Watch the best moments from the Welsh regions during Round Two of the 2025-26 United Rugby Championship, which saw the cancellation of Scarlets’ game at Connacht as a result of bad weather.
Read more: Five things Welsh second round URC action taught us.
In a match in which a swarm of flies caused a contentious run-out and play had to be stopped in Colombo, India continued their 100 percent start to the Women’s World Cup with an easy 88-run victory over rivals Pakistan.
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup: India vs. Pakistan Match Report
The move, according to Lando Norris, “anyone on the grid” would have caused the Briton and his McLaren team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri to rekindle the feud.
After colliding with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull ahead of him, Norris slid into Piastri at Marina Bay’s third corner to avoid side-turns.
The incident threatens to derail the harmony that McLaren, through careful, thoughtful and open management, have so far managed to maintain between the two drivers.
Prior to the race, Norris had led Piastri by 25 points, but he only lost that lead when he placed third behind George Russell’s Mercedes and Verstappen, with Piastri trailing only in fourth place.
The Briton argued that moving past Piastri was in no way wrong.
“Anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as I did”, he said. You shouldn’t be in Formula 1 if you don’t blame me for just putting my car in a big gap, then.
I don’t believe I harmed in any way. Of course, I misjudged a little bit how close I was to Max, but that’s racing.
“Nothing happened otherwise, and I’m sure I still would have gotten ahead of Oscar anyway because he would have had access to the track’s dirty side on the outside.
“So, of course, I need to go over it and see if there was anything I could have done differently.
“The last thing I want is to make contact with my team-mate, especially because all I get is questions from you guys.
“I am the one who can’t afford anything in the same way as he does.” If something like that occurs, I would also put myself at risk. But the FIA obviously thought it was fine, and the team did, too. That’s it, then.
Piastri was unsatisfied with the incident. He said over the team radio that the team’s decision to do nothing about it was” not fair”.
He said he needed to watch the incident before making any further comments after the race and that he needed to be more circumspect.
He said, “The two cars coming together are the main thing.” It’s never what we want, so I’ll go and have a look at it in more detail. “
This year, the Australian has already contributed to at least two contentious situations.
Early in the race, he was the dominant McLaren driver in Hungary, but Norris was given the option to defeat his team-mate, a choice that insiders in rival rival teams have questioned.
And in Italy in September, Piastri was ordered to let Norris back past him for second place after the Briton was delayed by a slow pit stop. Piastri argued that there was a consensus that a slow pit stop was merely a part of racing that needed to be accepted, but he accepted regardless.
He and the team discussed the issue in secret and came to terms with it.
But asked after Sunday’s race in Singapore whether he had any concerns that Norris may be getting preferential treatment, Piastri said:” No. “
Did he believe the entire team had been fair?
In the end, Piastri said, “Yes.” Could things have been better at certain points? Yes, but the entire team is ultimately learning, and if that makes sense, I’m very happy that the intentions are very well-intentioned.
We will have positive reviews, productive conversations, and, like after Canada, we’ll come back stronger and even more united, said team principal Andrea Stella.
Although the team “reviewed the incident right away,” Stella asserted that this contact is actually the result of a separate racing incident that occurred between Lando and Verstappen.
Stella added:” Oscar made some statements while he was in the car but that’s the kind of character that we want to have from our drivers. We ask them to make their position very clear, so we ask.
Our review must be thorough, thorough, and analytical, and it must consider our two drivers’ points of view. We will then come to a consensus on whether to simply confirm our initial conclusion or make a different conclusion.
” Every time we start our conversations with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a premise: ‘ This is hard’.
Because of this, the only thing that separate drivers can’t do is race together as a team because they want to pursue their goals. This is the foundation of our McLaren racing strategy.
The controversy deflected attention from McLaren clinching the constructors ‘ championship for the second year in a row.
McLaren are now 10th in the history books, moving them clear of Ferrari in the standings and past Williams in the standings.
One of the first times a team has won is with them. It equals Red Bull’s feat in winning with six races to go in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with 24 this year.
It is also less recent in percentage terms than McLaren’s 1988 title, which featured Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, and the outstanding McLaren-Honda MP4/4.
However, neither the winner’s car nor the car have exhibited the same level of superiority.
Red Bull won all but one race, and Verstappen all but three, in 2023. McLaren has the best car this year, but Sergio Perez suffered a bad fall after his two early victories that year, making it crucial for two drivers to consistently win.
So far in all 18, Piastri and Norris have won seven races, five of which were won by Piastri. Verstappen has four wins and Russell two.
McLaren’s success is remarkable because it occurred during a season that was meant to be one of the most competitive in a long time.
Ferrari put a lot of pressure on McLaren to win the title last year, so this year’s final race was expected to bring the teams together even more.
McLaren, though, caught them all on the hop with their MCL39 car, which has proved its superiority through devastating cornering speeds particularly in medium-speed turns, which are the most common on the calendar, and the best tyre usage on the grid.
It struggles with heavy braking and traction, and it struggles with over bumps. However, it is also the most effective on average, making it arguably the most attractive car on the grid with its elegant lines, especially when seen from the side or the rear three-quarters.
The key to this, says Stella, was” innovation”. Front and rear suspension designs have extreme levels of anti-lift and anti-dive to ensure a stable aerodynamic platform. in physics. And in cooling – the car has noticeably fewer and smaller vents than others, a key advantage when every extra opening of the bodywork has a cost in aerodynamic efficiency.
Stella stated, “There was a lot of innovation applied to the car from the previous year, and this required quite a bit of bravery at some point in the 2024 season to commit to the amount of changes that we applied for to the car from 2024 to 2025.”
McLaren’s advantage has reduced as the season heads into its final stages. Because Mercedes and Red Bull still have new parts coming to their cars, both of which had new front wings here, the characteristics of the three most recent circuits do not fit its capabilities.
McLaren made the decision because they were seeing declining profits from developing this car, which is typical when a design has such a competitive advantage in the first few seasons, and because they wanted to make sure they were well prepared for the new chassis and engine rules, which could turn F1 on its head.
Norris, though, is well aware of the scale of his team’s achievement, and the remarkable turnaround they have shown under Stella and chief executive officer Zak Brown from just over two years ago, when they started the 2023 season close to the back of the field.
Additionally, there is the budget cap, as well as the fact that as world champions, the rules forbid them from developing aerodynamically as much as any other team.
Another one, according to Norris, is fantastic. “If you look where we were three years ago, we have outdone every team in terms of development in a time when it is harder to do with more restrictions and less wind tunnel time.
The team has done “in a time when it should be more difficult than ever to dominate,” and that is exactly what they have done, giving us by extension the best car on the grid.
“That’s always a very nice thing to say,” It always puts a smile on your face. However, Oscar and I have done a lot of driving for us as a team, pushing each other and providing on weekends. That is unique to no other team.
” I’ve been with McLaren since I started. The time and place were drastically different from what we are now.
“To see the rise we’ve had, to see the changes, the atmosphere difference, and the leadership from Zak and Andrea has turned things around and made us the best team in the world,” says Zak and Andrea, “so that journey makes it more special – to know the downs, because that’s a lot of what it was back then.”
The move, according to Lando Norris, “anyone on the grid” would have caused the Briton and his McLaren team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri to rekindle the feud.
Norris slid into Piastri on the exit of the third corner at Marina Bay after a bump with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull ahead of him slid his car sideways.
The incident threatens to undermine the relationship between McLaren and the drivers, which has so far been maintained by McLaren through careful, thoughtful, and open management.
Prior to the race at Marina Bay, Norris had led Piastri by 25 points, but he only managed three points after coming in third behind George Russell’s Mercedes and Verstappen, with Piastri just in fourth place.
The Briton insisted he had done nothing wrong in getting past Piastri.
He claimed that “anyone on the grid would have done what I did.” You shouldn’t be in F1 if you blame me for taking a big gap.
” I was a little bit too close to Max, but that’s racing. Without his having the dirty track on the outside, I’m sure I would have jumped ahead of Oscar anyway.
“Of course, I need to go over it, and speaking with my team-mate is the last thing I want.” I am the one who can’t afford anything. If something like that came about, I would put myself in danger as well.
“I’ll look, but the FIA obviously thought it was good, and the team did as well,” he said.
Piastri was unhappy about the incident. He claimed over the radio that it was unfair for the team to decide not to take any action.
He said he needed to watch the incident before making any further comments after the race and that he needed to be more circumspect.
” The main thing is the two cars coming together, “he said”. I’ll go look at it in more detail because it never comes our way.
This year, the Australian has already contributed to at least two contentious situations.
In Hungary in August, he was the lead McLaren driver early in the race but Norris was allowed to used a divergent strategy to beat his team-mate, a decision insiders in rival teams have questioned.
After the Briton was delayed by a slow pit stop, Piastri was given the order to let Norris back into second place in Italy in September. Piastri argued that there was a consensus that a slow pit stop was merely a part of racing that needed to be accepted, but he accepted regardless.
Behind the scenes, he was not happy about that situation, and he and the team held talks to resolve it.
When asked about concerns that Norris might be receiving preferential treatment after Sunday’s race in Singapore, Piastri responded, “No.
Did he believe the entire team had been fair?
” Ultimately, yes, “Piastri said”. At some points, could things have improved? Yes, but the entire team is ultimately learning, and if that makes sense, I’m very happy that the intentions are very well-intentioned.
We will have positive reviews, productive conversations, and, like after Canada, we’ll come back stronger and even more united, said team principal Andrea Stella.
Stella said that although the team had reviewed the incident in its immediate aftermath”, this contact is, in reality, a consequence of another racing situation that happened between Lando and Verstappen”.
Oscar made a few statements while he was driving, Stella continued, “We want that kind of character from our drivers.” We ask them to make their position very clear, so we ask.
“Our review needs to be very detailed, very analytical, it needs to take into account the point of view of our two drivers, and then we will form a common opinion based on which we will see whether we can just confirm our initial interpretation or there’s something else that we should conclude.
We constantly remind ourselves, as a premise, that “This is hard” whenever we start talking with the drivers.
Because of this, the only thing that separate drivers can’t do is race together as a team because they want to pursue their goals. This is a foundational principle of the way we were racing at McLaren.
McLaren winning the constructors’ championship for the second year in a row was the focus of the controversy.
McLaren are now 10th in the history books, moving them clear of Ferrari in the standings and past Williams in the standings.
Their victory is one of the earliest times a team has done it. Even though it was a 22-race season, Red Bull still won with six races left in 2023, which is an improvement over Red Bull’s previous record of 24 this year.
It is also less recent in percentage terms than McLaren’s 1988 title, which featured Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, and the outstanding McLaren-Honda MP4/4.
But the car has not had the superiority over the field shown by the winners in either of those years.
Verstappen won all but three of the races in 2023, with Red Bull taking the other three. McLaren had the best car, but it required two drivers to consistently win, while Sergio Perez suffered a bad fallout from his two early victories that year.
Piastri and Norris have won 12 of the 18 races so far, seven for Piastri and five for Norris. Russell won two and Verstappen four.
McLaren’s success is remarkable because it occurred during a season that was meant to be one of the most competitive in a long time.
McLaren’s title last year was won at the final race under severe pressure from Ferrari, and as this is the final year of the current regulations, the teams were expected to converge further.
McLaren, however, outsmarted them with their MCL39 car, which has proven superiority through devastating cornering speeds, particularly in medium-speed turns, which are the most common on the calendar and have the best tyre usage on the grid.
It struggles with heavy braking and traction, and it struggles with over bumps. But it is, as well as being arguably the most beautiful car on the grid with its elegant lines, especially seen from the side or rear three-quarters, also the most effective on average.
According to Stella, innovation was the key to this. Front and rear suspension designs have extreme levels of anti-lift and anti-dive to ensure a stable aerodynamic platform. In aerodynamics. And when it comes to cooling, the car has noticeably fewer and smaller vents than other vehicles, which is advantageous given how aerodynamically efficient each additional opening costs.
Stella stated, “There was a lot of innovation applied to the car from the previous year, and this required quite a bit of bravery at some point in the 2024 season to commit to the amount of changes that we applied for to the car from 2024 to 2025.”
As the season nears its climax, McLaren’s advantage has diminished. Because Mercedes and Red Bull still have new parts coming to their cars, both of which had new front wings here, the characteristics of the three most recent circuits do not fit its capabilities.
That decision by McLaren was rooted in the fact that they were seeing diminishing returns in developing this car, common when a design has such an advantage at the start of a season, and that they wanted to ensure they were well prepared for next year, when new chassis and engine rules could turn F1 on its head.
However, Norris is aware of the magnitude of his team’s accomplishments and the remarkable turnaround Stella and chief executive officer Zak Brown made when they first started the 2023 campaign in the back of the field.
Additionally, there is the budget cap, as well as the fact that as world champions, the rules forbid them from developing aerodynamically as much as any other team.
“Another one is a great thing”, Norris said. In a time when it is harder to do with more restrictions and less wind tunnel time, “if you look where we were three years ago, we have outperformed every team in terms of development.”
The team has done “in a time when it should be more difficult than ever to dominate,” and that is exactly what they have done, giving us by extension the best car on the grid.
“That’s always a very nice thing to say. You’re always greeted with a smile. However, Oscar and I have done a lot of driving for us as a team, pushing each other and providing on weekends. You don’t see that in any other team.
“I’ve worked for McLaren ever since I first started.” The time and place were drastically different from what we are now.
“So that journey makes it more special – to know the downs, because that’s a lot of what it was back then – to see the rise we’ve had, to see the teamwork, the changes, the atmosphere difference, and the leadership from Zak and Andrea especially, has turned things around and made us the best team in the world.
On Sunday night’s finale, Jason Jae and Mensan were expelled from the show, adding to the tension inside the Big Brother Naija Season 10 house.
READ MORE: Isabella and Kaybobo are being kicked out of BBNaija Season 10!
As the curtain slowly draws down on the dramatic finale of the season, only a few housemates are competing for the $11 million grand prize.
Both men, Jason Jae, who won the show’s final Head of House title, and Mensan, who won two times more popular, were praised for their strategic gameplay.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the attack, which occurred in international waters, in a phone call to Yvan Gil’s Venezuelan counterpart on Sunday.
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Following the conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that “the ministers expressed serious concern about Washington’s continuing actions in the Caribbean Sea that have a long-lasting impact on the region.”
In light of the current circumstances, the Russian side has confirmed that it has a “full support and solidarity with Venezuela’s leadership and people.”
In an interview on Sunday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated to Fox News that he had “every authorization needed” to launch military strikes on ships off Venezuelan waters. He declined to provide more information about the permission granted to his office.
Hegseth claimed that the ship was “transporting substantial amounts of narcotics — headed to America to poison our people” in a post on X following the Friday strike.
“These strikes will continue until the American people’s attacks are over,” he declares. “!, he said.
A vessel can be seen moving through the water in a nearly 40-second video of Hegseth’s strike before a web of projectiles deflects its impact onto the boat and the surrounding water, causing the boat to explode on impact.
He claimed that the intelligence “without a doubt” established that the crew was “narco-terrorists” and that the vessel was carrying drugs. He made no disclosures about the quantity or type of alleged drugs aboard, and he made no mention of any supporting evidence to back up his claim that the strike’s targets were drug smugglers.
At least four such attacks in the United States have been carried out, leaving at least 21 people dead, since the most recent strike.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump notified Congress that his administration had determined that US drug cartel members were “unlawful combatants” who were also engaged in “non-international armed conflict.”
Trump claimed that the US military’s expansion in the Caribbean had put an end to drug trafficking in South America on Sunday. No drugs enter the water, they say. And we’ll examine phase two, he said, without giving more information about his plans.
Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, has claimed on numerous occasions that the US intends to oust him from power. When Venezuelan Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino criticised an “illegal incursion” by US aircraft close to its borders on Thursday, the nation claimed that US attacks were “a vulgarity, a provocation, a threat to the security of the nation.”
The legal justification for the strikes has been made by Washington using the US Constitution, war powers, the designation of drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” the right to self-defense, and international law on unlawful combatants.