Tragedy struck in eastern France today, as a plane carrying aspiring skydivers crashed, resulting in the deaths of at least eleven individuals.

The catastrophic event occurred shortly after 11am on a Sunday when the German-registered Pilatus PC-6 encountered trouble.

“The single-engine aircraft was transporting approximately eleven people when it went down near Nancy,” an investigator revealed.

“The aircraft had been rented by a company that specializes in introductory skydiving experiences.”

“Onboard were the pilot, five instructors, and another five individuals, all set to experience tandem jumps for the first time,” the source added.

Yves Séguy, the Prefect of Meurthe-and-Moselle confirmed a ‘provisional death toll of eleven’, saying the number might increase because of victims on the ground. 

There was no immediate indication as to the names or nationalities of those onboard the plane, which local officials say was regularly used for parachute jumps. 

But local media reported that five of the victims of the terrible crash were self-employed nurses from the local area who were going skydiving for the first time. 

Thierry Pechey, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Nursing Council, said: ‘An introductory skyjump had been organised for private-practice nurses from Nancy.’

The plane came down on a road next to an Auchan supermarket in Tomblaine, a suburb of Nancy.

It had taken off a few minutes before from the Nancy-Essey airfield, and began to fall out of the sky during takeoff.

Hervé Feron, the mayor of Tomblaine, said: ‘The plane was taking off when it suddenly crashed. At the moment, there is no explanation for the accident. The crash caused no collateral damage; it occurred on a bike path near a residential area. 

‘The City of Tomblaine is providing a room at a secret location to accommodate the victims’ families. According to my information, there were five instructors, five skydivers, and the pilot on board the plane, which was probably rented in Germany. The Greater Nancy Metropolitan Area is also providing a room for the victims to gather and pay their respects.’ 

He added: ‘I don’t remember a tragedy of this magnitude.’

A spokesman for the Meurth-et-Moselle Prefecture said: ‘The incident occurred in the municipality of Tomblaine involving a civil aircraft that took off from Nancy-Essey aerodrome.’

The area around the crash site was immediately blocked off, as emergency services personnel searched for survivors.

Amaury Lacote, a local prosecutor, announced that a formal investigation will be launched in conjunction with the air transport gendarmerie brigade of Nancy-Metz. 

Following the crash, the area around Tomblaine suffered a power outage. It is not known if this is connected to the crash. 

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is expected to arrive on site this afternoon.  

Pilatus PC-6 Porters were made by Swiss firm Pilatus Aircraft, but production ceased in 2022.

In October 2013, a Pilatus carrying ten skydivers – five instructors and five students – and a pilot crashed at Fernelmont, Belgium, and all those on board died.

As this time, the accident happened shortly after takeoff.

And in August 2022, a South African Police Service PC-6 crashed shortly after taking off Rand Airport, South Africa, and all five passengers died during the accident. The pilot was the sole survivor and he was severely injured.

Sylvia Meagher’s life took a dramatic turn following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Before this pivotal event, she thrived in what she regarded as her ideal role. As an editor and researcher with the United Nations, specifically for the World Health Organization, Meagher relished her involvement in global issues, confidently maneuvering through the world of international diplomacy.

Insightful, methodical, and passionately engaged in politics, 42-year-old Meagher appeared on track for an enduring tenure in diplomacy and international policy-making. However, the tragic events of November 22, 1963, in Dallas altered the trajectory of her life, making it impossible for her to maintain her regular routine as before.

With each new piece of information she uncovered about the assassination, her skepticism deepened, leading to more inquiries.

Upon the release of the government’s conclusions, Meagher became intensely driven to uncover the truth, consumed by her quest for answers.

In “The Housewives Underground: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the JFK Assassination Our Most Enduring Mystery” (Crown), author Kaitlyn Tiffany tells the remarkable story of Meagher and two other unlikely investigators — Oklahoma housewife Shirley Martin and Maggie Field, the wealthy wife of a Californian stockbroker — who devoted years of their lives to challenging the official account of what happened in Dallas.

Together, the trio became pioneers of a movement that would ultimately help transform JFK’s murder from a national tragedy into America’s longest-running mystery.

“They were disillusioned and bitter, yet they still believed in some possible future in which the country they lived in could be more like the one they’d been promised,” Tiffany writes. “Somehow they never questioned their obligation to participate in its creation.”

When the Warren Commission released its report in September 1964, the verdict seemed straightforward: Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone.

But it wasn’t.

Buried beneath the report’s conclusions were 26 volumes of supporting evidence containing nearly 18,000 pages of testimony, exhibits and documents. The Government Printing Office made the mountain of material available to the public, but few Americans bothered to buy it.

Fewer actually read it.

But Sylvia Meagher not only read it — she practically memorized it.

Working from her one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s West Village, she transformed her home into a research center complete with filing cabinets and stacks of documents. Frustrated that the Warren Commission had failed to create a usable index, she started building one herself.

“When discussing her task with friends and acquaintances, she explained by asking what they would think if the Encyclopaedia Britannica were issued with all its contents untitled, unalphabetized, and in random order,” Tiffany writes.

The resulting index became an indispensable tool for assassination researchers.

Meagher also began writing letters to newspapers challenging their coverage of the case and publishing essays highlighting contradictions and unanswered questions within the Warren Report.

She soon discovered she wasn’t alone.

Across the country, other amateur investigators were arriving at similar conclusions.

One was Shirley Martin, whose relentless digging made her a headache for J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. 

Another was Maggie Field, a New Yorker living in California, who turned her home into an assassination command center, hosting screenings of the famous Zapruder film and recruiting friends and neighbors into the cause.

Together, the three women formed an unlikely alliance.

In a pre-internet era, they exchanged information through letters, phone calls and occasional meetings. Martin gathered witness testimony in Dallas. Field circulated documents and connected researchers. Meagher became the group’s analytical powerhouse, comparing claims against the official evidence and hosting gatherings of fellow “Warrenologists” in her apartment.

What united them was a growing belief that the government’s explanation simply didn’t add up.

Soon they were appearing on television and radio, debating journalists, politicians and defenders of the Warren Commission.

In 1967, Meagher published “Accessories After the Fact,” a devastating critique of the official investigation. The book raised questions not only about Oswald’s guilt but also about the methods and conclusions of the Warren Commission and the FBI.

“Their goal was to change the minds of the American public, which required being taken seriously by respected figures in the media and in the government,” Tiffany writes.

As the years passed, Meagher came to believe that Oswald had been unfairly portrayed and may have been innocent altogether.

“I have tended to identify with Oswald,” she once wrote to Martin. “At least with his rebelliousness, independence, non-conformity, reading tastes and love for animals and children.”

Ultimately the three women had become central figures in a growing movement of assassination critics. They had no institutional support, no major funding and no official authority, yet their work helped fuel a wave of public skepticism that continues more than 60 years later.

But as the assassination research community expanded, disagreements emerged over strategy, evidence and credibility.

The biggest flashpoint was Jim Garrison, the flamboyant New Orleans district attorney who launched his own investigation in 1967.

Garrison claimed Kennedy had been killed as part of a conspiracy involving individuals connected to New Orleans and brought businessman Clay Shaw to trial. Many critics of the Warren Commission embraced his efforts.

Meagher wasn’t convinced.

But Martin and Field proved more sympathetic to Garrison’s investigation, creating tensions that gradually drove the women apart.

The alliance that had once seemed unbreakable began to fracture.

“Sylvia and her friends were trying to set just one thing right,” Tiffany writes.

“They sometimes made bad guesses, trusted the wrong people, surrendered to pride or paranoia, clung to the past — to their first instincts — and they eventually fell apart … They started something they couldn’t quite finish.”

Meagher died of complications from the flu at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan in January 1989. 

In researching the book and going through Meagher’s old papers, author Kaitlyn Tiffany came to learn that she wasn’t actually a fan of JFK.

“She hadn’t even voted for the man,” she writes. “Yet his death had turned into her life’s work.”

Samuel Bateman, the leader of a polygamous sect, who is already serving a 50-year sentence for federal child sex abuse offenses, has been convicted again in Arizona on state child abuse charges. The conviction arises from an incident during a 2022 traffic stop where authorities discovered three young girls confined within a sealed trailer.

A jury in Coconino County found Bateman guilty on three counts of child abuse, with the verdict finalized after just 40 minutes of deliberation on Friday. He is set to receive his sentence on August 25.

Each of the three counts of child abuse carries a mandatory prison sentence ranging from four to eight years. The judge will soon decide whether these sentences are to be served concurrently or consecutively.

The charges relate to an event in August 2022, occurring in Flagstaff, where police halted Bateman following a report from a witness who noticed children’s fingers protruding through the gaps of the trailer’s doors. Inside the poorly ventilated trailer, police discovered three girls, aged between 11 and 14, along with rudimentary accommodations including a makeshift toilet, a sofa, and camping chairs.

Prosecutors said Bateman knowingly endangered the girls by hauling them for hours in hot conditions inside a trailer meant for cargo, not passengers.

“It’s common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation,” prosecutor Eric Ruchensky told jurors during closing arguments.

Bateman represented himself at trial, with appointed advisory counsel available. Testifying in his own defense, he denied intending to hurt anyone. He acknowledged under questioning that the trailer was hot and poorly ventilated, but minimized the danger.

“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he said. “I asked God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle.”

He claimed he thought the girls had gotten out when they stopped. He said he was as “shocked as could possibly be” when he learned that they were still inside when he was pulled over.

The Arizona case followed Bateman’s federal conviction in a broader abuse and kidnapping conspiracy case. Federal prosecutors accused him of using his status as a self-proclaimed prophet to coerce girls, some as young as 9, into sex acts with him and others. He was also convicted of plotting to remove girls from protective custody.

That federal case drew wider public attention and is featured in the Netflix series “Trust Me: The False Prophet.”

Bateman has previously said he had more than 20 “spiritual wives,” including several underage girls. Authorities have described him as the leader of a small religious offshoot connected to communities along the Arizona-Utah border that have long been associated with polygamous sects.

Federal officials said Bateman traveled through Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska as he built a following linked to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The FLDS church has historically been centered in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

Bateman was once considered a trusted follower of Warren Jeffs, the former FLDS leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting children.

The FLDS church practices polygamy, a doctrine rooted in early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mainstream church abandoned polygamy in 1890 and now bars the practice.

The influence of the FLDS church has declined sharply in Colorado City and Hildale. A 2017 court order placed the communities under outside supervision after findings that church control had infected local government and law enforcement. The towns were released from that oversight last year, earlier than expected, after officials cited major changes in local governance and community life.

Practicing members of the sect are now believed to make up only a small share of the population in those towns.

The World Cup has truly been a showcase for star athletes, with standout performances from Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane captivating audiences worldwide.

It comes as no shock that this talent display has led to top-tier clubs dominating the goal tally. Real Madrid, with just a 10-player representation at the tournament, leads the pack.

Yet, the tournament has also thrown up unexpected surprises. Two Premier League teams have surpassed the goal contributions of European giants like Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

Interestingly, Inter Miami has managed to outscore not only premier clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal but remains low in player representation on the scoresheet.

Daily Mail Sport provides an analysis of the World Cup’s top-scoring clubs from the group stage.

Real Madrid – 11 goals 

Typically, it would not be a surprise for Real Madrid to top this list. They are the world’s biggest club after all.

They do, however, have only 10 players at the tournament. 11 clubs – including Crystal Palace and Al Hilal – have greater representation in North America. Meanwhile, Real began the tournament without a player in the Spain squad for the first time since 1950.

But that has not stopped them from dominating the scoring charts. It does help when the Real delegation consists of golden boot contenders Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, plus England talisman Jude Bellingham.

That trio have 10 goals between them, while Arda Guler kicked off the scoring as Turkey – who finished bottom of their group – beat the United States in their final game.

Bellingham scored a crucial goal in England’s opener against Croatia, surging 35 yards with the ball before driving into the penalty area and earning the Three Lions the third goal in a thrilling 4-2 victory in Dallas. He then neatly finished to turn in a corner for the opener against Panama. 

Real’s stars of the show have been Vinicius and Mbappe, though. Both scoring four goals, Mbappe has registered two braces, while Vinicius has scored in all three of Brazil’s group games.

Mbappe’s goals have been sublime, with two long-range strikes and a composed, drilled finish inside the penalty area accompanying a tap-in.

Vinicius, meanwhile, carried Brazil on his back against Morocco, stepping up when his team were struggling, showing quick feet before curling into the back of the net. He found a cute finish, too, against Haiti – slotting under the goalkeeper.

PSG – 10 goals

Ousmane Dembele had been to two World Cups prior to this tournament and never scored. But the Ballon d’Or holder has carried his stupendous club form into this tournament, breaking his duck against Iraq before a classy first half hat-trick against Norway.

Cut inside, take it back outside, smash into the back of the net. Hammer home from range. Cut inside and curl in with his left-foot. Three magical strikes. 

Desire Doue added the last goal against the Norwegians with a lovely header.

23-year-old Bradley Barcola scored on World Cup debut as France beat Senegal, released in behind and lobbing over the goalkeeper. 

Elsewhere, Achraf Hakimi netted in Morocco’s 4-2 win over Haiti and Joao Neves scored a powerful header for Portugal against DR Congo and Nuno Mendes smashed in a free-kick for Portugal and Ibrahim Mbaye netted for Senegal. 

Crystal Palace – Seven goals

Seven goals, three scorers for the Eagles, with Daichi Kamada, Ismaila Sarr and Daniel Munoz all finding the back of the net. A Palace player had never scored from open play at a World Cup before this tournament.

Kamada did not know much about either of his goals; both of them hit him and went in.

Munoz scored the winner for Colombia against DR Congo and the opener against Uzbekistan. The Uzbekistan goal, in particular, was genius – making an adventurous run inside to receive a lobbed pass in behind and volley into the back of the net with his right foot.

Sarr scored two consolation goals against Norway, both of which were well-taken after finding space in the penalty area. His most important, however, came against Iraq as Senegal won 5-0 to reach the knockouts. Sarr scored the second, a poacher’s finish into a gaping net.

Conference League winners Palace are well-represented at the World Cup. 12 players, seven goals, demonstrate how much the 2025 FA Cup winners have developed as a club since promotion to the Premier League in 2013.

Many would have laughed at the start of the tournament if told Palace would be the top scoring Premier League side in the groups. 

Sunderland – Seven goals 

Another one of England’s Europa League representatives join Palace on the podium. 

Brian Brobbey has been the standout. Benched in the opener against Japan, he started the Netherlands’ second game and immediately gave them a focal point – scoring a 17 minute brace against Sweden. 

A nice back post finish against Tunisia helped the Dutch top the group. Brobbey will almost certainly be key if the Netherlands are to have a successful knockout campaign. 

Granit Xhaka scored from the spot, while Nilson Angulo levelled against Germany as Ecuador pulled off a shock 2-1 win to reach the knockouts. 

Habib Diarra also bagged a vital goal for qualification, netting first in Senegal’s 5-0 win over Iraq to secure third spot by a wide enough margin to advance and Wilson Isidor netted a thunderous strike for Haiti against Morocco. 

Inter Miami – Six goals

After a historic campaign last time out, finally getting his hands on the World Cup, Lionel Messi has shown no signs of slowing down. Six goals, a hat-trick and a brace. In his sixth World Cup, Messi finally scored a hat-trick.

He’s Inter Miami’s only goalscorer at the tournament and prior to the third round of matches, he was Argentina’s. He’s missed a penalty, too. The sixth came on Saturday night – a cheeky free-kick in the win over Jordan. 

Two of the six stand out. His third against Algeria, receiving the ball on the edge of the penalty area and wrapping his foot around it to drive into the bottom corner.

His first against Austria was reminiscent of one of the most iconic goals of his career: the dramatic last-minute winner in Barcelona’s 3-2 El Clásico victory during the 2016-17 season. Just as he did at the Santiago Bernabeu, Messi arrived into the penalty area unnoticed, glided onto the ball and calmly side-footed it beyond the near post. 

Liverpool – Five goals

Cody Gakpo always looks his best for the Netherlands and international football seems to bring the best out of the Liverpool winger. 

He fired in a trademark finish after cutting inside against Sweden, adding to the tap-in at the back post he’d netted in the same game.   

While technically no longer a Liverpool player, we’ll count Mo Salah’s goal for the Reds’ tally as he’s not yet found a new home. He scored for Egypt against New Zealand in their 3-1 win. 

Alexander Isak appears to be reaching somewhere near full fitness after a grim first season at Anfield and bagged one on his right foot against Tunisia. 

And Virgil van Dijk’s header for the Dutch against Japan in their 2-2 draw rounds up the goals for the Reds out in the US so far.  

Man Utd – Five goals

Matheus Cunha is leading the way as Man United’s top goal-scoring representative at the World Cup having established himself as a key member of the team under Carlo Ancelotti. 

Cunha scored twice against Haiti, the first of which was bundled in off his knee and the second was a more accomplished, powerful finish into the roof of the net. 

He then scored against Scotland after a brilliant run from Bruno Guimaraes set him up for a simple conversion.

Marcus Rashford bagged one for England on the break in their opener against Croatia, while Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo scored an excellent 90th-minute winner against Ecuador.

Arsenal – Five goals

Leandro Trossard cashed in on the 5-1 rout of New Zealand, scrambling home the opener from a corner. 

He then netted a second with a smartly taken rebound to double his tally. 

Kai Havertz produced one of the best finishes of the tournament so far with a wonderful chip in Germany’s 7-1 victory over Curacao in their opener. 

And Viktor Gyokeres fired a well-placed finish into the corner after great work from Alexander Isak to win the ball back in Sweden’s 5-1 win over Tunisia.  

Bayern Munich – Five goals

Harry Kane’s powerful header from Jude Bellingham’s cross against Panama was his third of the World Cup after his penalty and header against Croatia. 

Colombia’s Luiz Diaz squeezed a shot in against Uzbekistan when the goalkeeper should have done better and his Bayern team-mate Jamal Musiala scored a wonderful angled finish for Germany’s fourth against Curacao. 

Newcastle – Five goals 

Yoan Wissa’s brace in DR Congo’s win over Uzbekistan arrived after some frankly dreadful finishing from the Newcastle man in the same game but he found his scoring touch. 

His opener came from the spot and the second was a beautifully-struck effort into the far corner. 

Anthony Elanga has been showing the kind of form that Magpies fans were desperate to see all season and scored twice for Sweden so far. 

He curled in from the edge of the box against Japan and raced through for a consolation in the 5-1 defeat by the Netherlands.  

Man City – Four goals

19 players at the tournament, yet only their goal machine has netted. Erling Haaland is to thank for all four of these goals, taking his astonishing club form to the international stage. 

The golden boot will likely be a step too far, as Messi, Vinicius and Mbappe are expected to go deeper, but nonetheless the Premier League’s supreme finisher is having an impressive tournament. 

Honourable mentions

Eight teams contributed three goals. The most intriguing are Freiburg and Motherwell. Motherwell’s Elijah Just scored three times for New Zealand, but that was not enough to keep them in the tournament. 

Flying the flag for Freiburg is Swiss wonderkid Johan Manzambi, who has been a revelation at the tournament, also providing all three of Freiburg’s goals.

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