Christian Horner sacked by Red Bull after 20 years as principal at F1 team

  • Laurent Mekies appointed as Horner’s replacement

  • Red Bull have had turbulent time on and off track

Christian Horner has been sacked as Red Bull’s team principal with immediate effect. Horner, who has been in charge of Red Bull since the team was formed in 2005, will be replaced by the principal of sister team Racing Bulls, Laurent Mekies.

Horner’s surprise removal as principal and chief executive of Red Bull Racing was confirmed in a statement from Red Bull’s parent company on Wednesday morning and comes just over 17 months since Horner was embroiled in a scandal involving accusations of inappropriate behaviour by an employee, though he was later cleared by an investigation.

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Poor mental health is driving young people out of their jobs. My own journey showed me how to help | Fran Boait

We need to confront the social conditions that impact them – and the toxic workplaces they’re trying to push back against

Last month, new figures showed that one in four young people in England have a mental health condition. An unwillingness to examine the challenging social and economic conditions – from housing insecurity to financial concerns – means there can be a tendency to explain this rise as a result of overdiagnosis, although there is little evidence for this claim. Clinicians cite the criteria for diagnosis to show that overreporting is not substantiated – if anything, the severity of reported conditions has increased, in part due to a reduced stigma resulting in more people seeking help.

Young people with poor mental health are nearly five times more likely to be out of work, and there is a growing understanding that inadequate support around young people’s mental health in the workplace is driving them to leave or consider leaving their job. In response, the government has proposed cuts to under-22s’ health support.

Fran Boait is a leadership coach, freelancer and writer

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Continue ReadingPoor mental health is driving young people out of their jobs. My own journey showed me how to help | Fran Boait

State of Origin 2025 Game 3 live: NSW Blues v Qld Maroons – latest updates

  • Updates from the series decider at Accor Stadium

  • Kick-off time in Sydney is 8.05pm

  • Any thoughts? Get in touch on email

Shout out to @randostatsguy on Twitter for these nuggets of Origin trivia.

Nathan Cleary has done just about everything in rugby league, but he is 0/3 in Origin game 3 and 0/2 in game 3 deciders.

Josh Papali’i by contrast is 7/8 in game 3.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is the first player in Origin history to be named in three different starting positions in the same series: centre > wing > fullback.

NSW have lost four of their last five matches with Cleary & Luai lining up in the halves.

This is the first decider at Homebush since 2019, when a last-minute James Tedesco try won the shield for the Blues. But that was only the second NSW victory across five deciders at the Olympic Stadium, a record that undermines the assumed benefit of home crowd support.

So too does last year’s game three at Queensland’s Lang Park home, which was evenly poised midway through the second half before Bradman Best and Mitchell Moses scored the tries to win the shield for the travelling Blues.

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Continue ReadingState of Origin 2025 Game 3 live: NSW Blues v Qld Maroons – latest updates

The end has no end: The Old Guard 2 and the curse of the cliffhanger ending

The sequel to the Netflix hit leaves viewers hanging with a tease for an unconfirmed sequel, highlighting a problem with the state of Hollywood

  • Spoilers ahead

They must think they’re making The Empire Strikes Back – or at least Avengers: Infinity War. That’s the simplest explanation of how a movie like The Old Guard 2, a sequel to a generally well-liked Netflix action movie released in 2020, can be released five years after its predecessor without including the courtesy of an actual ending.

Now, technically speaking, especially by the cliffhanging standards established by Star Wars and Marvel, The Old Guard 2 does have an ending (which will be spoiled in short order for clarity’s sake, so don’t read on if you haven’t seen it and want to experience a more organic disappointment). Andy (Charlize Theron), a centuries-old warrior who has lost and subsequently regained her healing powers of near-immortality, fights her enemy Discord (Uma Thurman) to a draw – which allows Discord to escape with the other members of Andy’s immortal team, so she may steal their healing powers. This seems to set up a final rescue/confrontation for the final 30 minutes of the film. Instead, Andy and her once-estranged bestie Quỳnh (Veronica Ngô) resolve to save their comrades. As they enthusiastically run off to do so, the movie ends.

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Continue ReadingThe end has no end: The Old Guard 2 and the curse of the cliffhanger ending

ACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions: tour match – live

Is this the Lions Test XV? It looks like it.

Maro Itoje is back to skipper and partners Ireland’s Joe McCarthy in the second row. The half-backs are the pair we all expect to start against the Wallabies and Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn, fresh from a Top 14 triumph, slots in at fullback. It’s also an all-Ireland midfield combination

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Continue ReadingACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions: tour match – live

Minister rejects claims UK not doing enough to deter small boat crossings ahead of Starmer-Macron talks – UK politics live

UK prime minister to face Kemi Badenoch in the Commons before talks with french president

In the Commons Mark Wild, the HS2 chief executive, is giving evidence to the transport committee. He said the physical structures for the line should have been “largely completed” by now under the project’s initial timeline. But only 60% were ready, he said.

The construction of the civil engineering should have been largely completed by now. The reality is we’re about 60% complete.

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Continue ReadingMinister rejects claims UK not doing enough to deter small boat crossings ahead of Starmer-Macron talks – UK politics live