| Good evening, On an lovely summer's day in Scotland - which we hope you're all enjoying while still sticking to social-distancing guidelines - Nicola Sturgeon has admitted that the easing of restrictions could be sped up by the welcome news that the weekly death toll in the country has fallen for the third consecutive week. This has been down to the discipline of thousands upon thousands of people over the last couple of months. You all deserve tremendous credit. Just make sure to follow the next set of guidelines just as strictly and we can continue heading in the right direction against this pandemic. Here are tonight's headlines: Nicola Sturgeon has said the latest weekly fall in COVID-19 deaths in Scotland is "encouraging" and hinted it could allow her to press ahead with easing lockdown. Scotland's universities will take up to five years to recover from the financial crisis looming as a result of Coronavirus, MSPs have been told. And the Scottish Government may end the "free" places provided to EU students as a way to free up extra cash, Universities minister Richard Lochhead has said. Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that future COVID-19 clusters will be “made public” after fresh criticism of the Scottish Government's handling of the Nike conference outbreak in Edinburgh. Nicola Sturgeon has asked MSPs to “make allowances” after coming under-fire from opposition politicians for the number of “holding” responses by government ministers to written questions. The aerospace giant, Rolls-Royce, has been accused of “shameful opportunism” after announcing plans to cut at least 9,000 jobs, sparking fears for those employed at its sites in Scotland. Message from the editor While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription. Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Joy Yates
Editorial Director | 