By AFP
February 5, 2026
Greenpeace said fossil fuel emissions were threatening winter sports - Copyright AFP WANG Zhao
Greenpeace activists staged a protest in Milan on Thursday against the sponsorship of the Milan-Cortina Olympics by energy giant Eni, warning that fossil fuel emissions were threatening the viability of winter sports.
Bearing banners saying “Kick polluters out of the Games”, the activists set up a model of the Olympic rings covered in black oil in front of the cathedral in central Milan.
The protest came the day before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in the northern Italian city on Friday.
“Sponsorships like Eni’s for Milan-Cortina 2026 are not innocent, they are a distraction to make us forget the damage these companies are causing to the planet,” Greenpeace Italia said in a statement.
Eni’s “emissions are helping to eliminate the snow and ice on which the Olympics themselves depend!”
The International Olympic Committee confirmed on Wednesday it has received a petition bearing 21,000 signatures calling for an end to fossil fuel companies sponsoring winter sports.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry told reporters her team had met with the petition organisers, adding: “It’s really nice athletes have a platform to speak up.”
“We are having conversations in order to be better, and for our stakeholders to be better. But that takes time,” she said.
Christophe Dubi, the IOC executive director for the Olympic Games, added: “We make a point to receive those petitions, and we have to recognise climate is a challenge for all of us.
“What we have to do as an organisation is to be at the forefront of sustainability, and our principles are very clear.”
Eni created the Olympic and Paralympic Torches for the Games, and has provided around 250 electricity generators fuelled by HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) diesel biofuel, which it says contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gases.
The firm says on its website that it has a shared vision with the Games organisers — “a commitment to increasingly sustainable, equitable and accessible energy”.
Italy foils Russian cyberattacks targeting Olympics
By AFP
February 4, 2026
The number of hacks has been increasing worldwide. — © AFP/File Noel Celis
Italy has thwarted a series of Russian cyberattacks targeting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as security operations ramp up with just hours to go.
Political leaders, including US Vice President JD Vance, are expected to attend Friday’s opening ceremony, and security has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from a controversial US immigration enforcement agency would be present.
Italy’s interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed Wednesday that the agents from ICE would have an advisory role only.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm will operate within US diplomatic missions only and “are not operational agents” and “have no executive function”, he told parliament.
Just hours before the first sporting events, which begin Wednesday, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy has “foiled a series of cyberattacks” of “Russian origin”.
The attacks were “on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina”, he said during a trip to the US city.
His office did not provide further details. AFP requested comment from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics take place from Friday to February 22 – Copyright AFP PIERO CRUCIATTI
Some 6,000 police plus nearly 2,000 military personnel are being deployed across the Games area, which stretches across half a dozen sites from Milan to the Dolomites.
Bomb disposal experts, snipers, anti-terrorism units and skiing policemen are among those deployed, according to Piantedosi.
The defence ministry is also providing 170 vehicles plus radars, drones and aircraft.
The prospect of ICE agents, currently embroiled in an often brutal crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, operating on Italian soil has sparked widespread outrage in the country.
Piantedosi noted it was standard for countries to send security officials to the Olympics, with Italy having sent them to Paris for the 2024 Games.
He said the anger over their presence, which included the Milan mayor warning they were not welcome in the city during the February 6-22 Games, was “completely unfounded”.
– ‘Strictly advisory’ –
The HSI investigates global threats, including the illegal movement of people, goods and weapons, and is separate from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests.
“ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory,” Piantedosi emphasised.
The US State Department said that the HSI has in the past taken part in other Olympic events.
The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, previously said the HSI will be “strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement”.
“At the Olympics, HSI criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats,” he said last week.
But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organised by US Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating at a hotel in Milan has even changed its name from “Ice House” to “Winter House”.
Several protests have been planned for the opening weekend of the Games, focusing on their environmental impact as well as the politics of the event.
Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a demonstration during the arrival of the Olympic flame in Milan on Thursday, to protest Israel’s participation in the Games due to the war in Gaza.
Demonstrations are also expected to coincide with the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium on Friday, with a further march planned in the city on Saturday.
One protest organisation in Milan calls itself the Unsustainable Olympics Committee — a play on the official International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Critics of the Winter Games complain about the impact of infrastructure — from new buildings to transport — on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.
By AFP
February 4, 2026
The number of hacks has been increasing worldwide. — © AFP/File Noel Celis
Italy has thwarted a series of Russian cyberattacks targeting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as security operations ramp up with just hours to go.
Political leaders, including US Vice President JD Vance, are expected to attend Friday’s opening ceremony, and security has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from a controversial US immigration enforcement agency would be present.
Italy’s interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed Wednesday that the agents from ICE would have an advisory role only.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm will operate within US diplomatic missions only and “are not operational agents” and “have no executive function”, he told parliament.
Just hours before the first sporting events, which begin Wednesday, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy has “foiled a series of cyberattacks” of “Russian origin”.
The attacks were “on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina”, he said during a trip to the US city.
His office did not provide further details. AFP requested comment from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics take place from Friday to February 22 – Copyright AFP PIERO CRUCIATTI
Some 6,000 police plus nearly 2,000 military personnel are being deployed across the Games area, which stretches across half a dozen sites from Milan to the Dolomites.
Bomb disposal experts, snipers, anti-terrorism units and skiing policemen are among those deployed, according to Piantedosi.
The defence ministry is also providing 170 vehicles plus radars, drones and aircraft.
The prospect of ICE agents, currently embroiled in an often brutal crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, operating on Italian soil has sparked widespread outrage in the country.
Piantedosi noted it was standard for countries to send security officials to the Olympics, with Italy having sent them to Paris for the 2024 Games.
He said the anger over their presence, which included the Milan mayor warning they were not welcome in the city during the February 6-22 Games, was “completely unfounded”.
– ‘Strictly advisory’ –
The HSI investigates global threats, including the illegal movement of people, goods and weapons, and is separate from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests.
“ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory,” Piantedosi emphasised.
The US State Department said that the HSI has in the past taken part in other Olympic events.
The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, previously said the HSI will be “strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement”.
“At the Olympics, HSI criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats,” he said last week.
But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organised by US Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating at a hotel in Milan has even changed its name from “Ice House” to “Winter House”.
Several protests have been planned for the opening weekend of the Games, focusing on their environmental impact as well as the politics of the event.
Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a demonstration during the arrival of the Olympic flame in Milan on Thursday, to protest Israel’s participation in the Games due to the war in Gaza.
Demonstrations are also expected to coincide with the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium on Friday, with a further march planned in the city on Saturday.
One protest organisation in Milan calls itself the Unsustainable Olympics Committee — a play on the official International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Critics of the Winter Games complain about the impact of infrastructure — from new buildings to transport — on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.
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