By DANIELLA MATAR and COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press

MILAN (AP) — With 100 days to go until the start of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, preparations are going right down to the wire.

The ice hockey arena that is set to welcome back NHL players to the Olympics is still not ready and won’t be tested until less than a month before the first puck is dropped at the 2026 Games.

“There are some things that we are paying more attention to, monitoring them and then there are others that are absolutely completely ready,” Milan-Cortina organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò told journalists outside an event to celebrate the 100-day countdown on Wednesday.

“Being completely honest I would say that these 100 days are necessary, we need them but I don’t think that’s any different than any other big event, you always see people working even hours before the start to ensure it meets expectations.”

Readiness of the venues is not a new concern for the local organizing committee, which rebuilt the century-old sliding track in Cortina after tangling with the International Olympic Committee at length over the decision.

The controversial track is up and running, with the IOC even saying recently that the venue has “surpassed expectations.” It secured preliminary certification in March and test events are taking place through November.

“The sliding center was a very complicated item in that period. It is clear that we respected our promises. It was not so easy to obtain the faith from the international community — my colleagues in the IOC, the international federations,” Malagò said.

“They did a fantastic job and now we want to meet the same expectations with Santagiulia.”

However, a test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — the new, 16,000-seat venue that is being built on the outskirts of Milan — had to be moved, and new ones won’t be until Jan. 9-11.

The first Olympics match at the main hockey arena is the women’s preliminary round competition on Feb. 5, just one day before the opening ceremony.

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“We are convinced that we will have a beautiful facility, and we will be ready to do the test event the first week of January, which will be very important because it has never been used,” Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier said.

“We need to test the ice, which is temporary not permanent, and also the function of the entire facility, which will be heavily visited.”

There are fewer concerns over other sites as the Milan-Cortina Games will be using mainly existing venues, with this the first Olympics to fully embrace cost-cutting reforms installed by former IOC President Thomas Bach.

That means that it will also be the most spread-out Winter Games in history.

But “the credibility of the venues,” Malagò said, compensates for the distance.

“What is fundamental is that the athletes want to compete in what is the temple of their own discipline. All these events have a recognized, first-class ranked venue … for me it was a good choice and I think for the athletes too,” he said.

Ticket sales

The 100-day mark launched the final phase of ticket sales.

Varnier said they have exceeded their own forecasts, selling more than 850,000 tickets to date. “Many sessions are sold out,’’ he said. In all, Milan-Cortina organizers are selling 1.4 million tickets for both the Feb. 6-22 Olympic Games and for the Paralympics running from March 6-15.

Podium party

Organizers also unveiled the two podiums for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the last of the design objects created for the Milan-Cortina Games after the medals, torches and posters.

The low-rise podiums are in a deep blue, with graphic elements meant to recall snow and ice. During the presentation, the two mascots, Tina and Milo, symbolically mounted the podiums.

A pair of stoat — or weasel — siblings, all-white Tina represents the Olympic Winter Games, while Milo, whose coat is brown, is the mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games.

CHICAGO (AP) — A Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois has been indicted along with five others over blocking vehicles during September protests outside a federal immigration enforcement building in suburban Chicago, according to court documents.

The indictment, filed last week by a special grand jury, accuses Kat Abughazaleh of blocking a federal agent outside the immigration processing center.

“This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment. This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them,” Abughazaleh said Wednesday in a video posted to BlueSky.

Protesters have been gathering outside the immigration center to oppose enforcement operations in the Chicago area that have led to more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force.

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A man who spent 43 years in prison before his conviction was overturned now faces deportation

Greg Bovino, who is leading Border Patrol efforts in Chicago, was ordered this week by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis to brief her every evening about the operations. It is an unprecedented bid to impose real-time oversight on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city after weeks of tense encounters and increasingly aggressive tactics by agents.

Federal prosecutors accused Abughazaleh and others of surrounding a vehicle driven by a federal agent on Sept. 26 and attempting to stop it from entering the facility.

The group banged on the car, pushed against it, broke a mirror and scratched the text “PIG” on the vehicle, the indictment said.

Abughazaleh at one point put her hands on the vehicle’s hood and braced her body against it while staying in its way, the indictment said. The agent was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators,” it said.

“As I and others have exercised our First Amendment rights, ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, and tear gassed hundreds of protesters, simply because we had the gall to say that masked men coming into our communities, abducting our neighbors, and terrorizing us cannot be our new normal,” she said in the video.

As scary as all of this is, I have spent my career fighting America’s backslide into fascism,” she said. “I’m not gonna stop now, and I hope you won’t either.”

Stillwater’s defense posted another clean sheet, and the Ponies’ top scorer did her thing Wednesday morning. That combination resulted in a 1-0 win over Eagan in a Class 3A girls soccer semifinal.

Rylee Lawrence scored for the Ponies, who will face defending champion Wayzata at 8 a.m. Friday back at U.S. Bank Stadium. Stillwater last won the title in 2021.

Eagan goalkeeper Abigail McGowan, left, stops a shot in front of midfielder Emerson Stattman (15) and Stillwater forward Jenavieve Kurth (14) during the second half of the Class 3A Semifinal of the Girls State Soccer Tournament at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. Stillwater won 1-0. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

“If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll be OK for the final,” Ponies coach Mike Huber said.

Winning with defense has been a hallmark for Stillwater (18-1-1) this season. The Ponies have 14 shutouts, allowing just eight goals in 20 matches. Four of those came in back-to-back games against White Bear Lake and Woodbury to end the regular season.

Unable to consistently press, Eagan’s prime scoring chances were few and far between.

“We had to be locked in from the start, but the last 18 minutes we knew we needed to shut everybody down,” said defender Savannah Backberg, one of 17 Stillwater seniors.

Still, the Wildcats’ best scoring opportunity came with 12:57 left when a pass from Ana Oenning connected with Tess Triplett entering the box behind a couple defenders. However, Reese Elzen, the Stillwater goalkeeper and Wisconsin commit, raced out a few yards and made a sliding stop.

“With a big touch you’ve got to go out then. If she has the ball on her feet with little touches, you’ve got to hold your ground,” Elzen said. “When it’s big touch. that might be the only chance you get to come out and grab the ball.”

The game’s lone goal came in the 28th minute.

Off an Eagan turnover, Stillwater’s Alayna Muths, a University of Illinois-Chicago commit, quickly sent a pass to Lawrence, a North Dakota commit who had a step behind a pair of Wildcats defenders. Her left-footed shot from 7 yards out went top corner on the far side for her team-best 17th goal of the season.

It was just the second goal allowed by Eagan in seven matches.

Stillwater had better scoring chances in the first half, but Abigail McGowan came up big each time, the latter a diving stop to thwart Lawrence. McGowan also stopped an Evelyn Huffer shot from about 15 yards out early in the second half to keep the Wildcats within one.

“It was one of those days where we didn’t put the ball in the net, but we’ll pick our heads up fast for tomorrow,” said Oenning, a St. Thomas commit.

Eagan (16-3-2), which tied East Ridge in the third-place game last year, gets Prior Lake in this year’s match Thursday.

Wayzata 2, Prior Lake 1

Gianna Ross scored with 10:11 left and Wayzata (16-0-2) netted the final two goals to beat Prior Lake 2-1.

Ella O’Keefe also scored in the second half for the top-seeded Trojans. Fifth-seeded Prior Lake (14-6-1) got its goal from Teagan Jurek.

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By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Attorneys for Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in California, are challenging his detention in court, his legal team said Wednesday.

Hamdi, who is Muslim, was detained Sunday by ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport, according to federal officials. His lawyers say the arrest was triggered by his criticism of the Israeli government, while U.S. officials have pointed to comments he made after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which they claim celebrated the violence.

The detention was the latest in broader efforts by the administration to identify and potentially expel thousands of foreigners in the United States who it says have either fomented or participated in unrest or publicly supported protests against Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Those enforcement actions have been criticized by civil rights groups as violations of constitutional protections for freedom of speech, which apply to anyone in the United States and not just to American citizens.

Lawyers with the the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who are representing Hamdi, on Tuesday filed a writ of habeas corpus demanding that the government justify why he is being held, the council said.

In addition, they asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order seeking a bond hearing and blocking Hamdi’s removal from the U.S. while the case is adjudicated.

“If the government can cancel a valid visa because it does not like what a person says, then anyone legally visiting, studying, or working in our country is in danger of politically motivated abduction,” the group said in a statement. “This must end with Sami Hamdi.”

The advocacy group said Hamdi, 35, was detained in response to his vocal criticism of the Israeli government during a U.S. speaking tour. On Saturday, he had addressed the annual gala for the group’s Sacramento, California, chapter. Hamdi was scheduled to speak at the group’s event in Florida on Sunday.

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Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called Hamdi’s court filings “a desperate Hail Mary attempt to keep an illegal alien and terrorist sympathizer” in the U.S.

“Following the Oct. 7 terror attack, Sami Hamdi cheered on Hamas: ‘How many of you felt it in your hearts when you got the news that it happened? How many of you felt the euphoria? Allah Akbar!’” McLaughlin said in a statement Wednesday, apparently citing comments Hamdi made in a video posted online shortly after Hamas’ attack.

“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” McLaughlin said. “That’s just common sense.”

Critics accuse Hamdi of celebrating Hamas’ attacks in the online video. He has denied that he was praising the attacks, saying he meant the violence was “a natural consequence of the oppression that is being put on the Palestinians.”

ICE said Sunday that Hamdi entered the U.S. on Oct. 19 on a visitor visa, which was revoked on Oct. 24, and he was placed in immigration proceedings for removal.