World Cup a mosaic of the human experience

On June 13, the third day of the ongoing World Cup, Morocco played more than a quarter of its Group C match against Brazil without a single Moroccan-born footballer on the pitch.

Instead, the starting eleven deployed by manager Mohamed Ouahbi between the 64th and 89th minutes included players from Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Canada. (Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was born in Montreal.) Ouahbi, himself, hails from metropolitan Brussels.

According to the BBC, nearly 25 per cent of the players at this tournament were born in countries other than the ones they’re representing.

One of the more prominent examples of this experience is Luca Zidane.

Push for Canada came too late: Shame if country’s historic bid died on hill of principle

This is already a historic World Cup for Canada’s men’s national soccer team.

First point? Check. First win? Check. First progression to the knockout rounds? Check. All of it on home soil, no less.

And yet, for all that, it also risks being a big disappointment. It can be both things at once.

To say that Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Switzerland complicated the Canadian campaign would be an understatement. A win or draw in Vancouver would have secured top spot in Group B and a Round of 32 match — as well as a prospective Round of 16 encounter — in the same city.

A decade after Brexit, U.K. still a country of Leavers and Remainers

The labels Leave and Remain need little introduction to anyone with even a fleeting interest in British politics. The terms do not simply refer to someone’s position on U.K.-EU relations, they can also provide a shorthand for their broader beliefs and values.

The terms emerged as group identities and, to the opposing sides, often as pejorative shorthand for the other camp. That these labels retain potency 10 years after the Brexit referendum suggests that identity is the default prism through which many people in the U.K. now view politics.

My research focuses on continuity and change in political insults, and I try to understand if modern politics is more divided and uncivil than it was in the past. I am particularly interested in how politicians use Aristotle’s key modes of persuasion: ethos (appeals based on the character of the speaker); pathos (appeals to emotion); and logos (appeals to logic).

The “Brexit effect” on the rhetoric of British politics is one of the most damaging legacies of the referendum. It has seemingly resulted in a rhetorical culture in which ethos and pathos are of far more value, and so far more prevalent, than logos. This affects you whether you’re a Leaver or Remainer.

Real Madrid president Pérez’s apathy like a wound in salt

You know the schoolyard is out of control when parents’ phone calls to the office are the least of the principal’s worries.

Fisticuffs that end up requiring wheelchairs and trips to the hospital? Now those are actual problems. And when a third of the students simply refuse to acknowledge their teacher’s existence, you’ve got something deep-rooted on your hands.

Administration can only do so much. At some point the little brats must learn to play nice. Otherwise, they risk suspension from Escuela de Valdebebas.

Already, Federico Valverde and Dani Ceballos won’t be on the bus for Sunday’s field trip to Barcelona.

Nerazzurri on brink of 21st Scudetto… not that anyone’s talking about it

Inter Milan will likely win its 21st Scudetto on Sunday. And if not Sunday, then next Saturday. And if not then…well, it will have.

Should Napoli and AC Milan lose to Como and Sassuolo, respectively, it would even be champions before kicking off against Parma at San Siro (1:45 p.m., FuboTV).

Typically, an imminent title would be the main talking point — and by some distance — in the days before that title is won. It would also be expected that this Inter group would get its flowers, what with the next few weeks being a sort of last hurrah.

Goalkeepers Yann Sommer and Raffaele Di Gennaro, defenders Stefan de Vrij, Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard (who has spent this season on loan to Marseille), wing-back Matteo Darmian and playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan are all out of contract in June. Federico Dimarco and Hakan Çalhanoglu have another year remaining on theirs, but the latter will almost certainly depart at that point, if not before.

Manitoba can’t afford PC’s ideological tax cut

The Manitoba Conservatives’ proposal to nearly double the basic personal exemption on income tax to $30,000 from $15,780 shows they haven’t learned the lessons from their last time in government: radical tax cuts drive up deficits, weaken public services like health care, and mainly benefit those with higher incomes.

The basic personal amount is the amount of income a resident can earn before paying Manitoba provincial income tax. Because everyone claims it, increasing it gives tax cuts to the richest households too, meaning a lot of public money goes to people who don’t need it instead of being targeted to those who do.

Don’t believe the hype: this tax cut would not “trickle down” to everyone else. Much of the additional income would likely be saved in global investments or spent outside the province. By contrast, money spent through government programs has larger economic multipliers because it creates jobs needed to build infrastructure, supports health care and education, and is spent by local workers who spend their earnings in their communities. Public investment grows the economy from the bottom up.

Every dollar spent on a broad tax cut like this is a dollar not available to reduce poverty, expand licensed childcare, build social housing, or strengthen public education and health care.

Canada, India hit reset button on their relationship

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India marks the most consequential step in years to rebuild Canada–India relations after the diplomatic rupture in 2023 over allegations linking Indian agents to the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist.

The visit signals a deliberate shift from crisis management to economic statecraft.

In Mumbai, Carney announced that Canada aims to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India by the end of this year, with the goal of doubling two-way trade by 2030. The message was pragmatic: the two countries may not always agree, but engagement must continue.

FROM RUPTURE TO RESET

In the sports documentary miniseries The Last Dance, Michael Jordan describes how, as a young rookie, he was confronted with an invitation to take part in illicit activities with teammates, including drugs and gambling.

He “did not go through that door,” realizing “he was in the NBA to get better.” Nowadays that kind of moral compass feels increasingly rare.

The recent gambling and fraud scandal rocking the NBA, for example, illustrates how, when sport leaders compromise on sport values — respect, excellence, safety and fairness — they compromise the value of sport to individuals and society as a whole.

The purpose of sport is individual and community development. The word “compete” is derived from the Latin competere which means to strive (for excellence) together.