Why the World Cup should be decentralized | Leander Schaerlaeckens

Expansion and political influence have made soccer’s showpiece too big for one region to handle responsibly Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter In retrospect, the 2018 World Cup in Russia looks like a gentle genuflection, a dainty little bow before its strongman leader. Vladimir Putin and his Russian project of gradual conquest … Read more

Senate Republicans race to fund ICE, CBP without Democrats as shutdown drags on

Senate Republicans are moving to fast-track funding for immigration enforcement without any Democratic support as a partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown stretches into its second month. The upper chamber returns to Washington, D.C., on Monday, and the GOP already has its plan in motion to bypass Democrats’ blockade of funding for Immigration and … Read more

Dangerous super typhoon barreling toward group of remote US islands

Typhoon expected to make landfall Tuesday in Northern Mariana Islands and bring heavy winds, rain and flooding A dangerous super typhoon in the Pacific Ocean is barreling toward a group of remote US islands. Super Typhoon Sinlaku is expected to make landfall on Tuesday in the Northern Mariana Islands and bring destructive winds, widespread heavy … Read more

Democrats build midterm momentum, but Republicans still in driver’s seat in Senate majority battle

A leading nonpartisan political handicapper predicts that the Democrats’ path to winning back the Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections is getting wider thanks to a rough political climate for the GOP, but that capturing control of the chamber remains a “tall order.” The Cook Political Report on Monday shifted the ratings in four … Read more

Trump media company drops lawsuit against the Guardian

TMTG drops defamation claim over report that prosecutors were investigating payments received as possible money laundering Donald Trump’s media corporation has dropped a defamation claim against the Guardian and two other defendants over a report that federal prosecutors were investigating $8m in payments the company received from entities with ties to Vladimir Putin as possible … Read more