Francis Pike

When news broke that Manchester City had been found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations, ex-Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand posted sarcastically on X, ‘Another Premier League medal to be added to the cabinet’ For a man like Ferdinand, who won six Premier League champions medals, one more may not make a big difference. Other players who have been on the losing side to Manchester City and have never won a major title will be less sanguine. Players who have been on the losing side to Manchester City and have never won a major title will be less sanguine Claims for compensation and re-awarding of titles and medals will be loud and persistent.

Almost all media commentators seem convinced that Donald Trump’s foreign policy in his second term is a disaster. He is bogged down in Iran, snookered in Ukraine, his tariff agenda has failed and he has alienated his NATO allies. But this consensus has been too hastily formed. Looking at the bigger global picture, Trump’s foreign policy has been a spectacular success. Take the western hemisphere. We have the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” the updated version of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine.

Pakistan was always an unlikely mediator for peace negotiations between the United States, Iran and sotto voce, China. It would not be an exaggeration to describe Pakistan as a failed state. Having outperformed India economically in the aftermath of partition, Pakistan went into steep decline after the arrival on the political scene of a corrupt chancer, socialist and demagogue, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Today, bankrupt Pakistan is kept afloat by loans from the IMF, China, and the Gulf States. Trump can be in no doubt that, with regards to political power in Pakistan, it is Munir who wears the trousers Bhutto’s political dynasty continued under the aegis of his daughter Benazir and later his grandson.

A former heavy metal drummer and biker is not someone the world would expect to become a prime minister of Japan. Particularly if that someone is a woman. But that is what is likely to happen tomorrow. Last month, 64-year-old Sanae Takaichi became the first female head of the Liberal Democrat Party – the party that has ruled Japan for all but 4 of the last 70 years – and soon she will be Japan’s first female prime minister too. On Monday, Takaichi signed off on a coalition pact with the right-leaning libertarian Japan Innovation Party (Ishin). They have replaced the Komeito, the socially conservative party that is affiliated with Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist organisation founded in 1930 which is dedicated to the teachings of the 13th century priest Nichiren.

This weekend, Formula One returns to where it all started 75 years ago: Silverstone. But although the first F1 Grand Prix took place in the UK, the sport was initially dominated by Italian cars and Latin drivers, rather than Brits. Dottore Giuseppe Farina, a lawyer turned racing driver, won that first F1 race in front of King George VI. Driving an Alfa Romeo 158, Farina went on the win the championship. For the next seven years, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati swept all before them. Did British dominance of F1 come only from European teams’ exit from the sport? It was in this era that the legend of Enzo Ferrari and his team – the only one to participate in every F1 championship since inception – was established.