Winter Olympics kick off in Beijing

China welcomes world leaders, while others boycott the event. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following Winter Olympics kick off in Beijing [China's athletes Dinigeer Yilamujian and Zhao Jiawen prepare to light the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Feb. 4, 2022.] Credit: David J. Phillip/AP Winter Olympics The Winter Olympics kicked off in China on Friday amid displays of fireworks and pageantry. Beijing is the first city to host [both the Summer and Winter Olympics](. China says one of the torch-bearers who placed the Olympic flame inside a giant snowflake to kick off the games was of Uyghur descent. Beijing has been criticized for its treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population in its Xinjiang region, which is one of the reasons that the US and Japan, among other nations, staged a diplomatic boycott of the event. But Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the most prominent [world leaders who did attend]( Friday’s opening ceremony. Others included the leaders of Central Asian and Gulf Arab nations, and those of the United Nations and World Health Organization. China had also adopted a “zero COVID” policy ahead of the games to curb the spread of the coronavirus and its variants. China-Russia While in China for the Winter Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks. It comes as Moscow faces increased pressure from NATO countries over its troop buildup of more than 100,000 forces along the border with Ukraine. Beijing expressed [solidarity with Moscow]( against NATO expansion in eastern Europe, while asserting that Taiwan is a part of China. In [a joint statement](, China accused the US of stoking protests in Hong Kong and encouraging independence for Taiwan, while Russia accused Washington of trying to destabilize Ukraine. The two countries are strengthening political and economic ties with each other in an effort to push back against influence by the US and other Western nations. It’s the first meeting that Xi has held in person with a foreign leader in nearly two years. Ireland The first minister of Northern Ireland, Paul Givan, has resigned [in protest of post-Brexit trade rules](. One of Givan’s ministers had tried to block the inspection of goods arriving from other parts of the United Kingdom, which would violate the Brexit agreement between the UK and the European Union. Givan was a representative of the Democratic Unionist Party, which wants to retain close ties to Britain. And he was part of a power-sharing arrangement with Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, of the Sinn Fein party, which wants to strengthen ties with the Republic of Ireland. Givan's resignation means that O'Neill will [automatically lose her position]( under the power-sharing deal. The move prompted Sinn Fein's leader to call for snap elections. Though other ministers at the Northern Ireland Assembly can stay, they can’t make major decisions, including those pertaining to the budget. --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Kyiv’s Go_A Band reinterprets Ukrainian folk music with electronica]( [Go_A Band from Kyiv includes Kateryna Pavlenko (vocals) and Taras Shevchenko (founder/keyboard and percussion).]( Credit: Daniel Ofman/The World The Go_A band from Kyiv represented Ukraine last year at the Eurovision Song Contest. It's made up of Kateryna Pavlenko on vocals and founder Taras Shevchenko on keyboard and percussion. They both played with numerous rock and metal groups in the past before forming their electro-folk band. [Listen]( to their story and some of their music. 🎧 --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright spot We all scream for ice cream! 🍦 Saturday marks Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, which started in the US and spread across the world. A mother had given her children ice cream for breakfast when they said they were bored. It then became a national and international over time, set for the first Saturday of February. So, don't forget to get in a scoop or two of your own! [Alexandra Cummings scoops ice cream into a cone at UDairy Creamery on the University of Delaware campus in Newark, Del, Aug. 12, 2011.] [Credit: Patrick Semansky/AP/File photo]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [In case you missed it from The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX]( and [GBH](.