The victory lap for America's Olympic hockey champions quietly shed politics from the celebration

NEW YORK (AP) — It took until noon on Saturday, less than 12 hours before showtime, for the script to arrive.

APTOPIX Milan Cortina Olympics Ice Hockey

The opening monologue for "Saturday Night Live," of all things, was about to become a turning point in a national celebration that had somehow gone sideways in the week after the U.S. won Olympic gold in men's and women's hockey. Instead of basking in the glory of twice beating rival Canada in overtime, players like Hilary Knight and Megan Kelleron the women's sideand Jack and Quinn Hugheson the men's sidewere fielding questions about politics and sexism.

Executive producer Lorne Michaels told the players the show was going to have some fun with the situation.

President Donald Trump joking on a call with the men that he'd get impeached if he didn't also invite the women to the White House drew laughter from some of the players andplenty of criticism. Their appearance at the State of the Union address — after thewomen's team declinedfor logistical reasons — alsoderailed the headlines and conversation further into politics.

The celebration limped along to the weekend, where"Heated Rivalry"star Connor Storrie was hosting "SNL." Late in the monologue, he told the hockey stars how cool it was that they were all there together andKnight delivered a linefor the ages:

"It was going to be just us," Knight said, "but we thought we'd invite the guys, too."

Applause and laughter lit up the studio along with wide smiles —Jack's gap-toothed version, too— from those on stage. Two nights later, the Hughes brothers and Knight shared a couple of fist-bumps on"The Tonight Show" after Jimmy Fallonreminded them they all just won gold at the Olympics.

The good humor helped reset a national narrative that had threatened to taint the milestone moment as the U.S. celebrated its first twin hockey golds in history.

Getting from awkwardness to relief took a lot of work, according to interviews by The Associated Press, with dozens of people at multiple agencies, leagues and networks coordinating a a plan to put the focus back on the teams' accomplishments in Milan.

The path to prime time started long before gold was assured

On Feb. 19, a couple of hours afterKeller's overtime goal beat Canada, employees with the Professional Women's Hockey League reached out to NBC — the major rights holder for the Olympics in the United States, to gauge possibilities for a well-deserved victory lap. USA Hockey, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Wasserman, the agency that represents Knight, quickly got involved.

One night later, whenthe U.S. and Canada reachedthe men's final, NHL VP of corporate communications Nirva Milord finalized a grid of every player on the two teams and his schedule for the following two weeks. While the Games were ongoing in Italy, Milord was plotting out how to move fast after Sunday's gold medal game with the NHL schedule resuming on Wednesday back in North America.

"We had to know when they were going to be off because obviously they're not going miss a game," NHL president of content and events Steve Mayer said.

Jack Hughes' OT goalcame just before 11 a.m. Eastern Sunday. Pat Brisson, who represents all three Hughes brothers as a key agent for Creative Arts Agency, was swamped with requests.

"When Jack scored the goal, we got so many calls," Brisson said, estimating somewhere between 50 and 75 requests for appearances.

Among them on that busy day was an ask from "Saturday Night Live," which wanted the golden goal-scorer. Jack Hughes alongside brother Quinn was a perfect fit, and so was the combination of Knight and Keller.

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"Nirva had the relationship at 'Saturday Night Live' and immediately put it into action because we knew right off the bat, 'Hey, let's take this and run with it,'" Mayer said. "These are moments that when you have those opportunities, you seize on them."

There were plenty of unforeseen roadblocks along the way

Before flying home, men's and women's players enjoyed a moment back in the dining hall at the athletes' village following the closing ceremony, with gold medals hanging around all their necks.

"We're telling stories, have a few drinks and just countless laughs," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "It's been unbelievable, celebrating with them — them winning firstwas a great motivator for us— and just becoming close with a lot of the girls on the team."

The plan all along was for everyone to fly from Milan to New York, the perfect place for mainstream media attention for a sport that often takes a back seat to the NFL and NBA in the U.S.

Mother Nature had other plans, with a blizzard bearing down on parts of the East Coast. The U.S. women were diverted to Atlanta and a decision was made to shift the destination ofthe charter flights carrying the NHL playersto Miami. By then, Trump's comment had become a talking point along with his invite to Tuesday night's State of the Union speech.

A majority of the U.S. men's team decided to go to Washington for a visit to the White House and the speech, throwing another wrench into the post-party planning. The women had long made plans to head home and were not going. Suddenly, scheduling was more complicated than anyone anticipated.

How it all went down

After Trump's speech, the players scattered to their teams with games to play, but the stars also had to keep some attention on media obligations.

Keller and Jack Hughes each did "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN, with their agencies working to get them booked. Knight appeared on "CBS Mornings," along with llona Maher's podcast, "House of Maher."

NBC had agreed quickly about "SNL" and "The Tonight Show." It was just a matter of making sure it could happen.

Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild played Friday night in Utah, so he had some breathing room.Knight was on the injured listafter tearing a ligament in one of her knees during the Olympics, but she still wanted to be there Friday night for the return of her PWHL team, the Seattle Torrent, after the break, so she took a red eye to New York.

Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils played Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, then was whisked out of the arena and on to owner David Blitzer's private plane for a flight to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Then came a helicopter ride into the city and a ride to Rockefeller Center.

Keller and the Boston Fleet were playing in Ottawa. She managed to make it in time, thanks to some transportation fortune.

Lights, camera and a spectacular save of hockey's moment on the global stage followed. Knight and Keller did a costume change for the end of the show from "USA" to their PWHL jerseys, the Hughes family got to spend time with Michaels, and much of the angst melted away.

"The best couple weeks of my life," Jack said. "To be on that and share it with the women's team, the men's team was just a pretty cool moment."

AP Winter Olympics:https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

byDaniel Coleman

in

March 04, 2026

The victory lap for America's Olympic hockey champions quietly shed politics from the celebration

NEW YORK (AP) — It took until noon on Saturday, less than 12 hours before showtime, for the script to arrive. ...

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Putin hosts Hungary's foreign minister for energy supply talks as war in Mideast causes disruptions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hosted Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó for talks in Moscow, with oil and gas supplies high on the agenda, as Hungary has maintained its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, despitethe war in Ukraine.

Russia Hungary

Szijjártó said earlier on Wednesday that he was in Moscow seeking guarantees from Russian authorities that Hungary would continue to have access to Russian oil and gas amid disruptions caused bythe war in the Middle Eastand interruptions to Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline.

The Hungarian government has recentlyaccused Kyivof deliberately holding back Russian oil deliveries through the pipeline, which crosses Ukraine's territory. Ukrainian officials have denied the allegations, saying the pipeline, which feeds refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, was hit in a Russian drone attack.

Putin assured Szijjártó at the meeting that the Russian authorities "have always fulfilled all our obligations, and, of course, we intend and are ready to do so."

"I understand that this is of concern to you, particularly oil supplies. We see what's happening in the global and European gas markets. We'll be happy to discuss all these issues," Putin said.

"Not everything is in our power," he said.

Szijjártó, in turn, said that the Russian president was "well aware that Ukraine has been blocking oil shipments to Hungary on the Druzhba oil pipeline for weeks, solely for political reasons and based on a political decision."

He said that he'd come to Moscow to ensure Hungary's continued access to Russian fossil fuels "at an unchanged price," despite the disruption to pipeline deliveries and soaring energy prices in the wake of the war in the Middle East.

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Putin also announced that Russia was releasing two ethnic Hungarian prisoners of war who fought in the Ukrainian armed forces. Putin said that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán asked him to consider releasing them in a phone call on Tuesday, and that Szijjártó will be able to bring them home "right on the plane that brought you here and that you will return to Budapest on."

Szijjártó thanked him in Russian. The minister has previously accused Ukraine of forcibly conscripting members of a roughly 75,000-strong community of ethnic Hungarians residing in the western Ukrainian region of Zakarpattia. Many in that minority group hold dual Hungarian and Ukrainian citizenship, and so do the two released POWs, according to Putin.

The agreement to release the two ethnic Hungarian prisoners of war comes as Orbán escalates anaggressive anti-Ukraine campaignbefore tough elections scheduled for next month.

Trailing in most polls to a center-right challenger who has promised to restore Hungary's Western alliances and end its dependence on Russian energy, Orbán has ramped up unfounded accusations that Kyiv and the European Union seek to bankrupt Hungary by forcing it to financially assist Ukraine.

He has also sought to convince voters that if his party loses the election, his opponent will send Hungarian youth to die on the front lines of the war.

Last week, Hungaryblocked a new package of EU sanctionson Russia in response to interruptions in Russian oil supplies that pass through Ukraine, and vowed to block a major, 90-billion euro ($106 billion) EU loan destined for Kyiv until oil flows resume.

Justin Spike contributed to this report from Budapest, Hungary.

byDaniel Coleman

in

March 04, 2026

Putin hosts Hungary's foreign minister for energy supply talks as war in Mideast causes disruptions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hosted Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó for talks in Moscow, with...

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How the Iran War Is Splintering U.K.-U.S Relations

The once seemingly robust relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. is fracturing, with U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at odds amid the widening Iran war.

"The U.K. has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have," said Trump during anOval Office briefingalongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday.

Trump was referring to the Chagos Islands, home to the joint U.K.-U.S. airbase Diego Garcia, which the U.K. now leases after itreturned the sovereigntyof the islands to Mauritius last year—a move Trump called an "act of great stupidity."

Starmer initially refused to allow the U.S. military to use the base to send defensive missiles to Iran. He walked back that decision Sunday night, framing it as the "best way to eliminate the urgent threat and prevent the situation spiralling further."

But for Trump, the course reversal happened far too late.

"It's taken three or four days for us to work out where we can land. It would have been much more convenient landing there, as opposed to flying many extra hours," he said during Tuesday's briefing.

"He ruins relationships. We are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with," Trump added, taking aim at Starmer's leadership.

The remarks were yet another indication that the two leaders are no longer in alignment.

Starmer defended his position once more in the House of Commons on Wednesday, arguing he's not prepared for the United Kingdom to join a war that doesn't have a plan.

"We need to act with clarity, with purpose, and with a cool head. The protection of U.K. nationals is our number one priority," he said, highlighting how the U.K. has planes in the region, intercepting incoming strikes.

When pressed on how his response might have hindered U.K.-U.S. relations, Starmer issued a defiant statement.

"American planes operating out of British bases, that is the special relationship in action… hanging on to President Trump's latest words is not," he said.

After launching the U.S-Israeli military action over the weekend, which resulted in thekilling of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Trump made a series of remarks to British media, lashing out at Starmer's initial refusal to grant access to U.K. bases.

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"That's probably never happened between our countries before… It sounds like he was worried about the legality,"he saidin one interview. "It's very sad to see that the [U.K.-U.S.] relationship is obviously not what it was," heremarkedin another.

Meanwhile, the U.K. has maintained its position not to join offensive action against Iran, instead focusing on stepping up defensive efforts after Iranian-made dronestargeted a British airbasein Akrotiri, Cyprus.

Starmer hasorderedfor the HMS Dragon warship to be deployed in the region to assist in the defense of British bases and partners. It has also taken part in joint operations, including with Qatar, to intercept drones in the Gulf region.

TheMinistry of Defenceconfirmed that Britain has shot down drones in Jordanian and Iraqi airspace.

Early signs of strife in the U.K.-U.S. alliance

Signs of tension between Trump and Starmer started to show earlier this year over policies and approaches to geopolitical matters.

The U.S. President has repeatedly criticized the U.K.'s decision to give the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius after a decades-long dispute, despite the State Departmentpraisingthe move last year.

Starmer also broke rankswith Trump when the President threatened to tariff European allies until Denmark relents and sells the territory of Greenland—a position he swiftly walked back on. Starmer called the threat "completely wrong" and said a trade war was "in no one's interest."

In late January, the pair disagreed again after Trump targeted NATO allies, falsely claiming that troops from other countries "stayed a little back" from the frontlines during the war in Afghanistan.

Starmer calledthe comments "insulting and, frankly, appalling," while paying tribute to the 457 British armed personnel that died during service in Afghanistan.

Trump later appeared to walk back his comments,sayingthat the soldiers of the U.K. "will always be with the United States" as the bond is "too strong to ever be broken."

Prior to all this, Trump and Starmer appeared to have established a burgeoning working relationship.

In 2025, during his first visit to the White House following Trump's inauguration, Starmer presented the Presidentwith a letterfrom King Charles III, inviting Trump to an historic second state visit to the U.K. The visit proved to be a show of unity between the two leaders, as they signed thebillion-dollarTech Prosperity Deal.

The two nations had earlier reacheda trade agreement, lessening the blow of U.S-imposed tariffs after Trump's self-appointed "Liberation Day" announcement of global trade charges sparked concern in April 2025.

Contact usatletters@time.com.

byDaniel Coleman

in

March 04, 2026

How the Iran War Is Splintering U.K.-U.S Relations

The once seemingly robust relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. is fracturing, with U.S. President Donald Trump and ...

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Claims of 'rediscovered' Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts

ROME (AP) — An independent researcher claimed on Wednesday that a marble bust of Christ in a Roman church is by Michelangelo, the latest purported attribution to theRenaissance geniuswho is one of the most imitated artists in the world.

Italy Michelangelo

The unverified claim by Valentina Salerno has unsettled Renaissance scholars, especially since a recent sketch of a foot that was attributed to Michelangelo — but disputed by some as a copy — recently fetched $27.2 million at aChristie's auction.

Given the stakes — and Salerno's suggestion that several other works can now be attributed to Michelangelo based on her documentary research — leading experts have declined to comment.

Salerno has published her theory on the commercial website academia.edu, a non-peer reviewed social networking site academics use, and announced the first "rediscovery" at a press conference Wednesday.

The claims have drawn perhaps more attention than they normally would, given the Vatican seemed at least initially interested. Friday marks the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo's birth and there are a number of exhibits, conferences and commemorations that are reviving attention about his genius and legacy.

The culture ministry was invited to participate in Salerno's press conference and didn't, said the abate of the order that runs the church, the Rev. Franco Bergamin, while the Carabinieri's art squad refused to weigh in on the authenticity of the statue, but said it was being protected and a laminated sign now graces the sculpture: "Alarm armed" it reads.

"We hope that this asset, which belongs to our cultural heritage regardless of whether it can be attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti or not, is part of the national heritage that we are responsible for defending," said Lt. Col. Paolo Salvatori.

'Documentary evidence on this'

Michelangelo Buonarroti, who lived from 1475-1564, created some of the most spectacular works of the Renaissance: the imposing statues ofDavid in Florenceand Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel ceiling and "The Last Judgment" fresco behind the chapel's altar. Salerno now says she has located another — a bust of Christ in the Basilica of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, listed by Italy's culture ministry as anonymous from the Roman school of the 16th century.

She is not the first to claim it. In 1996, Michelangelo expert William Wallace wrote an article in ArtNews about the well-documented history of wrongly attributing works to Michelangelo. It quoted the 19th century French writer Stendhal as writing that at the Sant'Agnese church, "we noticed a head of the savior which I should swear is by Michelangelo."

"Stendhal's vow notwithstanding, the head has never been taken seriously, and nowadays would not even appear in a catalog raisonné under 'rejected attributions,'" Wallace wrote.

Salerno suggests that several documents in the first few hundred years after Michelangelo's death correctly attribute the work to the artist but that in 1984 a scholar debunked it, erroneously in her view, and it has remained wrongly attributed ever since.

"I have provided and will continue to provide — I hope, because the research continues — a whole series of documentary evidence on this," she said. "There will be experts in the field who will conduct their own investigations. To date, we can say that, according to the documents, the object is attributed to Michelangelo."

She suggested that the bust was modeled on Michelangelo's intimate friend, Tomaso De' Cavalieriis, and was part of the great artistic inheritance Michelangelo left to his friends and students when he died. Salerno said she came to the conclusion tracing wills, inventories and notarized documents held in church and state archives and the archives of Roman confraternities to which Michelangelo and his students belonged.

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Salerno, an actress and fiction author, has no college degree or expertise in art history. She has said she fell into the research "by chance" when she set out to write a novel about Michelangelo 10 years ago.

According to her research published on academia.edu, Salerno uncovered evidence of a secret "pact of indissolubility" among some of Michelangelo's students and their heirs to keep Michelangelo's works after he died. The pact included the previously unknown existence of a chamber, whose locks could only be opened with three keys, held by three different students, she said.

Vatican takes note

Salerno's research caught the eye of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, who runs St. Peter's Basilica. He named Salerno and her mentor to a scientific committee formed in 2025 to discuss a possible Vatican exhibition to commemorate the anniversary of Michelangelo's birth.

Nothing has yet come of the committee's work. But its members have downplayed the significance of Salerno's work or refused to discuss it.

Some expressed surprise at her inclusion in a committee made up of some of the leading Renaissance and Michelangelo scholars in the world, including Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, Hugo Chapman, curator of Italian and French drawings, from 1400-1800, at the British Museum, and Wallace, professor of art history at Washington University in St. Louis.

Jatta has distanced herself from the Vatican committee when contacted by The Associated Press.

The British Museum declined to make Chapman available for comment. Gambetti's office did not respond to a request. Other committee members declined to comment.

Wallace told the AP that Salerno's methodology was sound and noted that there is a strong tradition in Europe of noncredentialed researchers doing solid work. He said he agreed with her thesis that Michelangelo didn't destroy his works in a fire, a commonly held belief at the time that has been debunked for years by scholars. Rather, he concurred with Salerno that Michelangelo entrusted what remained of his works in his final years to his students to finish his projects.

But he disputes Salerno's conclusion that a huge treasure of Michelangelo's was secreted away — and is therefore ripe for new discovery — saying Michelangelo simply wasn't producing that much in the final years of his life. Michelangelo was overseeing six architectural projects in Rome at the time. What drawings he made were sketches to resolve technical problems on the worksite, and likely don't survive because they were merely "working drawings," he said.

Wallace concurred that existence of a secret chamber that can only be opened with three keys is new. But he said proper academic scholarship would call for Salerno to transcribe the documents and allow for a peer-review process to take place.

Italy is no stranger to claims of new discoveries about old artists, with fakes, frauds and new "discoveries" of Modiglianis and other artists a regular occurrence in art history circles.

"I think I counted up 45 attributions to Michelangelo since 2000, and not one of which you can remember or mention, but every single one arrived with the headline, 'The greatest discovery of the time,' (or) 'It will change everything we think about Michelangelo,'" Wallace said. "And then five years later, we can't even remember what it was."

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP'scollaborationwith The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

byDaniel Coleman

in

March 04, 2026

Claims of 'rediscovered' Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts

ROME (AP) — An independent researcher claimed on Wednesday that a marble bust of Christ in a Roman church is by Michelang...

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Russia blames Ukrainian sea drones for attacking tanker that sank in the Mediterranean

CAIRO (AP) — A Russian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied natural gas exploded and erupted in flames before sinking in theMediterranean Seaoff the coast of Libya, authorities inthe North African countrysaid Wednesday, and Russia blamed the sinking on an attack by Ukrainian sea drones.

Russia-Ukraine-War

According to the Libyan Maritime Authority, there were "sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire" on the Arctic Metagaz on Tuesday, while the LNG carrier was about 240 kilometers (150 miles) off the coast of the Libyan city of Sirte.

The tanker, carrying 61,000 tons of LNG, "completely sank" between Libya and Malta, a statement said. All 30 crew members were rescued and put on another vessel heading to the Libyan city of Benghazi, it said.

Russia's Transport Ministry said that the vessel was hit by Ukrainian sea drones launched from the Libyan coast. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the accusation.

Previous Ukrainian attacks on Russian ships have reportedly come from the Libyan coast, though Kyiv officials haven't publicly confirmed those reports.

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In the past, Ukraine's military has said that it used sea drones tosink Russian vesselsin the Black Sea as part of its efforts to fight back againstRussia's full-scale invasion, which began just over four years ago.

Last October, Ukraine's state security serviceunveiled an upgraded sea drone, called the Sea Baby, which it said had a range of 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) and could carry a warhead up to 2,000 kilograms (about 4,400 pounds).

The tanker was under Western sanctions, suspected to be part of Russia's shadow fleet of energy tankers trying to bypass sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

The Metagaz had sailed from the northwestern Russian city of Murmansk on the Barents Sea and was bound for Port Said in Egypt, on the Mediterranean, the Libyan Maritime Authority said. Its last reported position was in the western Mediterranean off the coast of Malta, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking platform.

Dasha Litvinov contributed to this report from Tallinn, Estonia.

byDaniel Coleman

in

March 04, 2026

Russia blames Ukrainian sea drones for attacking tanker that sank in the Mediterranean

CAIRO (AP) — A Russian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied natural gas exploded and erupted in flames before sinking in the...

Read More