For a man who no longer walks the corridors of power, Dominic Cummings retains a remarkable ability to dominate headlines.
Following his explosive appearance in front of the Health and Social Care Committee, Boris Johnson’s former right-hand man was back in the spotlight this week after leaking WhatsApp messages from Boris Johnson dating from the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The prime minister appears to have had nothing good to say about Health Secretary Matt Hancock. But some pundits are arguing that the so-called “Dom bomb” disclosures may be equally damaging for Johnson, whose judgement might be questioned for not booting out Hancock during the health crisis.
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Away from Westminster, a shortage of coronavirus vaccines threatens to slow the rollout of jabs to people between 18 and 30, as the clock ticks down to the rescheduled lifting of all lockdown restrictions next month.
Leaked details about Johnson’s plan for how the UK can “live with” the virus may go some way to assuaging fears of a second postponement of “Freedom Day”. But proposals to advise staff to work from home for the long haul are likely to be met with criticism too.
In world news, Joe Biden held his first in-person talks with Vladimir Putin since entering the Oval Office.
And Israel’s new coalition government was officially sworn in, bringing to an end Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign as prime minister. The new ruling coalition immediately faced further drama as ultranationalist Jews marched through Jerusalem’s Old City, prompting Hamas to launch explosive balloons that were met with Israel Defense Force airstrikes on Gaza.
Meanwhile, the prime suspect in the Madeline McCann case, convicted paedophile Christian Bruckner, spoke out for the first time since his arrest, in a letter published by German tabloid Bild.
Over in France, scientists published the initial findings of a study into the growing phenomenon of red-coloured snow in the Alps - and warned that the so-called “blood glaciers” may be a marker of climate change.
