Wednesday evening news briefing: Johnson fights back tears during Covid Inquiry
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Good evening. Boris Johnson fought back tears as he cast his mind back to 2020 and the onset of the virus when giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry.
Elsewhere, the former prime minister said that expletive-ridden WhatsApps were a “creatively useful” tool at the height of the Covid pandemic as he denied deleting thousands of messages.
Boris Johnson fights back tears during evidence at Covid Inquiry
Boris Johnson fought back tears as he cast his mind back to 2020 and the onset of the virus when giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry.
The former prime minister also apologised for remarks he had scribbled in notes about long Covid, in which he called the condition “bol-----” and compared it to Gulf War Syndrome.
For all the latest updates from the Covid Inquiry click here.
Expletive-ridden WhatsApps were a ‘creatively useful’ tool, Boris Johnson tells Covid Inquiry
Boris Johnson has said that expletive-ridden WhatsApps were a “creatively useful” tool at the height of the Covid pandemic as he denied deleting thousands of messages. The former prime minister said that similarly “fruity” exchanges of views would have happened face to face during the Thatcher and Blair administrations before the era of text messaging.
Rwanda bill will be ‘immune’ to court challenge
Emergency laws to declare Rwanda safe for asylum seekers will be “immune” to court challenges, a Home Office minister has pledged. Chris Philp, the policing minister, said the Government would do “whatever it takes” to ensure the Rwanda Bill was “completely watertight” and “immune” to being struck down by the courts.
Evening Briefing: Today’s essential headlines
BBC | Samir Shah has been chosen by the Government to chair the BBC, culture minister Lucy Frazer has announced. Mr Shah is the chief executive of production company Juniper TV and he has previously worked at the BBC and London Weekend Television.
Northumberland | Sycamore Gap tree cuttings show signs of life
Crime | Mother shot dead in Hackney ‘a case of mistaken identity’
Dogs | XL bully owners race to send dogs to Scotland ahead of ban
FA | Luis Rubiales accused of ‘inappropriately touching’ England players by head of FA
Pictured: Israeli forces setting up seawater pumps to flood Hamas tunnels
Israeli troops have been pictured setting up pumps to flood Hamas tunnels with water. Long pipes can be seen running from the sea up the beach and into Gaza in images released by the Israeli Defence Forces.
Battle Lines Podcast | As the ceasefire ends, we reflect on the hostage releases — and those left behind
In this episode of Battle Lines, Middle East Correspondent Natalia Vasilyeva and Senior Reporter Henry Bodkin join us from on the ground in Israel, where they reflect on a week of hostage releases.
Comment and analysis
Tom Harris | The SNP has betrayed an entire generation of children
Ross Clark | Suella Braverman is right – the Tories face oblivion if they don’t stop illegal migrants
Madeline Grant | Britain’s obesity problem is always someone else’s fault
George Allison | Ukraine’s Black Sea counter-offensive has been a triumph
Christopher Snowdon | Labour’s lesson from Australia? Ever more state control of your life
World news: UAE rolls out red carpet for Putin despite international arrest warrant
Vladimir Putin said relations with the UAE had reached unprecedented levels as he was greeted in the country with a flypast and Russian flags, despite an international warrant for his arrest. Putin’s meeting with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE’s president, came as the Kremlin hailed Russia’s “main economic partner in the Arab world”.
Feature of the day
Dead robins and murderous mice! The dark origins of the Victorian Christmas card
The Victorians invented the Christmas card. But as their popularity grew, so did a demand for outrageous designs that would never fly today.
Business news: Tui considers ditching UK stock market listing for Germany
Travel giant Tui is considering delisting from the London Stock Exchange in the latest blow to the City. Europe’s biggest travel operator said it had been approached by shareholders concerned about whether its current strategy of holding a dual listing on the London and Frankfurt Stock Exchange is “optimal and advantageous”.
Live business news: Container ship crashes in Suez Canal
Editor’s choice
Surrey | The village overrun with festive film fanatics
Relationships | Seven signs yours will go the distance
Fashion | Why the velvet jumpsuit is the party hero of the season
Sport briefing: Today’s essential headlines
Jim White | David Raya is far from an upgrade
James Ducker | Manchester United face a familiar choice
Football | Arsenal are showing the mark of champions in waiting
Lionesses | Where their Olympic qualification campaign went wrong
Golf | Current balls to be banned as roll-back implemented across pro and amateur game
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Three things for you
Travel | The perfect ski holiday – according to Telegraph readers
Luna Luna | The fantasy fairground that’s reopening for the first time since the 1980s
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