Top story: ‘We are not big fans,’ says Trump of UK envoy

Good morning briefers. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this Monday morning.

Donald Trump has hit back after leaked memos revealed that the UK’s ambassador to Washington briefed Whitehall that the White House administration was “inept and dysfunctional”. As a Foreign Office investigation begins into who leaked the confidential telegrams, Trump said Kim Darroch had “not served the UK well”. He added: “We are not big fans of that man … I can say things about him, but I won’t bother.” At home, the sensational leaks were also helping to shed light on the power struggle within the Conservative party and who the next prime minister might appoint to the plum post when Darroch stands down, as he is due to, at the end of the year. The current cabinet secretary, Mark Sedwill, is seen as favourite but the Mail on Sunday leak story points in another direction. The story was written by Isabel Oakeshott, who is close to Nigel Farage’s Brexit party. Farage, who boasts a close friendship with Trump, lobbied for the Washington job in 2016 and would benefit from the leak, according to our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour. Farage was also one of the voices in the Mail piece calling for Darroch’s immediate resignation.

Play Video 0:33 Donald Trump: 'We're not big fans' of UK ambassador to US – video

‘Match fit for Brexit’ – Brexit continues to be the main event in the Tory hustings with frontrunner Boris Johnson saying he would make sure Britain was “match fit” to leave the EU on 31 October “come what may”. Former candidate Rory Stewart outlined plans for an “alternative parliament” to stop a no-deal Brexit, while more than 30 Tory remainers are ready to force a vote on the Northern Ireland bill to stop the next prime minister proroguing parliament in the autumn. Labour is not free of Brexit woes either with shadow chancellor John McDonnell denying reports that he has urged Jeremy Corbyn to sack his anti-remain advisers. Business is worried too: the CBI says investment has plummeted amid fear of no deal.

Pensioned off – Consultants have begun working to rule in a standoff over NHS pensions, forcing hospitals to cancel operations and leaving cancer scans unread for weeks. Doctors say the dispute could send NHS services “into meltdown” and is so serious that it poses a threat to the whole health service. A change to pension rules in 2016 mean that some consultants are receiving tax bills of as much as £80,000. They fear that if they work more than their usual hours they will be financially worse off. NHS executives are concerned that waiting lists for non-urgent care such as a hip replacement or hernia repair, which already stands at 4.4 million, could balloon towards 5 million because the dispute. The Royal Bournemouth hospital in Dorset may have to cancel scores of operations in the next two weeks because its anaesthetists are refusing to work extra hours.

Capital killings – Police in London have launched a fourth murder investigation of the weekend after a man in his 20s died of head injuries in Wembley. It follows the the shooting dead of a man in his 30s in the same area on Friday night. Insp Sammi Elsituri said: “We will work relentlessly – day and night – to identify and pursue the culprits, bring them to justice, and take weapons off the streets to keep our communities safe.” The body of a woman was found in Blackheath on Friday evening and a man in his 20s who was shot in Leyton early on Sunday morning.

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‘Beautiful fight begins’ – Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be sworn in as the new prime minister of Greece today after his centre-right New Democracy party comfortably won the country’s election. The victory of the Harvard-educated banker spells the end of Alexis Tsipras’s tumultuous four years in office as the country struggled through a crippling financial crisis. With more than 90% of votes counted, New Democracy party had 39.8% of the votes, compared with 31.5% for Tsipras’ leftwing Syriza party. “I asked for a strong mandate to change Greece. You offered it generously,” Mitsotakis, the son of a former prime minister, said in his victory speech. “From today, a difficult but beautiful fight begins.”

‘Afronaut’ dies – A South African man who pipped a million other candidates to be selected as the first black African to go into space has died in a motorbike crash. Mandla Maseko, a part-time DJ, was nicknamed “Afronaut” after winning a coveted seat to fly 103km (64 miles) into space in a competition organised by a US-based space academy.

Today in Focus podcast: What happens to your recycling?

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Recycling is often cited as one of the easiest ways to make a difference to the environment. But does old plastic really get reprocessed into new? Guardian reporters around the world have been investigating what really happens to our waste.

Lunchtime read: Why Arabella Weir enjoys mother of all laughs

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“I take my shit and make it funny,” says the comedian Arabella Weir, which is a neat summation of her first-ever one-woman show beginning next month at the Edinburgh fringe. More specifically, the show unpicks her relationship with her “aggressively unhappy” mother who spent much of her life – and even time on her death bed – haranguing her daughter for being overweight. Weir, whose famous catchphrase on The Fast Show was “Does my bum look big in this?”, tells Emine Saner how she has used her difficult childhood for her stage show. “I developed a very acute sense of humour that would make a joke out of anything.” The show, Does My Mum Loom Big In This?, is at the Assembly George Square Studios from 12 to 25 August.

Sport

Megan Rapinoe called for the conversation on equal pay to move forward after she helped USA to retain the World Cup with a 2-0 win over a disheartened Netherlands side, Rose Lavelle scoring the other goal. Donald Trump tweeted his congratulations, despite his confrontation with Rapinoe, noting the team’s “great and exciting play”. At Wimbledon, Andy Murray sees no reason why he cannot still beat Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as he continues a comeback that looked out of the question not long ago. Johanna Konta, who faces Petra Kvitova in the fourth round today, says it is an honour to play the Czech, who survived a horrific knife attack two and a half years ago. Phil Neville has shown his growing vexation with the new handball rules after England’s play-off defeat at the Women’s World Cup. And Brazil ended a 12-year wait to win the Copa América after a first-half goal from Gabriel Jesus and a late Richarlison penalty helped see off Peru 3-1 in Rio.

Business

Deutsche Bank is to cut 18,000 jobs across the world as it tries to stem a disastrous fall in its share price. Deutsche, which is one of the City’s biggest employers, has struggled to recover from the financial crisis and has been beset by problems including money laundering allegations. Asian markets were down overnight after US job data on Friday lessened the likelihood of Fed rate cuts. The FTSE100 is expected to open down a touch, while that US news has also caused the pound to lose ground to $1.252 and €1.115.

The papers

The Guardian’s lead story today is about hospitals in crisis. “Operations cancelled in standoff with consultants”, its splash headline reads, while the Telegraph has a follow on the ambassador’s leaked comments about the US president: “Trump aides call for Darroch to be sacked.” The FT reports “Deutsche to exit equities trading and hive off €74bn into ‘bad bank’”.

Photograph: The Guardian

Some Tory leadership news on the front page of the Times: “Johnson faces Tory plot to prevent no-deal Brexit” and the Express: “Boris: no-deal Brexit is nothing to fear.” The latest drama to beset the Labour party features on the front of the i: “Outcry over Labour threat to sue staff in gagging row”, and the Mail: “Labour civil war explodes.” The Sun has a story about Meghan Markle potentially getting a dog – “Dog ‘n’ throne” – and the Mirror has calls from parents to stop price hikes for holidays: “End school holidays rip-off”.

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