Is the US president exploiting popular resentment towards elite colleges to achieve his political goals? Ed Pilkington reports

Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday on the grounds that a recent $2bn (£1.5bn) funding freeze was unlawful. It is the most significant act of resistance taken by a US college in response to Trump’s crackdown on higher education.

Ed Pilkington , chief reporter for Guardian US, explains to Michael Safi that capitulating to Trump’s demands would have severely undermined Harvard’s reputation, and that the administration was targeting it for being a bastion of liberal thought.

Casualities as Russian missiles hit Kyiv and Kharkiv; strike damages Shahed factory in Tatarstan, says Ukrainian military. What we know on day 1,156

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that peace talks in London had been marked by “emotions” and pledged that Ukraine would abide by its constitution, which he has previously pointed out forbids surrendering territory such as Crimea . “Emotions have run high today. But it is good that five countries met to bring peace closer,” the Ukrainian president posted. “The American side shared its vision. Ukraine and other Europeans presented their inputs. And we hope that it is exactly such joint work that will lead to lasting peace.”

Zelenskyy posted a 2018 Crimea Declaration from Mike Pompeo, secretary of state during Donald Trump’s his first term, which said: “ The United States rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored .” Trump now appears to be proposing that the US formally recognise Russian control of Crimea – violating the UN Charter and principles that the US has led the way in upholding since the second world war, that borders must not be changed by force.

Zelenskyy’s post came as Trump scolded him for dwelling on Crimea, saying it was harming talks and that “nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognise Crimea”. Trump told reporters later that he thought the London talks had gone “pretty well … we’ve got to get two people, two strong people, two smart people, to agree. And as soon as they agree, the killing will stop.”

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, cancelled his trip to attend the London talks on Wednesday , leading to the cancellation of a broader meeting with foreign ministers from Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany. Downing Street said there were instead meetings with Washington’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and national security advisers from France and Germany. Donald Trump’s friend, the real estate dealer Steve Witkoff, is expected to meet Vladimir Putin again on Friday.

French president Emmanuel Macron’s office said: “Ukraine’s territorial integrity and European aspirations are very strong requirements for Europeans.” A spokesperson for Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, told reporters “it has to be up to Ukraine to decide its future ”. Keith Kellogg said the talks with Andriy Yermak in London were positive. “It’s time to move forward on President Trump’s UKR-RU war directive: stop the killing, achieve peace, and put America First,” Kellogg posted.

At least 21 people were injured in Kyiv early on Thursday after a missile attack on the capital . “The 21st casualty was already hospitalised,” said Vitali Klitschko, the Kyiv mayor. He said a three-year-old child was taken to hospital. Military authorities said damage had been reported in at least two districts. Kharkiv was also under missile attack early on Thursday, according to its mayor, Ihor Terekhov, who said explosions had been heard in the city. The Ukrainian air force reported Russian bombers taking off and firing missiles .

Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday that it hit a Russian long-range drone production site in Tatarstan , damaging the final assembly line. Russia extensively uses Shahed and other types of drones for strikes across Ukraine . Ukraine’s general staff said the plant could make 300 drones per day. Reuters could not independently verify the statement.

The death toll rose to nine after a Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers in the Ukrainian city of Marhanets – one of 134 large drones that Ukrainian authorities reported had attacked the country over Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

Lawsuit rebukes claim that president can arbitrarily impose tariffs based on act intended for emergencies

A dozen states sued the Trump administration in the US court of international trade in New York on Wednesday to stop its tariff policy , saying it is unlawful and has brought chaos to the American economy.

The lawsuit said the policy put in place by Donald Trump has been subject to his “whims rather than the sound exercise of lawful authority”.

Government is ‘setting up conversations’ as companies arrive in London for clean energy summit

The UK is to woo global green investors, including those scared away from the US by the actions of Donald Trump , by offering cash and infrastructure improvements to encourage companies to set up manufacturing plants and supply chains.

The government will bring forward £300m for offshore windfarms, an area in which the UK retains a lead, and has invited banks and major international companies to a 60-country summit in London this week.

Investigation body also says medics are dying in car accidents while driving home after long shifts

NHS staff are so tired they are dying in car crashes and posing a major threat to patients, the service’s safety watchdog will warn on Thursday.

Fatigue among frontline personnel causing them to make mistakes is a “significant” risk to patients, according to the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB).

• Former cricketer opens up on dark times during recovery
• ‘I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death’

Andrew Flintoff has described his return to cricket as a coach over the past 18 months as “the one thing that saved me” as he struggled to come to terms with the mental and physical scars caused in a car accident during filming for the BBC’s Top Gear in December 2022.

Flintoff talks for the first time about the accident and its aftermath in a Disney+ documentary to be released on Friday. “After the accident I didn’t think I had it in me to get through,” he says.

Alongside rareties such as Birtwistle’s Earth Dances and Reich’s The Desert Music there’s some intriguing and ambitious new music coming to this year’s festival

Even if it doesn’t really seem like one, this year’s Proms marks the beginning of a new era for what styles itself as the world’s biggest classical music festival. Though Sam Jackson took over as controller of BBC Radio 3 and director of the Proms two years ago, the 2023 and 2024 programmes were essentially planned under the aegis of his predecessor as Proms supremo David Pickard. So the coming season is the first for which Jackson has been responsible, though he is keen to emphasise that organising a festival on the scale of the Proms is a team effort, and that though his name is the one that appears on the introduction to the printed guide, he is just one among several who have put the season together – a season of 72 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, together with weekend residencies and concerts in Belfast, Bradford, Bristol, Gateshead and Sunderland.

Certainly the alterations that have been made to the eight weeks of concerts so far seem more matters of subtle degree than radical shifts in emphasis. There have been fears that the changes that have already been inflicted on Radio 3 during Jackson’s tenure might be mirrored in his first Proms. These include the tendency to play single movements rather than complete works, while avoiding any details such as opus and catalogue numbers that might be construed as off-puttingly musicological, as well as the launch of Radio 3 Unwind, devoted to music to “restore calm”. Such worries are quickly allayed though by a glance at the programmes, which contain as much serious, challenging music, both old and new, as ever. And whether deliberate or not, the choice of repertoire and the artists performing it this year suggest that attempts to ensure that every politically correct box has been ticked seem far less strenuous and contrived than they sometimes have in previous years.

The 86 concerts this summer will include anniversary celebrations of Shostakovich, Ravel and Boulez, a Traitors-themed Prom presented by Claudia Winkleman – and a record number of female conductors

The BBC today announce its eight-week Proms season featuring 86 concerts in London, Bradford, Belfast, Bristol and Gateshead. A record number of female conductors will be at the podium – 15 – and the Last Night will be the first to feature an all-female lineup of conductor and soloists: Elim Chan will conduct, with trumpeter Alison Balsom and soprano Louise Alder , plus the evening will feature two world premieres, by 34-year-old French composer Camille Pepin, and Rachel Portman , who was the first woman to win an Oscar for best original score, both making their Proms debuts.

Also making her Proms debut will be Claudia Winkleman, who, fully cloaked, will present a Traitors Prom featuring a mix of symphonic pop and classical music exploring timeless themes of intrigue, treachery and betrayal. Suzy Klein, the head of arts and classical music TV at the BBC, promised that the concert would evoke all the drama of the Highland castle where the hugely popular reality TV show takes place. There won’t be gameplay or interaction, she added, but “it is going to be shaped and curated as a dramatic evening. There’s so much music featured in the series that we wanted to take some of that and say to people, ‘Welcome to the world of classical music, you’re already listening to it and loving it without realising it!’” Winkleman will be joined by the BBC Scottish Symphony and the BBC Singers, with other guests and the full programme to be announced. Will season three fan favourite Linda Rands, a retired opera singer, be taking part? Potentially, said Klein.

Raymond McCourt, 59, was reported missing from HMP Castle Huntly in Dundee at 5.30pm on Tuesday

Police have launched a manhunt after a convicted murderer escaped from an open prison in Scotland.

Raymond McCourt, 59, was reported missing from HMP Castle Huntly in Dundee at 5.30pm on Tuesday.

Police Scotland have warned the public not to approach him.

McCourt is described as 6ft 2in, stocky, with short grey hair and a beard and has reduced mobility.

He uses public transport, with connections to the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas, the force added.

The convicted murderer was last known to be wearing a long black trenchcoat, grey dress trousers, a grey waistcoat, a blue shirt with a red and white tie and brown shoes.

McCourt was jailed for life in 1993 for the murder of shopkeeper Khalid Mahmood and for shooting a woman, Moira Rooney, and PC Brian Williams, who was giving chase.

He was jailed for charges including murder, attempted murder, assault and robbery, assault to severe injury and firearms offences.

McCourt was freed in 2015 but returned to prison after admitting stealing his partner’s valuables from her home in Perthshire and selling them within weeks of being released.