👋 Good morning! It’s Saturday 4 April 2026. I’m Neil McIntosh, editor of The Early Line, and it’s great to have you here.
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Have a wonderful weekend, all!
☀️ The weekend’s weather: today has started beautifully, but if it’s still sunny where you are, get out and about now. Because Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness are all about to be plunged into the Easter bank holiday weekend from, if not hell, certainly Scotland. Lots of rain from mid-morning today, and ⚠️ weather warning-worthy winds overnight and into tomorrow, when it will continue to be very wet for most parts. London is set for a fine weekend. (Here’s the UK forecast).
SIX THINGS TO TALK ABOUT
US and Iran race to find downed airman
📣 The US and Iran are racing to find an American airman from a downed F-15 fighter jet in south-western Iran.
Iran is offering rewards of around £50,000 to citizens who help capture him, and claims to have shot down a second aircraft - an American A-10 Warthog - that was part of a search-and-rescue mission. Two US crew members have been rescued.
It’s a rapidly developing nightmare scenario for the US, coming after weeks of claims from President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hesgeth that the US and Israeli campaign against Iran had destroyed the country’s air defences. Trump said on Wednesday that Iran’s drone and missile capabilities had been “decimated”.
Live coverage: BBC | AP | CNN | Al Jazeera
A war that was already unpopular among Americans has entered a new, more problematic phase. (CNN)
UN chief tells Trump: “War is not a game show” (Independent)
A US pilot shot down in Iraq in 2003 recalls his 23-day nightmare there (New York Times)
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PLUS: find top TV, film and sporting picks for the weekend.
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