Lindsey Vonn is set to compete in the women's downhill at the Winter Olympics after completing training, while Italy is dealing with suspected railway sabotage as the games begin, and China has overturned the death sentence of a Canadian citizen. These are among the top stories unfolding as of Friday.
Vonn's remarkable comeback to the Olympic Games is nearly complete, according to Fox News. She completed her training in the women's downhill on Friday and Saturday, a significant feat after tearing her ACL just over a week ago in a World Cup race. She is scheduled to compete in the women's downhill final at 5:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, and will also participate in the women's team combined downhill and the women's super-G.
Meanwhile, Italy is grappling with travel disruptions as the Winter Olympics commence. BBC World reported that suspected attacks on the northern Italian railway network have caused severe disruption in the region. Police reported three separate incidents involving damage to railway lines, which they believe are connected to the Games. A fire hit rail infrastructure between Bologna and Venice, triggering delays of up to two-and-a-half hours, and police later found severed cables and an explosive device nearby. The Ministry of Transport called the incidents an act of "serious sabotage," mirroring vandalism during the Paris Olympics in 2024.
In other news, China overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, as reported by The Guardian. Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before Canada-China ties nosedived in 2018. This move is seen as a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing.
Also, a button-sized snail once feared extinct in Bermuda is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs, according to The Guardian. The greater Bermuda snail (Poecilozonites bermudensis) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago until a remnant population was discovered.
Finally, Japan is heading to the polls again on Sunday for its second general election in as many years, as reported by BBC World. Sanae Takaichi, Japan's first female prime minister, is betting on her personal popularity, hoping to succeed where her party failed just last year: delivering a clear public mandate for the long-ruling but deeply unpopular Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Voters will now decide whether the gamble will pay off.
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