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☆ Lessons in Democracy From F.C. Porto
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Few, though, will prove quite so virulent — or offer quite such an instructive case study of the state of democracy in 2024 — as the one to decide who gets to be president of F.C. Like dozens of clubs around Europe, Porto — one of the three great houses of Portuguese soccer — is owned by its members. Only a small percentage of members vote. The choice is usually between two essentially indistinguishable old men, when there is a choice at all. Until the last round of elections, in 2020, Porto had been a democracy in only the most nominal sense.

Persons: — Organizations: European Union, F.C, Porto Locations: Porto, Europe, Porto —

☆ F.C.C. Votes to Restore Net Neutrality Rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Cecilia Kang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Known as net neutrality, the regulations were first put in place nearly a decade ago under the Obama administration and are aimed at preventing internet service providers like Verizon or Comcast from blocking or degrading the delivery of services from competitors like Netflix and YouTube. The rules were repealed under former President Donald J. Trump, and have proven a contentious partisan issue over the years while pitting tech giants against broadband providers. The rules also give the F.C.C. the ability to demand broadband providers report and respond to outages, as well as expand the agency’s oversight of the providers’ security issues. and a Democrat, said the rules reflect the importance of high-speed internet as the main mode of communications for many Americans.

Persons: Obama, Donald J, Trump, Biden, Jessica Rosenworcel Organizations: Federal Communications Commission, Verizon, Comcast, Netflix, YouTube

☆ This Town Had a Reputation Problem. Premier League Soccer Changed Things.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the announcement trilled out over Kenilworth Road, the jumble of rusted metal and peeling paint that Luton Town F.C. At the start of the sentence, it was little more than the traditional polite welcome to the stadium for that evening’s visiting team, Manchester City. By the end, though, the voice of the announcer seemed overcome by what sounded a little like awe. Cup, the champions of England and the champions of Europe.” Luton seems to be having a hard time believing the company it now keeps. Fifteen years ago, Luton Town had been relegated to the fifth tier of English soccer, a world away from the power and the prestige of the Premier League.

Persons: Luton Organizations: Luton Town F.C, Manchester, Luton Town, Premier League Locations: Kenilworth, Manchester City, Luton, England, Europe

Dana White’s diplomatic ambitions were clear, if complicated: Un-cancel Bud Light. As the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Mr. White was the arena-filling, Trump-loving, perpetually smirking public face of a multi-billion-dollar sport. more than 15 years earlier, was plainly hoping that a renewed affiliation might help its cause. Publicly, Mr. White appealed to friends across the conservative media, defending Bud Light’s parent company in interviews with Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk. “The fact that Anheuser-Busch wants to be in business with me?” Mr. White said, arguing that this alone demonstrated the success of the backlash.

Persons: Dana, Bud, White, ’, —, Bud Light, Bud Light’s, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, “, Mr Organizations: Trump, Anheuser, Busch

☆ A Soccer Team Stopped Charging for Tickets. Should Others Do the Same?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Neither Paris F.C. There was, really, precious little to remember at all: no goals, few shots, little drama — a drab, rain-sodden stalemate between the French capital’s third-most successful soccer team and the country’s sleepiest giant. Last November, Paris F.C. There were a couple of exceptions: a nominal fee for fans supporting the visiting team, and market rates for those using hospitality suites. Everyone else, however, could come to the Stade Charléty — the compact stadium that Paris F.C.

Organizations: Paris F.C, Stade Charléty

☆ Investigation Finds World Bank Failed to Police Abuse at Kenyan Schools
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Alan Rappeport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The World Bank’s internal watchdog on Thursday criticized the organization’s handling and oversight of its investment in a chain of Kenyan schools that were subject to an internal investigation after allegations that students were abused. The investigation, which started in 2020, has consumed World Bank officials and shareholders in recent months and led to scrutiny of its investment arm, the International Finance Corporation, which invested in the educational project a decade ago. While the scandal predates the tenure of Ajay Banga, the World Bank’s new president, it has emerged as one of the first tests of his management. Mr. Banga will be responsible for directing any changes related to how the bank invests in private-sector projects. was interfering in the investigation, and U.S. lawmakers have told him that the bank’s future funding could hinge on his handling of the matter.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Banga Organizations: Bank, International Finance Corporation

☆ Sex Abuse Inquiry Poses Leadership Test for World Bank’s Ajay Banga
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Alan Rappeport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the World Bank’s annual meetings last year in Morocco, the organization’s new president, Ajay Banga, outlined a sweeping vision for how he wanted to rid the world of poverty while keeping the planet habitable. The challenge is related to an investment that the World Bank made a decade ago in a chain of schools in Kenya. The educational project was partially funded through the International Finance Corporation, the bank’s investment arm. It became a source of controversy when allegations emerged in 2020 about widespread sexual abuse at the schools, prompting an investigation by the bank’s internal watchdog. has been reviewing a revised “action plan” that could take effect as soon as this week.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Banga Organizations: World Bank, International Finance Corporation Locations: Morocco, Kenya

Lives Ended in Gaza Since the war started, more than 30,000 people have been killed during Israel’s bombardment and invasion. Hamas ruled Gaza and ran a covert military organization, the identity of its fighters unclear, even to other Gazans. She worked with people who had been wounded and displaced by Israeli attacks on Gaza as well as with first responders. She moved to Egypt after the 2014 Gaza war but returned a few months before the current war. He performed complicated operations on Gaza’s war wounded while running Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah until his retirement.

Persons: Israel, Marah, Farah, Farah Alkhatib, Kinder, Selena al, Lubna Elian, Yousef Abu Moussa, Abdulhadi, Maram, Youmna Shaqalih, Abdulrahman Abuamara, Ghadeer Mohammed Mansour, Salah, Khaled Jadallah, Doaa Jadallah, Mahmoud Alnaouq, Jannat Iyad Abu Zbeada, Rami Abu Reyaleh, Alhelou, “, ”, —, Faida AlKrunz, Saud AlKrunz, tinker, Ahmed Abu Shaeera, Al Aqsa, Youssef Salama, Hedaya Hamad, Salah Abo Harbed, Jeries Sayegh, Inas, “ Sara ”, ” Sayel, Ai Wei Wei’s, Heba Zagout, Ali, Amneh, Belal Abu Samaan, Israel ”, Abu Yousef Al, Abdallah Shehada, Tarazi, Heba Jourany, Osama Al, Haddad, Riyad Alkhatib, ” Mahmoud Elian Organizations: UNICEF, Oxygen, Al, Awda, F.C, Barcelona, Facebook, Islamic, Palestinian Authority, Palestine Red Crescent Society, Free Gaza Circus, Christian, Officially, American International School, Palestine Athletics Federation, Najjar, United Nations, West Bank Locations: Gaza, Israel, Spain, Norway, Italian, Australia, Egypt, Turkey, Bolivia, Argentina, Panama, Mexico, Qatar, Al Aqsa, Jerusalem, “ Palestine, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian, Old City, Mazaj, Gaza City, Manhattan, Chicago, Mecca, Rafah, Libya, Uganda, Ireland

☆ ‘Mary Poppins’ Gets New Age Rating in Britain for Racist Language
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Derrick Bryson Taylor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Mary Poppins” includes two uses of an offensive racial slur to describe an Indigenous group in South Africa. It is first heard when Admiral Boom asks Michael, a child, if he is going on an adventure to defeat said group. Admiral Boom repeats the slur during a chimney sweeps dance sequence when he shouts that he is being attacked. The film was originally rated “U,” for Universal, upon its release in 1964, and again in 2013 for a theatrical release, the B.B.F.C. When it was resubmitted in February for another theatrical release, it was reclassified as PG.

Persons: “ Mary Poppins, “ Mary Poppins ”, Admiral Boom, Michael Organizations: British, of, Universal Locations: Britain, South Africa

☆ Want to Lose a Lot of Money, Fast? Buy a Small Soccer Team in England.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Few industries are quite as appealing or as prestigious as English soccer, and Mr. Thompson has a piece of it. But while his team might be small, Mr. Thompson is of the view that it is, at least, as perfectly formed as any minor-league English soccer club could hope to be. Mr. Thompson has spent considerable sums of money modernizing the bathrooms, the club shop and the private boxes. “We have done most of the hard yards,” Mr. Thompson said. After a cancer scare last year led him to reassess his priorities, Mr. Thompson has, reluctantly, decided that he has to “hand the baton” to someone else.

Persons: Geoff Thompson, Thompson, South Shields, Mr Organizations: Shields F.C, Premier League, English Locations: South

☆ Want to Play in Asia’s Champions League? It Will Cost You.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least nobody can accuse Asia’s soccer authorities of failing to sweat the small stuff. can still find the time to dictate precisely which water bottles, with which labels, fans should be allowed to carry into stadiums. That kind of attention to detail should reassure you that soccer’s future — from Beirut to Beijing, and Ulaanbaatar to Hobart — is in safe hands. Unfortunately, that is not quite the picture that emerges from a report, commissioned by soccer’s global players’ union, FIFPro, assessing the benefits and shortcomings of Asia’s most prestigious club competition, the Asian Champions League. Instead, the report documents a tournament that acts as an almost perfect microcosm of soccer’s general direction across the globe.

Persons: Hobart — Organizations: Asian Football Confederation, ’, Asian Champions League Locations: —, Beirut, Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Hobart

☆ When the Governor Shotguns a Beer (or Maybe a Spiked Iced Tea)
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Chris Cameron | More About Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The group of men punctured their cans — the governor’s actually appeared to be spiked iced tea, rather than beer — and drained them in unison. Mr. Moore flattened his empty, barehanded, and high-fived the others. And a video capturing the moment ricocheted, approvingly, across the online sports world. It didn’t help the Ravens, who lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s A.F.C. Representative Jared Goldman, Democrat of Maine, shotgunned a Bud Light at a homecoming football game at the University of Maine in October.

Persons: Moore, It’s, Jared Goldman, shotgunned, Bud, Claire McCaskill, Dan Maffei, Stephen Colbert, Mr, Maffei Organizations: Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Democratic, University of Maine, Twitter Locations: Sunday’s A.F.C, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, New York

☆ Why Is Paying for College So Complicated?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Ron Lieber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Saving and paying for college is an endurance test, a forced march on an often 50-year parade, where strange numerical codes and senseless jumbles of letters mark a route that Waze can’t map. Begin at age zero or earlier with a 529 college savings plan for your child, born or not yet so. Then, fill out the FAFSA, which stands for “Free Application for Federal Student Aid,” and determine your student aid index (S.A.I.). or other data or the figures that another form, the CSS Profile, belches out is probably not enough to make college affordable. So you could apply for a federal PLUS loan for parents, which might take you 25 years to repay.

Organizations: Federal Student Aid, CSS

☆ Watching People Watch a Game. With 100,000 Friends.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Rory Smith | More About Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With the lights adjusted and the cameras rolling, the production team gives Joe Smith his cue. In five seconds, he will be broadcasting live to a couple thousand people. Mr. Smith’s mind, though, is elsewhere. “Slate is definitely the best way to build a roof,” he mutters to his co-host, Jay Mottershead, as the countdown hits three. “All these years on, they haven’t topped it.”And with that, they are on air.

Persons: Joe Smith, mutters, Jay Mottershead, Mottershead Organizations: Manchester United, F.C, Copenhagen Locations: Danish

☆ M.L.S. Fans Will Pay More to See Lionel Messi
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Victor Mather | More About Victor Mather | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A holiday deal offered by the Red Bulls soccer team includes some merchandise, like a travel mug, as well as tickets to two games, including its first home game. But there is some fine print. Miami is the team of Messi, the global superstar, and a chance to see him is a lot more appealing than a random game against, say, Toronto F.C. Some Red Bulls fans who noticed the fine print were annoyed and expressed that on social media — words like “gouge” were common. “It’s purely naïve to expect the league not to try to capitalize on this at all costs,” said Dan Rodriguez, a Red Bulls fan from Westchester County, N.Y.

Persons: Lionel Messi, “, ”, Dan Rodriguez Organizations: Red Bulls, Major League Soccer, Inter Miami, Miami, Messi, Toronto F.C Locations: Westchester County, N.Y

☆ Jimmy Kimmel Calls Tumultuous Senate Hearing ‘U.F.C.-SPAN’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Trish Bendix | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now. ‘U.F.C.-SPAN’Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, challenged Sean M. O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to a physical fight during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday. Jimmy Kimmel joked that the hearing had turned into “U.F.C.-SPAN all of a sudden.” Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont and the chairman of the panel, had to step in and demand the two behave like U.S. lawmakers.

Persons: U.F.C, Markwayne Mullin, Sean M, Jimmy Kimmel, Bernie Sanders Organizations: Netflix, SPAN, Republican, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Locations: Oklahoma, Vermont

☆ F.C.C. Moves Toward Restoring Net Neutrality Rules, Igniting Regulatory Fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Cecilia Kang | More About Cecilia Kang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersBy voting to move ahead with a proposal to restore net neutrality, the F.C.C. The agency will then be able to police broadband providers for net neutrality violations, consumer harm and security lapses. Background: What is net neutrality? Telecom companies have also argued that net neutrality rules could lead to regulatory creep and the regulation of broadband rates. What Critics SayRepublican lawmakers are fighting the move to restore net neutrality rules.

Persons: ” Jessica Rosenworcel, Tim Wu, Barack Obama’s F.C.C, Donald J, Trump, Rosenworcel, USTelecom, Brendan Carr, Mr, Carr Organizations: Netflix, Skype, Telecom, Democrat, Broadband, House Energy, Commerce, Verizon, and, Republican Locations: Columbia, cybersecurity

☆ Everton Sale Stalls Amid Questions About Buyer’s Financials
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The proposed sale of the Premier League soccer team Everton F.C. to a Miami-based holding company has stalled because the firm, 777 Partners, has failed to provide audited financial statements to a British government regulator that must approve the deal. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, delivered its request to 777 Partners this month, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the approval process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. If the company does not provide the requested financials or an acceptable explanation, its proposed takeover of Everton — a deal involving hundreds of millions of dollars in assumed debt and a coveted place in the world’s richest soccer league — could fall apart. The missing documents are the most significant complication to date in the effort by 777 Partners to add Everton to the collection of high-profile but financially troubled teams it has acquired over the past two years.

Persons: Everton — Organizations: Premier League soccer, Everton F.C, Financial, Authority, Partners, Everton Locations: Miami, British

☆ Biden Administration Plans to Bring Back ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Steve Lohr | More About Steve Lohr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration plans to bring back open internet rules that were enacted during the Obama administration and then repealed by the Trump administration. In a speech on Tuesday, Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, declared that the repeal in 2017 put the F.C.C. “on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the public.”The earlier open internet rules, known as net neutrality, prohibited broadband internet suppliers — telecommunications and cable companies — from blocking or slowing online services. It also banned the broadband companies from charging some content providers higher prices for priority treatment, or “fast lanes” on the internet. “This afternoon,” Ms. Rosenworcel said in her speech at the National Press Club in Washington, “I am sharing with my colleagues a rule making that proposes to restore net neutrality.”

Persons: Obama, Trump, Jessica Rosenworcel, “, ” Ms, Rosenworcel, ” Organizations: Biden, Federal Communications Commission, National Press Club Locations: Washington

☆ Opinion | The Era of Prestige TV Is Ending. We’re Going to Miss It When It’s Gone.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Roy Price | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I left Amazon Studios in 2017 (after accusations I dispute), and five years later, the larger industry picture looks exceedingly bleak. In the last year nearly every major studio, from Warner Bros. to Paramount, has announced layoffs and write-offs. Amazon was plagued by reports that its big investment in a “Lord of the Rings” series yielded disappointing viewership numbers. Many of its key writers and producers, including Judd Apatow and Steve Levitan, went on to broadly influence TV and film comedy. It’s HBO.” summed it up: Prestige TV was trying to be, as was sometimes said, “filmovision” — as dark and true to life or shockingly violent as necessary.

Persons: Bob Iger’s, HBO Max, Max, they’ll, Larry Sanders, “ Sanders ”, Judd Apatow, Steve Levitan, Oz, ”, “, Maisel, Ted Lasso ”, Pimple Popper, ” there’s Organizations: Amazon Studios, Warner Bros, Paramount, Disney, HBO, Showtime, City, Prestige, Netflix, “, Amazon, Golden Globes

☆ A New N.B.A. Champion’s Takeaway From a U.F.C. Champ: Relax
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Tania Ganguli | More About Tania Ganguli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It was a Sunday afternoon in early July, and Jamal Murray had been in Las Vegas for a few days — enough time for the city to wear out anyone. Murray, the Nuggets’ star point guard, was less than a month removed from helping the franchise win its first N.B.A. He had spent the previous night feting his friend Alexander Volkanovski, U.F.C.’s featherweight champion, after Volkanovski won U.F.C. Murray had joined him for several hours before the fight and had been struck by how at ease Volkanovski was. The fighter had been happy to laugh and joke with Murray despite an important bout awaiting him later that evening.

Persons: Jamal Murray, “, ”, —, he’d, Murray, Alexander Volkanovski, Volkanovski Organizations: Denver Nuggets, Nuggets Locations: Las Vegas

☆ A New Era of Soccer Moms Navigates a Rapidly Changing Game
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Juliet Macur | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julie Ertz was on the clock. On one sunny morning in May, Ertz, a defender for the United States women’s soccer team, rolled out of bed early to dress and feed her infant son, Madden, and pack him for a trip. Then she scrambled to collect her soccer gear and headed off to a meeting with her club team, which was followed by several hours of practice. As Ertz, 31, described this crazy schedule and her daily challenges juggling roles as a soccer star and a first-time mother, her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t know if I’d be back,” she said of returning to soccer only months after Madden’s birth, in hopes of playing in her third Women’s World Cup.

Persons: Julie Ertz, Madden, Ertz, Ertz’s, Zach Ertz, Julie, Zach, I’d, ”, “ Organizations: United, soccer, Phoenix, Arizona Cardinals, National Women’s Soccer League, Angel City F.C, Madden Locations: Ertz, United States, Los Angeles, East Coast

☆ China was once a women’s soccer superpower. This year’s World Cup is a first step in reclaiming that status
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Simone Mccarthy Andrew Mcnicol Candice Zhu Cnn | Simone Mccarthy | Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The rapid development of women’s soccer programs across Europe and the Americas has fielded a new generation of powerful teams-to-beat. I hope through these matches, we can form a clearer picture of the current position of Chinese women’s soccer,” she told state media earlier this month. China scores against New Zealand during a group match at the 1991 Women's World Cup in Guangzhou. That’s even as more than thirty years ago, when China hosted the first ever-women’s World Cup in its southeastern Guangdong province. But as norms change, seeing China’s women’s team competing on the world stage at events like the World Cup would also “inspire girls” to play, Peng added.

Persons: Shui, ”, Xiao Yuyi, Rajanish, Xi, –, China's Zhang Ouying, Carla Overbeck, Vincent Laforet, Wang Shuang, Germain, Zhang Linyan, Chan Yuen Ting, Chen guo, Chan, Denmark’s Amalie Vangsgaard, Zhang, they’d, China's, Gary Day, William Bi, “, it’s, Qi Peng, China’s, Peng Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, AFC Asian, womens, FIFA, Americas, Roses, Denmark, Haiti, AFC, Asian, America, Rose Bowl, Veterans, Paris Saint, Swiss, Grasshopper Club, League, Jiangsu, CNN, New Zealand, Sports, AP Soccer, Xi, Sport Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, “ Locations: Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Europe, China, England, South Korea, Mumbai, India, Pasadena , California, France, “, Guangzhou, Guangdong, Beijing

290, one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s marquee cards of the year, is happening on Saturday night with two championship bouts topping an event of about a dozen fights. In the main event, Alexander Volkanovski will defend his belt in the 145-pound division against Yair Rodríguez, the interim champion. And in the co-main event, Brandon Moreno will try to maintain his title at 125 pounds against Alexandre Pantoja. The main card started at 10 p.m. Eastern and the Moreno-Pantoja championship fight is expected to happen about 11:30 p.m. Eastern, depending on the outcome of earlier fights. The Volkanovski-Rodríguez fight will happen last.

Persons: Alexander Volkanovski, Yair Rodríguez, Brandon Moreno, Alexandre Pantoja, Moreno, Bo Nickal, Val Woodburn, Dan Hooker, Jalin Turner, Robert Whittaker, Dricus Du Plessis Organizations: ESPN Locations: United States

☆ As a Mexican Fighter Rises, U.F.C. Hopes Others Will Follow
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Emmanuel Morgan | More About Emmanuel Morgan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

290, Moreno will defend his belt against Alexandre Pantoja, a Brazilian fighter who has beaten Moreno twice previously. The top bout of that card will have Rodríguez fighting against Alexander Volkanovski, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. In 2011, when Moreno was 17, he needed his parents’ signature to compete in his first professional fight, he said. president, had long viewed Mexico, with its rich history of cultivating championship-level boxers, as an area for growth in mixed martial arts. Moreno qualified for the tournament in 2016 but lost his first fight — he was submitted by Pantoja — which seemed to halt his U.F.C.

Persons: Moreno, Alexandre Pantoja, Alexander Volkanovski, Dana White, —, Pantoja — Locations: Brazilian, Tijuana , Mexico, San Diego, Los Angeles, Mexico

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