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By Francesco Canepa FRANKFURT The European Central Bank is on the back foot again and this time the

Newcastle United approached 1193 companies. They had an initial meeting with 65 of them. They were whittled down to nine, and then four and eventually two. And when they find a new shirt sponsor, it is Sela, a Saudi Arabian sports events and hospitality company. Which can seem a little convenient to some. Newcastle’s income has been inflated this summer and a commercial deal has come from the homeland of their owners, while Allan Saint-Maximin has been sold to the Saudi Pro-League. As Newcastle’s various powerbrokers discuss the Sela contract, Amanda Staveley asks if they can defend it, if it is fair market value. The answer comes in the affirmative. Some outsiders might be sceptical. We Are Newcastle United, the new Prime Video documentary, may be the first of a new genre: the Financial Fair Play drama. It is more about the boardroom than the dressing room; less is revealed about the guarded Eddie Howe than in the deluxe settings of Alnwick Castle, where his employers discuss the bottom line more than the forward line. There is, admittedly, little suspense in discovering that Newcastle do, after all, find a shirt sponsor but its importance is underlined. The underlying issue is how to create enough revenue within the rules for the world’s richest club to be able to compete with the Premier League’s wealthiest. It is not as simple as just pumping money in. “We are not going to overspend otherwise we will be in big trouble on Fair Play,” says Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Newcastle chairman. Staveley reflects on the Carabao Cup final defeat by referencing Manchester United’s vast commercial income. At another point, she frets: “If we can only spend a certain amount we have to assume we are not going to get Champions League next season.” It is no spoiler to say they do and no surprise their sights are set higher again. “We want to be a Real Madrid, a Barcelona. To get ourselves to that point we need to spend money,” says Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Staveley’s husband and another co-owner. Al-Rumayyan adds: “We want to compete not only for the third or fourth position, we want to be No 1.” There is no lack of ambition: Al-Rumayyan wants the worth of the Saudi Public Investment Fund to reach $2 trillion and Newcastle’s value to increase tenfold. If it suggests he is no mere benefactor, there is a sense Newcastle feel themselves the bogeymen for the rest of the division. Their version of events is broadcast, their adversaries – apart from a couple of press-conference clips of Jurgen Klopp – are usually off-screen. But there is pushback to their takeover. “I think there was a fear we would have an unfair advantage,” complains Staveley. “They said it was the Saudi state, which is absolute rubbish. It is not Saudi Arabia, it is the Public Investment Fund.” There is the sense from her that the goalposts were moved to hamstring Newcastle, with a short-lived ban on sponsorship deals from companies linked to their owners. “I was shocked we could buy a club, pay a full price and then rules just changed,” she says. “I think that’s what pissed me off.” The other villain of the piece is Mike Ashley, whose years of neglect left Newcastle a long way behind. Peter Silverstone, the Chief Commercial Officer, compares the size of their commercial team with his former club Arsenal’s. “We don’t have time to make mistakes,” he notes, while suggesting he was made an offer he could not refuse: “When you are offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask which seat, you just get on board.” Silverstone argues that the Sela deal will help Newcastle become “the most followed, most supported club in Saudi Arabia”. If Bruno Guimaraes is the likeable Sean Longstaff’s favourite player – and has no objection when a classroom of school children nominate his midfield sidekick, not him – he is also Silverstone’s. “From a commercial perspective, he ticks every box,” he says. “He will attract more fans to Newcastle.” A theme is that Newcastle have to look after pounds and pennies; not because of the Saudi PIF’s bank balance, but due to FFP. The January negotiations for Anthony Gordon are prolonged, Everton’s initial demands for £60 million excessive. “They are bluffing,” says the negotiator in Staveley after a bid is rejected. They eventually get Gordon with an instructive tribute. “Anthony is going to be one of the best players in the league and Eddie just adores him,” says Staveley. All such shows are an attempt to humanise. Staveley comes across as caring and involved, saying she fell in love with Newcastle, going into the dressing room after the Carabao Cup semi-final win to address the team: “You’re going to get the Champions bloody League this year, I am telling you.” She gives Gordon her and Ghodoussi’s phone numbers and tells the newcomer to call if he ever needs anything. She has a tendency to refer to everyone from Callum Wilson to an agent she phones as “my angel”; for Staveley, the Angel of the North is not a statue by the A1 as much as everyone she encounters. Al-Rumayyan invites the players to his house during their World Cup training camp in Saudi Arabia. Earlier, asked about the appointment of Howe, who was relegated with Burnley, he replies dryly: “That’s even better, he knows what not to do.” Howe, though, proves an inspired choice by decision-makers who have shown a sure touch so far. Staveley claims that, at one stage in 2021, there was a 96 percent chance United would have gone down. “That would be a disaster,” she says. Disaster was averted, success fast-tracked. Newcastle start this season in the Champions League, not the Championship. Money has played a part in the transformation and money is the constant concern. They have the flagship signing Sandro Tonali this summer, and this week’s acquisition, Tino Livramento, but the only other buy is Harvey Barnes, whose arrival from Leicester was in effect paid for by the sale of Saint-Maximin. They are Newcastle United; not as they were in 2021 or perhaps as they will be in 2025, but a club with Saudi money in an ongoing battle with the balance sheet. ::The original documentary series WE ARE NEWCASTLE UNITED, which will launch on Prime Video with the first episode on Friday 11th August, followed by new episodes every Friday through to September 1st. Read More Newcastle sign Southampton defender Tino Livramento on five-year deal Allan Saint-Maximin the latest Premier League star to leave for Saudi Arabia Saudi transfers reveal difference between Premier League and European rivals Valtteri Bottas goes for a ride with Lance Armstrong – Wednesday’s sporting social Allan Saint-Maximin the latest Premier League star to leave for Saudi Arabia Women’s World Cup LIVE: Latest England news ahead of quarter-finals

Former PM calls on ICC to investigate "systematic brutalisation" of Afghan females.

By Mohi Narayan, Laura Sanicola and Ahmad Ghaddar NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON/LONDON Global refiners are raking in hefty gains, fuelled

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Joe Biden dismissed a question posed by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy by calling it “a lousy question”. Doocy, who was reporting from New Mexico following Mr Biden’s address on green energy endeavours, inquired about the recent congressional testimony of Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Mr Archer’s testimony last week indicated that Hunter Biden had at times placed his father, who was then serving as vice president, on speakerphone during business discussions. Amid Republican assertions of potential corruption, allegations have arisen suggesting the president’s involvement in his son’s business activities. “We got a first of its kind of reaction to that testimony,” Doocy said on Wednesday. “Nobody has asked President Biden yet about these allegations from a former Hunter Biden business associate, that Hunter would call his dad – then the vice president – and put him on speakerphone to chat with his business associates. So, at the conclusion of this event, I had a chance at the president’s invitation – he waved us on over – to ask him.” Then Fox News cut to the exchange. Doocy asked the president, “There’s this testimony now where one of your son’s former business associates is claiming that you were on speakerphone a lot with them talking business. Is that what…” Mr Biden hit back, saying, “I never talked business anybody, and I knew you’d have a lousy question.” “Well, what, why is that a lousy question?” responded Doocy. The president said “because it’s not true”. Early last year, a hot microphone captured the president referring to Doocy as “a stupid son of a b****” following a question posed by the reporter about inflation. Towards the end of last year, Doocy again asked Mr Biden about the same topic that had led to the earlier insult. “Just hoping to clarify for midterm voters, top domestic issue: inflation or abortion?” Doocy had asked the president then. Mr Biden grinned on hearing the question and then answered, “All important! Unlike you, there’s no one thing. It crosses the board... domestic... ask me about foreign policy, too.” Mr Biden again clashed with Doocy earlier this year after he was asked why classified documents had been found stored next to his Corvette sports car. “Classified materials next to your Corvette? What were you thinking?” Doocy had asked the president at a White House event this January. “My Corvette’s in a locked garage so it’s not like it’s sitting on the street,” responded Mr Biden. “So the material was in a locked garage?” Doocy pressed. “Yes, as well as my Corvette,” Mr Biden said. Read More Trump 2020 electoral college plan outlined in memo as Twitter special counsel search warrant revealed - latest Indictment shows White House lawyers struggling for control as Trump fought to overturn election Biden welcoming Australian leader to White House for state dinner in October Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch: poll Wildfires take Maui by surprise, burning through a historic town and killing at least 6 people Trump ‘fake elector’ memo details 2020 plan as Twitter search warrant revealed - live