David Camerons lobbying scandal   20%

The Guardian’s banking correspondent, Kalyeena Makortoff, and political correspondent Rajeev Syal discuss the unprecedented formal inquiry into lobbying by the former prime minister David Cameron on behalf of the collapsed finance company Greensill Capital

The Guardian’s banking correspondent, Kalyeena Makortoff, talks to Rachel Humphreys about Greensill, a company that specialised in supply-chain finance, and its relationship with the former prime minister David Cameron. Cameron joined Greensill as an adviser in 2018, two years after resigning as prime minister. It has emerged that last year he sent texts to Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and “informally” phoned two other Treasury ministers, asking for Greensill Capital to get the largest possible allocation of government-backed loans under the Covid corporate financing facility, or CCFF. He also lobbied a No 10 aide, and in 2019 took Lex Greensill to a “private drink” with Matt Hancock, the health secretary.

Although Cameron hasn’t broken any rules, there have been questions raised over the fact that he appears to have used personal contacts to seek preferential treatment for a company in which he had a financial stake. On Monday No 10 said it was launching an independent investigation into Cameron’s lobbying, led by the corporate lawyer and government adviser Nigel Boardman. Rachel also hears from Guardian political correspondent Rajeev Syal about how Cameron has responded to the scandal and the wider role of lobbying in UK politics.

Will we need a Covid pass to get into the pub?  

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has announced plans for a domestic Covid-status certificate. We look to Israel, where a similar scheme has been introduced, and discuss how it might work here

Last week, Boris Johnson set out plans for a domestic vaccine passport system to help the country emerge from lockdown.

To see how it might work, Anushka Asthana talks to the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, Oliver Holmes, about life in Israel, where the government introduced a similar scheme in February.

The Guardian view on the Afghanistan withdrawal: an unwinnable war | Editorial   -1%

Joe Biden has called time on America’s longest war. The decision exposes the limits of US power and leaves an uncertain future

Britain’s former prime minister Harold Macmillan is said to have told colleagues that the first law of politics should be “never invade Afghanistan”. It was a lesson that imperial Britain had learned the hard way, following three separate casualty-strewn incursions in the 19th and 20th centuries. After 11 September 2001, when al-Qaida radicals, based in Afghanistan and protected by the Taliban government, successfully attacked New York and Washington, the lesson was quickly forgotten.

Instead, the United States, backed by Britain and Nato, launched a retaliatory campaign to destroy al-Qaida and overthrow the Taliban. After spectacular initial success, marked by the unexpected collapse of Kabul and massive bombing of the al-Qaida presence in the eastern mountains, the military campaign became overcommitted and, in the end, even faced defeat. Western ambitions were long on idealised visions of the postwar order, but short on a grasp of regional realities and military capabilities. The Taliban regrouped and rearmed. Long attritional years of civil conflict followed. This week, almost 20 years in, Joe Biden has decided America has at last had enough of an unwon and unwinnable war. He is bringing the troops home. America’s allies, including Britain, will now follow the US through the exit door.

Handwashing and hot tea: Eswatini celebrates roll out of solar-heated water   26%

New stations at health clinics improve hygiene in locations where warm water seen as ‘an absolute luxury’, helping to tackle Covid

In Eswatini, the southern African country which lost a prime minister to Covid-19 in December and where most people have no access to hot water, handwashing – a key weapon in the fight against the pandemic – has been a problem.

No government health clinic in the kingdom, formerly known as Swaziland, had hot running water for patients. Nine out of 10 didn’t have hot water for operations and cleaning instruments.

If Jacinda Ardern wants to end period poverty she needs to take some lessons from abroad | Jacinta Gulasekharam   30%

When it rolls out free period products in schools the government should think about sustainability and educating boys

As Labour tries to fulfil its many election promises, there is one area it could score an easy win – the period product rollout scheduled for June.

And if New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern is serious about ending period poverty, she needs to take a good look at England and Scotland.

US and Japan present united front against China over Asia Pacific video   12%

Joe Biden and Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, have presented a united front to counter an increasingly assertive China. The two leaders made statements at the US president’s first face-to-face White House summit since taking office. Biden said ‘we committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea’

• Swipes at China as Biden and Japanese PM seek united front in Asia Pacific

Bangladesh arrests Hefazat-e-Islam leader after violent protests   -40%

Police in Bangladesh on Sunday arrested an influential leader of a group that led violent protests against last month’s visit by India’s prime minister to the Muslim-majority nation, officials

Greensill scandal widens as ex-British PMs hauled before inquiry   1%

Four of the five living former prime ministers – David Cameron, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Sir John Major – are likely to be called to give evidence in public along with Lex Greensill.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shuffles cabinet following local election defeats   -28%

In a sweeping reshuffle, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday replaced the prime minister and six other cabinet members in a bid to revive his party, after devastating local election defeats, and his policy agenda.Moon named Kim Boo-kyum, a former interior minister and four-term lawmaker, to succeed Chung Sye-kyun as prime minister, while nominated new ministers of land, industry, fisheries, labour, and science and technology.All six candidates are subject to parliamentary confirmation…

Former UK leader David Cameron admits Greensill lobbying should have been conducted through formal channels  

Britain’s former prime minister David Cameron said he accepted that communications with government needed to be done through formal channels after the row about his lobbying activities for financier Lex Greensill deepened on Sunday.Cameron, who was prime minister from 2010 to 2016, appointed the Australian banker as an adviser when he was in Downing Street. After leaving office, Cameron in turn became an adviser to Greensill’s now-insolvent finance firm.The Financial Times and Sunday Times…

Netanyahu calls on rival Sa'ar to 'return home to Likud'  

The prime minister reaches out to Sa'ar after his routes to a coalition narrowed when far-right leader Smotrich reiterated his refusal to join forces with Mansour Abbas' Islamist party

Israel at 73: Alive, kicking and ailing   -100%

Israel is descending into quasi-authoritarianism, led by a prime minister who is facing a corruption trial and spewing incendiary rhetoric. But not all is bleak

Hosting Japans leader first, Biden signals new global priorities   10%

That Japan’s prime minister is the first foreign leader to visit the Biden White House sends a powerful message of shared principles.

Stephen Harper joined ex-spymasters in company investing in Israeli security tech   2%

Former prime minister Stephen Harper is working with former leaders of three major intelligence agencies — the Mossad, the CIA and MI5 — in a Canadian private company.

Sudanese PM urges Egypt, Ethiopia counterparts to attend summit on Nile Dam dispute   25%

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he had called for a summit with the prime ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia to "break the deadlock" over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Talks on the issue are currently at an impasse and he urged his counterparts to respond favourably to his offer. The Sudanese premier said that Ethiopia's plan to fill the dam "unilaterally" in July made a resolution of the dispute all the more urgent.

Biden Welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga To White House  

President Joe Biden met with Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga yesterday to talk about security in East Asia.