![\"\"](\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/107484915b6a826a4f55d13191abbd7e-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerica is in a rough moment on the international stage. President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to reshape the world order \u2014 through war, tariffs and immigration restrictions \u2014 have left foreign leaders questioning the nation\u2019s reliability and international tourists wary of visiting the United States.<\/p>\n
The World Cup has not erased any of that. The political tensions we wrote about last week<\/a> are still very much present \u2014 from Iran\u2019s decision to base its team in Tijuana, Mexico<\/a> to the visa problems surrounding the tournament.<\/p>\n But the first few days of the World Cup have also produced something else: a surprising and often moving reminder of the country\u2019s capacity to welcome strangers with full-throated enthusiasm.<\/p>\n No story has illustrated this more than the budding romance between the people of Lawrence, Kansas, and Algeria\u2019s national team. There is little in common between the rolling hills of Lawrence and the scorched deserts of Algeria. More than five thousand miles and vast cultural differences separate the two areas. Lawrence \u2014 a college town \u2014 is as landlocked as you can get, while most Algerians live along the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n But the people of Lawrence, from everyday residents to the city\u2019s mayor, have welcomed the team and their fans in an over-the-top, uniquely American way.<\/p>\n \u201cI want them to feel at home,\u201d a police lieutenant said in an interview<\/a>. \u201cI never thought I would see this. … I never thought I would meet such beautiful people as y\u2019all. I am just happy about it,\u201d said another local resident<\/a>. American artist Stan Herd, who is from Kansas, created an Algerian flag in the Kansas earth<\/a>, becoming emotional when talking about the reception he has received from fans<\/a>. The mayor of Lawrence held a news conference wearing an Algerian scarf. The band from the University of Kansas learned the Algerian national anthem to play for the team<\/a>. And newfound fans of Algeria from Kansas have been yelling<\/a>, \u201cRock Chalk, Algeria,\u201d a sweet nod to the University of Kansas\u2019 famed slogan, \u201cRock Chalk, Jayhawk.\u201d<\/p>\n As Franklin Leonard, an American film producer, put it<\/a>: \u201cLawrence, Kansas is really doing America proud.\u201d<\/p>\n And he is right. But Kansas is not alone. Boston has been inundated by Scottish fans \u2014 whose team will play its first two matches in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts \u2014 to the point that Sunday night\u2019s Red Sox game could have doubled for a Scottish match in Glasgow<\/a>. Japanese fans have descended on Texas, bringing one of the most touching traditions in all of sports with them<\/a>, along with some hilarious commentary on Texas writ large<\/a>. And our colleague Bailey Johnson<\/b> published this well-told story about how Chattanooga, Tennessee \u2014 and the local Embassy Suites \u2014 have embraced the front-runner Spanish national team<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Chattanooga, they are our big fish, right?\u201d said Lori Jenkins, regional sales and marketing director for Vision Hospitality Group, which operates the Embassy Suites. \u201cNot just a fish in the pond. They are our pond.\u201d<\/p>\n So why does this all matter?<\/p>\n Because it is a good reminder for those who choose to travel here \u2014 and for Americans themselves \u2014 of what the country is at its core: an entirely complex, sometimes weird, oftentimes over-the-top welcoming place where many Americans are eager to embrace the people who choose to visit them.<\/p>\n That is at the heart of this outpouring. The people of Kansas have said it plainly \u2014 they are flattered that Algeria picked them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to make them authentically welcome,\u201d said Brad Finkeldei, the mayor. \u201cThey are very excited about their team,\u201d he said of the fans<\/a>, \u201cand we are very excited to have them in Lawrence with us.\u201d<\/p>\n So, as they say in Algeria \u2014 and now in Lawrence, Kansas \u2014 \u201c1, 2, 3, viva l\u2019Algerie.\u201d<\/p>\n Voters head to the polls in a series of states today, but the most compelling races may be in Georgia<\/a>, where Republicans will pick candidates in a key Senate race and their hotly contested governor\u2019s race, and voters of both parties will pick their nominees in a slate of House contests.<\/p>\n Our colleague, Praveena Somasundaram<\/b>, has a great walk-up on all these races<\/a>, but the most compelling appears to be the Senate contest. Trump endorsed Rep. Mike Collins<\/b>, a MAGA loyalist, on Sunday. The late-in-the-game backing highlights Collins\u2019s front-runner status in the race and follows past Trump moves to get behind a winner, even at the last minute. Collins is facing Derek Dooley<\/b>, a former football coach recruited by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp<\/b>, in the runoff. The winner will face incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff<\/b> (D).<\/p> Read more Elijah Just\u2019s 2-goal World Cup breakthrough lifts New Zealand to gritty draw with Iran<\/a><\/p>\n The governor\u2019s race is equally interesting, with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones<\/b>, a former state senator, running against billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson<\/b>.<\/p>\n This race is one place where Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp<\/b> (R-Georgia) are in line \u2014 both have endorsed Jones, who is widely seen as the favorite.<\/p>\n These races will tell us less about the state of the Republican Party \u2014 Trump\u2019s endorsement at the last minute will likely play little role because Collins has been the front-runner in the contest for weeks.<\/p>\n But it will set up some contests that will be watched closely in November. Ossoff\u2019s race, whether against Collins or Dooley, represents Republicans\u2019 best chance to knock off a Democratic incumbent. And the governor\u2019s race will test whether a good atmosphere for Democrats will trickle down to the state level.<\/p>\n Bangor Daily News<\/b>: We have documented \u2014 repeatedly \u2014 how the Maine Senate race is going to be critical. But new analysis finds the race could cost upwards of $400 million<\/a>, a staggering figure for such a small state.<\/p>\n LAist<\/b>: What is low income? This report reminds us not everywhere is created equal. In Orange County, for example, $104,000 qualifies as low income<\/a>, vastly more than most of the country.<\/p>\n Texas Tribune<\/b>: Some who live in West Texas have lived on the same land for generations, proud of the vast tracts they have managed for years. New letters from the government seeking access to land for a border wall have landowners worried and angry<\/a>, fearing a change in the lives they have long enjoyed.<\/p>\n We asked for your advice on fixing Congress \u2014 a difficult task, we know \u2014 but you provided some interesting ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress has become polarized, distant from constituents, not reflective of popular opinion, and heavily influenced by big money. A solution would have to address these issues,\u201d wrote Victor Thuronyi<\/b>, proposing doubling the size of Congress to make it more closely linked to voters, requiring all redistricting to be done by nonpartisan commissions, and giving people a $200 tax credit to vote.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress is failing the American people. Elected representatives seem unable to visualize legislation that will benefit all of the people \u2014 settling instead into divisive lanes bent on satisfying a favored few constituencies,\u201d added Patricia Rennau<\/b>. \u201cWe have lost the art of listening, listening to understand, respect, negotiation, and compromise that seeks resolutions, building consensus, and reflecting all concerns. And increasingly, re-election ambitions dominate the legislative process.\u201d<\/p>\n And Larry Markel<\/b>, a reader in Knoxville, sent a joke (we think): \u201cTo fix Congress, the answer is term limits. Two terms. One term in Congress. One term in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n Markel added: \u201cRealistically, however, getting the Citizens United-based money out of politics would help. Contributions from individuals, not corporations, with limited maximum amounts.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan here: I love dad jokes \u2014 unabashedly. So this headline really stuck out: Science suggests cringeworthy dad jokes may serve a real purpose<\/a>. Research, our colleague Lindsey Bever <\/b>found, reveals the jokes serve \u201ca meaningful role in parenting, and shared laughter may help strengthen father-child bonds.\u201d So this is a two-part question: Send us your best dad joke. You don\u2019t have to be a dad or a parent \u2014 but make them punny. And second, what do you think of that research finding? Does laughter help with parenting or relationships in general? How so? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica<\/a> and @matthewichoi<\/a>.<\/p>