A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

Artificial snow failure hits Olympics preparation

Organisers of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics said on Tuesday they had a “technical problem” with the production of artificial snow which will play a key role in the Games in Italy next February.

The issue was at the snowpark site in Livigno in the Italian Alps which is set to host snowboard and freestyle skiing events.

“Testing is currently underway to restart the system, and we will resume snow production in the coming days,” organisers told AFP.

Artificial snow production was initially scheduled to begin last week, as large quantities are needed to create the features, jumps, and halfpipes for events at the snowpark.

The latest setback came after International Ski Federation head Michel Vion had voiced concerns to AFP in early December about delays at the venue.

‘Immense’ collection of dinosaur footprints found in northern Italy

Hundreds of metres of dinosaur tracks complete with toes and claws have been uncovered in Lombardy, a northern Italian region that will host part of the 2026 Winter Olympics, local authorities said.

“This set of dinosaur footprints is one of the largest collections in all of Europe, in the whole world,” Lombardy regional president Attilio Fontana told a press conference on Tuesday.

The tracks, which are over 200 million years old, were discovered in the Stelvio National Park, in an area between the towns of Bormio and Livigno, which host part of the games.

Nature photographer Elio Della Ferrera first spotted the imprints in September in an almost vertical rocky slope, AFP reported.

Palaeontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso from Milan’s Natural History Museum, who assembled a team of Italian experts to study the site, called the find “an immense scientific heritage.”

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Italy changes gold ownership claim after EU warning

Italy has changed a plan to declare the country’s gold reserves “belong to the Italian people” after the European Central Bank warned the move could threaten the Bank of Italy’s independence.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti suggested new wording on Monday, Ansa reported, after the ECB earlier this month told Italy to “reconsider” the budget amendment as its purpose wasn’t clear.

The original proposal from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party stated the reserves “belong to the State, on behalf of the Italian people”.

The amendment was to be changed to state that “the gold reserves managed and held by the Bank of Italy, as recorded in its balance sheet, belong to the Italian people.”

“We are fine with the ECB,” Giorgetti told senators, adding that “with the reformulation that I presented in the name of the government, we think that the question can be considered closed”.

The plan had triggered speculation that the government might sell some of Italy’s 2,452 tonnes of gold reserves to reduce the country’s public debt of over three trillion euros.