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👋 Good morning! It’s Saturday 7 March 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 week ahead.
They also have my huge thanks for making the whole newsletter possible. If you’d like to join their ranks - thankyou! - you can upgrade here.
And if that’s not for you, no problem: see you on Monday when the free Early Line is back at 7am.
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
⛅️ The weekend’s weather: Bright but quite chilly - especially in the east - across the weekend for Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. London will be overcast today, and misty tomorrow. (Here’s the UK forecast).
SIX THINGS TO TALK ABOUT
Middle East conflict enters second week | US public doesn’t support Trump’s war | A bad week for Scottish beer | Theroux and the manosphere | Secret sauce of Burger King revival | Zuckerberg’s Miami mansion
📣 It was in the minutes after last week’s Party Line was sent that the first reports of explosions in Tehran came through. It’s extraordinary how fast things can change, and how a breakfast-time email can so quickly be rendered out of date. Here’s hoping the same isn’t happening as you read this.
An update on events in that war, now entering its second week:
Iran’s President has just apologised to neighbouring countries that have been attacked, saying Iran will now not attack neighbours unless attacked first. (BBC live coverage)
Israel has hammered Beirut and Tehran overnight (AP live coverage)
It appears the Emirates airline, and Dubai airport, are restarting operations after an earlier suspension. (Guardian live coverage)
Prior to that, it appears the US and Gulf states were unprepared for Iran’s drones. They’re now appealing to Ukraine for help in fighting them. (Washington Post - gift link)
Donald Trump said he’d only consider “unconditional surrender” to stop hostilities. Iran’s president said that was a “dream that they should take to their grave”. (Guardian)
There are real concerns about $100-a-barrel oil if hostilities continue: that would have real implications for the global economy. (BBC)
Upgrade to read the full Party Line, including the latest polling on the war’s popularity in the US (it’s bad news for Trump), why it’s been a bad week for Scottish beer, news of Louis Theroux’s latest documentary - on the manosphere - and Mark Zuckerberg’s Miami mansion.
PLUS: find top TV, film and sporting picks for the weekend.
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