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Tuesday 11 August 2026
In your briefing today:
An extraordinary operation to smuggle Donald Trump out of Turkey after a summit
There’s been a huge earthquake in Colombia: rescue efforts are underway
Readers offer thoughts on wind turbines in Scotland, and e-bikes on our roads
Both halves of the Old Firm are on the verge of big signings
TODAY’S WEATHER
THE BIG STORIES
Trump’s ‘secret escape’ in catering truck | Colombia rescue effort after quake | Green MSP offers apology
📣 An Iranian assassination threat made against Donald Trump led to an extraordinary secret operation last month, in which the US President was smuggled aboard a military aircraft in a catering cart while the White House said he was aboard Air Force One.
The clandestine mission came as Trump left the NATO summit in Turkey. He was seen boarding the old Air Force One jumbo jet in full view of television cameras, before being secretly shuttled to a smaller plane.
It is very unusual for the President’s rough location not to be known, or for him to travel separately from the White House press corps. But concerns about Iranian terrorism plots against American officials are long-standing, and have escalated after the US killed Iranian military and political leaders. (The Washington Post has the exclusive)
📣 A search and rescue operation is continuing through the night in Colombia after a powerful earthquake struck the country. Thousands of people are missing and more than 100 dead after the 7.4 magnitude quake, which comes only weeks after two back-to-back earthquakes in neighbouring Venezuela killed more than 6,300 people. (AP)
A state of emergency has been declared after Colombia’s biggest quake in years (BBC)
📣 Scottish Green MSP Q Manivannan has offered a qualified apology for the “upset” caused by comments they made about the “demonisation” of rape.
Manivannan - who uses “they/them” pronouns - said the comments had been “selectively edited in order to mislead people and misrepresent me”.
The Edinburgh-based MSP had said there was a "myth of the monster rapist" and "a demonisation of rape in the sense of it is a spectrum". The comments had been widely criticised by survivors’ groups and political opponents, who said they trivialised the impact of rape. (BBC)
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AROUND SCOTLAND
📣 A family has paid tribute to an 11-year-old girl who died in an incident at a Midlothian beauty spot near Gorebridge, describing Faith Curran as a “happy, adventurous and outgoing girl who enjoyed life”. (Daily Record)
📣 A predatory refugee who sexually assaulted two women while roaming the streets of Falkirk “looking for a good time” has been jailed for four years. (Mail)
📣 Joanna Cherry has hit back at Nicola Sturgeon, after the former First Minister accused Cherry of being “obsessed” with her. Cherry accused Sturgeon of “flirting and teasing” the public with “the idea she might be a lesbian”. (Herald) (Mail)
📣 A newlywed couple missed their own wedding reception to spend hours hunting for their lost dog. The spaniel-terrier cross bolted into the countryside near Moffat during the first dance. (Daily Record)
AROUND THE UK & WORLD
📣 Border checks have doubled the length of queues at Europe’s major airports amid the EU’s chaotic rollout of its new electronic border system. (FT has the exclusive (£))
📣 45 million people in England and Wales are now living in drought areas, as dry weather continues to blight a vast area. (Independent)
Another heatwave begins today (BBC)
📣 Police are investigating whether the suspect accused of the murder of Ann Widdecombe had any role in an attempted burglary at the then London home of Nigel Farage. (Guardian)
📣 Andy Burnham wants to give councils more power to stop betting and vape shops take over their high streets. (Guardian)
SPORT
⚽️ Celtic are on the verge of another big signing - Haissem Hassan, the Egyptian winger, is reported to have finalised the details of a multi-million-pound transfer to the champions. (Daily Record)
⚽️Rangers are also working on a big deal for a winger: Couhaib Driouech is expected to make his way from PSV Eindhoven in a £7 million deal. (The Sun)
Driouech’s arrival would be one of a few: Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh expects three to five signings before the transfer window closes (BBC)
🏃🏻♀️Amy Hunt powered to a win in the 100m at the European Athletics Championships last night, to claim her first senior international title. (BBC)
⚽️ Can a summit of Scotland’s top football clubs next month encourage them to give more opportunities to their youth players? Tom English offers a few thoughts, none of them especially hopeful. (BBC)
IDEAS
Readers write: On a brain fart | Wind turbines and Scotland | The joy of the e-bike
📣 Today, ideas and thoughts from readers of The Early Line. They’re edited for length (the EL, alas, can’t go over a certain length, as Gmail truncates longer emails)
🗣️ First, a mea culpa: Saturday’s Early Line placed Coul Links - in the opening line - on the West Coast of Scotland. It was an inexplicable slip: I recall typing the words with the place in mind, nestled - correctly - on the East Coast. Sometimes (as I’ve explained to those who pointed out the slip) the fingers divorce from the brain. Thanks to everyone who flagged it.
🗣️Second, an interesting contribution from a reader on the subject of wind turbines, and the potential building of a vast new factory by the Chinese company, MingYang. It’s a decision that’s become quite a hot potato. I’d welcome any other expert contributions on the story, as we await a decision.
“What people don't realise is that in the offshore wind industry there are only two European manufacturers who can supply offshore projects - so there’s a duopoly - and as far as I can tell both Siemens and Vestas make extensive use of the Chinese supply chain.
There are several Chinese turbine manufacturers supplying the Chinese (and other markets), of which MingYang is one.
If all the projects were to go ahead (they won’t) Scotland would need ~2,000 wind turbines - so there’s plenty work to go around. While the Vestas plans for wind turbine manufacture in Leith are great, that’s just one manufacturer providing Scottish local content - and the jobs are in Edinburgh, an already prosperous city with a workforce not particularly well suited for manufacturing jobs.
IMO manufacturing nacelles in Scotland is particularly important - they contain the expensive moving parts which need serviced, providing 25 years of service work to the supply chain.
Scottish Enterprise were clueless in this regard - their presentations to the supply chain consistently focussed on the opportunity in secondary steel - fabricating boat ramps and the like - which I always thought was a rubbish idea - Scotland has a poor reputation in fabrication, these things don’t move so much or need serviced, so once they’re supplied what do the fabricators do?
Chinese plans for a factory in Ardesier would bring competition to the market and quality jobs to the highlands. For the good of Scotland, the government needs to be more open minded.
🗣️ The second contribution comes from another reader, provoked by a Party Line piece from earlier in the summer about “the e-bike menace”, which I’ll accept wasn’t the most neutral of framings for the story. Her passionate defence of the machines was certainly thought-provoking.
“My plea to you this morning is that as you have dipped your toe into discussions around e-bikes you make sure your dismay isn't left hanging close to poor tabloid and social media style headspace.
First of all, there are two very different classes of electric bikes.
1 - You have the zooked up electric moped type which you do not have to pedal to propel along as one type - usually any speed limiter has been overridden. As far as I am concerned, should have number plates and insurance like a petrol moped. This type of e-bike, I guess, was the cause for your dismay this morning.
2 - You have a pedal bike with power assist electric motor which is fitted with speed limiter set to max 25km/hr (approx 16mph). This is the e-bike close to my heart.
As you probably have guessed, I am a frequent cyclist. In my case I have a pedal assist e-bike. Being a near-retirement woman cyclist who has picked up the odd injury throughout my life, I am very dependent on this mode of transport. I now struggle walking due to injuries. Sitting still can be painful too, but on a bike my injuries dissapear.
The gentle movement and supported upper body stops muscle spasms from building up. The power assist allows me to cope with hills, longer distances, and getting my shopping home. Without my bike I would not be able to easily get out of the house. The new cycle lanes with a physical barrier from the main road are brilliant for getting in and out of town, and cycle/bus lanes are also safe enough as these are wide and traffic generally light.
I find it is a joy to see people of all ages increasingly taking to the bike again as quality safe spaces are emerging.
There are important discussions to be had about safety on all sort of roads and pedestrian spaces. So please start digging away into all sorts of stories - positive and negative - about the way our cities, towns and small communities are transforming. There will always be a continual need for level-headed debates to ensure these become thriving places to live and work.
📣 Thank you for your thought-provoking (and correcting) contributions, all.
👍 That’s your Early Line for the day
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