Eleven people have died after a civilian aircraft carrying skydivers crashed in the town of Tomblaine in eastern France, local authorities said.

The pilot and 10 passengers died in the incident, including five students and five instructors, local officials said.

The plane, which was being used by a parachutist school, had taken off from Nancy-Essey airfield when it crashed, local media reported.

Police have urged the public to avoid the area around the airport in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department.

The French interior minister was on his way to the scene, the interior ministry said.

Yves Seguy, the prefect of the eastern department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, said that no bystanders were injured in the incident, according to news agency AFP.

Local officials also said relatives of the victims were present at the airfield when the crash happened.

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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.

“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.”

While pollen levels soared this week, Scots are also be warned about a ‘hay fever’ food allergy.

Over the past couple of weeks, many people across Scotland may have suffered from hay fever symptoms as pollen levels rose. With a ‘very high’ alert having hit parts of the country this week, many sufferers were urged to close their windows and take preventative measures when needed to keep symptoms at bay.

While hay fever can already be an inconvenience to many patients, with the pollen allergy not having a cure, it seems that the condition can go a step further. While symptoms typically occur when there are higher pollen levels in the air, some patients can also be impacted by the food they consume.

Known as pollen food syndrome (PFS), or oral allergy syndrome, it is an allergic reaction to certain foods that is commonly found in people who have hay fever. Leading to mild symptoms, the allergy can be triggered by some fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables.

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According to Allergy UK, PFS is a relatively common condition that affects around two per cent of the adult population in the UK and is usually linked to having a sensitivity to grass, tree or weed pollen. While the allergy often impacts those with spring and summertime hay fever, it can also impact those who do not have symptoms.

PFS symptoms are a result of certain plant based foods having a similar protein structure to pollen. Due to this structure, the immune system doesn’t always recognise the difference between the pollen in grass or trees you breathe in and the protein in the foods you consume.

As a result, the immune system of hay fever sufferers may recognise the food as an allergen, which creates an allergic response. Typically symptoms include redness, itching, and swelling within minutes of eating the trigger food, which can affect your lips, mouth, tongue, ears, and throat.

According to the NHS, sufferers could also experience other hay fever symptoms, such as a runny nose, eyes watering, and sneezing. These symptoms are generally mild and can be treated by rinsing your mouth and taking antihistamines.

Food allergy patients are more likely to have an allergic reaction if they eat the trigger foods while they are raw. An increased risk of severe symptoms can also occur if patients eat a lot of the raw food in a short space of time.

The NHS states that some of the raw foods that commonly cause PFS include:

• fruits: apples, strawberries, oranges, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, pears and melons
• vegetables: carrots, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, and soy (soy milk)
• nuts: hazelnuts, almonds, and peanuts

It should be noted that PFS patients only need to avoid the trigger food when they are raw. If they have cooked or heated then you can consume them without experiencing symptoms.

However, while patients should avoid smoothies that contain the foods, they are also warned that stir-frying may not cook vegetables enough to prevent symptoms. The NHS advises that steaming and microwaving are ideal cooking methods.

Additionally, symptoms could appear while preparing food – such as peeling vegetables while they are raw – as the food particles are released into the air. Patients may want to consider wearing gloves or putting the food under water to help reduce symptoms.

Like most allergies, patients will have different sensitivities. While some people may only be affected by one or two foods, others can react to a wide range of foods containing the protein.

According to Allergy UK, most symptoms will start with five to 10 minutes of eating the trigger food, which should then settle within an hour often without any medical intervention. However, if you are worried about any symptoms or allergies, it is best to contact your GP for advice.

The First Minister said that departing Clarke has ‘so much to be proud of’ from his time as head coach.

John Swinney has said he is “sorry” to see Scotland’s head coach Steve Clarke step down following the team’s exit from this year’s football World Cup.

The Dark Blues won their opening match at the tournament, a first World Cup win since 1990, but with two defeats and a minus-three goal difference it was not enough to secure a place in the last 32 of the competition.

News of Clarke’s departure came shortly after Croatia’s 2-1 win over Ghana on Saturday confirmed Scotland’s exit from the tournament.

Clarke led Scotland to three out of the last four major tournaments and it was the national team’s first appearance in the World Cup finals since 1998.

Writing on X, the First Minister paid tribute to Clarke for what he had achieved in the role. “I am sorry to hear that Steve Clarke has stood down as Head Coach @ScotlandNT,” the message read.

“He has taken the team and the country on an exciting journey to reach the World Cup for the first time in 28 years and he has so much to be proud of. I wish him well for the future.”

Mr Swinney also reposted Clarke’s open letter to supporters, calling it “a fantastic, loving message to Scotland”.

The three-page letter, entitled Bye-Bye Scotland, finished with the words: “The most emotional part of this goodbye is for my players, without whom we wouldn’t have had any of the memories that we’ve accumulated from 2019 until now.

“They deserve all the praise and adulation that they receive and it was truly an honour to be called their gaffer. Thanks for having me and good luck to my successor.”

Imagine Louth or Monaghan in an All-Ireland final.

It sounds improbable.

Then again, so did this quarter-final line-up a few months ago.

Neither side will fear the other.

Louth are chasing a first semi-final since 1957. Monaghan are pursuing another breakthrough in what has become a remarkably resilient era for the county.

And that is what makes this fascinating.

The winner won’t merely dream of a semi-final.

The winner will look at the draw and start dreaming much bigger.

Nobody would fancy facing Kerry.

Nobody would relish Galway.

But if the path leads elsewhere, why not?

Why not Louth?

Why not Monaghan?

If either Monaghan nor Louth win their next two games, they will become the unlikeliest All-Ireland finalists since the Antrim hurlers reached the 1989 final.

That is why this weekend feels so intriguing.

The favourites remain.

But so do the possibilities.

Norway’s defence minister, Tore Sandvik, recently warned that Russia must not be allowed to control the Bear Gap. This is a stretch of water that runs roughly 400 miles between Bear Island in the southernmost portion of the Svalbard archipelago and Cape North on Norway’s northern mainland. It serves as the geographical boundary point where the shallow Barents Sea meets the much deeper Norwegian Sea.

Russia has long sought to control the Bear Gap. Control of the waterway would give Russian submarines easier access to the Norwegian Sea, where complex acoustic conditions make detection much harder for Nato forces. From there, Sandvik warned these submarines would be able to threaten Nato countries such as the UK and Denmark directly with hypersonic missiles, which have an operational range of up to 1,500km.

There is also a defensive element to controlling the Bear Gap. From the 1970s onwards, Soviet and later Russian doctrine has emphasised what is termed a “bastion strategy”. Russia has sought to create heavily defended perimeters in and around the Kola Peninsula in its far north-west to protect its ballistic missile and nuclear-attack submarines in “bubbles” close to home waters.

Russia’s northern fleet, which is based near the port city of Murmansk in the northern part of the Kola Peninsula, accounts for two-thirds of its naval nuclear strike capabilities. Thus, Russia sees control of the Bear Gap as key to ensuring Nato forces are kept out of the area and unable to threaten the northern fleet.

Currently, no one controls the Bear Gap. But Russian activities in the area have become more assertive over the past few years. Russia’s strategy to establish control over this stretch of water seems to depend, fundamentally, on destabilising Norway. Three elements loom large.

First, Russia has been intensifying its GPS jamming operations off the coast of northern Norway in recent years. These activities make the airspace in the region hazardous for military and civilian aircraft, especially during the winter when darkness is the norm. Norway has responded by establishing three monitoring stations for detecting GPS disturbances in the region.

Second, Russia has used disinformation campaigns to frame Norway as an aggressive force. Russia’s state-owned news agency, Tass, reported in April that Ukrainian troops were training with the Norwegian special forces to prepare “terrorist attacks” against Russian ships travelling to and from Murmansk.

Norway has been actively training Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. But there is no evidence that this training is intended to support Ukrainian attacks on Russian maritime traffic in Arctic waters.

And third, Russia has engaged in provocative behaviour in and around the Bear Gap by carrying out military exercises designed to simulate the targeting of Nato assets. Despite the demands currently placed on Russian forces due to the war in Ukraine, these exercises are usually operated at considerable scale with the intention to intimidate.

In July 2025, Russia carried out a naval exercise that involved live missile firing in a vast exclusion zone, some of which extended into Norwegian territorial waters. And in March 2026, Russia’s northern fleet carried out a test of its Oniks anti-ship cruise missile over the Barents Sea, which travelled 300km to its target at sea. Russia released video imagery of the test-fire but did not confirm its exact location.

Svalbard

Russia’s approach to establishing a dominating influence over the Bear Gap is not solely focused on harassing mainland Norway. Just north of the waterway is the Norwegian territory of Svalbard. In January 2022, Russia was widely suspected of damaging undersea fiber-optic cables connecting Svalbard to mainland Norway.

Russia also regularly harangues Norway about its management of this remote territory. The 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which established Norway as the governing authority of the archipelago, prohibits the construction of fortifications there and stipulates that Svalbard cannot be used for “war-like purposes”.

However, Russia frequently complains about what it sees as Norway’s militarisation of the archipelago. Although there is no permanent military base on Svalbard, Russia argues that Norway is violating the 1920 treaty through naval patrols of the surrounding waters as well as the periodic travel of Norwegian armed forces personnel to the islands.

Russia also maintains that Norwegian satellite infrastructure on Svalbard violates the treaty due to its potential to be used for military as well as scientific means.

If Russia is hell-bent on securing Bear Gap dominance, then its long-coveted acquisition of Svalbard could be accelerated to complete this task. One way of achieving this would be to continue complaining that Norway is breaching the terms and conditions of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty.

They might even hope to provoke Norwegian military overreach, which then provides the pretext to act directly to protect Svalbard’s small Russian-speaking community in the town of Barentsburg. The fact that the archipelago is covered by Nato’s collective defence commitment acts as a major deterrent here.

But, regardless, the threat of Russian aggression is something Norway is seemingly very aware of. In January 2025, a Norwegian white paper warned of “Russia’s willingness to use military force to achieve political goals” and called for “total preparedness throughout Norway to strengthen the resilience of the entire population”.

Russia appears to be stepping up its efforts to establish control over the Bear Gap. Preventing it from doing so is a truly daunting task for Nato forces such as Norway and the UK.