Politics today spans outrage, pressure and power projection. Kylian Mbappé thrust racism back into the spotlight after publicly denouncing Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla for abusive remarks posted after France’s World Cup win, with French officials backing his condemnation and no visible response yet from Paraguay. In the U.S., Donald Trump again fused sport and politics, praising England captain Harry Kane after a thriller against Mexico while separately escalating a personal spat with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni ahead of the NATO summit, posting a taunting meme that further strains ties. Democrats in Maine are confronting a different kind of crisis as Senate candidate Graham Platner, denying a new sexual assault allegation as false, says he is pausing to consider his future amid calls to withdraw. And in a major defense move, Canada picked Germany’s Thyssenkrupp as preferred bidder for a new submarine fleet, underscoring NATO-era rearmament and alliance politics.