Japan‘s prime minister is a heavy metal music fan. She loves motorcycles and playing the drums, including with visiting dignitaries. She thrilled a nation that often fetishizes company loyalty by declaring that her secret for success as leader would be “ work, work, work, work, work. ”
This charismatic combination, along with an image that is both tough and playful, has made Sanae Takaichi very popular, something exceedingly unusual for recent prime ministers in Japan, where her political party, which has led Japan for most of the last seven decades, has struggled mightily.
In stark contrast to the long line of often elderly men who’ve run Japan over the decades, Takaichi’s popularity is rooted in her support by younger people. They affectionately use her nickname, “Sana,” closely follow her fashion, her choice of stationery and her favorite food — steamed pork buns. Polls show her Liberal Democratic Party, despite deep-rooted problems, is now poised to make big gains in Sunday’s vote in the lower house of Parliament, thanks to Takaichi.
This would allow her to take the country in the direction of her hawkish, deeply conservative mentor, the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and beyond.
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The Associated Press takes a look at the first woman to lead Japan as prime minister.
She worked her way up from the middle class
Born in Nara, Japan’s ancient capital, Takaichi was raised by conservative parents who taught her prewar moral values. Her mother was a police officer and her father worked at a machinery maker.
As a child, she enjoyed listening to her parents recite an 1890 imperial document that praises paternalistic family values and loyalty to the government, Takaichi said in 2012.
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Though she was admitted to prestigious Tokyo schools, her parents made her attend Kobe University while living at home, something that was normal then for unmarried daughters of conservative families.
She was briefly an intern for a U.S. Democratic lawmaker in Denver in the late 1980s and, after returning to Japan, worked as a television personality, an author and a critic.
She’s known for her straight talk
Takaichi is unique because she both speaks her mind and is seen as easygoing, said Izuru Makihara, a University of Tokyo politics expert.
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“Takaichi is highly regarded, especially by women and younger generations who strongly feel stuck and hopeless,” he said.
She was elected prime minister by Parliament in October, and her first weeks were marked by a hawkish comment on a possible Chinese military action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory, that angered China by deviating from past strategic ambiguity.
She struggled in male-dominated politics, but is not a feminist
She was first elected to Parliament in 1993 after defying her parents’ opposition. Some voters insulted her as “a little girl,” she said in 2023, recalling that first campaign as a 32-year-old.
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“In those days, women who were not considered old enough were unwelcome,” she said. She also faced groundless allegations of being a mistress of a senior politician, and criticism — often from women — for wearing heels, flashy jewelry and short skirts.
“I am who I am,” Takaichi said. “The only way to prove myself is with the work I do.”
She supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage as well as amending the 19th-century law requiring married couples to have the same surname, under which most women are pressured into abandoning theirs.
Feminists are not happy and say Takaichi’s leadership is a setback for Japanese gender equality.
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But Riho Shimogomi, a 43-year-old office worker, said that when she looks at Takaichi’s policies, “her being a woman doesn’t matter. … I think she has strong leadership skills and charisma.”
Following Abe’s policies while pushing even further to the right
As Abe’s protégé, Takaichi has echoed his nationalistic views, defending Japanese wartime actions, pushing for greater military capability and spending, as well as more patriotic education, and the promotion of traditional family values.
She rose quickly through the ranks during Abe’s leadership and was given ministerial and party posts.
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After Abe stepped down and backed her as “the star of the conservatives,” Takaichi ran for the LDP leadership race twice, in 2021 and 2024, both unsuccessfully, before finally winning the top job in October, replacing Abe’s rival — centrist Shigeru Ishiba.
Takaichi has reappointed some of Abe’s top advisers as lieutenants and is expected to push Japan even further to the right on security, gender and immigration if she makes gains in Sunday’s election.
A workaholic who’d rather be in the office than socializing
Takaichi has admitted she doesn’t like drinking parties and would much rather study at home, though she tried to socialize more to build connections with colleagues after her two unsuccessful leadership bids.
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After being elected as LDP leader, Takaichi asked her party members to “work like a horse” and said she would forget her “work-life balance” and “work, work, work, work and work.” These phrases became buzzwords, but some found them uncomfortable in a country known for long hours and overwork.
Analyzing her daily schedule during her first three months in office, the Kyodo News Agency reported last month that she was largely “holed up” in the official residence or her office. She had no dinner appointments with political or business leaders in the first month in office, the Mainichi newspaper said.
Strict but lighthearted
Her strictness can be linked to her mother. One time when Takaichi returned to Nara and complained about being tired because of her work, her mother slapped her in the face, she said, scolding her for griping about a path she’d chosen for herself.
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At her mother’s funeral in 2018, Takaichi said her mother slapped her even after she was appointed a government minister, according to Nobumitsu Nagai, a local television executive who described Takaichi’s funeral speech as “not formal and filled with affection for her mother. … I felt she has inherited that strictness.”
But there’s also a playful side.
Years earlier when Takaichi found out that they attended the same elementary school in Nara, she asked Nagai if he remembered the school song, and they sang it together.
“While she gives out a strong impression of being right wing and a hawk, I realized she also has a (playful) side like that,” he said.
To coincide with the release of Raye’s new single Nightingale Lane, a commemorative British Heritage plaque appeared outside a pub in South London.
“Raye experienced the greatest heartbreak she has ever known here,” the plaque, outside The Nightingale pub in Tooting, reads, in a nod to Nightingale Lane’s opening line.
On Sunday night, the chart-topping singer opened up about the meaning behind the plaque – and it is actually a lot pettier than it might have first appeared.
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Posting on TikTok, Raye revealed that she and her team had “put a nice plaque on my ex’s fave pub so he’ll never forget”, while posing outside the venue clutching a pint.
“My dramatic era,” she joked in the accompanying caption.
Popping up in the comments, Raye’s sister, fellow singer Absolutely, joked: “Being the ex of a songwriter is not for the weak. Never mind the world’s best songwriter.”
The five-minute ballad Nightingale Lane was released at the end of February, serving as the second single from Raye’s upcoming second album, This Music May Contain Hope.
This Music May Contain Hope arrives on 27 March, with Raye returning to the UK for two more shows at The O2 Arena in her hometown of London at the end of May.
Two people have been taken to hospital after a fight broke out at a Cambridgeshire village pub. Cambridgeshire Police were called to a pub in Stilton at around 8pm on Sunday, March 8.
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A number of people were involved in the fight. Four people were injured during the incident.
Two people sustained “serious injuries”. They were taken to hospital by ambulance.
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “Police were called shortly after 8pm last night to a report of a pub fight in Stilton.
“A number of people were involved and four people were injured of which two sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital by ambulance.
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“No-one has currently been arrested.”
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The iPhone 17e has the same single rear camera as the iPhone 16e and the iPhone Air, but it’s a great snapper with excellent results in all lighting conditions.
Low-light images were sharp, while images under preferred lighting conditions delivered plenty of detail and excellent colour accuracy. From the single sensor, you can get an equivalent 2x zoom, too, and while it’s not the 8x zoom of the iPhone 17 Pro, it’s great for close-ups of your pets.
The iPhone 17e also includes what Apple calls ‘next generation portraits’, and that applies to both the front and rear cameras. This feature allows you to adjust both focus and depth control after you’ve taken a shot, so if you want to add background blur to a picture of your dog after the fact, you can, and it works well.
The one complaint I do have, however, is that the iPhone 17e lacks Apple’s new ‘Centre Stage’ front camera that launched on the other iPhone 17 models. It’s an 18-megapixel square sensor that allows you to switch between portrait and landscape selfies without rotating the phone, but the iPhone 17e retains the same 12-megapixel front camera as the iPhone 16e.
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It still takes a decent image, and if Apple added all the good stuff to this entry-level model, it would make the iPhone 17 redundant, but it’s still a shame not to see it here.
I’ve compared the iPhone 17e to the iPhone 17 to help you see what you get for the extra £200 in terms of specifications. Here is how the two compare, on paper.
Nigel Farage has acquired a significant stake in a bitcoin reserve business helmed by Liz Truss’s former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
The Reform UK leader has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC, participating in an equity fundraising that also involved Blockchain.com. Mr Farage secured 4.3 million shares through his investment vehicle Thorn In The Side Ltd at a price of 5p per share, giving him 6.3 per cent ownership. The company confirmed that the total investment from this fundraising was £260,000.
Mr Farage said of the investment: “I have long been one of the UK’s few political advocates for bitcoin, recognising the role digital currencies will play in the future of business and finance.
“London and the UK has historically been the centre of the world’s financial markets, and I believe that we can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry.”
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Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is executive chairman of Stack (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Labour questioned why Mr Farage was investing his money with the “architect of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini Budget”.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage hailed Liz Truss’s disastrous economy-crashing mini-Budget as the ‘best Conservative budget since 1986’. Now the Reform leader is pouring hundreds of thousands of pounds into the business of the architect of that chaos. What a total slap in the face for families still footing massive mortgages. Farage proves time and time again that he simply isn’t on the side of working people.”
Questions have been raised over Mr Farage and Reform’s relationship with cryptocurrency after two donations worth £12m were made to the party by the Thailand-based crypto entrepreneur Christopher Harborne.
Stack is not the first crypto investment made by Mr Farage, having previously invested in Tether.
Stack, a London-based firm listed on the UK challenger stock exchange Aquis, operates by building a portfolio of companies and channelling their surplus cash into bitcoin. Its core objective is to establish a substantial bitcoin treasury through continuous accumulation of the digital currency.
The venture is chaired by Mr Kwarteng, most widely recognised for his brief 38-day tenure as chancellor in 2022, during which he co-authored the controversial mini-budget with Ms Truss.
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The pound fell to a 37-year low after Mr Kwarteng announced the biggest tranche of tax cuts for half a century, to be funded by more than £70 billion of increased borrowing. He also served as Conservative MP for Spelthorne, Surrey, until 2024.
Mr Kwarteng, who controls a 5.4 per cent stake in Stack together with his wife, Harriet, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Nigel Farage and Blockchain.com become strategic investors in Stack. Nigel’s unwavering support for British business and belief that Bitcoin is set to rapidly expand its role in finance is perfectly aligned with the company’s ethos and business plans.”
Mr Farage has taken a 6.3 per cent stake in a Bitcoin reserve business led by Mr Kwarteng (PA)
Reform UK last year pledged to slash red tape and cut taxes on cryptocurrencies and set up a bitcoin reserve fund if elected, which would allow people to pay tax in the cryptocurrency.
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The Treasury recently announced legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in a similar way to that of other finance products. This follows efforts to overhaul the market, which has grown in popularity in recent years as an alternative investment product and a way of making payments.
The UK’s financial regulator has nonetheless warned that it is a “high risk” investment and that people could “lose all their money” from the asset.
Bethany Mulliner met the woman while they were both serving at Low Newton prison in Durham before sending a flurry of messages which left the victim feeling terrified.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 22-year-old failed to heed a judge’s warning to return to her native Midlands when she was released from custody.
Bethany Mulliner (Image: Durham Constabulary)
Mairi Clancy, prosecuting, said: “The defendant sent messages conveying threat of death including ‘you ain’t making another birthday if it’s down to me. I will happily sit in jail knowing I have killed you so no one else has to go through what I went through’.”
In other messages, Mulliner threatened to make the victim dig her own grave and told her she would put a gun to her head and stab her to death.
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HMP Low Newton (Image: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo.)
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was left feeling scared and distressed by the actions of the defendant.
Mulliner, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to sending communications threatening death or serious harm between April 11 and July 11 last year.
Tabitha Buck, mitigating, said her client had suffered with her mental health which resulted in her criminal behaviour.
She said: “It her pre-sentence report that in their assessment it was all words in this offending behaviour. There was no intention of her to carry out the violence offending.”
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Read more:
Judge Amanda Rippon sentenced Mulliner to 20 months in custody and issued her with an indefinite restraining order to protect her victim who lives in the County Durham area.
“You sent her messages conveying various threats of death,” she said.
“Upon your release from custody, you didn’t return to Stoke like you promised me, instead you attempted to contact her and went to her address.
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“In her victim personal statement, she says she is terrified of you and has left her home address because she is scared you would turn up at her house.”
Apple’s latest iPhone is the iPhone 17e, with the latest processor, similar to the one found in the pricier iPhone 17. It also has some useful changes from its predecessor, including MagSafe, an excellent system that helps with wireless charging. Here’s all that’s new.
Since the first iPhone SE, released in spring 2016, Apple has always offered a more affordable phone in its range.
There were three iPhone SE models, but in spring 2025, Apple retired the SE and introduced the iPhone 16e. It was a very different prospect: all SE phones inherited their design from much older phones, with Touch ID and big borders around the screen.
The iPhone 16e was the first affordable phone to have an OLED screen, Face ID unlock and to come in a bigger size. No wonder that the price went up, then, to £599.
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The successor looks similar to the iPhone 16e, with the addition of a new colour and more important changes under the hood.
Apple iPhone 17e key specs
Storage: 256GB / 512GB storage
Processor: Apple A19
Display: 6.1-inch 2,532 x 1,170 AMOLED display with 460 pixels per inch
Screen brightness: 1,200 nits at peak
Dimensions: 71.5 x 146.7 x 7.15mm
Weight: 169g
Display refresh rate: 60Hz
Front Camera: 12MP
Rear Camera: 48MP
Charging port: USB-C
Battery: Not stated
Colours: Black, white, soft pink
Apple
The iPhone 17e is more affordable than any other iPhone in the range and replaces the iPhone 16e, which has been retired in the last few days. It looks very similar, and it costs the same at £599, which is £200 cheaper than the iPhone 17 released last September.
Right now, smartphones are routinely going up in price because of pricier components like memory and storage (see the latest Samsung Galaxy S26 series), so keeping the price static is a win.
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The question is, should you splurge on the iPhone 17, or is the iPhone 17e enough for most people?
The iPhone 17e looks the same as last year’s iPhone 16e, at least in the black and white versions. That is, a single rear camera on a matte-finish glass back, a glossy Apple icon in the middle (colour-matched to the rest of the iPhone).
The screen, at 6.1 inches, is a tad smaller than the iPhone 17’s 6.3-inch display. It’s still a decent size, but it fits the hand more easily, and for those who find today’s big phones stretch their fingers, this will come as a welcome relief. Even with a case on, this is one comfy phone to hold.
On the front, there’s a cut-out at the top of the display, where the front-facing camera and Face ID sensors sit. Some had hoped that the iPhone 17e would introduce the smaller cut-out, called the Dynamic Island, that’s found on the other members of the iPhone 17 family, but it didn’t happen. Maybe next year?
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David Phelan
The Dynamic Island is definitely better, but, and this is a theme you’ll hear more of, to include it here would have put the price up or, alternatively, left less distinction between the iPhone 17e and the more expensive iPhone 17.
The new colour to accompany the black and white versions is soft pink, an understated pastel shade — in certain lighting, it looks almost white, with the main elements of colour picked up by the antenna band and ring around the camera lens.
The front of the phone is different from the previous model in an invisible but useful way. Where the iPhone 16e had protective cover glass called Ceramic Shield, the iPhone 17e has been upgraded to Ceramic Shield 2, which adds to drop protection by being more resistant to scratches.
Apple
There’s one more change to the design: the new phone has MagSafe. That’s the ring of magnets which correlates to the shape of compatible wireless charging pads. Before MagSafe, you could place your phone on the charging pad, and if you didn’t line it up just right, you might find it hadn’t charged at all. And since you might be putting the phone on the charger late at night, getting it wrong was easily done.
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With MagSafe, the phone snaps into exactly the right position effortlessly. Last time around, the only way to have this confidence was to buy a third-party case with MagSafe magnets in it. Now, Apple is making MagSafe-compatible cases for the iPhone 17e.
Like last year’s model, there’s no dedicated Camera Control button on the 17e, unlike the rest of the current iPhone range. This means that to evoke Visual Intelligence — which uses Apple Intelligence to show you information about what the camera sees — you need to use the Control Centre or set it as the option for the Action Button. Camera Control would have been good, but again, this would have pushed the price up. Apple has provided useful workarounds.
David Phelan
The display is a detailed OLED panel. It misses out on the dynamic refresh rate, which all other iPhones have. The 16e lacked this, too, and it helps keep the £599 price where it is, of course. It also means there’s no always-on display here, letting you see the time and other information without touching the handset.
Refresh rate apart, however, this is a great screen, and in everyday use, it works well.
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Apple only has one camera on the back of the iPhone 17e, a 48-megapixel sensor. There are 1x and 2x buttons onscreen so that you can enjoy an optical 2x zoom. Doing so drops the resolution to 12 megapixels, but that is still decent.
Apple’s cameras have been outstanding for years, not least because the engineers at the company have exceptionally good taste, so the image processing is done in a way that’s realistic and convincing.
It’s worth noting that the other recently released budget smartphone, Google’s Pixel 10a, manages two distinct rear lenses. That said, the results here across stills and video are tremendous.
Last September, Apple introduced a new front-facing camera sensor with 18-megapixel resolution. That has not come to the iPhone 17e, but since the 12-megapixel sensor here matches the one used on many earlier iPhones, it’s not a major issue.
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Performance on the iPhone 17e is enhanced by having the very latest iPhone processor, the A19 found in the regular iPhone 17, in it. Apple has routinely put the most recent chip in even its most affordable phones, so that’s not a surprise, but it’s the main reason the new phone performs so well. It’s a speedy and enjoyable experience, never keeping you waiting.
There is one difference between the A19 here and the one in the iPhone 17: this has four graphic cores rather than five, but even when playing games, I struggled to see any difference in how things looked.
The fast processor also helps with battery life and, while it can’t match the huge battery in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it is enough to get you through the day.
Apple has included its latest in-house modem, called C1X in this phone. That was only found in the much more expensive iPhone Air until now, so in this way, the iPhone 17e outguns the iPhone 17.
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The C1X is known for its efficiency, so battery life is also improved here.
Three men are bringing legal action against the former Sinn Fein president and are seeking £1 in damages
Nina Massey and Danny Halpin
12:51, 09 Mar 2026
Gerry Adams was “directly responsible for and complicit” in the decisions made by the Provisional IRA to detonate bombs in England, the High Court in London has heard.
John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, all allege that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council.
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The three men are bringing legal action against the former Sinn Fein president and are seeking £1 in damages. Mr Adams denies that he had any role in the Provisional IRA and is opposing the claim.
On Monday he arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice and was driven into the car park.
The court in London heard that the three men want to show how Mr Adams was involved in the Provisional IRA “in the course of that conflict and to show on the balance of probabilities that he was as involved as the people who planted and detonated those bombs”.
Opening her case on Monday, Anne Studd KC, representing the men, also said Mr Adams was “directly responsible for and complicit in those decisions made by that organisation to detonate bombs on the British mainland in 1973 and 1996”.
In written submissions, Ms Studd said: “The defendant carefully draws a distinction between being a member of ‘the Army’ and being a member of Sinn Fein.
“In reality, the evidence will demonstrate that this was not the clear either/or choice as the defendant would have you believe.
“For many individuals, we say, including Mr Adams, that was a distinction without a difference.”
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Ms Studd told the court that a “jigsaw” of evidence from those who knew Mr Adams and those who knew of him will prove the case against him.
She added: “The claimants’ case is that none of these bombings in the United Kingdom mainland took place without the knowledge and agreement of the defendant in his role in the Provisional IRA and latterly as a member of the seven-man Army Council.”
She concluded: “There is no doubt that the defendant contributed to the peace in Northern Ireland, but the claimants say that on the evidence he also contributed to the war.”
Lawyers for Mr Adams, who denies the claims, said Mr Adams “played an instrumental role in the peace process which culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, which brought an end to the decades-long conflict”.
In written submissions, Edward Craven KC, representing Mr Adams, said: “The defendant’s alleged factual and legal responsibility for the claimants’ injuries is strongly contested, as is the claimants’ ability to bring these claims against the defendant several decades after the expiry of the applicable limitation period.”
He added that there is “no legal or practical reason why these claims could not have been issued long before 2022”.
Mr Craven continued: “Even if the claim were not bound to fail on limitation grounds, the claim must inevitably fail on the merits.
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“The defendant strenuously denies any involvement in the bombings.”
He also said: “The defendant has never been arrested on suspicion of, still less charged or convicted of, any offence in connection with any of the bombings.
“Had law enforcement authorities been in possession of information which created a reasonable suspicion that the defendant may have been involved in those bombings, he would have been arrested and questioned.”
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The trial before Mr Justice Swift is expected to end next week.
Wolves had only three points at the start of the year, but has Edwards given them hope, however improbable?
He lost his opening eight games after replacing Vitor Pereira in November, taking a first point in a draw at Manchester United in December.
Since then, including the result at Old Trafford, Wolves have earned 13 points in 12 games.
It is not enough to put them within touching distance of safety given the gap – which grew to 16 points at one stage – but 13 points is the same haul as Brighton and Newcastle in that time, and two short of fourth-placed Aston Villa.
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Wolves are 12th in the form table over the past five games and 15th over the past 10.
They have lost five of their past 15 games in all competitions, a significant upturn after losing 17 of their opening 21 this season.
In Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool they restricted the misfiring champions to 0.62 xG (expected goals).
Only leaders Arsenal have managed to limit Liverpool to fewer chances in open play, with 0.28 xG in the Reds’ past 16 games.
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Liverpool gained revenge in Friday’s 3-1 FA Cup victory.
Running stats have also improved considerably and Wolves have outrun Liverpool, Chelsea, United, Everton, West Ham, Forest and Villa since the change in management.
Previously, the squad had managed it only twice, including running only 180m more than Brighton during their 1-1 draw in October.
The squad covered 113,508m in this month’s home win over Villa, the fifth highest of the season, having run 114,427m coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Arsenal at Molineux.
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That was the second highest mark of the season and collectively they are running 7.8k on average higher – around an hour for a midfielder – under Edwards.
With the former Middlesbrough boss, who gave up a Championship promotion campaign for a relegation battle, Wolves now also commit the most fouls in the league per game, having previously been in the bottom two.
“We have a bare minimum – our non-negotiables,” said Edwards. “Sprint recoveries, work ethic, duels. The sprint effort is now night and day.
“We are in control of those things. We can’t always promise we will be great with the ball – we might make mistakes – but what we can control is how hard you run and work.
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“That stuff is why over the past 15 games or so we have been more competitive.”
Murray has participated in numerous celebrity tournaments, including the Sunningdale Foursomes last year, and the 38-year-old is set to compete in it once again this week. Having been played since 1934, the Foursomes will be graced by the likes of Murray and football legend Gareth Bale.
The tennis great will be playing alongside DP World Tour winner Eddie Pepperell while the Welshman is partnered with Matthew Wylie. Lasting for three days from March 10th to March 13th, the tournament will be situated at Sunningdale’s Old and New courses. Murray has played down the seriousness of his golfing ambitions but did suggest his future may lie in the sport.
The Open hopes
Holding the title of being the oldest golf tournament in the world, The Open is the pinnacle of the sport for many, particularly this side of the Atlantic. In theory, the tournament is open to professional and amateur golfers, but only a small number of world’s best amateurs compete, via invitation or qualification.
“I don’t have ambitions of playing in The Open,” Murray clarified last year on The Romesh Ranganathan Show. “I want to try and play in the regional qualifying at some stage. A couple of my friends have done it.
“It would just be a fun thing to do if you got to the level where you’re able to do that. I would do it, but I certainly don’t think I would have any chance of qualifying for The Open.
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“I’m fully aware of how good the players that play in those events are and how good the pros are in comparison to amateurs. Even guys that play off two or three are miles off what these guys on the Tour are doing.”
New career ambition
As if a 19-year career at the top of tennis wasn’t enough for Murray, the 38-year-old revealed his desire to enter the golf world – but not as a player. Continuing his conversation with Ranganathan, Murray said he’s considering a new career as a caddie.
“I’m considering becoming a golf caddie, hopefully for a professional golfer at some stage,” he revealed. “I love golf and if you love that sport, it would be a great job.
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“If you are working with a top golfer and being there when they have a great moment on the course and feeling like you can help a little bit with decisions and things like that, I think it would be a brilliant job.”
Wife condition agreed
Murray’s increasing time spent on the golf course is done with the blessing of his wife, Kim Sears, who he jokingly said is glad of his presence on the course rather than at home. He told Ranganathan: “I don’t think she wants me in the house all day bothering her, to be honest.”
The former tennis player said his two responsibilities regarding their four children allows him to spend more time practicing as he added: “So, yeah, she’s fine with it, so long as I help drop-off and pick-up [the kids to and from school]. I don’t think she massively wants to see me during the day. [At least] that’s what I think.”
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen will tick off one of his “bucket list” events to compete in the Nurburgring 24-Hours endurance race.
The 28-year-old Red Bull F1 driver will get behind the wheel of a Mercedes AMG GT car at the event in May, which sees showroom-style cars take on the famous 15.8-mile circuit in the Eifel mountains in Germany.
The Dutchman, who finished sixth in Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, said: “The Nurburgring Nordschleife is a special place. There’s no other track like it. The 24-hours of Nurburgring is a race that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I’m really thrilled we can make it happen now.”
It is very rare for an F1 driver to take part in a lower level motorsport event, especially of Verstappen’s calibre, but he has long-enjoyed driving on motorsport simulator games and has a particular affinity with sportscar racing.
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It is widely considered Verstappen could one day compete at the Le Mans 24-Hours,, external an event which has exploded in popularity in recent years thanks to the introduction of new ‘hypercar’ regulations, which has seen the likes of Ferrari, Peugeot, Aston Martin and Ford return to the top level of sportscars.
