Those mischievous Minions will have their Olympic moment after all.

Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate obtained the final approval he needed for his music on Friday, allowing the Spanish figure skater to perform his short program — set to a medley from the animated comedy of the same name from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment — when the men’s competition begins at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday night.

Sabate had been performing the fan-favorite program all season, thinking he had the proper approval through a system called ClicknClear to use four cuts of music Minions. Last week, Universal Studios asked for him to provide more details on the music Sabate was using and the Minions-inspired outfit that he had been wearing.

He was able to quickly get approval for two cuts of music, and Sabate obtained a third by reaching out directly to the artist, a fellow Spaniard. The holdup was the song “Freedom” by the American musician and producer Pharrell Williams.

That approval finally came Friday, about two hours before the Olympic figure skating program opened with the team event.

“I’m so happy to announce that we’ve done it! We’ve secured the licenses for all four songs, and I’ll be able to skate the Minions at the Olympic Games,” Sabate wrote on social media. “It hasn’t been an easy process, but the support of everyone who has followed my case has been key to keeping me motivated and optimistic these past few days.”

At one point, Sabate’s situation had grown so dire that he began practicing his Bee Gee-inspired short program from last year. But as news of his plight came out, and he began to get approval for some of the music, his hopes of performing Minions began to grow.

He even practiced the program, which opens with peals of laughter from the characters, during an early session Thursday. By the next morning, the Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation announced that the copyright issue had been resolved.

“I want to thank ClickClear and the RFEDH, as well as Universal Pictures, Pharrell Williams, Sony Music and Juan Alcaraz for managing the rights in such a short time so I can perform my program in Milan,” Sabate said.

The copyright issue has become a big problem in figure skating, where for years skaters could only use music without words, usually considered part of the public domain. But when the rules changed in 2014, and more modern music began to be used in competition, some artists began to object to their work being used without the proper permission.

Two-time world medalist Loena Hendrickx of Belgium also had copyright issues ahead of the Olympics.

The Belgian had been performing her short program to “Ashes” by Celine Dion from the film “Deadpool 2.” But after the European championships last month, her brother and coach, Jorik Hendrickx, and choreographer Adam Solya became concerned that the music would not be approved for the Olympics, and they decided to change the soundtrack at the last minute.

Hendrickx is now performing a slightly modified program to “I Surrender,” another song by Dion, which has the same rhythm and feel as “Ashes.” She was able to obtain permission for that piece because it is part of ClicknClear’s catalogue of licenses.

The 26-year-old Sabate is not considered a medal contender at the Olympics; he was 20th at the world championships last year. But after the past week, he figures to have plenty of support when he brings the Minions with him Tuesday night.

“Right now, I just want to give my all on the ice and perform a program worthy of the love I’ve received from around the world,” Sabate said. “I’m thrilled by the love that a small skater from a small federation has received.”

The opening ceremony time for the 2026 Winter Olympics is taking place on Friday, but some early rounds of competition began two days earlier. USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates rock-and-rolled their way to a world-best 91.06 points in the rhythm dance to open the team competition at the Olympics on Friday, cheered on by a crowd that included Vice President JD Vance and his family, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Olympic events are set to continue through the closing ceremony on Feb. 22, and the Paralympics will take place the following month, from March 6 to March 15.

London — Gamers around the world can now buy and play at home a pared-down version of a first-person drone training program developed and used by the Ukrainian armed forces. The game’s evolution — from battlefield training tool to home entertainment — is a notable first, and it is tied directly to Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to repel Russia’s four-year, full-scale invasion.

“Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator” (UFDS) is available to buy online for about $30. It features the same ultra-realistic physics and piloting controls that have helped teach Ukrainian drone pilots to seek out and destroy Russian tanks, missile launchers and troops. The Full Simulator is available, for free, to all members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use.   

Vlad Plaksin, CEO of the Drone Fight Club Academy, a facility that trains Ukrainian military drone pilots, was one of the lead developers and driving forces behind UFDS. The academy has trained more than 5,000 Ukrainian military drone pilots since it was established early in the war, and it collaborated last year with the U.S. Air Force for a training session at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Plaksin told CBS News one objective in turning the military program into a video game is to train young Ukrainians to fly drones, to “give them a possibility not to go to the trench with rifles.”

Interest in anything drone-related among young Ukrainians has soared during the war, thanks largely to the country’s military drone pilots, whom Plaksin said had achieved heroic status.

“Most young people want to fly, want to hit [Russian targets], want to grow up in this new world of robotics,” he told CBS News.

The game’s creators call it a “public adaptation of a leading ultra-realistic FPV [first person view] drone trainer, built on lessons from the Ukrainian front line,” offering players an opportunity to “learn to fly like a front-line pilot, take on real-world mission scenarios, and feel the rush of modern FPV warfare.”

In hyperrealistic detail, it includes different types of drones to pilot on combat missions against Russian targets, with weather conditions and other variables that aim to provide an experience realistic enough for anyone to learn and practice the basics of drone warfare. 

There are many games that offer similar FPV warfare experiences, including driving tanks, piloting fighter jets, and commanding submarines. But UFDS is the first to be developed directly from military software.

Ethical concerns?

While many games have likely been used by armed forces around the world as teaching tools, they have been developed as games first. UFDS flips that model around, bringing a real-world military training tool to screens in people’s homes. 

Plaksin acknowledged ethical concerns around creating a game that allows young people to pretend they’re piloting deadly drones in such a realistic way, calling it “a very sensitive question,” but noting that the game is not unique in this regard.

“There are many other simulators which do the same, and we are not opening something new,” he said.

UFDS is not the first video game to be used as a pseudo recruitment tool by a military, either. 

The “America’s Army” series, launched in 2002 and developed by the U.S. Army, is widely seen as the first overt use of video games to drive recruitment by a national military. While the series was nowhere near as realistic as UFDS, it served a similar purpose.

Could Russia take advantage?

Plaksin says the Ukrainian game, at its core, is a tool for people to gain “a basic knowledge for the drones, but also at the same time, we try to do it maximum safety, for not sharing the sensitive information.”

To avoid revealing details that Russia’s military could potentially use to train its own pilots, there are significant differences between the publicly available version of UFDS and the version used at the Drone Fight Club Academy to train Ukrainian military operators.

Those differences are “mostly about tactics,” Plaksin told CBS News. “It gives you everything that you need, but it will not give you the tactics. I think it’s the main difference between the versions.”

He said some of that just involves paring down what, for gamers, might be the more tedious parts of drone warfare. Gamers may not want to spend 30 minutes flying their virtual drone to reach an objective, for instance. So the gameplay is deliberately made more arcade-style, while maintaining highly realistic controls and user experience.

This means that there is “less understanding of missions, less understanding of how to fly for a huge distance” which is a vital part of training drone pilots. 

“When you fly on the [real] drones, you see the area and you need to read the map and compare it with what you see,” Plaksin said. “In missions, it’s very important. In arcade games, it’s not important, and we don’t put it inside because it will not be interesting for the players.”

UFDS is still a very niche game, with only around 50 people playing online daily. Such detailed military simulation games often garner small but loyal followings, and rarely break into the wider gaming community. 

But Plaksin is trying to change that, and broaden appeal. He’s helping to organize a championship he hopes will “maximise the level of people playing the game” and encourage competition between players. 

The skies over Lahore lit up with vibrant kites as the centuries-old spring festival of Basant made a return on Friday, attracting jubilant crowds and enthusiastic participation from celebrities.

The three-day festival is being celebrated across Lahore after the Punjab government lifted a more than two-decade ban and permitted a tightly regulated celebration in Lahore.

The return of Basant had showbiz stars celebrating, with celebrities sharing every moment — from preparations to kite flying — on social media.

On her Instagram story, Muama actress Saba Qamar shared that she has managed to find only two days in her busy schedule to fly kites.

Ayeza Khan posted images clad in the traditional, vibrant outfit.

Imran Ashraf was spotted flying a kite on a rooftop adorned with bright yellow, green, and red colours, traditionally associated with Basant.

Qarz-e-Jaan star Usama Khan also shared a video, showing his kite soaring through the skies.

Veteran Noor Bukhari expressed gratitude towards the authorities for bringing Basant back to Lahore.

Meanwhile, Hania Aamir emphasised the importance of preserving indigenous traditions while ensuring public safety.

Local administrations enforced safety measures, including bans on metallic and chemical kite strings, designated flying zones and increased presence of law enforcement personnel during the celebrations.