
👋 Good morning! It’s Saturday, 19 September 2026. I’m Neil McIntosh, editor of The Early Line, and it’s great to have you here.
📣 You’re reading the weekend edition of The Early Line. Paying subscribers get the full version, with six talking points and film, TV and sporting recommendations for the weekend.
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Have a wonderful weekend, all!
🌦️ The weekend’s weather: It’s classic Scottish weather for the time of year: bright spells, but also showers across the country. Glasgow is dreich today, dry tomorrow, while Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen have better days today, and are also dry tomorrow. Sorry, Inverness: rain today and tomorrow morning will, at least, help the garden. London is overcast with the threat of showers later today, but sunny tomorrow. (Here’s the UK forecast).
SIX THINGS TO TALK ABOUT
US and Denmark strike Greenland deal | Education inquest across Europe | Rowing with crocs | Trump looms over cultural capital | A ScotRail app tip | Time for a poll: rural idyll vs city centre style
🍸 The US and Denmark have reached a deal on Greenland after Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to either annex the territory or buy it.
The US President has hailed the deal as one that grants the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs”, while Denmark’s Prime Minister said the deal “strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area.”
But specifics are in short supply, and it’s far from clear if the deal goes any further than a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the US which allows the US to send as many troops as it wants to Greenland.
One point of potential difference could be which other countries are allowed to invest or build there: Russia and China have been specifically referenced by officials as being blocked from sending troops or making investments in “sensitive sectors”. (BBC)
Upgrade to read the full Party Line, including
The education inquest unfolding across Europe (not just in Scotland)
Olympic rowing with crocodiles (really)
Why Donald Trump is looming over the US cultural capital
An Early Line reader offers a useful ScotRail app tip
Time for a poll: would you pick rural idyll OR city centre style?
PLUS: it’s a strong week for new TV launches, as the nights start to draw in… several of those, plus top film and sporting picks for the weekend.
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