Evening briefing: Today's essential headlines
PM vs PM | Boris Johnson and Downing Street officials broke lockdown laws and misled the public with "brazen excuses" and "unbelievable" claims, the former prime minister Sir John Major has said. The scathing speech - which you can read for free here - was intended as a call to arms to Tory MPs to get rid of their leader and Gordon Rayner details how Sir John's 30-year feud with Mr Johnson led to his latest savage attack on the Prime Minister. Mr Johnson today rejected his predecessor’s claims and Robert Taylor asks (and answers) why is Sir John still so bitter?
Prince Charles positive | Palace declines to say if Queen has Covid Trans patients | Nurses 'sacked for concerns about single-sex wards' 'Pandemic potential' | Deadly haemorrhagic Lassa fever found in UK Falkland Islands | Brazil defends stopovers for RAF after criticism Gender ritual | 'Sorcerer' hammers nail into pregnant woman's head The big story: Truss mocked in testy press conference
It has been a day of Britons on tour - prompted mostly by what Boris Johnson has called "the biggest security crisis that Europe is facing in decades" as the West tries to de-escalate the tensions around Ukraine.
First to Moscow, where Sergey Lavrov, Russia's veteran foreign minister, said that meeting Liz Truss was like "talking to a deaf person" at a testy press conference.
Ms Truss was in Russia, the first such visit by a foreign secretary in more than four years, to show a "path of diplomacy" and urge the Kremlin to de-escalate amid fears of an imminent invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Lavrov, who has served as Russia's top diplomat since 2004, said the British side was unresponsive to the Kremlin's point of view.
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Warsaw, Mr Johnson said that the West will not accept powerful countries "bullying or attacking their neighbours".
At an earlier news conference in Brussels today, the Prime Minister said Europe must hold firm on Ukraine's right to join Nato.
The Prime Minister's intervention highlighted growing public splits with France, a fellow Nato ally, which has suggested that Moscow could have a role in Kyiv's future foreign policy decisions to avert a looming conflict.
It was telling that he stopped short of saying the Western powers were united when asked about Nato splits over Russia at the press conference with Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato Secretary General.
It came as Belarusian and Russian forces began major joint exercises today aimed at practicing "repelling external aggression", in what has been called a "dangerous" and "violent" gesture aimed at European security.
Europe Editor James Crisp has analysed Mr Johnson's hard line, while Con Coughlin warns that, by appeasing Russia, the West is conspiring in its own destruction.
Starmer blames PM for mob
Also on tour today was Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who headed to Brussels for his own talks on the Ukraine crisis.
Yet he was slapped down by the Defence Secretary who told him to stick to "the day job" after the Labour leader said Mr Johnson's authority on the world stage was now diminished.
Ben Wallace said there was a "danger that Labour are probably talking in their own echo chamber", adding he had seen no evidence of Sir Keir's claims on his visits to 11 countries in the last two-and-a-half weeks.
Sir Keir blamed Mr Johnson's claims about Jimmy Savile for the mob that surrounded him this week, and praised the "moral courage" of Tory ministers who refused to endorse the remarks.
He even named two of the Prime Minister's prospective leadership rivals.
William targets fast fashion
Completing the picture of British overseas diplomacy was the Duke of Cambridge, who took aim at fast fashion and called for more solutions led by women and indiginous people, as he promoted his Earthshot Prize in Dubai.
Prince William said he was looking for wildcard "out of the box" solutions to repair the planet, revealing that his environmental prize will this year focus on "tipping point" sectors such as fashion, transport and construction.
Meanwhile his brother, the Duke of Sussex, speaking from California, called himself "a typical guy" who "just wants to help fix things" as he launched an HIV testing drive to carry on Princess Diana's "unfinished" work.
Watch him urging the public to "go and get a test".
Comment and analysis Tom Harris | Economic case for Scottish independence is in tatters Michael Taube | Trudeau has no excuse for his assault on freedom Richard Barrett | Leaving Britons in Syria weakens national security Jan Etherington | Sorry, corporate Britain, but I'm older, not an idiot JJ Charlesworth | Yes, NFTs are brainless – but so is most art Around the world: Paris ban for 'freedom convoy'
Paris police have banned a French "freedom convoy" of motorists who are protesting against Covid restrictions from entering the capital, citing their failure to declare the protests, amid fears of unrest similar to that in Canada. Motorists set out from southern France on Wednesday with the aim of converging on Paris and Brussels to demand an end to restrictions and measures against high gas prices and the cost of living - in part inspired by demonstrators who have gridlocked the Canadian capital Ottawa. It comes as car manufacturers began slowing production lines near the Canadian border after truckers blocked the busiest border crossing to the US in protest at coronavirus restrictions.
Thursday big-read
Everything Wilfried Zaha got wrong taking the worst penalty ever
Two minutes after equalising with a screamer, the Crystal Palace forward went from the sublime to the ridiculous from the penalty spot
Read the full story
Sport briefing: Russian 'failed drug test' controversy
The result of the Winter Olympic team figure skating competition still hangs in the balance with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refusing to confirm whether the delay was being caused by an alleged doping issue involving teenage gold medallist Kamila Valieva. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said that a legal issue had been holding up the podium presentation. Oliver Brown says the controversy puts the spotlight back on the IOC's decision to let Russia go unpunished – again. Meanwhile, England will be looking to get their Six Nations campaign back on track against Italy on Sunday. Our writers select their XVs for the clash but Austin Healey warns Eddie Jones' chaotic style has left England looking confused - and says do not rule out an Italy win.
Editor's choice Husband shaming | All the things you should never reveal about your other half Farewell to Betty Davis | The thrilling, sexy and criminally overlooked first lady of funk Rate my portfolio | 'I have ￡70k in cash, how do I protect it from inflation?' Business briefing: Wall Street plunge as inflation soars
US stocks plunged at the open after US inflation surged to a 40-year high, piling pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to keep a lid on rising prices. The consumer price index climbed 7.5pc in January from a year earlier – a bigger jump than expected and its highest since 1982. The figures sparked a sell-off on Wall Street amid fears interest rate rises will speed up. Yet Ambrose Evans-Pritchard warns we must not murder the recovery: inflation will soon take care of itself.
Tonight starts now
Wuthering Heights, review | A dedicated purveyor of passion on stage, over the years the director Emma Rice has served up love illicit (Tristan and Yseult), love furtive (Brief Encounter) and love demented (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), to name three hits. Now, in a production first seen at the Bristol Old Vic last autumn, she gives us love thwarted – the wild, unconsummated devotion between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff which Emily Bront？ bequeathed the world in 1847. Dominic Cavendish offers this review of the show at the National Theatre.
Three things for you Watch | Magpie Murders, BritBox and tonight's TV listings Cinema | Flee, review: this unlikely Oscar contender is thrilling Fantasy Fund Manager | It's back, it's free – with eight chances to win And finally... for this evening's downtime
The best new underwear collections for 2022 | Lingerie can be soft yet sexy, colourful yet chic. Here is everything you need to know if you are in need of a lingerie drawer refresh this year.
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