TODAY’S WEATHER

🌦️ A wet start to the day in Glasgow and Edinburgh will give way to sunny spells from early afternoon. Aberdeen will dry off too, but later. London will be cloudy but dry throughout. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
Swinney to meet Trump at banquet | Scottish gangland bosses arrested in Dubai | Tributes to Redford

📣 First Minister John Swinney will “don his sharpest evening wear” tonight to attend a State banquet at Windsor Castle, in honour of US President Donald Trump, who arrived in the UK last night. It will be a moment, says Glenn Campbell, to reflect on how the relationship between Swinney and Trump has “fundamentally changed”.

“In early March, Swinney said it was "unthinkable" the trip should go ahead following the Oval Office ambush of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky,” writes Campbell. “But now he is set to join Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at the Windsor banquet.” He’ll be the only devolved leader to attend.

"We've just got to get on with the world as we see it and as it is in front of us," the First Minister told Campbell last week. (BBC)

• Trump’s state visit: Live coverage as Trump to meet King at Windsor (BBC)

• A plan to cut US tariffs on steel has been scrapped hours before Trump’s arrival (Guardian)

• Swinney branded Elon Musk a “malign influence” on British politics after the billionare’s rabble-rousing speech to the far-right march in London at the weekend. (Mail)

📣 There’s been a twist in Scotland’s gang war, which has seen a string of firebombings across Scotland this year since one gang bought £500,000 of cocaine from another gang using fake banknotes.

Now, gang leaders living in Dubai have been arrested, with it being suggested they were too high-profile for the taste of authorities in the Emirates.

One gangland source said: “Scottish gangsters hiding out in Dubai should know you have to live the quiet life to not come to the attention of authorities. So […] orchestrating a high-profile war and sharing videos of his antics online has really messed it up.” (Daily Record)

📣 Tributes are being paid to Hollywood giant Robert Redford, who died aged 89. Barbra Streisand called him “one of the finest actors ever” while Meryl Streep wrote: “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.” (Guardian)

• Christopher Stevens: “Robert Redford was Hollywood's greatest enigma, a man who could do anything he liked in the film industry – and do it better than practically anyone else – yet often seemed to despise the entire business.” (Mail)

IDEAS
Columns of note: Who could replace Starmer? | How to place a value on a green oasis | Horrors on our kids’ phones

🗣️Brian Monteith eyes Labour’s alternatives to Keir Starmer, and sees only problems. “The atmosphere in Westminster appears febrile,” he writes, “with MPs willing to say it is not a question of if Starmer leaves Downing Street for good, but when. The May elections for Holyrood, the Welsh Senedd and English council – where Labour enjoys a high watermark of sitting councillors, meaning it has much to lose – are seen as the most likely test for the Prime Minister’s survival.”

But that’s a long way away… and events are likely to apply even more pressure, not least a budget on November 26 “that is highly likely to contain many unpopular measures”. And the threshhold for “throwing down the red gauntlet” - running against Starmer - is low, requiring only 20% of Labour MPs to sign a nomination paper.

“From Holyrood, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar can only look on,” writes Monteith. “He has seen what, only a year ago, was considered the strong prospect of him becoming the next First Minister dissipate as the repeated betrayal of promises by Starmer and Reeves has helped revive support for the SNP and feed the growth of Reform in Scotland.

The trouble is, party members are terrible judges of new leaders, writes Monteith. That could mean less electorally appealing candidates - such as Ed Miliband - being favoured over Wes Streeting, whose “young fresh face might just give Sarwar enough of a bounce to edge ahead of Reform and into second place.” (The Scotsman)

🗣️ The fate of a path in Edinburgh concerns Vicky Allan after she took part in last week’s Kiltwalk - and poses bigger questions about how intangible values around green space can be measured against the harder numbers of travel consultants and economists.

She found herself walking down the Roseburn Path, the idyllic “linear park” that runs north/south through the west of the city, and is much-loved by walkers and cyclists. It’s under threat from a proposed £2 billion tram extension, which would bulldoze the trees for a concrete corridor between Haymarket and Granton.

““How other than through the love and care of its defenders, or the signatures in petitions, do we work out, or begin to understand, the worth of a green space like this?” she asks.

“The Roseburn Path is worth something that should be weighed up against those hundreds of million costs and there are probably other ways one could attempt to calculate its value. It's also why people are fighting for it,” she notes. (The Herald £)

🗣️Euan McColm is worried about the horrors our children are exposed to on social media, after horrific footage of the murder of far-right activist Charlie Kirk went round the world in the minutes after his shooting.

“Long before Charlie Kirk was pronounced dead,” writes McColm, “my son and millions more around the world watched footage of the moment the sniper’s bullet tears through his neck.”

McColm writes that he’s still haunted by drawings of “Baby P” and his injuries, shown as evidence during a harrowing trial in 2009. Now, he writes, “In the days after the shooting of Charlie Kirk, I become increasingly preoccupied by the fact the boy has seen something so much more horrific on his phone.” It’s something that, I suspect, has occurred to many parents over the last few days. (Mail £)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 MSPs are expected to vote today to scrap the “not proven” verdict in Scots law today, after debate on the government’s Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill went late into the night at Holyrood. MSPs agreed several amendments, with a final vote today. (BBC)

📣 The eviction of a trio of people claiming to be an “African tribe” turned to farce yesterday as Sheriff officers, backed up by police, arrived to move the group from the woods in which they’ve been squatting… only to see them shift 30 yards over a small fence to land thought to be owned by Borders Council. The council is starting new court proceedings to have them evicted. (BBC) (Sky News) (Times £)

📣 Scottish councils have been warned their whistleblowing systems must be robust to avoid a repeat of a £1 million fraud in Aberdeen. Andrew Burns, deputy chair of the Accounts Commission, told MSPs that crime had only come to light because individual staff had “confidence they can use the system safely”. (Holyrood)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 UK inflation has held steady at 3.8%, in numbers released just as today’s Early Line was being sent. This month’s figures follow a higher-than-expected increase last month, driven by air fares and food prices. Inflation is expected to peak at 4% next month. (BBC live coverage)

📣 Peter Mandelson did not go through national security vetting before his appointment as UK ambassador to the United States, it has emerged. (Independent)

📣 Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil industry infrastructure are forcing restrictions on the country’s oil pipelines, with Ukraine striking Russia’s biggest oil port with drones for the first time since the war began. (Independent)

SPORT

🏃‍♀️Scot Josh Kerr takes to the track for the 1,500m final at the World Championships this afternoon, and has warned the field he’s determined to become the first British athelite to become back-to-back champion since Mo Farah eight years ago. (Scotsman)

• The race is on the BBC at 2.20pm today.

⚽️ Aberdeen’s director of football Steven Gunn is stepping down after more than 25 years with the club. Gunn, who worked his way up through the club’s ranks over his time at Pittodrie, says the move has been planned since the summer, but comes with the club rooted to the bottom of the table after a disappointing start to the season. (Scotsman)

⚽️ The Champions League is back, and it served up a few treats last night. Turin hosted an instant classic - it was 0-0 between Juventus and Dortmund at half time, before the sides shared eight goals in the second half. You’ll find reaction and free match highlights on a single page at TNT Sports. (🎥TNT Sports)

• Arsenal won 2-0 at Athletic Club, with subs Martinelli and Trossard scoring the goals (BBC)

• Tonight, Chelsea visit Bayern Munich while Liverpool host Athletico Madrid. All the games kick off at 8pm.