After taking a part-time position with Red Bull, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend will provide advice to Newcastle regarding strategy and philosophy.
The 52-year-old last signed a contract extension last month that will keep him with Scotland until the 2027 World Cup in Australia is over.
He will work non-executively for Red Bull for 30 days a year on the company’s global rugby strategy. The only rugby team in their portfolio is Newcastle.
Townsend, who has been in charge of Scotland since 2017, had been linked with a move to Newcastle as rugby director prior to signing his contract in September.
Townsend’s 30-day shift will be spent entirely outside of all international window, so the union is confident that the additional role won’t distract him from his intended purpose.
Additionally, safeguards have been put in place to prevent Townsend’s work with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors from being in conflict of interest.
A representative for Scottish Rugby claimed that the decision was made “with Scottish Rugby’s full knowledge and support.”
They continued, “This is a fantastic opportunity for Gregor to work for one of the biggest sporting organizations in the world.”
We believe that Scottish Rugby will benefit from having high-level strategic conversations with a force at the highest level.
We see Gregor’s new position working alongside his full commitment to his position as Scotland’s head coach.
The Red Bull stable includes Newcastle, the first rugby union organization.
Football, motor racing, and winter sports are already closely allied with the Austria-based business.
Newcastle opened the new campaign with a home defeat to Saracens, finishing 10th in the Premiership last year.
“Scottish takeover of Newcastle” – analysis
The communications department for Scottish Rugby takes pains to point out that Townsend’s deal on rugby strategy is with the world-renowned brand, rather than the one rugby team that Red Bulls of Newcastle actually owns.
There was a lot of dancing on the head of a pin from some at Murrayfield, perhaps as a result of a fear of breaking conflict of interest laws.
Whom does Townsend consult on rugby strategy, philosophy, and culture if he has no involvement with Red Bull’s rugby team in the Premiership?
Although these issues are unrelated, Red Bulls of Newcastle did release more information on Wednesday.
Some fans have already referred to it as a Scottish takeover. These new additions must be a series of coincidences if Townsend isn’t advising the rugby club.
There is a tinge of hope within Murrayfield that working relationships with a sizable company like Red Bull will benefit both Townsend and the SRU.
Without any funding, the SRU could build Glasgow and Edinburgh a much-needed third professional team. They only have the resources to engage with their younger players, who need to play more games.
Although there is no direct business relationship between the SRU and the Red Bulls, it might be possible to loan out young, underdeveloped Scots to this ambitious new club and give them more game time than they might at home.
Although there hasn’t been any discussion of this kind, and perhaps not, Townsend’s entry into the Red Bull world could benefit both him and the SRU in general.
Poland’s Blaszki, a villager in central Poland, was filled with trembling as the 44-year-old mother of three sat in the bathroom of a crumbling country house.
Her heart beat beating, and her breath was shallow. Five of her Colombian coworkers and a man from the agency she was employed had waved a gun at her moments earlier. It was August 2023.
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When a man reaches for his gun in my country, Mexico, because he wants to use it, she told Al Jazeera. “I believed I would die there, that my body would be thrown into the cornfields, and that I would never see my children again,” he said.
The agency representative first reported that due to staff shortages, the Plukon chicken processing plant’s shifts would be extended to 12 hours. The group had declined and demanded money from them. Following a heated discussion, The man then made a gun grab.
The shooter was a Ukrainian, according to Al Jazeera after reviewing the video of Flores’ ordeal that one of the workers had taken. The man then worked for a contractor who collaborated with Jober24, a temporary staffing agency that provided Plukon.
The man in question enters his car and pulls a gun in the video after a physical fight with one of the Colombian workers. He threatens to call the authorities while cursing the migrants in Polish.
He claims, “If the police come, you will get the f*** out of the country.” Undocumented were four of the group’s members.
Before 2022, Polish factories, farms, and food plants were run by Ukrainians with temporary permits. However, Ukrainian refugees have had better employment opportunities since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Temporary work organizations began hiring from other places in search of cheap labor.
Latin America replaced it with new information. While already in Poland, citizens of Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and other regions of the region can enter without obtaining a visa, stay for three months, and apply for work permits.
This changed when a new law was passed in Poland in June 2025. Migrants must now submit an application for work permits in their home nations. Temporary work organizations, which used to frequently violate employment and tax laws, are now more overregulated. Additionally, penalties for violating the law have increased.
Despite the changes, it’s still not clear whether migrant workers’ conditions will improve.
Poland appears to offer a better life for Colombians who have experienced inflation, unemployment, and Venezuelan migration back home.
Local agencies that organize travel frequently begin the hiring process. Then, Polish partners are given the jobs they are offered.
People are frequently lied to right away, according to La Strada’s CEO, Irena Dawid-Olczyk. Some organizations provide them with loan funds for the ticket. They are subject to exploitative circumstances because of that debt. It resembles bonded labor.
In 2022, Poland issued just over 4, 000 work permits to Colombians, according to official data. By 2024, the number had soared to nearly 38, 000. However, many organizations do not submit work permits applications on behalf of migrants, leaving them at the mercy of employers. How many Colombians in Poland do not have legal status.
Migrants from Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Central Asia are also in danger, according to Dawid-Olczyk. However, “many don’t have enough confidence in the authorities to report abuses.”
Flores and her coworkers returned their video recordings to the neighborhood police station after the incident. Officers identified the man as a Georgian national and claimed the gun was a toy, but she claimed he was a Georgian national. Instead of pressing charges, they allegedly encouraged the migrants to reach agreement with him.
Because no one from the group had filed a formal complaint, the police told Al Jazeera that they would not pursue the case. The Plukon plant claimed in a statement to Al Jazeera that neither Jober24 nor their company were directly involved with the man who carried the gun.
Flores and the others who work for an outsourcing company eventually received their wages of 17 zlotys ($5) per hour, less than the state’s current minimum wage of 21 zloty ($6). According to Plukon, they consistently paid their employees’ wages in accordance with Polish law in their statement.
Flores had arrived in Poland to escape Mexico’s violence and poverty and live a peaceful life. When she settles down, her two daughters and son, who live with her parents, will live with her.
Poland’s economy will depend on it, according to the statement.
TikTok feeds images of Poland’s medieval castles, dense forests, and cobbled old towns to Colombians. Latin Americans can live a better life, travel, and earn well in the country, according to influential people.
People often claim that my cousin makes $6,000 [$1,650] and is traveling and dating a blonde woman. Freddy Abadia, 30, a worker for NOMADA, a Wroclaw-based organization supporting migrants, said, “It’s a dream they sell.”
They don’t mention that many agencies never apply for your work permit or that you’ll work 270 hours a month in stressful jobs.
Abadia has firsthand knowledge.
Freddy Abadia poses with a card displaying the logo of the Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska/Al Jazeera Latin American Workers’ Union, which he founded with the support of local organizations.
OESAS, a Colombian company that offered him 4, 000 zloty ($1, 100) per month for a warehouse job in Poland, hired him in 2021. Instead, he earned 1, 600 ($440) under harsh conditions. He described the situation as exploitation to La Strada.
The years that followed were turbulent. He also interned at other temporary jobs, spent time with the homeless, and earned a master’s degree there. However, his background as a social worker in Colombia and his previous experiences have helped him understand the systemic problems that migrants in Poland face.
He supports migrant workers at NOMADA and has assisted in the formation of the Latin American Workers’ Union in partnership with the local trade union The Workers’ Initiative.
Abadia was at the other end of the desperate need for assistance in August of 2023. After being threatened with a gun, five Colombians and a Mexican woman, Flores, had just fled a chicken plant. They had access to a car, but they were stuck. Some of the employees’ agencies’ careless led to undocumentation.
Abadia advised them to travel to Wroclaw, where NOMADA helped them find employment and provided lodging.
In Poland, there is a growing labor demand. The Polish Institute of Economy predicts that the country’s workforce will decline by 2.1 million by 2035 as a result of demographic decline, or 12.6 percent of the country’s current supply.
For Poland to maintain its economy, said Katarzyna Debkowska of the institute. The number of foreigners entering the Polish labor market increased by one-third between 2022 and 2024 alone.
Without adequate protections, workers are in precarious positions because of this reliance on migration.
Because we are not citizens, Flores said, “Unfortunately, we cannot have the same kind of unions as in Latin America.” However, we can still inform those who consider coming here, warn them about the dangers, and share the truth with them.
Flores is happier two years after her arrival. She has a stable job, and she has written a “survival guide” for Polish citizens with practical guidance and information on employment rights together with NOMADA.
In a candid podcast conversation, Love Island winner Dani Dyer revealed how being forced to leave Strictly Come Dancing was “really testing my mental health.”
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When forced to resign Strictly, Dani Dyer describes the “pure devastation” she experienced.
Dani Dyer has opened up about the “pure devastation” of fracturing her ankle and being forced to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing. The Love Island winner revealed how the horrible turn of events was “really testing” her mental health.
Dani emotionally recalled the moment she realized her Strictly journey was over when she spoke on her podcast Live and Let Dyers. The doctor told me, “If I keep dancing on this foot, it won’t heal; it will only get worse and worse.”
“It’s so hard because I was just having the best time of my life. I was so happy, I was so excited. The photoshoots, they’re the fun part, but I got my partner, I got Nikita,” she revealed.
Dani, 29, fractured her ankle in a rehearsal after the launch show, so she and partner Nikita Kuzmin were both affected when she had to pull out. “We were all just so devastated about it, and I think because everyone was so devastated about it, it made it really hard for me, do you know what I mean?”
She continued, “Everyone around me was pure devastation, and that’s why I couldn’t leave the house, because I knew I’d just cry if someone said to me, “are you okay Dani? “. And everyone is so generous and lovely, making crying in the street a thing. But it’s been really challenging for me to maintain my mental health.
The podcast is co-hosted by Dani’s father, Danny Dyer. He offered her some advice. “What you’ve got to do is, which you have, is pull up them big girl knickers, and we f****** get on with it, because up to this point it’s been an incredible year. You’ve done some amazing stuff.” Dani’s “incredible year” has included getting married to West Ham footballer Jarrod Bowen in May.
We’ve actually bonded over this injury because Jarrod can understand it, Daniel revealed. He really wants my foot to heal in the right way by sending me for scans and your feet.
If it does, Dani might work for Strictly again the following year. Jamie Laing was able to join the cast for the upcoming series when he had to miss the live performance due to injury. This is something that Daniel wants, she has said.
“I’d really like to return.” I’d really like to return. My door is open, but it’s a year away, so listen up. I’ll walk through someone’s door if they want it to be open because my door is open.
In the meantime, Nikita has been partnered with another Love Island winner, Amber Davies. With only 24 hours to rehearse, Amber and Nikita pulled together a waltz that scored 27 and put them third on the leaderboard.
Amber joining the lineup sparked some controversy because she has performed in musicals like The Great Gatsby and The Great Gatsby on the West End. Fans are concerned that this will make it harder for other celebs to reach the final along with Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope, who previously competed in hip-hop competitions.
Live And Let Dyers is available to listen to now on Global Player, or wherever you get your podcasts
After an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck off the coast of Cebu Island, rescuers in the Philippines are searching for survivors and retrieving bodies. As emergency personnel dig through rubble and witness bodies of debris, drone footage shows collapsed buildings and victims of collapsed buildings.
