.’

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Leavitt unloads on Obama over voter ID push, accuses Dems of ‘panic’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is making an example of former President Barack Obama for encouraging voters and lawmakers to reject adopting national voter ID laws. 

‘You know how badly the Democrats are panicking when they bring out Obama to spread lies about voter ID,’ Leavitt posted to X Thursday. ‘The fact is that nearly 90% of voters support’ voter ID laws, she continued before posting two screenshots showing two polls reflecting Americans support such laws at around 83% support to 84% support. 

Leavitt’s comments follow the House passing a massive election integrity overhaul bill Wednesday, which includes requiring voters to show a photo ID when casting ballots in federal elections. The bill overall aims to prevent noncitizens from voting in U.S. federal elections, with all but one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, voting against it. 

Obama was among prominent Democrats encouraging House lawmakers to vote against the measure, claiming it will disenfranchise voters. 

‘Republicans are still trying to pass the SAVE Act—a bill that would make it harder to vote and disenfranchise millions of Americans,’ he posted to X Wednesday evening. ‘Join @RedistrictAct and tell your member of Congress to vote no.’ 

Democrats have argued that voter ID laws can disenfranchise eligible voters because they often require specific, current government-issued IDs that may be a struggle to obtain due to costs, paperwork hurdles or limited DMV access. Republicans have rejected that argument, calling the requirement a common-sense safeguards that would boost confidence in elections, while simultaneously noting that most Americans already need IDs for everyday tasks.

In another post, Leavitt shared that Obama presented his own driver’s license to vote in the 2012 election. Obama voted early that cycle and was seen on camera pulling his Illinois driver’s license from his wallet to flash to poll workers. 

‘Here is Barack Obama showing his photo ID to vote in a past election,’  Leavitt posted. ‘Why are Democrats in Congress so opposed to making this a requirement across the country? Voter ID laws are common sense.’ 

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers added that IDs are frequently used by Americans to buy alcohol or get on a plane, which she said shows the hypocrisy of Democrats pushing against the election security overhaul. 

‘Barack Obama and the rest of the Democrats think Americans are stupid, which is why they are blatantly lying about the commonsense election integrity provisions in the popular SAVE Act,’ Rogers told Fox News Digital. 

‘Americans need to show ID to buy alcohol, get on a plane, and even get into the Democratic National Convention — but these hypocrite Democrats don’t want voters to show their ID to cast a ballot. Congressional Democrats’ opposition to the SAVE America Act is indefensible and wildly out of step with the views of the American people.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office Thursday for comment but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Called the SAVE Act, the legislation would additionally require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls, as well as enable the Department of Homeland Security to pursue immigration cases if non-citizens were found to be listed as eligible to vote.

If passed, the new requirements could be implemented for the November midterm elections. It must first pass the Senate before it could land on President Donald Trump’s desk. 

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Winter Olympics live updates: Chloe Kim wins silver in women’s halfpipe

MILAN — It’s Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Chloe Kim is going for her third Olympic gold medal. If she wins the halfpipe, she’ll be snowboarding’s first back-to-back-to-back gold medalist — and she’s doing it all after multiple shoulder injuries just weeks before the Olympics.

The day begins with women’s curling round robin sessions. Breezy Johnson is among four Americans on the start list for the women’s Alpine super-G medal event. The USA is also represented in the men’s moguls, where Nick Page and Dylan Walczyk are in the finals. And 44-year-old Nick Baumgartner leads Team USA in the men’s snowboard cross competition.

The USA men’s hockey team faces Latvia in a preliminary game. Three American women, including Jessie Diggins, will be in the cross-country medal race for the 10km interval start freestyle. And there’s plenty of short track speed skating to watch.

Follow it all live with USA TODAY Sports reporters on the ground in Italy.

USA men’s hockey extends lead to 3-1

USA men’s hockey tied 1-1 with Latvia after first period

The United States had two goals waved off in the period after Latvia was successful with challenges.

American Kristen Santos-Griswold fails to advance in women’s 500 meters of short-track speed skating

MILAN — A night of potential redemption turned more frustration for U.S. short-track speed skater Kristen Santos-Griswold.

Santos-Griswold failed to reach the finals of the women’s 500 meters Thursday, Feb. 12. She crashed multiple times in her three races before five other skaters moved on to the final race without her.

And so Santos-Griswold have to live not only with that but what took place four years ago.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Santos-Griswold led the1,000 meters heading into the final lap before she was taken out by another competitor. The crash relegated her to fourth. – Josh Peter

Brady Tkachuk gives USA men’s hockey 1-0 lead

USA men’s hockey takes an early 1-0 lead against Latvia in Game 1 at the 2026 Winter Olympics thanks to a goal from Brady Tkachuk off a pass from his brother, Matthew Tkachuk. The United States looked to be going up 2-0 after Quinn Hughes got one into the back of the net, but a Latvia challenge for offside was successful.

USA men’s hockey underway against Latvia

Team USA’s pursuit of a gold medal in men’s hockey is underway as the USA men’s hockey team is underway against Latvia in Group C play. Click here for live updates of the game.

Chloe Kim wins silver in women’s halfpipe

Chloe Kim’s chase of a three-peat of Olympic gold in the women’s halfpipe fell just short. The U.S. snowboarder came up with the silver medal after not finishing her second and third runs due to falls. South Korea’s Gaon Choi won gold thanks to a 90.25 score on her third run, which came after back-to-back crashes on her first two runs.

Chloe Kim finishes first run, moves into first

Chloe Kim posts a score of 88.00 in her first run of the women’s halfpipe finals. Kim’s score is good enough to put her in first place on the leaderboard; she’ll have two more runs, with her highest score being used.

Only five snowboarders posted runs in their first run due to crashes on the course. Pipe conditions aren’t ideal right now with snow coming down.

Myles Garrett wearing Chloe Kim jacket at women’s halfpipe

Cleveland Browns’ defense end Myles Garrett is back to watch his girlfriend, U.S. snowboarding legend Chloe Kim, compete in the women’s halfpipe at the Winter Olympics. This time, though, the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year is wearing a jacket with Chloe Kim’s face on it as she goes for three straight Olympic gold medals in the event.

As noted by People Magazine, Kim and Garret were first linked in May 2025 when they attended the Crunchyroll Anime Awards together in Japan. They then confirmed their relationship in November 2025, when Kim attended the Cleveland Browns’ road game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

South Korea’s Gaon Choi crashes during women’s halfpipe run

South Korea’s Gaon Choi takes a hard fall after hitting the lip as she came down on her second trick during her first run of the women’s halfpipe finals. She was tended to for a few minutes before getting up on her own and scooting down the course.

Chloe Kim goes for three-peat in women’s halfpipe

The first run of the women’s halfpipe finals is underway at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Team USA’s Chloe Kim is going for her third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event.

Team USA finishes off podium in luge team relay

MILAN — The American team finished in fifth place in the luge team relay with a total time of 3:42.776 at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Thursday, falling 1.104 second short of the country’s first-ever Olympic gold luge medal.

The women’s luger goes first and hits the touchpad at the bottom of the track to open the gate for the next racer. The men’s doubles team goes next, finishing with men’s singles and women’s doubles. The team with the lowest cumulative time wins.

Olympic bronze-medalist Ashley Farquharson kicked off the event for the Americans in the women’s singles portion with a time of 55.771. Ansel Haugsjaa and Marcus Mueller carried on the momentum and recorded the second-fastest time of the men’s double luge portion at 55.281 Jonathan Gustafson followed with a time of 55.197 in the men’s singles portion and the duo of Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirby finished at 56.527.

Germany won the gold medal with a new track record of 3:41.672. Austria took silver (3:42.214) and Italy won bronze (3:42.521). — Cydney Henderson

Tiebreaker determines gold, silver medal in men’s moguls

LIVIGNO, Italy — The score flashed on the screen, 83.71, the same exact one that had been posted for the previous competitor, as both Australia’s Cooper Woods and Mikael Kingsbury of Canada tied atop the leaderboard at the conclusion of men’s moguls finals at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Only one – Woods – left the Games with a gold medal.

Woods finished first because he won the first tiebreaker, which is determined by the judge’s ‘turn score.’ Three separate scores are combined for the skier’s final total – turns, aerials and time. Woods bested Kingsbury by .70 – 48.4 to 47.7 – in turn score, leaving Kingsbury with a third Olympic silver medal (he also won gold in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018) in the event.

‘It was very close,’ Kingsbury said. ‘You can’t get any closer than that. I’m very happy for Cooper.’ – Chris Bumbaca

Canada men’s hockey defeats Czech Republic

Canada rolls through the Czech Republic 5-0 in men’s hockey. The Canadians, who have dominated men’s hockey at the Winter Games in the NHL era, got goals from Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki.

Next up in men’s hockey is the USA men’s hockey team taking on Latvia at 3:10 p.m. ET!

Nathan Pare reacts to controversial snowboard cross disqualification

Yes, middle-aged wonder Nick Baumgartner reached the semifinals and finished seventh. But the controversial storyline of the event was that his USA teammate, Nathan Pare, crossed the line first in his quarterfinal — only to be disqualified on review after he and another rider appeared to come into contact during the race.

Spain’s Lucas Equibar Breton wiped out as a result, and controversially, Pare was bumped to last place. From him, it was a brutal shift of emotion after he’d won the quarterfinal, overtaking two French riders with a dramatic comeback in the stretch run. Instead, those two French riders advanced as the top-two finishers. Pare was eliminated by a decision, not by the result.

‘It’s super frustrating,’ said Pare, a 21-year-old from Bethel, Maine. “It’s hard to handle and to accept. … Contact is racing. It’s part of the sport. To have a call like that, though, at the Olympics and pretty much strip it away from me is hard to deal with.” Click here to read more here. – Gentry Estes

Rich Ruohonen, oldest American Winter Olympian, gets Olympic moment

On Thursday, Ruohonen, 54, made history as the oldest American Winter Olympian to touch the ice. The Team USA men’s curling team lost its preliminary match against Switzerland 8-3, but instead of conceding when it was down 8-2, the team subbed in its 54-year-old alternate.

The move officially made Ruohonen an Olympian after seven career attempts to make the Winter Olympics. Read more here. – Meghan Hall

Olympic women’s ice hockey quarterfinals are set

After Canada dispatched of Finland, 5-0, to close out the round-robin phase of the Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament, the quarterfinal matchups have now been finalized.

It was already known the United States will fast the host nation, Italy, but opponents for Czechia, Canada and Finland have all been set with Thursday’s result. The quarterfinals will take place on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14. The U.S. and Canada have won the gold medal in every Olympic Games in which women’s ice hockey has been included.

Sidney Crosby, loaded Team Canada men’s hockey team start Olympics

Pittsburgh Penguins great Sidney Crosby is one of two members of Team Canada’s men’s ice hockey team with previous Olympic experience as NHL players return to the Winter Games this year for the first time since 2014. Crosby, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty lead one of three rosters in the Olympic hockey tournament made up entirely of NHL players.

Canada is facing Czechia in its first round-robin matchup of the 2026 Winter Olympics, with the two teams in a scoreless tie at the moment. This is Crosby’s third Olympic Games and he famously scored the game-winning goal to secure Canada the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Judges scores explained in Chock and Bates Olympic gold controversy

The biggest question in figure skating right now: How did Madison Chock and Evan Bates not win ice dance gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics? 

The married duo were the favorites entering these Games, but had to settle for silver with the French team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron winning gold. The decision stirred sharp reaction from American fans and fellow U.S. figure skaters on social media and elsewhere. The enduring sentiment is that Chock and Bates performed a flawless free dance strong enough to lock up gold.

Beaudry and Cizeron, who carried a 0.46-point lead entering the night, had a good but not as sharp skate. However, they ended up with a better score: a 135.64 to Chock and Bates’ 134.67 – a victory margin of 1.43 points.

How did it happen? Read more here on how the judges’ scores for both teams broke down and what they reveal.

Jessie Diggins fights through injury to win Olympic bronze

MILAN — Jessie Diggins, the most decorated cross-country skier in U.S. history, is adding to her collection of Olympic hardware.

Following two disappointing results to start the 2026 Winter Olympics, Diggins returned to the podium and claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 10km freestyle interval start on Thursday, following a gutsy performance that ended with her wailing in pain.

The 34-year-old competed with bruised ribs suffered in a ‘big crash’ on Saturday, which made it difficult to breathe and ski, Diggins told NBC. Diggins collapsed in exhaustion after crossing the finish line in bronze-medal position with a time of 23:38.9. Her effort secured her fourth career Olympic medal in her fourth and final Games. – Cydney Henderson

Baumgartner out of medal spot in snowboard cross

Nick Baumgartner was eliminated from medal contention on a photo finish in the quarterfinals of the men’s cross in Livigno. Baumgartner finished seventh out of 32 athletes in the event.Canada’s Eliot Grondin finished first to advance into the final four. Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria barely beat out Baumgartner for second. – Gentry Estes

Nathan Pare disqualified after crash in snowboard cross

American snowboard cross racer Nathan Pare won his quarterfinal heat in dramatic fashion in the homestretch, but he was disqualified as a result of contact that occurred during the race, wiping out another contestant. After review, Pare’s result was voided, and two French riders advanced.

Nick Baumgartner advances to final eight in snowboard cross

Nick Baumgartner, 44, won his opening heat to reach the final 16 of the men’s snowboard cross at Livigno Snow Park. Riding second most of the way, Baumgartner passed Italy’s Lorenzo Sommariva near the finish line. Both advanced to the next round.The weather conditions in Livigno have turned windy and snowy, which could benefit a seasoned, savvy racer like Baumgartner.USA’s Jake Vedder and Nathan Pare each advanced to the final 16 as well.

Baumgartner then advanced to the final eight of the men’s snowboard cross when two riders wiped out in front of him during the later stage of the race. – Gentry Estes

Jessie Diggins begins 10km freestyle interval run

MILAN — U.S. cross-country skier Jessie Diggins has another shot at a medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Diggins is competing in the women’s 10km freestyle interval start on Thursday, an event she previously finished in fifth place at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and eighth at the 2022 Beijing Games.

The 34-year-old smiled before pushing out the starting gate from the 44th position, despite competing with bruised ribs sustained in a ‘big crash’ on Saturday. She sported sparkles on her face, continuing a pre-race ritual she’s done for as long as she can remember. — Cydney Henderson

Trump names U.S. delegation to Olympics closing ceremony

President Donald Trump announced the U.S. delegation to the 2026 Olympics closing ceremony Feb. 22 of business leaders and a former hockey medalist would be led by Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Others in the delegation will be Tilman Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy and his wife Lauren; Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration; Meredith O’Rourke, a senior adviser to Trump; Bob Book, chairman of Book Capital Enterprises; Neil Book, chairman of Jet Support Services; Trish Duggan, founder of Imagine Museum; Diane Hendricks, founder of ABC Supply Co.; and Ryan Suter, a medalist on the 2010 and 2014 Olympic hockey teams.

Vice President JD Vance had headed the delegation for the opening ceremony, and he and his family watched several events. But he returned home Feb. 10. –Bart Jansen

Breezy Johnson gets engaged at Winter Olympics

Johnson’s boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed at the base of the super-G run in Cortina D’Ampezzo on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Johnson crashed during the super-G final and was one of 17 skiers who didn’t finish their run.

‘It felt fitting to kind of combine two of my loves,’ Johnson said when asked why she wanted to get engaged at the Olympics. ‘And I don’t know, it’s a special place at the Olympics. I feel like there’s a lot of mystique around it.

‘And also you get free photography!’

Nick Page finishes 7th in men’s moguls; Australia takes gold

LIVIGNO, Italy — You’d seldom find a world-class freestyle skier with a birthplace of Florida. But that’s Nick Page.

The American, who hails now from Park City, Utah, made it to the moguls finals at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics on Thursday, but didn’t turn in the run he would’ve wanted, scoring a 75.00 and finishing in seventh.

Australia’s Cooper Woods skied last and pulled out a gold medal run with a score of 83.71, which actually tied Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury’s score. But the tiebreaker goes to the skier with the higher score on turns. Woods put up a 48.4 turns score to Kingsbury’s 47.7 turns score. So, Kingsbury walked away with silver, and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima earned bronze with an 83.71.

USA’s Nick Page advances to men’s moguls finals

LIVIGNO — Nick Page will be the lone ‘Stars and Stripes’ representative in the men’s moguls final after three of his teammates did not place in the top eight during the first run of finals.

Page placed sixth in the first final with a score of 80.08 and has some work to do to make the podium.

US skiers shut out of women’s super-G medals

There’ll be no medal for the American women.

Jackie Wiles, the last U.S. skier to go in the super-G, skied into 13th place, one spot ahead of Keely Cashman. There are still more than a dozen skiers to go.

But at least Wiles and Cashman finished. teammates Breezy Johnson and Mary Bocock both crashed during their runs.

Bocock has crashed in her Olympic debut. She got too much air off a jump, was already off-balance in the air and landed sideways, her skis splayed in front  of her.

About 20 seconds into her run, Johnson got off her line off a jump and clipped the next gate. It spun her around and launched her into the safety netting at the side of the course.

Johnson, who won the gold medal in downhill earlier this week, was able to get back up and ski away from the fence.

Where to watch Olympics today

Watch all 2026 Winter Olympics events on NBC and Peacock.

Watch Olympics on Peacock

Olympics schedule today

All times Eastern

  • 3:05 a.m.: Curling – Women’s Round Robin | Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
    • KOR vs. USA; JPN vs. SWE; ITA vs. SUI; CAN vs. DEN
  • 3:30 a.m.: Skeleton – Men’s Heats 1 & 2 | Cortina Sliding Centre (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
  • 4 a.m.: Freestyle Skiing – Men’s Moguls Qualification 2 | Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park (Livigno, Valtellina)
  • 4 a.m.: Snowboarding – Men’s Snowboard Cross Seeding Runs 1 & 2 | Livigno Snow Park (Livigno, Valtellina)
  • 5:30 a.m.: Alpine Skiing – Women’s Super-G | medal event | Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
  • 6:10 a.m.: Ice Hockey – Men’s Preliminary | SUI vs. FRA | Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena
  • 6:15 a.m.: Freestyle Skiing – Men’s Moguls Final Runs 1 & 2 | medal event | Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park (Livigno, Valtellina)
  • 6:50  a.m.: Bobsleigh – 2-man Official Training Heats 1 & 2 | Cortina Sliding Centre (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
  • 7 a.m.: Cross-Country Skiing – Women’s 10km Interval Start Free | medal event | Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium (Val di Fiemme)
  • 7:45-9:15 a.m.: Snowboarding – Men’s Snowboard Cross Quarters, Semis, Finals | medal event | Livigno Snow Park (Livigno)
  • 8:05 a.m.: Curling – Men’s Round Robin | Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
    • SUI vs. USA; NOR vs. GER; GBR vs. SWE
  • 9:30  a.m.: Bobsleigh – Women’s Monobob Official Training Heats 1 & 2 | Cortina Sliding Centre (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
  • 10:30 a.m.: Speed Skating – Women’s 5000m | medal event | Milano Speed Skating Stadium (Rho, Milan)
  • 10:40 a.m.: Ice Hockey – Men’s Preliminary | CZE vs.CAN | Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena
  • 11 a.m.: Ski Jumping – Women’s LH Official Training 1 | Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium (Val di Fiemme)
  • 12:30 p.m.: Luge – Team Relay | medal event | Cortina Sliding Centre (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
  • 1:05 p.m.: Curling – Women’s Round Robin | Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
    • SWE vs. USA; CHN vs. GBR; ITA vs. KOR; DEN vs JPN
  • 1:30 p.m.: Snowboard – Women’s Halfpipe Final Runs | medal event | Livigno Snow Park (Livigno, Valtellina)
  • 2 p.m.: Ski Jumping – Men’s LH Official Training 1 | Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium (Val di Fiemme)
  • 2:15 p.m.: Short Track Speed Skating | medal events | Milano Ice Skating Arena (Milan)
    • Women’s 500m Quarterfinals, 2:15 p.m.
    • Men’s 1000m Quarterfinals, 2:49 p.m.
    • Women’s 500m Semifinals, 2:58 p.m.
    • Men’s 1000m Semifinals, 3:05 p.m.
    • Women’s 500m Final A, 3:31 p.m.
    • Men’s 1000m Final A, 3:43 p.m.
  • 3:10 p.m.: Ice Hockey – Men’s Preliminary | LAT vs. USA | Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena
  • 3:10 p.m.: Ice Hockey – Men’s Preliminary | GER vs. DEN | Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena

Olympics medal count

Following Winter Olympic action in Milano Cortina on Wednesday, Feb. 11, Norway and Italy lead the medal count with 13 apiece (Norway has more golds, however, with seven). The U.S. has collected the third-most medals with 12 (four gold, six silver and two bronze), followed by Germany, Austria and Japan (eight apiece), and Sweden (six).

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South Korea’s Gaon Choi takes hits, wins women’s halfpipe

South Korea snowboarder Gaon Choi took two hard hits in her first two runs of the women’s halfpipe finals at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Her third run led her to Olympic gold.

Choi posted a 90.25 in her third run at the Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy, which was good enough to stop USA’s Chloe Kim from winning a historic third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event. Kim did not finish her second or third runs after falling.

Choi’s first crash came as she was coming down on her second trick. Choi hit the lip and took a hard crash down to the ground. Choi was one of several riders to take a hit and crash in the first run of Thursday’s medal event, with weather conditions not ideal for riders due to snowfall.

She was tended to for a few minutes down on the course before she got up on her own power and went off the course, according to USA TODAY Sports’ Chris Bumbaca.

Choi’s second run did not go well, either, as she didn’t finish it as she went down after going up on the first wall. NBC’s broadcast initially mentioned that Choi was pulling herself out of the race, but then she immediately changed course.

Only five snowboarders, including Kim, put runs down on the first run, with the others crashing. Kim posted a score of 88.00 on the run.

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Dodgers bring back Kiké Hernández, Max Muncy as spring training begins

‘What else did you expect?!!!’

Those were Kiké Hernández’s own words when he broke the news on his Instagram Thursday morning that he was re-signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The defending back-to-back World Series champions also announced a one-year extension of third baseman Max Muncy’s contract. As had been mostly expected all offseason, the two stalwart veterans are re-joining the Dodgers just ahead of spring training.

In a corresponding move, the Dodgers placed right-handed pitcher Evan Phillips on the 60-day injured list.

‘[Three] in a row has a nice ring to it,’ Hernández said in his post, accompanied by a picture of him at the Dodgers’ World Series parade from November.

Kiké Hernández contract details

According to multiple reports, Hernández’s deal is for one-year, $4.5 million. The longtime fan favorite at Dodger Stadium underwent surgery on his left elbow over the offseason and is not expected to be ready for Opening Day, which is part of the reason he and the Dodgers waited until spring to get the contract done. That way, the club could place him on the 60-day IL and keep a 40-man roster spot open.

The 34-year-old utilityman’s numbers during the regular season declined in 2025 — his .621 OPS was a career-low — but the legend of ‘October Kiké’ once again rose to the occasion. Starting in 17 postseason games, Hernández put together multiple clutch performances, including back-to-back multi-hit games in the Wild Card and a crucial two-run double as the Dodgers rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in game one of the NLDS.

But his biggest moment — maybe of his career — came in Game 6 of the World Series when Hernández possibly saved the Dodgers season when he turned a game-ending double play with the bases loaded on a running catch in left field that he immediately threw to Miguel Rojas at second base to force a game seven.

“October Kiké is something pretty special,” manager Dave Roberts said at the time. “And the track record speaks for itself. Throughout history, he’s one of the best throughout history of the postseason.”

Max Muncy contract details

Muncy, the longest-tenured Dodger, is now guaranteed through his age-37 season after agreeing to a team-friendly extension. He’s set to earn $7 million in 2027 with a $10 million option for 2028. Muncy has long been open about his desire to remain with the Dodgers — who signed him to a Minor League deal in 2017 after he was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics and has since turned into a shining model of the Dodgers’ player development — for the rest of his career, and this deal seems like it could get him there.

Muncy has played in just 173 games over the last two seasons due to injuries. But like Hernández, he played his best ball in October. His best moment came in the ninth inning of game two of the NLDS when he and Mookie Betts ran the wheel play to perfection to get Nick Castellanos out at third base.

In game two of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, Muncy took a fastball deep to straightaway center field for his 14th career postseason home run, breaking the Dodgers’ franchise record. He would go on to hit two more in October, putting his mark at 16 for now.

‘It means a lot to me,’ Muncy said in October. ‘The Dodgers are a franchise that has been around for a very, very long time. A lot of very successful players have played in this organization. And to be able to break that record is kind of huge for me.’

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Former Nebraska AD’s book reveals juicy details about 2017 coaching search

  • Former Nebraska AD Bill Moos reveals in new book he wanted to hire Chip Kelly, not Scott Frost, in 2017.
  • Scott Frost apparently was unimpressive in interviews with Nebraska and Florida. Nebraska hired him anyway.

You write a memoir to sell a memoir.

And to sell copies of a memoir, you need a few juicy, never-before-told stories tucked inside.

Like this one from former Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos: He wanted to hire Chip Kelly, not Scott Frost, in 2017. He interviewed Kelly. His bosses apparently didn’t like that plan.

“I was met with blank stares and a total lack of excitement when I expressed that to my superiors … I was not told I couldn’t pursue (Kelly), but I certainly felt negative vibes,” Moos reportedly wrote in his newly released memoir, ‘Crab Creek Chronicles: From the Wheat Fields to the Ball Fields and Beyond.”

Instead of Kelly, Nebraska hired Frost, a beloved alumnus who had injected rocket fuel into Central Florida. Frost, though, brought an empty tank to Nebraska.

That’s a polite way of saying: Frost stunk.

He never produced a winning season. Moos didn’t do the firing. Instead, Moos’ successor, Trev Alberts, canned Frost early in his fifth season.

Like Bill Moos, Florida Gators also wanted Chip Kelly

Interestingly, Florida’s 2017 coaching search featured two of the same candidates as Nebraska’s. Kelly was the top target, until he pulled out and took the UCLA job instead.

“I was really hoping Chip would be interested,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin told Sports Illustrated in 2021.

What about Frost? Well, he didn’t interview well for the Florida job, school officials later told Sports Illustrated for that story about its 2017 coaching search. That’s a theme with Frost. Moos, too, was unimpressed with Frost’s interview. Frost, according to Moos, showed up to the interview in sweats and unshaven, and he brought a sidekick to the interview. He got the Nebraska job anyway.

With Kelly off the board for Florida and Frost unimpressive in his Gators interview, Stricklin pivoted his sights to Dan Mullen, who had worked for him at Mississippi State.

Tennessee also wanted Mullen. Volunteers athletic director John Currie made him a top target after firing Butch Jones. Currie and Mullen exchanged text messages on the final Saturday of the 2017 regular season. Currie also messaged Mullen’s agent to have him get deal terms to Mullen.

If Mullen ever saw Tennessee’s deal, well, he never signed it.

Kelly picked UCLA.

Mullen picked Florida.

Tennessee briefly picked Greg Schiano. Fans revolted, and Currie got himself fired. The search jumped the rails, and they wound up hiring Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.

Nebraska picked Frost.

It’s a microcosm of the domino effect of coaching searches. You can think you have your man, until another suitor swoops in and steals him.

Or, you can think you have your man, until your bosses don’t want your man. As was evidently the case at Nebraska.

Moos sang a different tune at Frost’s introductory news conference, hailing him ‘the premier young coach in America.’

‘I believe he was everybody’s first choice,’ Moos said then, ‘and I got the pick of the litter.’

You don’t sell memoirs by repeating what you said at news conferences, though. 

Would Chip Kelly have taken Nebraska job over UCLA?

Pruitt, Mullen and Frost each were later fired.

Kelly coached UCLA for six seasons, the final three of them good ones. He left to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. He won a national championship with the 2024 Buckeyes. After a failed fling in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders, he’s now Northwestern’s offensive coordinator.

Kelly picked UCLA over Florida, so even if Moos believed he had the administration’s support, could he have really secured Kelly for Nebraska?

We’ll have to wait until Kelly writes his memoir to find out.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

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Oldest American Olympian in Winter Games, 54, makes historic debut

On Thursday, Ruohonen, 54, made history as the oldest American Winter Olympian to touch the ice. The Team USA men’s curling team lost its preliminary match against Switzerland 8-3, but instead of conceding when it was down 8-2, the team subbed in its 54-year-old alternate. The move officially made Ruohonen an Olympian after seven career attempts to make the Winter Olympics.

Ruohonen started curling when he was in the fifth grade and has represented the U.S. in two World Championships (2008, 2018). Since he started four decades ago, he’s only taken one season off – to study law at Hamline Law School while recovering from a serious knee injury.

This isn’t the first time the curler’s name has been in the spotlight during the Winter Games. Ruohonen made headlines on Feb. 10 when he called out the ICE raids in Minnesota. The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, resident, who was born in St. Paul, shared his thoughts about his home state.

‘I’m proud to be here to represent Team USA and to represent our country. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it’s been for everybody,’ Ruohonen said. ‘This stuff is happening right, right around where we live.

‘I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution, and it allows us to (have) freedom of press, freedom of speech, protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, and makes it that we have to have probable cause to be pulled over. And what’s happening in Minnesota is wrong. There’s no shades of grey. It’s clear.’

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Phillies eat $20 million in salary, release former All-Star

Nick Castellanos’ relationship with the Philadelphia Phillies ended when the club released the former All-Star outfielder as he entered the final year of a five-year, $100 million contract.

The breakup has been in the works for months, with Castellanos falling out of favor due to poor performance and a conflict with manager Rob Thomson that resulted in a one-game benching.

Club president Dave Dombrowski indicated early this winter that the club would try to trade him. Castellanos did not have a locker assigned to him in the Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training clubhouse, according to news media in Clearwater, Florida, as the club asked him to stay home and await either a trade destination or his release. 

After his release on Thursday, Feb. 12, Castellanos posted a handwritten letter to his Instagram page, thanking Philadelphia and the club for its support through the years and offered his explanation on the conflict and admitted to bringing a beer into the dugout.

‘As a veteran of the game of baseball, there are rules, and I broke one in Miami,’ Castellanos wrote. ‘After being taken out of a close ball game in front of my friends and family, I brought a Presidente (beer) into the dugout. I then sat right next to Rob and let him know that too much slack in some areas and too tight of restrictions in others are not conducive to us winning.’

Castellanos said his teammates prevented him from taking a sip.

Nick Castellanos contract

Castellanos is owed $20 million in the final year of a five-year, $100 million deal he signed with the Phillies. Clearly, the Phillies found no taker to take on even a small fraction of that salary. So, they’ll eat the money and move on.

The Phillies signed former Texas Ranger Adolis Garcia to a one-year deal to supplant Castellanos in right field.

In Castellanos’s four years with the Phillies, they reached the playoffs every season, and he became a folk hero when he hit four homers in the 2023 NLDS against Atlanta. That was his finest season in Philly, as he batted .272 with 29 homers, 107 RBI and a .788 OPS.

Yet poor defense in right field limited him to just 1.5 WAR this season, and he declined in almost every metric the following two seasons. Castellanos may offer a modicum of value to clubs such as Cincinnati because of the dearth of right-handed hitting outfielders.

His Philadelphia chapter, though, is closed.

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Olympic men’s hockey scores today: Canada wins, USA faces Latvia

MILAN — Two of the favorites to go to the Olympic men’s hockey championship are opening play Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Canada defeated Czechia 5-0 and the USA is facing Latvia at 3:10 p.m. ET. Canada and the USA played in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, which the Canadians won in overtime.

The goalies from that game are in their country’s net for their respective openers. The St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington had a 26-save shutout for Canada. The USA is starting Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Hart Trophy/Vezina Trophy winner from the Winnipeg Jets.

Switzerland beat France 4-0. Germany and Denmark are playing at 3:10 p.m. ET.

The USA-Latvia and Germany-Denmark games are tied 1-1 after the first period.

Here’s a look at Olympic men’s hockey action for Thursday, Feb. 12:

Canada vs. Czechia score: Canada wins 5-0

NHL second-year player Macklin Celebrini contributed a goal in his Olympic debut to help Canada make easy work of Group A cohort Czechia. The Czechs were stymied by Jordan Binnington, who turned away 11 shots in the first period and another 11 in the second period and 26 total.

While the Czechs struggled to score, the Canadians took a 3-0 lead in the second period on goals from Mark Stone and Bo Horvat. Using their tremendous speed, the Canadians kept building, moving ahead 4-0 on a goal from Nathan MacKinnon in the third period. Nick Suzuki also scored.

‘It was special to go out there and play and pull this jersey on. A pretty wild environment. Very, very cool to be a part of,’ Canada’s Connor McDavid said.

The Czechs went with Lukas Dostal in goal over Utah Mammoth netminder Karel Vejmelka because Dostal backstopped the Czechs to the gold medal at the 2024 world championships.  

‘You know what I liked? I thought we got better as that game went on,’ Canada coach Jon Cooper said. ‘And I don’t care who anybody is, when you’re playing in the Olympics first time, it never gets old and everybody’s got the jitters. I think you could tell that in the beginning of the game.’

Canada defenseman Josh Morrissey, who was clipped by Martin Necas in the first period, played one shift in the second period and left the game. Cooper had no update on him after the game.

Switzerland vs. France score: Switzerland wins 4-0

Timo Meier scored twice in the third period and J.J. Moser had a goal and an assist. Leonardo Genoni, who helped Switzerland finish second at the 2025 world championships, got the start in net and had a 27-save shutout.

Olympic men’s hockey scores today

  • Switzerland 4, France 0
  • Canada 5, Czechia 0
  • 3:10 p.m.: USA vs. Latvia
  • 3:10 p.m.: Germany vs. Denmark

Where to watch Olympic men’s hockey

Watch Winter Olympics on Peacock

How the Olympics men’s hockey tournament works

The 12 teams are divided into three groups. They are:

  • Group A: Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, France
  • Group B: Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy
  • Group C: USA, Germany, Latvia, Denmark

Teams play one game each against the other three teams in their group. Countries get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, one for an overtime/shootout loss and zero for a regulation loss.

After the preliminary round is complete, teams are seeded 1 through 12 under the following criteria:

  • Higher position in the group
  • Higher number of points
  • Better goal difference
  • Higher number of goals scored for 
  • Better IIHF world ranking

The top four teams get a bye to quarterfinal. Teams 5-12 play in a qualifying round, with the winners going to the quarterfinals.

How long is NHL Olympic break? Key remaining dates in 2025-26 season

The NHL will take a break from Feb. 6-24 for the 2026 Winter Olympics. There are seven games on the schedule on Feb. 5. No trades can take place during the Olympic break.

When is the Olympic men’s hockey tournament?

The tournament starts Feb. 11 with two games. The USA opens play Feb. 12 against Latvia. All teams will play three games during the round robin, which runs through Feb. 15. The top four teams get byes to the quarterfinals.

Playoff qualification games are on Feb. 17 for teams ranked fifth through 12th, quarterfinals are Feb. 18 and semifinals are Feb. 20.

The bronze medal game is Feb. 21 and the gold medal game is Sunday, Feb. 22.

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