A Quebec costume designer is stepping into the global spotlight at the 2026 Winter Olympics, dressing some of the world’s top figure skaters as they compete on the sport’s biggest stage.

Mathieu Caron, a former ballroom dancer from Quebec, has been creating elaborate costumes for more than a decade. He says his fascination with glittering fabrics and dramatic designs began early.

“I was very fascinated by the costumes, all the bling-bling and the fabrics. So I decided to go to fashion school,” Caron told Global News.

After studying fashion at LaSalle College in Montreal, Caron launched his company designing clothing for ballroom dancers. His work soon expanded into the figure skating and ice dancing world.

By 2018, his creations had reached the Olympic podium. Caron designed the costumes worn by Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir during their gold medal-winning performance set to Moulin Rouge.

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Now in Milan for the 2026 Winter Games, Caron says 28 athletes from 10 countries are wearing his designs. Among them are American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as Japanese skater Ami Nakai.

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Caron says each costume can take up to 150 hours to complete, from the first sketch to the final rhinestone. Caron says the process involves close collaboration with athletes, coaches and choreographers to ensure the design complements the music and enhances movement on the ice.

“We have meetings with athletes, but also with the coaches, choreographers. We talk about the music and the vision of the program,” he said.

His studio team includes other designers, cutters, seamstresses, pattern makers, and painters — all working to bring the garments to life.

The price reflects the labour involved. Caron says costumes typically range from $3,500 to $8,000, depending on the hours required and the complexity of the design.

While figure skating remains a central focus, the designer said he hopes to expand into other creative fields, including Broadway musicals and designing full looks for touring artists.

For now, Caron says he feels fortunate to see his creations glide across Olympic ice, and in some cases, onto the podium.

For the full story, watch the video above.

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince who was stripped of his royal titles because of his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was released from police custody on Thursday.

Andrew was arrested earlier Thursday, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he sent confidential government documents to Epstein.

He left Aylsham Police Station after approximately 11 hours in custody, where he had been questioned all day by detectives from Thames Valley Police.

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Thames Valley Police said a man in his 60s from Norfolk in eastern England was arrested on Thursday. The force, which covers areas west of London, including Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, did not identify the suspect — in line with standard procedures in Britain — but pointed to the statement when asked to confirm if the former prince was arrested.

In a followup statement, Thames Valley Police said the “arrested man has now been released under investigation.”

Police said they had finished searching Mountbatten-Windsor’s home, but officers were still searching his former residence near Windsor Castle.

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A Reuters photograph, taken after Mountbatten-Windsor’s release, shows him sitting low inside a car leaving the station near his home on the royal Sandringham Estate.

Police previously said they were “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent trade information to Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender, in 2010, when the former prince was Britain’s special envoy for international trade. Correspondence between the two men was released by the U.S. Justice Department late last month, along with millions of pages of documents from the American investigation into Epstein.

While Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with his friendship with Epstein, concerns about his links to the late financier have dogged the Royal Family for more than a decade.

At the time of Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, Assistant Chief Const. Oliver Wright said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence,” he added.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

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Hours after Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested, his brother King Charles II released a statement, saying, “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.”

“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities,” Charles said in a statement on Thursday.

“In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,” he continued. “As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.”

“Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years.

The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the prince in 2001, when she was just 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.

Still, Giuffre’s family praised the arrest, saying that their “broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.”

The family added: “He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”

— With files from The Associated Press

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Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out.

President Donald Trump has said he hopes to reach a deal with Iran, but the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations.

Iran’s theocracy is more vulnerable than ever, following 12 days of Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites and military last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently suppressed. But it is still capable of striking Israel and U.S. bases in the region, and has warned that any attack would trigger a regional war.

Iran earlier this week launched a drill that involved live-fire in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

Tensions are also rising inside Iran, as mourners hold ceremonies honoring slain protesters 40 days after their killing by security forces. Some gatherings have seen anti-government chants despite threats from authorities.

The movements of additional American warships and airplanes, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, don’t guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran — but it bolsters Trump’s ability to carry out one should he choose to do so.

He has so far held off on striking Iran after setting red lines over the killing of peaceful protesters and mass executions, while reengaging in nuclear talks that were disrupted by the war in June.

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Iran has agreed to draw up a written proposal to address U.S. concerns raised during this week’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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The official said top national security officials gathered Wednesday to discuss Iran, and were briefed that the “full forces” needed to carry out potential military action are expected to be in place by mid-March. The official did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to deliver its written response.

“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his nation’s citizens to immediately leave Iran as “within a few, a dozen, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.” He did not elaborate, and the Polish Embassy in Tehran did not appear to be drawing down its staff.

The German military said that it had moved “a mid-two digit number of non-mission critical personnel” out of a base in northern Iraq because of the current situation in the region and in line with its partners’ actions. It said that some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp running in Irbil, where they train Iraqi forces.

“This week, another 50 U.S. combat aircraft — F-35s, F-22s, and F-16s — were ordered to the region, supplementing the hundreds deployed to bases in the Arab Gulf states,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank wrote. “The deployments reinforce Trump’s threat — restated on a nearly daily basis — to proceed with a major air and missile campaign on the regime if talks fail.”

Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted the annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

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Footage later released by Iran showed members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s naval special forces board a vessel in the exercise. Those forces are believed to have been used in the past to seize vessels in key international waterways.

Iran also issued a rocket-fire warning to pilots in the region, suggesting it planned to launch anti-ship missiles in the exercise.

Meanwhile, tracking data showed the Ford off the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean midday Wednesday, meaning the carrier could transit through Gibraltar and potentially station in the eastern Mediterranean with its supporting guided-missile destroyers.

Once it arrives in the region, it would be able to help protect Israel and Jordan if war breaks out. The U.S. used similar assets to protect Israel during recent confrontations linked to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is making its own preparations for possible Iranian missile strikes in response to any U.S. action.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that if Iran attacks Israel, “they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”

Netanyahu, who met with Trump last week, long has pushed for tougher U.S. action against Iran and says any deal should not only end its nuclear program but curb its missile arsenal and force it to cut ties with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has said the current talks should only focus on its nuclear program, and that it hasn’t been enriching uranium since the U.S. and Israeli strikes last summer. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, while the U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but has neither confirmed nor denied that.

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