Even if – and it is a big if – the pandemic is coming to an end, the true scale of its impact is still only beginning to emerge.

Nearly all children have fallen behind and struggled during the pandemic, the head of Ofsted has warned.

Loneliness, boredom and misery became “endemic” among youngsters while their physical and mental health went into decline, according to Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools.

Top civil servant on holiday for 11 days as Kabul fell

Aside from Covid, one of the other major stories of this year was the evacuation of Afghanistan. 

Today, the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant has revealed he stayed on holiday for 11 days after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August. 

Sir Philip Barton, the Head of the Diplomatic Service, said he had “reflected a lot” on his decision to stay on holiday while the UK Government evacuated Britons and refugees from Afghanistan and believes he was wrong to do so. 

It comes as a Foreign Office whistleblower detailed the “dysfunctional” evacuation, although Dominic Raab has played down the claims, saying he was a “relatively junior” employee. 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister denied that he or his wife Carrie intervened to evacuate the charity worker Pen Farthing and his rescue dogs from Afghanistan, despite claims to the contrary.

US warns of ‘nuclear’ sanctions as Biden ‘meets’ Putin

Internationally, the US finds itself facing tensions from two adversaries in the East. 

Joe Biden told Vladimir Putin he hoped to meet him in person shortly as the two leaders began a much-anticipated video meeting amid mounting tensions over Ukraine.

Washington has made clear the US is prepared to target Russia with “nuclear” economic sanctions that could see Moscow shut out of the global electronic payment system if it invades Ukraine. 

Also today Chinese state media blasted the US for announcing a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, saying American officials were “pretentious” and “close contacts” of Covid cases who were never welcome anyway.

Comment and analysis

Around the world: Israel blamed for attack on port

Israel was suspected of launching an airstrike on a major port in Syria in a bid to destroy weapons caches belonging to Iranian-backed forces. After a series of explosions at Latakia port in the early hours, Syrian media reports said that several shipping containers had been targeted by Israeli warplanes. It is suspected to be the second time Israel has attacked assets at the strategic port this year, following a similar incident in August. These pictures released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency shows fire near containers of the Syrian port, and the aftermath.

Tuesday interview

‘I wouldn’t play Friday Night Dinner’s Jewish mother anymore’