Top story: US will protect Asian allies
Good morning. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the best stories as you start your week.
Donald Trump has vowed to use “all necessary measures” to protect America’s allies against North Korean aggression, Japanese leader Shinzo Abe has said after a phone conversation with the US president. The talks come after the rogue state took one more step to a fully developed nuclear weapons capability with a second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile at the weekend. Abe said the US and Japan had made “repeated efforts” to resolve the situation peacefully but “China, Russia and the rest of the international community must increase their pressure”. Trump has already criticised China for not doing enough to curb Kim Jong-un’s ambitions, comments which drew a withering response from Chinese media today who called him a “greenhorn” president.
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Hunt’s £1.3bn pledge – Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced a £1.3bn plan to treat an extra 1 million people a year for mental health problems by 2021, an expansion that puts flesh on the bones of a pledge announced by Theresa May seven months ago, when the prime minister promised to tackle the “burning injustice of mental illness”. Hunt says 21,000 new posts will be created with more nurses, therapists and psychiatrists providing services seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Mental health campaign groups welcomed the aim to get workers back into the mental health care area “and keep them there”. But the Royal College of Nursing said the government’s claims “appear not to add up” and doubted whether enough new staff could be trained in time to hit the target.
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A period of transition – The cabinet appears set for a bruising battle this autumn after senior Conservatives warned ministers to stop setting out plans for a transitional move towards Brexit. Leading proponents of a “soft Brexit”, such as Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd, are likely to push Theresa May to accept the idea that free movement of people across Britain’s borders will continue for up to three years after withdrawal from the EU in March 2019. But Liam Fox, the hardline trade secretary, said Brexit must deliver “control of our borders” and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith warned ministers to stop floating potentially divisive transition plans.
Our political editor, Anushka Asthana, analyses ministers’ recent pronouncements on Brexit and questions whether Hammond and Fox are, as government sources claim, really on the same page.
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Royal rights – A close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, is writing to Channel 4 to urge bosses not to show a documentary based on private video footage which includes Diana talking about her sex life with Prince Charles. Rosa Monckton says use of the footage, which was recorded during speech coaching sessions in the 90s, was an “intrusion” and “outrage” that violated Diana’s right to privacy. Palace sources said they feared the programme – Diana: In Her Own Words, scheduled for Sunday – was the indirect result of an “ill-advised” strategy by Diana’s sons, William and Harry, to speak about their mother before the 20th anniversary of her death next month.
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‘Unrelenting pressure’ – A 70% rise in the number of men being admitted to hospital with an eating disorder has prompted doctors to warn about the “unrelenting pressure placed on people by popular culture and social media”. Data analysed by the Guardian shows the number of hospital diagnoses in male over-19s rose from 480 in 2010-2011 to 818 between April 2015 and March 2016 – the same rate of increase as for women. The rate was slightly higher for men in the 41-60 age group.
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Run out of town – It might not seem the most threatening of activities, but police in Sierra Leone have banned people from jogging in large groups. Noting an increase in “menace, insulting behaviour and playing of loud music” by groups of runners, the police statement said. Anybody caught jogging in groups would be “dealt with according to law. You have been warned.”
Lunchtime read: Blessed be the next series
If you’ve not seen The Handmaid’s Tale yet, or if you have been watching but haven’t caught up with all the episodes, you should beware of possible spoilers. But it’s worth taking in the flavour of Sam Wollaston’s review of the “extraordinary final episode of an extraordinary series”. Despite likely grumblings about the wisdom of extending the narrative arc of Margaret Atwood’s original novel into a second series, he concludes that it will be worth it because it is “so damn good” and has such a powerful read across into contemporary themes of migration, gender inequality and falling sperm counts.
Sport
Jodie Taylor has an “obsession with scoring”, according to England women’s football coach Mark Sampson, who paid tribute to the striker after Euro 2017’s leading scorer propelled his team into Thursday’s Euro 2017 semi-final against Holland. Ben Stokes saw his intimidating style of fast bowling draw comparisons with one of his predecessors, Andrew Flintoff, following a electric burst of two wickets in two balls that put England on course for victory over South Africa in the third Test. Norway’s Alexander Kristoff won the sprint to the line to win the RideLondon-Surrey Classic, the richest prize in one‑day cycling. And Adam Peaty has vowed to continue improving after taking Great Britain’s medal haul to seven at the world swimming championships in Budapest.
Business
The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has declared that his country is through the worst of its economic crisis. But the reality for ordinary people is quite different, writes Helena Smith, who has been speaking to volunteers handing out food parcels to the needy.
In Asia, stock markets were up slightly overnight as solid economic data from China boosted optimism. The pound was steady at £1.313 and €1.119.
The papers
It’s Monday so not much uniformity on the main stories – but the row over the “Diana tapes” does feature on a few fronts.
The Mirror splashes with the headline “Diana tapes will hurt her boys” and says there is “royal fury” at the tapes of the princess’s thoughts being made public. The Sun has “Grubby blood money” and says there is “fury” at Channel 4 for airing the tapes.
The Telegraph has the lead: “Drivers ripped off for motor insurance” and alleges costs are being driven up by the questionable practices of some insurance firms who reclaim repair costs from other companies. Still with motoring, the Mail says its investigation reveals that car rental firms do not repair vehicles that are damaged by customers – yet still charge them to fix the damage.
The Guardian’s splash details a cabinet split over free movement of people post-Brexit, with some ministers urging the prime minister to ensure there should be no immediate reduction in immigration.
The Times also settles on Brexit as the main story, saying the chancellor, Phillip Hammond, has told the French newspaper Le Monde that Britain will not become a “tax haven” after it leaves the EU.
Lastly the FT says Japan’s biggest bank MUFG has chosen Amsterdam as its EU base for a post-Brexit world. MUFG employs more than 2,000 people in London.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
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