Street vendors and market stalls begin to pack up by mid-afternoon on Saturday. In the narrow streets there is the smell of roast lamb and on the terraces locals from the neighborhood, retired laborers, and third-generation immigrants mix with groups of young people with a hipster look wearing expensive clothes and drinking IPA beers. Saint-Ouen marks the first boundary between that Haussmannian Paris, already unaffordable for many family budgets, and its famous banlieue, until recently known for youth unrest, episodes of jihadist terrorism, and large concrete apartment blocks. But it is also the product of investment from the Olympic Games, a symbol of the gentrification of the Paris periphery and the home of the city’s oldest and most charismatic soccer club: Red Star.

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The United States professional baseball league (MLB) was suspended for three months between May and July 2020, at the worst point of the pandemic. When it finally resumed, it did so behind closed doors or with very restricted access. For the first time in many years, stars of the sport such as Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers had to celebrate their victories in front of empty stands.

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