In your briefing today:

📣 Donald Trump insists a peace deal between the US and Iran is near, with major obstacles overcome and the Strait of Hormuz likely to reopen as soon as a deal is signed, potentially within “two or three days”.

But there are concerns that a rift is opening between the US and Israel, with Israel’s recent actions against Lebanon and Iran suggesting the two countries are pursuing different goals. (AP)

📣 Disgraced SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell could be denied taxpayers’ cash to pay his lawyers’ bills despite being approved for legal aid.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board will investigate whether Murrell’s assets could be used to fund his legal costs, to “safeguard” public funds. (Times)

📣 And here’s what I was up to last night… it was the Daily Record’s Pride of Scotland awards, where celebs and others turn out to hail those who have done remarkable things or overcome harrowing odds.

Among the honorees: “Child of Courage” Noah Connell, aged nine, who overcame bullies who mocked his rare genetic condition and raised funds for other sick kids, and the three Wedding Wish Makers women who organise weddings for terminally ill brides and grooms.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. (Daily Record)

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📣 The weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available for free on the NHS to patients in Scotland at risk of heart attacks and strokes. (BBC)

📣 There’s unhappiness about the performance of Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for Scotland, with fellow Labour MPs calling him “the most absent man in Cabinet”, it is claimed. They’re unhappy that Mr Alexander has “disappeared completely” since the Scottish elections, and that “basically every tweet from him since the election has been about dead people”. (Scotsman has the exclusive)

📣 More tales of Scots being caught up in red tape ahead of their trips to follow their nation in the US: one Inverness security firm boss found his Esta form revoked little more than a week before he was to set off on a £15,000 trip with the Tartan Army. He now faces being stuck at home. (Daily Record)

📣 We’ve now learned details of the allegations made against billionaire businessman and West Ham co-owner David Sullivan, which saw him stand down from his role at the club last weekend.

Multiple women have accused him of abusing his power and preying on them for sex, in some cases when they were teenagers. The allegations span decades, starting in the 1980s, and come from women who were seeking work at Sullivan's Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers. Sullivan denies all the claims. (BBC)

📣 Barack Obama used bad language when he learned of the Brexit referendum decision, it has emerged. (Independent)

📣 Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given a long interview to the Guardian, and says he plans to invite King Charles on a state visit to Ukraine as early as this year. Were the King to take up the offer, it would make him the most senior royal to travel to Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion. (Guardian has the exclusive)

📣 The White House has urged the UK government to step back from a mooted plan to ban social media for under-16s. The Trump administration said age restrictions would harm freedom of speech. (Times)

⚽️ Norway is properly in the huff with Scotland after Steve Clarke cancelled a “bounce game” - an informal match - between the two nations, planned for yesterday, for fear of causing more injuries. Norway’s Stale Solbakken criticised the late postponement, branding his opposite number Steve Clarke “unprofessional.” (Herald)

⚽️ Diogo Jota’s widow has written an open letter to Scotland captain Andy Robertson, urging him to live the World Cup dream of his former Liverpool team-mate. (Mail)

⚽️ John McGinn has been speaking of a “sliding doors moment” 11 summers ago, when a move from St Mirren to Houston Dynamo fell through because of red tape - and let him on the path which now sees him playing a starring role for Scotland at a World Cup, and a European medal in his trophy cabinet back home. (Scotsman)

⚽️ Top Somali referee Omar Artan won’t play any part in the World Cup after being denied entry into the United States. (AP)

🗣️ It’s the Scottish bank holiday that most workers in Scotland probably won’t get… next Monday’s World Cup day off, officially announced by the King in February, is well on its way to becoming an oddity.

The day had been proposed by First Minister John Swinney in the ecstatic aftermath of Scotland’s qualification for the World Cup late last year. It was billed as a way to mark returning to the global footballing stage after almost 30 years, and an act of compassion to workers who might have stayed up for late, late fixture in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

But the additional holiday has not been universally taken up by employers, and even in the public sector, adoption has been mixed.

The muddled picture highlights both the cost of calling these national celebrations, and the extent to which - even in the public sector - the decision on whether or not to allow them rests, not in Bute House, but closer to the front line.

There's also a deeper discussion to be had here about the planning of bank holidays - who they serve, who they cost, and whether a holiday that most of the workforce doesn't receive is a holiday at all or just a political statement.

For private sector employers, time is running out on making the practical decision about whether or not you should - or even must - give the day off. Law firm Brodies has produced a helpful guide which reminds you that the way your employment contracts are worded is vital: if they say staff get holidays “in addition to all public holidays" then your staff get the day whether you like it or not.

But if the contracts specify which public holidays are allowed, or specify a set number of bank holiday days a year, then it remains at the employer’s discretion. But, given their responsibility to clearly communicate the decision, they’d better get a move on.

And, the lawyers point out, the World Cup may well bring with it other unwanted HR complications - such as unauthorised absences and even “harassment resulting from team rivalries”.

So happy bank holiday, for those observing. For everyone else, we might note that it appears no good deed, not even a free day off work to enjoy the aftermath of the football, goes unpunished.

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