• Bob Dylan is nothing if not confident. The music legend, who turned 80 in May, has quietly put concert tickets on sale for a tour in support of last year's "Rough and Rowdy Ways" album. His website bills it as a "World Wide Tour 2021-2024." The concert business is slowly ramping up after the pandemic pause, which grounded Dylan's so-called Never Ending Tour after he'd toured every year from 1988 through 2019. He plans to return to live performing Nov. 2 in Milwaukee and has 21 concerts scheduled through Dec. 2, hitting such cities as Chicago, New York, Boston and Washington, as well as Moon Township, Pa., and Knoxville, Tenn.
• Queen Elizabeth II opened the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament on Saturday and reflected on the love that she and her late husband, Prince Philip, shared for Scotland. The 95-year-old monarch arrived in Edinburgh with her son, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, who in Scotland are known as the duke and duchess of Rothesay. "I have spoken before of my deep and abiding affection for this wonderful country and of the many happy memories Prince Philip and I always held of our time here," the queen told lawmakers. The couple spent many summers at the royal residence in Scotland, Balmoral Castle, often joined by other members of the royal family, and she in fact went to Edinburgh from the castle. It's the first time she's opened a session of the Scottish Parliament without Philip by her side. The prince, officially the duke of Edinburgh, died in April at age 99. "The beginning of a new session is a time for renewal and fresh thinking, providing an opportunity to look to the future and our future generations," the queen said. That opportunity is especially ripe this year, she said, with the United Nations' annual climate summit scheduled to open Oct. 31 in Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city. The queen said she'll attend the event. "The eyes of the world will be on the United Kingdom -- and Scotland, in particular -- as leaders come together to address the challenges of climate change," she said. The queen added, "As we battle through the storm of a global pandemic, hope and the hankering for change is perhaps felt more strongly by more people than at any time in our recent history." Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, offered Elizabeth "deep sympathy and shared sorrow" over Philip's death, and thanked her for being a "steadfast friend" of Parliament since its establishment in 1999. Though Sturgeon's Scottish National Party wants the country to be independent of the U.K., its policy is to retain the monarchy.