THE BIG STORIES
Trump and Putin agree to talks on Ukraine | Modestly good economic news for UK | Scottish Uni’s warning

📣 President Donald Trump says he and Vladimir Putin have agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said he also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his “lengthy and highly-productive” 90-minute discussion with Putin.

In his nightly address to Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy confirmed he had spoken to Trump about a “lasting, reliable peace” and would meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a defence summit in Munich tomorrow. (BBC)

• European countries, including the UK, are concerned peace is being negotiated over their heads. Several nations issued a joint statement in the wake of the call, saying “Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations”. (Guardian)

• Russian hardliners welcomed news of Trump’s call. In Kyiv, the call will likely increase fears Trump plans to sideline Ukraine during talks. (The Times £)

• Washington will provide Ukraine with security in return for a supply of rare earth minerals, a member of Trump’s cabinet has said. (The Telegraph £)

📣 Some 7am news: Just as I was supposed to be hitting “send”, the UK’s GDP numbers for the end of last year arrived. They weren’t as bad as some expected: there was (a little) growth, of 0.1%, between October and December. Some had expected the economy to contract.

This is to dominate headlines through the day: although the economy isn’t shrinking, the data won’t really help Rachel Reeves, who was already bound up in her own rules and facing the likelihood of having to raise taxes next month. (BBC Live coverage)

📣 Staff at the University of Edinburgh have been warned that “nothing is off the table” in efforts to stabilise the institution’s finances, with entire programmes and schools at risk of closure.

Principal Sir Peter Mathieson’s email outlining the University’s difficulties said measures “might include restructuring, possible closures of programmes or even Schools, mergers or shared services between Schools, centralisation of some services, outsourcing of others”. It left staff in a state of “alarm and anxiety”, said unions. They were also critical of management’s refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. (The Scotsman)

• What’s going wrong at Scotland’s universities? Explainer below ⬇️

• This isn’t Sir Peter’s first warning: he also said cuts could be on the way in November, when a voluntary redundancy scheme was launched

IDEAS
What’s going wrong at Scotland’s universities?

🗣️ It would be too easy to dismiss yesterday’s warning about the future of the University of Edinburgh from Sir Peter Mathieson, its principal. After all, publicly-funded bodies everywhere are complaining about their finances, especially since Rachel Reeves’ budget increased their National Insurance bills. Times are tough.

But that would be to ignore a crisis that’s been brewing for years and which - according to everyone I’ve spoken to in higher education in recent months - is real, and pressing. It’s not just Edinburgh, or Dundee, already mired in trouble. And it appears Scotland’s higher education, long a jewel in our national crown, is facing a particularly nasty confluence of problems.

Here are a few interesting reads to help you understand what’s going on…

• If you want to understand the scale of University funding, and how the various parts of it stitch together, the charts in this explainer from The Ferret do a terrific job. Note the sheer scale of Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities - these are close to £1 billion-a-year organisations.

• Scottish students don’t pay tuition fees, of course. But that means the Scottish Government does - and they’ve held down the per-student fee at £7,610, while also limiting the number of students they’ll pay for. That creates unintended consequences, as the Principal of Glasgow Caledonian University explains.

• Universities have plugged the financial gap by recruiting more foreign students, because they can charge them much (much) more. But now those overseas students are harder to come by, partly due to the UK’s tighter immigration rules.

There’s been an expectation that a University (or several) will go bankrupt soon. That’s not happened yet, but we can see from the US the devastation that can cause to students and communities.

What seems certain is we’re set for a lively public debate - about what - and who - universities are for, and how we fund them.

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Audrey Nicoll insists she is not standing down as an MSP next year because of pressure from the SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn. He’d said he wanted her Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat last year. Nicoll - who only became an MSP in 2021 - said at the time she would fight for re-selection. But she now says: "I'd only ever really planned to come in for one session.” (The National)

📣 A transgender doctor has denied trying to end a nurse’s career after the nurse’s objections to the doctor’s use of a female changing room. (Daily Mail) (BBC)

📣 An MSP’s bizarre written questions are under the spotlight: why is Douglas Lumsden MSP submitting so many questions (987 last month alone) about matters such as the profit margins on jars of honey sold in the Holyrood shop, and the number of flagpoles owned by Scottish Ministers, broken down by height? (The Scotsman)

AROUND THE UK

📣 Sir Keir Starmer is to approve 12 new towns in England, in a plan inspired by King Charles. (Independent)

📣 Almost half of UK police forces have caught motorists driving at more than 90mph on 30mph roads. (BBC)

📣 Archiologists have found “one of the most important pieces of Roman history unearthed in the City of London” in the basement of an office block. (BBC)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 Humza Yousaf says Gaza is “hell on earth” and his father-in-law has been left a “shell” by the war. His wife’s parents were trapped in Gaza for four weeks after fighting broke out: a return is now a “very distant dream,” says Yousaf. (Herald)

🌎 The bird flu crisis in the US continues to drive up the price of eggs: they’re now at $4.95 (£3.96) for a dozen grade A. (The cost in the UK is around £2.70). (AP)

• It’s not just eggs: orange juice and coffee are getting more expensive too. And those are global markets, not just US… All bad news for The Early Line’s favourite meal of the day… (Yahoo News)

🌎 A remarkable story from China: A woman’s parents were injured in a crash involving their Tesla. She ended up paying Tesla $23,000 in damages. (AP)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 The property market is hotting up as mortgages get cheaper.

• Data released this morning shows new UK property listings have increased significantly since the pandemic. House prices are also continuing to rise, although demand still appears flat. (FT £) (The RICS release)

• Santander and Barclays have both launched mortgages with interest rates of less than 4%, although the need for a chunky deposit and big fee might put some off. (BBC)

💰 Despite that, confidence in the economy has crashed among the most wealthy Britons. (MSN) (Saltus Wealth Index)

SPORT

⚽️ Celtic left it late to come alive against Bayern Munich last night, but fulfilled Brendan Rodgers’ aim of keeping themselves in with a chance when they head to Germany for the second leg.

Daizen Maeda pulled a goal back after Michael Olise’s stunning finish and a Harry Kane strike had put the visitors two up. Celtic also had the ball in the net early on, but Kuhn’s early effort was ruled offside. The clips (links below) are worth watching - with the sound up.

But don’t be deceived: the scoreline was a flattering one for Celtic, and they’ll have their work cut out next week. (Daily Record) (🎥 Highlights & report - TNT Sports)

⚽️ It was also a raucous night on Merseyside, as Everton and Liverpool met for the last time at Goodison Park. The game finished 2-2 - a gloriously helter-skelter advertisement for the old-fashioned British game, with Everton captain James Tarkowski wandering forward to score a thumping equaliser late into stoppage time. (🎥 Highlights and report - Sky Sports)