Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has handed his unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks to the Cabinet Office ahead of a looming deadline related to the UK’s COVID-19 Inquiry. The inquiry seeks to provide insight into core political and administrative decision-making by the UK government during the pandemic. Chaired by Lady Hallett, the inquiry has requested…

Civil servants at the UK’s Cabinet Office were told to check potential guest speakers’ social media accounts before inviting them, it emerged on Sunday. According to the Financial Times, government efficiency minister Jacob Rees-Mogg set out new rules on the vetting of guests who take part in “learning and development events” that include combing through the…

TOKYO—Japan’s consumer confidence index rose in May for a second straight month, the government said on Tuesday, as households enjoyed the first restriction-free spring holiday season since before the COVID-19 pandemic. A Cabinet Office survey showed the sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was at 34.1 in May, up…