By Aleks Klosok, Amanda Davies, CNN

(CNN) — Ukraine’s Winter Olympics flag bearer Vladyslav Heraskevych says that his teammates could stage protests at the Milan Cortina Games over the decision to allow neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in Italy.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has cleared 13 Russian and 7 Belarusian athletes to participate as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) at the upcoming Games.

Their participation is based on following strict guidelines sent out by the Olympic body, which includes signing a Conditions of Participation form that “contains a commitment to respect the Olympic Charter, including ‘the peace mission of the Olympic Movement.’”

They must also prove they aren’t actively supporting the war in Ukraine.

“I don’t agree with these criteria, and I believe that many Ukrainian athletes do not agree with these criteria,” the 27-year-old skeleton slider told CNN Sports ahead of the Games.

“I know that we can have a risk of some suspensions or warnings from the IOC, (but) I believe it’s the right approach.

“If you need to fight for your truth, if you believe that it’s not right, you should stand with your opinion.”

Right to protest

Heraskevych made headlines around the world four years ago at the Beijing Games when he held up a “No War in Ukraine” banner to protest the impending Russian invasion. To this day, it’s a stand he doesn’t regret taking.

“It doesn’t prevent war from starting, but at least I try to pay some attention to Ukraine,” he says.

“We need this attention and we need it now. Ukraine cannot want this war alone.

“We need support from other countries, and we need people (to) understand the scale of war because it’s really, really huge scale of war and huge scale of victims.”

Last month, skeleton racers from Ukraine, Latvia and Sweden staged a demonstration against the admission of Russian athletes competing as neutrals at a European Cup event in Innsbruck, Austria.

The protest followed the decision by International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) to grant neutral status to nine Russian athletes in their competitions in December. This coming despite bobsled and skeleton athletes from the country having originally been banned for three years following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

IOC’s neutral policy undermined

Although Heraskevych won’t be competing against Russian or Belarusian skeleton athletes at the 2026 edition of the Games, the Ukrainian says that allowing them to compete as neutrals despite links to occupied territories or expressions of sup

By Sophia Saifi

(CNN) — At least 31 people have been killed and 169 injured after an explosion at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Friday, authorities said.

The toll makes this the deadliest attack in the country since the Peshawar mosque blast in January 2023.

Internal investigations suggest that Pakistan’s Taliban, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was behind the attack, police sources told CNN. There has so far been no claim of responsibility.

The explosion, which ripped through the mosque during Friday prayers, was caused by a suicide bomber, police told CNN.

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Por CNN en Español

EE.UU. dice que enviará ayuda humanitaria a Cuba y La Habana califica el anuncio de “hipócrita”. Oposición venezolana liderada por Capriles acepta dialogar. El saludo de Bad Bunny a sus fans mexicanos previo al Super Bowl. Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.

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El primer ministro del Reino Unido, Keir Starmer, nunca estuvo involucrado con Jeffrey Epstein, pero corre grave peligro de perder su cargo por culpa del delincuente sexual convicto. Sin embargo, el presidente Donald Trump —cuyo nombre aparece en algunos archivos de investigación sobre el financiero caído en desgracia— no tiene las mismas preocupaciones. Análisis.

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El Departamento de Estado de EE.UU. anunció US$ 6 millones en asistencia humanitaria para Cuba mientras el Gobierno de Trump intenta cortar el suministro de petróleo a la isla. El viceministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, calificó de “hipócrita” el anuncio, al asegurar que Washington “niega condiciones económicas básicas a millones”.

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Un sector de la oposición de Venezuela, integrado por el dos veces candidato presidencial Henrique Capriles, informó este miércoles que aceptó una invitación del Gobierno de la presidenta encargada, Delcy Rodríguez, para comenzar un proceso de diálogo y discutir los problemas que agobian a los ciudadanos.

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China reaccionó con firmeza tras el fallo del Tribunal Supremo de Panamá que declaró inconstitucional la concesión de dos terminales portuarias clave en el canal de Panamá

Reuters

Una explosión arrasó este viernes una mezquita musulmana chiita en la capital de Pakistán, Islamabad, provocando la muerte de varios fieles, informó la policía.

La explosión sacudió la mezquita durante la oración del viernes, según el agente de policía Zafar Iqbal. “Hemos trasladado a varias personas a hospitales. No puedo decir cuántos han muerto en este momento, pero sí, ha habido muertos”, afirmó.

Un portavoz policial declaró que aún no se ha determinado el tipo de explosión. La policía se encuentra en el lugar.

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By Leah Dolan, CNN

(CNN) — Since the first trailer dropped, outrage has surrounded the theatrical costuming of Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights.” But for any historical fanatics feeling short-changed, Margot Robbie and her stylist Andrew Mukamal offer a small consolation: by going period on the red carpet. Kind of.

It must be understood that historical references to this team are like prompts on an online dating profile — not under any circumstances to be taken seriously, but a fun jumping off point. We’ve seen bustles (a silhouette that was more popular during Emily Brontë’s lifetime than her fictional character Cathy’s, who lived some 50 years earlier, but who’s counting), corsets, black lace and chokers galore. Take, for example, the Roberto Cavalli dress Robbie wore to kick off the film’s promotion last month. The square neckline? Tudor England. The Fausto Puglisi necklace with a ruby pendant? Inspired by 18th century paintings. The mini-skirt hemline? Positively ‘60s.

Anyone looking for accuracy here will probably have more fun revisiting the 2023 “Barbie” press tour, where Robbie and Mukamal painstakingly recreated outfits worn by Mattel dolls over the years. But for those interested in fashion history, these red carpet looks are key texts just asking to be pored over. (Both “Barbie” and “Wuthering Heights” are distributed by Warner Bros., which is owned by CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Most notable is the boned corset dress Robbie wore last night at the film’s London premiere, designed by Turkish-British designer Dilara Findikoglu. According to the brand, the translucent slip was made with Victorian lace — but it also harked back to the period in an unexpected way. The dress was accented by braided synthetic hair, hand-dyed to the same dishwater blonde color that belonged to Brontë sisters Anne and Emily. The inspiration for the rope-like tresses came from a classic piece of Victorian mourning jewelry — jewellery made of braided hair from the deceased. On Robbie’s left wrist was a replica of a bracelet Charlotte Brontë had made after Emily and Anne died. It may sound morbid (after all it is Victorian) but this type of sartorial memento mori made the concept of mortality real, and in turn, helped celebrate life.

Earlier this week at a photo call in London, Robbie also dipped her toe into the late 1700s by way of a John Galliano brocade frock coat styled with a black mini skirt, thigh-high scarlet red stockings and satin Manolo Blahnik pumps.

The archival fur-trimmed jacket, which Robbie wore in lieu of a top thanks to a ladder of hook-and-eye fastenings, was part of Galliano’s seminal Spring-Summer 1992 collection. While it was made in the ‘90s, the collection (which showed slip dresses, shirts with undulating ruffles, and jacquard silk jackets constructed to look permanently burst-open) was inspired by the romance between Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine. The French rulers lived from the late 1760s until the early 1800s — roughly the same time period in which Brontë chose to set “Wuthering Heights.”

Mukamal has been doing close readings of the Brontë novel, too. On his Instagram account, the stylist has not only been documenting his work with Robbie, but including quotes from the book to illustrate his thinking. In January, Mukamal also dressed Robbie in two feathered Victoria Beckham looks — a white mini dress and a black vest. In his Instagram caption, he quoted a passage in which Cathy, deranged from