40 Years Later, Quebec Is Still Paying for Its Olympics: Here’s What We’re Reading Today
The Daily 5 is Sharp’s essential reading list for what’s happening in the world today. Make sure to follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the Sharp Insider newsletter to stay up to date.
Here’s what’s happening today:
1. What happens after the Olympics leave town?
“Montrealers can only look upon the Olympic Stadium (which alone cost about $4-billion in today’s dollars) the way modern-day Romans see the Colosseum. It remains an awe-inspiring testimony to a headier time, when an entire civilization dared to dream big, but now serves no practical purpose and costs a fortune to maintain. At least the Romans once had an empire to pay for it all.”
+1: China says Australia is “on fringes of civilization” after swimmer Mack Horton attacks Sun Yang.
3. Life on the precipice in Puerto Rico
“Swimming pools pop up in slums, horses graze in schoolhouses, and public housing tenants pay negative rent on an island whose government has effectively gone broke.”
2. Will Japan let Emperor Akihito retire?
“In an extraordinary televised address on Monday, Emperor Akihito told the Japanese people that he wants to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne, which his family has held for almost 2,700 years.
“If Parliament grants the emperor’s wish, it would be the biggest transformation of the Japanese monarchy since World War II, and could have implications for Japan’s postwar pacifist identity.”
4. The incredible benefits of being bilingual
“Most people in the world speak more than one language, suggesting the human brain evolved to work in multiple tongues. If so, are those who speak only one language missing out?”
5. People are getting mighty sick of Pokémon Go
“Woah buddy it’s 10:30am on a Monday and this hungover blogger has something to get off his chest. After writing no fewer than 17 posts in the past few weeks about our nation’s newest craze, I have some sad news to report to you all: Pokémon Go is a bad, bad game.”
