Sitdown Sunday: The devoted World Cup fans skipping this year's US matches

IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.

We’ve hand-picked some of the week’s best reads for you to savour.

1. The devoted World Cup fans skipping this year’s US matches

Lifelong fans of football are deciding not to travel to the World Cup this year due to US immigration policies. CNN Travel spoke with fans, some of who religiously attend the football event, who have made the decision not to go this year. Meanwhile, there have been online movements to boycott the event too.

(CNN Travel, approx ten mins reading time)

“This year, the German national has made the conscious decision to boycott the games in the United States. Of all the host countries over the last two decades, the Frankfurt resident said he is most fearful about the prospect of traveling to the US. ‘You see the ICE people going around and just pulling people from the streets just because they look foreign and you don’t get the feeling that anybody would protect me, you know?’ he says. Schwarzbach is also half Korean and half German, a profile he fears could make him a target. ‘I look more Asian than German,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t feel safe.’”

2. Hunters or conservationists? 

Trophy hunters can pay hundreds of thousands to hunt protected, and in some cases critically endangered, animals kept in reserves. The unusual part? They believe it is very ethical. In Niassa special reserve, in Mozambique, a number of animals are allowed to be killed by hunters for a cost. The money goes to conservation and the hunters feel that the animals are ‘fair game’ as they are kept in near-wild conditions. Many protected reserves in sub-saharan Africa were created for trophy hunters, and have also served to contribute to the conservation of animals. But is it actually ethical?

(The Guardian, approx 18 mins reading time)

“When you shoot an animal in Mozambique, as in many African countries,you must pay a predetermined sum. Stones offers the menu on his website: impalas ($600) and warthogs ($700) are the bargain basement. He could arrange for you to shoot a crocodile or even a hippopotamus, if you so wish, for a mere $5,800. A leopard – currently classed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature − will set you back $11,650. A lion? $25,000. Lions, Stones noted drily, are ‘not something you dish out like doughnuts’.”

3. The donations fuelling the far right

The Washington Post has done a deep dive into the funding behind far right US influencer Nick Fuentes. Fuentes has received hundreds of thousands in donations through his online ‘superchats’ as well as through subscriptions and merchandise, including a t-shirt emblazoned with a swastika. Who are the people giving their money to Fuentes, and why?

(The Washington Post, approx 22 mins reading time)

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“In the years since he began streaming from his parents’ basement, Fuentes has emerged as one of the far right’s most contentious agitators, most notably for his scathing criticism of President Donald Trump. Though he dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2022, Fuentes now argues that the president ‘betrayed MAGA’ by supporting Israel in a war with Iran and ‘blew it’ by not working more aggressively to deport people of color.” 

4. The secrecy around data centres in the EU

A cross-border investigation has revealed how industry lobbying is shaping data centre regulation in the EU. The Journal Investigates has partnered with Investigate Europe and outlets across the continent to investigate the growing environmental impact of data centres. Since 2024, the European Commission has collected key metrics like energy efficiency and water consumption from data centres. But much of this information is hidden from public view, after the industry successfully lobbied to classify it as confidential and commercially sensitive.

(The Journal, approx nine mins reading time)

“Luc Lavrysen, former President of the Belgian Constitutional Court and Emeritus Professor of environmental law at Ghent University, said the blanket confidentiality clause “is clearly in violation” of EU transparency rules and the Aarhus Convention.”

5. Biebs is back

Beliebers all over the world rejoiced last weekend when Justin Bieber performed his set at Coachella, which featured YouTube videos, Billie Eilish and several of his most well known older songs. Fans are divided on the performance – some have described it as a lazy set, while others claim it was the highlight of the festival.

(The New Yorker, approx eleven mins reading time)

“Bieber, the former child star who, now past thirty, often gestures at a deep well of discontent, is currently in a stripped-down, melancholy, D.I.Y. phase. A guy who gets famous in the music business at such a young age—Bieber was barely a teen-ager when the world came to know his high, clear voice and innocent face—can’t help but be labelled a product, furnished with beats and lyrics, and made to play a part. Now Bieber wants us to know that he’s got his own ideas, his own artistry, his own bad mood. The only way to get the message across is to raze the usual clutter of spectacle.”

6. The impact of measles

Rebecca Archer, a mother from the UK, has shared the heartbreaking story of how her ten-year-old daughter, Renae, died from a complication related to measles in 2023. Renae picked up the virus before she was old enough to be vaccinated, and despite later getting her vaccine, the virus stayed in her body and its fatal impact didn’t come until years later. Alarmed by the rise in measles cases in the UK and US, Rena is sharing her story to encourage other parents to vaccinate their children and create herd immunity – something which may have prevented her daughter contracting the virus in the first place.

(The New York Times, approx seven mins reading time)

“In January of this year, Britain lost its measles elimination status. Our national M.M.R. vaccination rate hovers at 84 percent, far below the 95 percent target set by the World Health Organization. In the United States, where schoolchildren are required to be vaccinated against measles, the national vaccination rate is 92 percent. Many states also allow for exemptions to vaccine requirements, and as a result, U.S. vaccination rates are uneven. Last year, the United States saw its highest rate of measles cases in more than three decades and the country may soon lose its measles elimination status as well. Despite this, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he doesn’t think the government should be mandating vaccines, and that they should be a matter of personal choice.”

…AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES…

7. Who is Daniel Kinahan?

Daniel Kinahan was arrested in Dubai just over one week ago. Last year, the New Yorker published this profile of him.

(The New Yorker, approx 45 mins reading time)

“he Kinahan brothers are the sons of a woman named Jean Boylan, who once worked as a cleaner in south inner-city Dublin. She and Kinahan, Sr., split up when the children were young; the boys stayed with their mother. Boylan was never involved in crime, except for a regular cleaning job at the local police station. A detective who worked in the building said that, though everyone knew about her family connections, she was well liked.”

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