TODAY’S WEATHER

⛈️ It’ll be cloudy with sunny intervals in Glasgow and Edinburgh while Aberdeen starts dry, but should expect rain from late afternoon. London will be dry and hot, hitting 30 degrees by mid-afternoon. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
Sturgeon’s regrets over gender ID reform | Netanyahu defends Gaza offensive | Radioactive leaks into loch

📣 Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has admitted regret she didn’t “pause” her controversial gender recognition reforms, in an interview with ITV to be broadcast this evening. “I didn't anticipate as much as I should, or engage as much as I should, on some of the concerns that might then be triggered,” she told Julie Etchingham.

“I fervently believe that the rights of women and the interests of trans people are not irreconcilable at all. I should have taken a step back and said, ‘How do we achieve this?’.”

Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry branded Sturgeon’s admission “an extraordinary turnaround”. (STV) (Scotsman)

• Nicola Sturgeon: The Interview is on STV and ITV tonight at 7pm.

• Allies of Alex Samond have attacked claims by Sturgeon that he leaked details about an investigation into sexual misconduct claims made against him. Sturgeon says in her book it would have been “classic Alex” to leak the claims. But his former close aide, Chris McEleny, described the claim as a “fabrication”. (BBC)

📣 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended the latest military offensive in Gaza. Facing growing condemnation at home and around the world, he said Israel has no choice but to “finish the job" and complete the defeat of Hamas.” (AP)

• Al Jazeera’s well-known correspondent in Gaza, Anas al-Sharif, is among five journalists killed by an Israeli airstrike. The news channel called his death an “assassination”. (Guardian)

• “Not in our name” - anger grows in Israel over Gaza (Independent)

• Jeremy Bowen: Israeli settlers have intensified their campaign to drive out West Bank Palestinians from their homes. (BBC)

📣 Radioactive water has leaked into Loch Long because old water pipes at the UK’s nuclear bomb store have repeatedly burst and caused floods. The flooding was caused by “shortfalls in maintenance” and resulted in “unnecessary radioactive waste”, according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. (The Ferret) (The Guardian)

FIVE THOUGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND
We’ve never had it so good, Sturgeon’s “banal” book, bad behaviour, Higher history woes, and a mysterious giant space rock

🗣️The line above could just as easily be a summary of Fraser Nelson’s essay in The Times, where he observes that - despite the general vibe of a “violent, lawless, Broken Britain” we’ve (almost) never had it so good: “the facts tell a different story.”

Maybe it’s human nature, he says. But we are blind to improvements in our life: the global fall in crime, driven by better forensics, cameras and poliicing, has been met with “global disbelief”. In Britain, while some crime is surging - shoplifting and snatch theft, in particular - many other forms of crime are well down - in 20 years, robbery is down 60%, bike and car thefts down 50%, burglary down by 66%, violent crime by 50%.

Progress lacks a natural spokesman, which is why we don’t talk about it, suggests Nelson. The populist right is pushing a narrative of social collapse through skilled storytellers such as former academic, Matthew Goodwin. But, he insists, “in spite of our problems, this is an amazing country” and “more than ever, there is no better place in the world to call home”. (Times £)

🗣️The Times, goes the general assumption, must have paid a fortune to get first dibs at excerpts from Nicola Sturgeon’s book, which is published on Thursday.

But while the former First Minister has made headlines - about her sexuality, her relationship with Alex Salmond, the ordeal of being arrested - more than a few observers would concur with Andrew Neil, who wrote on X of the excerpts: “Mind-numbingly banal. And I assume The Times has chosen to extract the ‘juiciest’ bits to get its money’s worth. Not a single revelation of importance so far…”

“For the sake of the publishers who paid £300k for the book, I hope there is a lot more meat than this,” writes Kevin McKenna (£). “Coming out as non-binary in Scotland these days is as risqué as getting a tattoo without telling your parents.”

Euan McColm was similarly unimpressed. “I wish her publishers good luck in earning back the £300,000 advance,” he writes.

Alex Massie (£) hints that perhaps the memoirs not as candid as we might hope - or the publishers promised. “Real candour requires real reflection and real reflection must, in this instance, be the precursor to admitting real and comprehensive failure,” he writes. “This is not an unkind verdict, it is one rendered unavoidable by Sturgeon’s own pledges.”

• We’ll round up reviews of the full book on its launch later in the week.

🗣️Dani Garavelli says it feels like we are trapped “on a conveyor belt of scandals” involving (male) celebrities behaving appallingly. Every time, “the people on whose watch the offences were committed throw up their hands in horror.” She says the pertinent question should not be how these presenters get their just deserts, but how do we create an environment in which the problem behaviour is no longer tolerated? (The Herald £)

🗣️The row over last year’s Higher History exam has reopened, after grades in the subject rebounded from last year’s unprecedented low. Explanations about the problems in 2024 have left the new head of Scotland’s exam board, Nick Page, unconvinced. The Scottish Qualifications Authority “shouldn’t be marking our own homework in future,” he said. (The Herald £)

🗣️A vast interstellar object barrelling towards Earth “may come to save - or destroy us,” according to a Harvard professor, although how it will achieve either is left hanging. "The brightness of the object implies a diameter of 20 km,” Loeb said, which is big for these things. When it’s closest to Earth, we won’t be able to see it - it’ll be behind the sun - “but that’s the perfect time for it to manoeuvre, and so we just need to watch it,” he added, confusingly. (Independent)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 A dramatic fire on Arthur’s Seat sent smoke billowing over the capital yesterday, with firefighters working into the night to douse the flames. People were seen running down from the summit, a popular walking route, as a large area of gorse burned. Reports this morning suggest the fire is now out, although a watch is being kept. Dramatic pictures are across the media today. (Edinburgh Live) (BBC)

📣 Scottish Greens leadership hopeful Ross Greer says the Sandie Peggie tribunal has “escalated” an “absolutely shameful” campaign against trans people, and that Peggie’s comments about Dr Beth Upton were “unquestionably bigoted and hateful”. (The Herald has the exclusive)

📣 A travel agency boss has become the latest high-profile figure to attack the state of Edinburgh Airport, saying delays faced by visitors were “unacceptable”. (The Scotsman has the exclusive)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 European nations have rallied behind Ukraine ahead of an upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. They’re saying peace can’t be resolved without Ukraine’s involvement in talks. (AP)

📣 Much of England is under a yellow weather warning from midday today, with another heatwave bringing “muggy” nights and daytime temperatures into the mid-30s tomorrow. (Sky News)

• Low-income and minority ethnic people in England are most at risk from dangerously hot homes (The Guardian has the exclusive)

📣 Young people in England get their exam results this week: they’re expected to return to close to “normal”, pre-pandemic levels. (Guardian)

SPORT

⚽️ Rangers head coach Russell Martin might be only two league games into his reign… but Gary Keown reckons he’s already “skating on thin ice” after his side could only rescue a 1-1 draw against a Dundee side everyone thinks is facing relegation. “The anger and boos and all-round bad energy heard and felt at Ibrox yesterday made it perfectly clear” the manager is in trouble, he writes. (Mail)

⚽️ Celtic might not have spent much in the transfer window, but they were good enough to sweep Aberdeen aside yesterday to continue their perfect start to the season. Michael Gannon saw a side that knows how to win - with special praise for Banjamin Nygren and Kieran Tierney. (Daily Record)

⚽️ It was another good day for Hearts as they found a late winner against Dundee United to continue their 100% start. (BBC)

⚽️ Teenager Ben Brannan bagged a beauty to help Kilmarnock to a point in Edinburgh against Hibs (BBC)

⚽️ Liverpool might have spent £300 million on new players, but Crystal Palace showed how to beat them, winning the Community Shield at Wembley on penalties. Young Northern Ireland international Justin Devenny - playing for Broomhill in the Scottish Lowland League as recently as 2022 - scored the winning penalty. (Guardian)

⛳️ East Lothian-based Grant Forrest walked away with the $467,000 top prize at the DP World Tour’s Nexo Championship - and another $10,000 for setting the course record at Trump International Golf Links. (Scotsman)