Naval chiefs from across northern Europe signed a "statement of intent" to work up the details for the "Northern Navies Initiative" following a meeting last week, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins revealed. He said the grouping would complement NATO, with the advantage of being able to react potentially more quickly in a crisis than the larger alliance. "We know we have no time to lose, which is why by the end of this year, I want us all to have signed a formal declaration, laying the foundations for what will be a vital and enduring partnership for many years to come," the First Sea Lord said in a lecture at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank. "I aim to create a maritime force that trains, exercises and prepares together. A force designed to fight immediately if required, with real capabilities, real war plans, and real integration." It would be like an existing UK-led military partnership called the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) - involving their 10 members, which include the Baltic states, Nordic countries and the Netherlands. But Canada may also join the naval initiative. The aim is for "a force that generates the maritime, air and amphibious strike capabilities that we all need. This would be a visible and persistent conventional deterrent. A force that is stronger, collectively, than the sum of its parts", he said. Nations would be able to switch and swap sailors, spare parts and ammunition to bolster capacity and capability, combing crewed and increasingly uncrewed vessels in what General Jenkins envisages for the UK to be a "hybrid navy". He described this as a "family of allied fleets - something that has not happened in decades". The new northern naval force could be commanded at a major maritime headquarters at Northwood, on the outskirts of London. Such a capability was needed in the face of an increased threat from Russia's Northern Fleet. "We have seen Russian incursions into our waters jump by almost a third in the last two years," General Jenkins, the first Royal Marine to lead the Royal Navy, said. "In 2025 alone, the Royal Navy was required to respond dozens of times in support of homeland defence against Russian navy surface vessels. "That is why the Royal Navy has to be ready every day, of every month, of every year." Read more:'Three Russian submarines targeted UK cables'British forces cleared to board Russian 'shadow fleet' ships He said he was most concerned by Russia's submarine force. "Like our surface fleet, our submarines spent a substantial amount of time responding to Russian subsurface activity last year - and all the signs suggest the pattern of behaviour by Moscow will only worsen further in future."

Sir Stephen, 68, is suing CogX Festival Limited and Blonstein Events after breaking multiple bones in the fall following a talk he gave at the east London venue during the CogX festival in September 2023. High Court documents filed earlier this month said that, after giving a presentation, he fell "whilst exiting the stage backstage area", falling "approximately two metres from the stage to the concrete floor below". The two companies were negligent and/or failed in their statutory duty, he claimed, by "failing to ensure that the stage and backstage area were safe, adequately lit and properly protected to prevent a fall from height". The actor and presenter's claim is for "personal injuries and consequential losses up to £100,000, which includes an award for pain, suffering and loss of amenity exceeding £1,000, together with interest on damages… and costs". Read more:The cowboy builders ruining livesDinner attack suspect's selfies revealedBest pictures from King's US visit In December 2023, Sir Stephen told Claudia Winkleman's BBC Radio 2 programme that he broke his right leg "in a couple of places", as well as "my hip and my pelvis in four places and a bunch of ribs" in the fall. He said: "I did my bow after delivering this lecture, turned to go off stage and didn't realise that I was walking off a part of the stage where there was nothing. "Six-foot drop on to concrete." Keith Barrett, a partner at law firm Fieldfisher - which is representing Sir Stephen, said they had to take action because "the defendants do not accept Sir Stephen's account of events, and we have had to ask the court to determine who is responsible for his injury and losses". No hearing has yet been scheduled in the claim. Sky News has approached CogX Festival and Blonstein Events for comment.

The housing minister said legislation to abolish the feudal-era property system and transition to a commonhold model will be passed before the next election. Politics Live: Starmer's cabinet split over reshuffle But he said switching on the ban for both leasehold flats and houses "involves some really quite complex trade-offs", so the commencement date may come later. "I'm not saying there's no chance, but I think it's highly likely that we don't switch on the ban in this parliament," Mr Pennycook said. The minister was speaking to journalists after a speech in which he reaffirmed his party's manifesto commitment to "bring the feudal leasehold system to an end". The Greens have accused Labour of U-turning as the ban will only apply to new leasehold properties and there have been delays in bringing this legislation forward. In his speech Mr Pennycook insisted that "the aim of this government, by the end of this parliament, is nothing short of its dismantling and the corresponding emancipation of leaseholders". However, he argued that an immediate outright ban would be impossible given the legal complexities of outlawing a system that originated in medieval times, accusing Zack Polanski's party of "glib soundbites". "Anyone, with even the most rudimentary knowledge of leasehold, knows that the outright and immediate abolition of circa five million English and Welsh leases is almost certainly impossible," Mr Pennycook said. He said those advocating for this approach "cannot answer how it would be lawful; how the impact on the mortgage market would be managed; how it would even be feasible for the land registry to delete millions of leasehold and freehold titles and replace them with commonhold ones overnight". "They can't answer these questions because abolishing leasehold outright is a glib soundbite rather than a serious policy proposition." 'Biggest shakeup in 1,000 years' Leasehold tenures give homeowners the right to live in their property for a given number of years but they don't own the land it is on. Leaseholders have complained of spiralling services charges to keep up with the maintenance of their building, which they have no say or control over, as well as ground rents to their freeholder landlords, which can cause barriers to selling and don't require a service in return. The system is almost unique to England and Wales, with most countries operating a commonhold model for communal buildings - where flat owners manage and own their buildings jointly. Speaking to media following his speech, Mr Pennycook said abolishing leasehold is the biggest shakeup to homeownership for 1,000 years. On the timeline, he said the government's priority is to have "all the primary legislation that we need to end leasehold in place" by the end of this parliament. "The commonhold legal framework will be fixed, I think you'll see developers start to bring forward commonhold developments out of choice," he said. "But switching on the ban involves some really quite complex trade-offs with housing supply and other issues." He added that the government's objective is to ensure a "smooth transition", and a commencement date would be named within this parliament which would apply to flats and houses at the same time. Legislation to ban the sale of new leasehold houses has already been passed - in the Conservatives' 2024 Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, which was rushed through parliament in the "wash up" period after Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election. But most leasehold properties are flats and the legal framework to ban this is in Labour's Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform bill, which was introduced in January. 'Leaseholders have run out of patience' This bill will also contain measures to cap ground rents at £250 a year and set out how existing leaseholders can transition to commonhold if they want to. Reforms to make the system fairer in the meantime are contained within the 2024 act, but many of these are yet to be enacted, which Mr Pennycook has blamed on flaws in the previous government's legislation which need to be corrected. Responding to today's speech, the National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) welcomed Mr Pennycook's "honesty and clarity" but said leaseholders had "run out of patience". And Harry Scoffin, founder of campaign group Free Leaseholders, said: "Listening to the minister's list of excuses of complexity and powerlessness, you could be forgiven for missing that this Labour government enjoys the second-largest majority in the ruling party's 126-year history."

Substitute Eze went to ground in the box when he was challenged by David Hancko on 78 minutes. There was foot-on-foot contact and the Gunners looked set to have the opportunity to retake the lead. But VAR stepped in and advised referee Danny Makkelie to go to the monitor. After watching multiple replays, Makkelie decided to rule out the penalty-kick he had awarded and the game finished level, ahead of the second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal - Match report | As it happened | Teams | StatsDownload the Sky Sports app Arteta gave a damning assessment of the decision when he spoke to TNT Sports immediately after the game. "After going back into the dressing room, speaking to the boys and watching the penalty incident, it's extremely disappointing and annoying because it was against the rules and it changes the course of the tie," he said. "I'm very, very upset. "The whole sequence. There is clear contact. You make the decision, you cannot overturn that decision when you have to look at it 13 times. It's completely unacceptable at this level. "It's the wrong decision." Asked in his post-match press conference if Arsenal would protest the decision to UEFA, Arteta said: "I leave that to the club to decide what's the best thing to do. Now they're not going to give us a penalty. That's it. That's gone." This was a match defined by three penalties. Arsenal led at half-time through a spot-kick won and scored by Viktor Gyokeres, when Hancko was again involved, bundling over the striker from behind. But an improved Atletico levelled after the break through Julian Alvarez when VAR spotted a handball by Ben White from Marcos Llorente's shot and sent referee Makkelie to the monitor. Despite the ball deflecting off White's knee against his hand, a penalty was awarded. On that decision, Arteta conceded the interpretation of handball in the Champions League is different to the Premier League. "They have been consistent with that," he said. "If you are going to give a penalty for this kind of thing you have to accept it." The handball call against White followed an even more controversial decision to punish Alphonso Davies in Paris Saint-Germain's win over Bayern Munich in the other semi-final. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher posted on X to say UEFA must address the definition around handball in the Champions League. "The Champions League is the best football by a mile, but these penalty decisions for handball really are a stain on the competition. Last [night's] was worse but that should not be a penalty against White," he said. Arteta 'proud' of Arsenal: 'It's in our hands' Reflecting on his team's overall performance in Madrid, Arteta said: "I'm very proud, I said that to the boys, the way we handled the context for nine-and-a-half months, just remarkable. "I really value what they've done because I've seen some of the best teams in the world here fall apart and concede three and four. "We didn't get the result that we wanted, and the way we planned the game, we wanted to win it. At least it is in our hands, in front of our people. "We want to be in that final and in a week's time we are going to have the opportunity to do so."

The trial centres on the 2015 birth of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, as a non-profit start-up, primarily funded by Mr Musk, before it evolved into a capitalist venture now valued at $852bn (£632bn). Mr Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has accused Mr Altman, OpenAI, and its president, Greg Brockman, of wooing his donations by promising to build a non-profit to develop AI responsibly, before pivoting to create a for-profit entity in 2019 to enrich themselves. On Wednesday Mr Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI between December 2015 and May 2017, gave his account of OpenAI's early years, recounting how he lost confidence that Mr Altman would keep it a nonprofit. Questioned by his lawyer Steven Molo, Mr Musk said by late 2022 he was concerned Mr Altman was trying to "steal the charity. "It turned out to be true," Mr Musk added. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stepped in multiple times throughout the day, including after Mr Musk accused OpenAI's lawyer, William Savitt, of trying to trick him. "Your questions are not simple," Mr Musk said. "They are designed to trick me essentially." When pressed by the judge to answer whether it was true or false that OpenAI was formed as a non-profit in December 2015, Mr Musk said it is not always simple, comparing it to asking "have you stopped beating your wife?" That response caused Judge Rodgers to cut Mr Musk off, stating clearly: "We are not going to go there". Mr Musk also said he was concerned that Microsoft, another defendant in the case that invested $10bn (£7.42bn) in OpenAI in 2023, had "captured" the organisation. OpenAI has argued ‌that Mr Musk is motivated by a compulsion to control the company. Mr Savitt told jurors during his opening statement on Monday that Mr Musk helped finance OpenAI's early growth and pushed it to become a for-profit business, one he might eventually lead. He has also argued that Mr Musk is seeking to use the case to bolster his own AI company, xAI, which lags OpenAI in ​user adoption. Read more from Sky News:UK borrowing cost at its highest since 1998Sir Stephen Fry seeks £100k damages claim after 'breaking multiple bones' Musk is seeking $150bn (£111bn) in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, although any award would go to OpenAI's charitable arm. He also wants the company to revert to a non-profit, with Mr Altman and Mr Brockman removed as officers and Mr Altman removed from the board. OpenAI is currently structured as a public benefit corporation, in ‌which the non-profit and other investors, including Microsoft, hold stakes. The trial comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential initial public offering that could value it at $1trn (£740bn), which a Musk win could derail. The trial started on Monday and is expected to last about four weeks.

The ‌Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the reviews, ​which were due to start in October 2028, had been brought forward as part of a year-long discrimination investigation. The move comes after Kimmel, who hosts a late-night talk show on Disney's ABC network, made a joke about Melania Trump. Just days before a gunman opened fire in Washington at the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) dinner, Kimmel performed a sketch about the event on his programme Jimmy Kimmel Live!, joking that Mrs Trump had a "glow like an expectant widow". The first lady and Mr Trump are among those who have demanded the sacking of Kimmel, who was briefly taken off-air last year over comments about the killing of Trump supporter Charlie Kirk. Mr Trump wrote: "I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel's despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said, but this is something far beyond the pale." In a post on X, the first lady said Kimmel's "hateful and violent rhetoric" intends to divide the US. "His monologue about my family isn't comedy - his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America. "Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community," she wrote. In a post on X on Tuesday, White House communications director Steven Cheung accused the comedian of making a "disgusting joke" and demanded ABC "fire him immediately". On Monday's show, Kimmel responded to criticism of his joke by saying it was merely a reference to the couple's age difference. His response had been viewed more than 3.4 million times on YouTube by Tuesday night, UK time. In a statement to NBC, Sky's US partner, a Disney spokesperson confirmed the company had received the FCC's order. "ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming," they said. "We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels," the spokesperson added. Kimmel agrees with Melania Kimmel used the opening monologue of his show on Monday to address the Trumps' response. "It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am," Kimmel said. "It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination." He then responded to the first lady's comments: "I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something ⁠we should reject. "I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it." The comedian played a clip of a CBS News' "60 Minutes" Sunday interview in which ‌Mr Trump called senior correspondent Norah O'Donnell "a disgrace" for reading an excerpt from the alleged gunman's writings and seeking a response. What did the sketch actually show? The sketch depicted Kimmel in a tuxedo, standing behind a podium pretending to deliver a comic routine for the WHCA dinner with "cutaways" to the Trumps. "Our first lady, Melania, is here. So beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," he joked. There was no indication Kimmel was referring to violence in the sketch. Read more on Sky News:The best of King's first day in USKimmel chokes up over Charlie Kirk Kimmel has long targeted Mr Trump in his comedy and is no fan of the president. He came close to tears following the Republican's 2024 election win, describing it as a "terrible night". His suspension for comments about the assassination of right-wing influencer Kirk in September was met with criticism towards the administration for infringing on freedom of speech, leading to Kimmel's reinstatement five days later. On his return, Kimmel said it was "never my intention to make light of" Kirk's death, adding that he did not think there was anything funny about it.

I've been told by three senior government sources that there are divisions at the very top over how to handle the fallout of the May elections as Downing Street braces for heavy losses and vocal criticism from MPs and councillors. The Labour Party could lose more than 2,000 council seats in England and control of the Senedd in Wales for the first time since devolution began in 1999. Politics latest: Starmer faces bruising PMQs Sources tell me that the prime minister's acting chief of staff Vidhya Alakeson and key cabinet figure Darren Jones, secretary to the prime minister, are advising Sir Keir to pause on a reshuffle while political director Amy Richards and chief whip Johnny Reynolds, two Starmer lieutenants trying to manage the party, are pushing for one. "They are both trying to get his ear," said one figure of Alakeson and Richards. "Keir is undecided." Those opposed to a reshuffle question whether it would be foolhardy to start trying to move some in the cabinet at such a febrile time. "You can imagine a scenario where the prime minister calls up a cabinet minister to move them, and they reply they have lost confidence in him, where does he go from there?" said one minister. Another senior figure told me they "don't think a reshuffle is a good idea right now". "The PM needs a more public-facing moment about the country and where we are going," they added. A couple of weeks ago, government figures were heavily briefing that there would be a post election reshuffle as the prime minister sought to demonstrate that he was moving to phase two of his government, with a change of the top team ahead of the King's Speech on 12 May, which will set out the government's legislative agenda for the next session of parliament. I'm told that the preference of Richards and Reynolds is to put some of the softer left wing of the party back into the top team in order to placate MPs who are casting around for a different leader, with Andy Burnham being talked up even though he is not an MP and therefore couldn't stand if there was a leadership race after the May elections. However, some MPs believe Mr Burnham would be a better leader to fight Nigel Farage on the right and Zack Polanski on he left. "He's a clean skin and hasn't been part of Starmer's cabinet," said one MP. Read more:Travel influencer missing in MoroccoOver two thirds of under twos use screens Names in the frame to be brought back into the cabinet are leading figures on the soft left: Angela Rayner, Lucy Powell and Lou Haigh, while Liz Kendall, the science secretary, and Peter Kyle, the business secretary, are being spoken of by party sources as vulnerable if Sir Keir does decide to change his top team. The prime minister has had a conversation with Angela Rayner about her return to government when he saw her at a campaign visit arranged in the former deputy leader's constituency. But I understand that no offer was made or accepted during the course of that conversation. Sir Keir has publicly said he'd like Rayner to return to cabinet. As for Rayner, she's undecided on whether to go back in, given the current state of play and uncertainty around Sir Keir's future.

The nine-goal thriller was the first time in a European semi-final match that both teams scored four or more goals. Kane, who opened the scoring from the penalty spot, declared at full-time on Amazon Prime: "Even though there was nine goals scored, there was some amazing defending out there. PSG 5-4 Bayern Munich: Match report & reactionAs it happened | Teams | StatsChampions League results and fixturesDownload the Sky Sports app "You've got the best players in the world. The best attackers, the best defenders. Of course, sometimes the attackers are going to come out on top and show their quality. "When you go back and look at the centre-halves playing in midfield, in attack sometimes, out wide against the wingers, credit to them. It's a really hard job. I thought they were outstanding." Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany questioned those unhappy with the amount of goals scored, while also agreeing with Kane that the defending was 'good.' But Rooney had a different view. He told Amazon Prime: "I love Harry Kane. Everyone can see that on the words I say about him. But, there's no way he can be praising his defenders. "Maybe because they are his team-mates. He's trying to give them a bit of confidence for next week. The defending from both teams was really bad. If he's being honest. "Both teams have so much quality at the top end of the pitch that they probably forgot to defend. That means we get to enjoy some great goals. "But, what the better players do is find a way through. When you're playing against top attackers, you need to adapt. "You don't hear defenders communicating anymore. You used to hear Jamie Carragher screaming at his defenders for Liverpool. It used to annoy me, but it got his full-backs back in. "You don't get that level of communication now. That's as a result of the coaching." The ex-England captain added: "It was a crazy and chaotic game. "Luis Enrique is a top coach so when they get the advantage of 5-2, I think he should have said 'let's shut up shop and get behind the ball'. "But they went for more goals and Vincent Kompany has got a very attack-minded [Bayern] team. "We saw some immature defending, which is crazy." Enrique: We deserved to win, lose and draw Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique gave an honest assessment of his side's part in the thriller. After the game, he told the press: "We won the match, of course, we are happy, very happy. "But after being 5-2 up you think you can have a better result. I think we deserved to win the match, but we also deserved to draw and we even deserved to lose." Carra: Almost impossible to stop the goals Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher lauded the attacking play in the joint-highest scoring semi-final match in European Cup history. He told CBS Sports: "Normally when I see a game like that I'll say 'the defending is not good enough' or 'it is not up to the standard of this level of football'. "But what I would say is: Every attacking player on the pitch was an eight or nine out of 10. Every attacking player got the better of their counterpart. "When I remember the goals, it wasn't like there was a goalkeeper howler or something stupid defensively, it felt like the goals were just great goals. "It wasn't like defenders made a fool of themselves. The attacking play was that high it was almost impossible to stop the goals." Henry: Risks were rewarded The goal-fest at the Parc des Princes means PSG (43) and Bayern Munich (42) have both scored more than 40 goals in the Champions League this season. Reacting on CBS Sports, Thierry Henry added: "We've been talking a lot about teams who don't take enough risks. We talk about teams not losing the game rather than winning it. "Tonight we had plenty of risk. If we have our defensive hats on you might go crazy with what you saw tonight. "But I don't care. People have been complaining football is boring. That game was not boring. It was just crazy at times." This is why football fans love the beautiful game Analysis by Sky Sports' Callum Bishop: "Tonight has acted as a reminder of how beautiful football can be when played in its most free-flowing state, at a time when some may argue that tactics and systems have made it become formulaic. "Watching the game tonight reminded me of the first memory I ever had falling in love with football. It just so happened to also be a Champions League semi-final first leg when Manchester United faced AC Milan at Old Trafford in 2007. "Milan's second goal came when Kaka produced an outrageous piece of skill to send Patrice Evra and Gabriel Heinze crashing into each other and sprawled out on the deck. He then showed immaculate composure to slot past Edwin van der Sar. "It was poetry in motion, something that has at times been stripped from the modern game. But tonight, there were so many of those moments that just took your breath away. "It leads to a goal fest, and that should be celebrated. Sure, goalkeepers and defenders won't be happy, but ask anyone else and they would rather see spectacles like this every week. "This is the beautiful game summed up in its purist form across 90 minutes. And we still have at least another 90 to go in this tie." The greatest CL tie ever? What you had to say Following the end of the game, Sky Sports invited fans to share their thoughts on the madness in Paris, with many labelling it as one of the best contests they had ever witnessed. Mark: This is how football should be played, fast, entertaining, end to end. This was a throwback to yesteryear and nothing like modern boring football. Scott B: Feel sorry for anyone who missed that game. Great day to be a neutral, that's what football is about! Joe: Not only was that the greatest Champions League semi-final ever, but I've been watching football for many, many years and I think that's one of the best games ever. Andrew: There are levels to this game. This game has proven to all English clubs that they've got some catching up to do. That was sensational. Mikey: I am an Arsenal fan, but whoever goes through from our tie has no hope in the final!