In your briefing today:

📣 The Scottish Election campaign enters its last few days with the SNP in the driving seat, according to the latest big poll from More in Common, with the only questions remaining around the scale of John Swinney’s win, and who will come second, third and fourth. Labour appears to be in a particular bind, with deputy leader Jackie Baillie among those who’d lose their seats in a collapse in support for the party. (ITVX)

📣 One of Scotland’s leading pollsters was subjected to an antisemitic attack in the centre of Edinburgh last week. Mark Diffley - who is not Jewish - was walking to a business dinner in the city last week when he was physically assaulted, spat at and subjected to abuse. The attack came the day after two Jewish men were stabbed in London. (Scotsman)

📣 President Donald Trump says the United States will launch an effort to “guide” ships stranded in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz out of the region, starting today.

Posting on social media, he said the move was a humanitarian effort for crews who are “victims of circumstance”. But he didn’t offer much detail on how the programme - which could impact hundreds of ships and thousands of sailors - would work. He threatened Iran with retribution should it attack ships during the process. (AP)

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📣 Sir Alex Ferguson was taken to hospital as a precaution after feeling unwell at Old Trafford ahead of Manchester United’s game against rivals Liverpool yesterday. (Mail)

📣 Scotland’s local government workforce is in “crisis” with research finding staff are “worn out”, facing low morale and working beyond their contracted hours. Thousands of job cuts are expected in the sector over the next five years. (Herald)

📣 A woman renovating a flat in Dumfries has found a treasure trove of 1940s artefacts under her floorboards, including newspapers from 1944 and an old fire extinguisher. (BBC)

📣 Three people have died aboard a cruise ship after an outbreak of the rare hantavirus. The outbreak was aboard the MV Hondius, which was travelling between Argentina and Cape Verde. A British passenger is critically ill. (Guardian)

📣 Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, 81, is critically ill in hospital days after telling an audience he was “a little under the weather”. (AP)

📣 Video game rental chain GameStop, one of the original “meme stocks”, has made a surprise $55.5 billion bid for e-commerce pioneer eBay. CEO Ryan Cohen says he wants to build a “legit competitor to Amazon”. (WSJ has the exclusive)

⚽️ A vital weekend in the Scottish Premiership is not yet over: Hearts play Rangers at Tynecastle later this afternoon, knowing victory would be a huge step towards the Championship - and likely spell the end of Rangers’ hopes. (BBC)

⚽️ In England, Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-2, leaving some pundits wondering why temporary manager Michael Carrick hasn’t been given the Old Trafford manager’s job permanently. The win has secured Champions League football for United next season. (BBC)

🏎️ Formula 1 returned with an exciting Miami Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli held off Lando Norris to claim his third victory in a row. (Report & 🎥 highlights)

🗣️Voters are unimpressed with what they’re being offered by Scottish parties says Stephen Boyd, head of the Institute of Public Policy Research Scotland (IPPR), who’s interviewed at length by Neil Mackay. “It’s difficult not to be really disappointed,” he says. “The manifestos don’t engage with the very significant challenges Scotland faces.

“Some policies are interesting, but unhelpful.” he says. “A bad example would be the SNP’s food price cap. It’s designed to send a signal rather than achieve real change.”

They’re all at it, he suggests, from the Greens’ failing to make “a serious offer”, through Labour’s talk of 2.4% growth - “Politicians don’t like hearing this, but growth isn’t really dictated by devolved policy,” he says - to Reform’s manifesto being built “around a blatantly ludicrous proposition on taxation – that very big tax cuts will increase rather reduce revenue. It’s not serious.” (Herald (£))

🗣️Dani Garavelli bemoans the stagnation her children have witnessed under the SNP - her eldest is a “devo baby” born just before the 1997 referendum, when the SNP was “an insurgent party”. It’s the establishment now, she says, and on its watch, “educational standards have fallen, the cost of living has risen, young people are struggling to secure jobs and housing.

“Although not all of this is the SNP’s fault, the SNP has little to offer in the way of a solution beyond renewing calls for an independence even the most naive of 16-year-olds knows is pie in the sky,” she writes.

The Greens are the insurgents now, and most appealing to the young. Their leaders are younger, so more relatable. And, says Garavellil, they refuse to blow with the wind. “Whether or not you agree with their policies (and I often don’t) they have a set of core beliefs – on net zero, on trans rights, on universal basic income – which they stick to even under fire.” (Herald (£))

🗣️Britain’s armed forces can only “think about” preparing for war as there’s no money for weapons until 2030, a former military chief claimed. General Sir Richard Barrons, who co-authored the Strategic Defence Review, says the situation has worsened since the review was published last summer. There’s a particular lack of funding for new, disposable systems such as “loitering munitions” and drones, he claims. (The Times)

🗣️The Scotsman’s Katharine Hay has been on a walking tour of Scotland for more than two years now, roaming the highways and byways and filing dispatches about the most rural parts of the country.

Her latest, however, came from a familiar landscape for many: the shores of Loch Lomond, which heads into another peak season busier than ever and - last week - burning. “A helicopter swooped down to Loch Lomond, filling up a hanging bucket with the natural source to douse flames that ripped through vegetation leaving a blackened scar on the flanks of Cruach Tairbeirt,” she writes.

“The talk among local residents and businesses was telling. The suspected cause, a disposable barbecue, was discussed with little surprise, as though the incident was a standard.” (The Scotsman)

🗣️Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday this coming Friday: Simon Barnes offers an enjoyable tribute to the man he calls “the great teacher of my childhood… Mr Attenborough”.

“He’s had a lifetime of people telling him he’s marvellous, and yet he’s always held to the soul-deep belief that the marvellous part of every single one of his programmes is not the presenter but the subject,” writes Barnes.

“David is never the star; the star is always the stromatolite, the lemur, the gorilla, the armadillo or the bird of paradise. He coaxes it into the limelight to be appreciated and understood, not just as a momentary spectacle but as a living being, packed with profound meaning.” (Observer)

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