£69m forward happy he chose Newcastle before taking on Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League on Wednesday

As Nick Woltemade made his way out of Bayer Leverkusen’s media theatre on Tuesday night he noticed that a series of chairs had been dragged untidily out of position. Most footballers would simply have walked on by but the 6ft 6in Newcastle forward is a little different from the rest and he duly stopped and tucked them all back into position beneath a long desk.

Out on the pitch Woltemade’s highly-technical approach is nothing if not similarly neat and he has returned to his home country on a Champions League mission. Namely to show his compatriots that Eddie Howe has imbued his game with a dangerous new dimension. While the adhesive touches, deft flicks and clever link play that have always distinguished Woltemade’s performances remain, the Newcastle manager’s “physics” have enhanced the mix.

£69m forward happy he chose Newcastle before taking on Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League on Wednesday

As Nick Woltemade made his way out of Bayer Leverkusen’s media theatre on Tuesday night he noticed that a series of chairs had been dragged untidily out of position. Most footballers would simply have walked on by but the 6ft 6in Newcastle forward is a little different from the rest and he duly stopped and tucked them all back into position beneath a long desk.

Out on the pitch Woltemade’s highly-technical approach is nothing if not similarly neat and he has returned to his home country on a Champions League mission. Namely to show his compatriots that Eddie Howe has imbued his game with a dangerous new dimension. While the adhesive touches, deft flicks and clever link play that have always distinguished Woltemade’s performances remain, the Newcastle manager’s “physics” have enhanced the mix.

£69m forward happy he chose Newcastle before taking on Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League on Wednesday

As Nick Woltemade made his way out of Bayer Leverkusen’s media theatre on Tuesday night he noticed that a series of chairs had been dragged untidily out of position. Most footballers would simply have walked on by but the 6ft 6in Newcastle forward is a little different from the rest and he duly stopped and tucked them all back into position beneath a long desk.

Out on the pitch Woltemade’s highly-technical approach is nothing if not similarly neat and he has returned to his home country on a Champions League mission. Namely to show his compatriots that Eddie Howe has imbued his game with a dangerous new dimension. While the adhesive touches, deft flicks and clever link play that have always distinguished Woltemade’s performances remain, the Newcastle manager’s “physics” have enhanced the mix.

In a boost for Rachel Reeves, deputy governor says analysis shows chancellor’s policies will lower annual rate next year

The Bank of England expects Rachel Reeves’s budget will reduce the UK’s headline inflation rate by as much as half a percentage point next year.

In a boost for the chancellor after last month’s high-stakes tax and spending statement , Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the central bank, said its early analysis showed the policies would lower the annual inflation rate by 0.4 to 0.5 percentage points for a year from mid-2026.

In a boost for Rachel Reeves, deputy governor says analysis shows chancellor’s policies will lower annual rate next year

The Bank of England expects Rachel Reeves’s budget will reduce the UK’s headline inflation rate by as much as half a percentage point next year.

In a boost for the chancellor after last month’s high-stakes tax and spending statement , Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the central bank, said its early analysis showed the policies would lower the annual inflation rate by 0.4 to 0.5 percentage points for a year from mid-2026.

In a boost for Rachel Reeves, deputy governor says analysis shows chancellor’s policies will lower annual rate next year

The Bank of England expects Rachel Reeves’s budget will reduce the UK’s headline inflation rate by as much as half a percentage point next year.

In a boost for the chancellor after last month’s high-stakes tax and spending statement , Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the central bank, said its early analysis showed the policies would lower the annual inflation rate by 0.4 to 0.5 percentage points for a year from mid-2026.

The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United States’ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.

Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public.

But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr Zelenskyy into an unjust peace deal that suits American and Russian interests. In response, the summit helped ramp up support for the use of up to £100bn in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a “ reparations loan ” to Ukraine. European counter-proposals for a ceasefire will need to be given the kind of financial backing that provides Mr Zelenskyy with leverage at a critical moment.

The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United States’ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.

Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public.

But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr Zelenskyy into an unjust peace deal that suits American and Russian interests. In response, the summit helped ramp up support for the use of up to £100bn in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a “ reparations loan ” to Ukraine. European counter-proposals for a ceasefire will need to be given the kind of financial backing that provides Mr Zelenskyy with leverage at a critical moment.

The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United States’ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.

Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public.

But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr Zelenskyy into an unjust peace deal that suits American and Russian interests. In response, the summit helped ramp up support for the use of up to £100bn in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a “ reparations loan ” to Ukraine. European counter-proposals for a ceasefire will need to be given the kind of financial backing that provides Mr Zelenskyy with leverage at a critical moment.