The Russian jet which crashed in Sinai killing all 224 people on board did not lodge an SOS call before it hit the ground, it has emerged. Egypt's civil aviation minister Hossam Kamal said there was also not believed to be any faults with the aircraft prior to the crash taking place. It came as harrowing images of the mangled wreckage (left and right) were released by the office of Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail, who visited the crash site in the Sinai Peninsula. Pictures have also emerged of some of those who lost their lives, including Yury Shein with his daughter Anastasia (inset). Meanwhile, officials have recovered the Airbus A321's black box, which is now being examined by experts to determine the cause of the disaster. The Islamic State group affiliate in Egypt has claimed it downed the aircraft, but has not said how it might have done so.

Five years ago, Geoff Long's (left in right picture) world came crashing down when he found himself standing in the dock at a Crown Court listening to shocking accusations of sexual abuse (inset). And, to his utter disbelief, they were being made by Tina (left), the daughter he had doted on. The evidence seemed so flimsy as to be practically non-existent, yet in 2010 Geoff was convicted and jailed for five years for sexually abusing Tina from the age of eight until she was 16. Only this year was he finally exonerated. His story is one of unfathomable betrayal - it was only when Tina finally confessed in court in January that she had lied that the injustice of his conviction was revealed. While he had been locked up in jail he became haunted by thoughts that he might lose his new wife Louise (right) and son James, and came close to suicide.

It was an extravagant impulse buy even by Victoria Beckham's standards - snapping up a 200-acre French estate after falling in love with it at first sight. But she and her husband David are rarely seen at the Domaine Saint-Vincent mansion (top right) - and have now decided to put it on the market for £3 million. The couple, pictured (left) in Los Angeles in 2013, made the decision after buying a sprawling £27 million country estate in the Cotswolds (bottom right).

Giving birth should be an experience a mother will remember for ever - but not for Colvina Jolin. For having suffered a massive brain haemorrhage that sent her into a long coma, the 28-year-old, from Horndean, Hampshire, discovered she'd had a baby only when she came round weeks after the birth. At one point during her three-month blackout, she had been given just a ten per cent chance of pulling through, while her premature baby, Maia, had to be resuscitated twice. Last night Colvina told The Mail on Sunday: 'It's a miracle that we both survived.'

When Prince Harry strides across the forecourt of Buckingham Palace to welcome an exhausted team of injured former soldiers, it will be a moment of quiet triumph for Kirstie Ennis (pictured with Harry in main image and inset) She is lucky to be alive. Surgeons have practically rebuilt her in the course of 38 separate operations. She has somehow covered the extraordinary distance on a leg so damaged and painful that her medical team insists it should be amputated (shown left) - and it will be removed once today's final agonising mission is complete. It is just three years since the slender blonde was told she would never walk again. In fact, so exemplary is Kirstie's determination that she and the Prince have forged a remarkable bond in the past few weeks, when Harry joined 24-year-old Kirstie and the other walkers on their journey. Today, speaking for the first time about their friendship and what it means to her, she offers a rare insight into the way the 31-year-old Prince goes about his job.

A television audience of millions watched New Zealand make history to become the first team ever to retain the Rugby World Cup as they thrashed Australia at Twickenham 34-17 to lift the Webb Ellis trophy before celebrating with a Haka (main). Prince Harry handed out the medals to both sides at the final whistle, consoling the Wallaby players (bottom right) and hugging the joyous New Zealanders. The final lived up to its expectations with a flurry of tries from both sides, but ultimately the All Blacks proved too much for the Wallabies. Dan Carter, playing in his first - and last - World Cup final, scored 19 points. The match was played in front of a packed Twickenham with Prince William and Prince Philip as well as Prince Albert of Monaco watching from the royal box. Celebrities and VIPs including Kylie Minogue (bottom left), Rupert Murdoch and his new girlfriend Jerry Hall.

Rupert Murdoch, 84, and new girlfriend Jerry Hall, 59, have been pictured together for the first time in public at the Rugby World Cup final. The new couple were pictured wearing Australia scarfs and waving flags whilst cheering on Murdoch's home country. The romance remained a closely guarded secret until it was first revealed by the Mail on Sunday last week. The couple was first introduced in Australia by one of Murdoch's sisters and his niece. It is the first serious relationship for the 84-year-old since the end of his marriage to Wendi Deng, 46. Murdoch's break-up with Wendi Deng followed The Mail on Sunday's sensational exclusive story about her infatuation with former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

John McAreavey, who found newlwed Michaela (bottom right on their wedding day) dead in the bath at their five-star resort (top right), has reportedly found love and is engaged again - this time to accountant Tara Brennan (the two are pictured together, left). The couple are said to have met around two years ago on a night out in Dublin. The two, both accountants, have since become closer, and this week friends confirmed that they are engaged.

Kneeling up on his back legs, his inquisitive brown eyes fixed longingly on a fruity snack, the adorable baby bear would melt the coldest of hearts. It is hard to guess that eight-month-old Ushka, pictured (top left) with Mollie King, has had a truly terrifying start in life. In fact, he was found earlier this year, on his own, high up in the mountains of Northern Greece, dragging himself along with his front paws, his hind legs paralysed, his back broken. It is likely his horrific injuries were inflicted by poachers who killed his mother and sold his siblings into a miserable life in captivity as pets - or worse - as the dancing bears (right) still prized across parts of the Balkans and further afield. Today, The Mail On Sunday is launching an urgent appeal with The Saturdays' Mollie King and Born Free Foundation to help hundreds of bears kept in captivity in appalling conditions.

Charming farmhouses and country mansions, some just yards from the proposed track, have been bought by the company set up by the Government to run the development and now lie empty as the project's impact is felt before a single sleeper has been laid. And in some shocking cases, families sold up only to discover that the route has been altered and the homes they loved are no longer blighted or facing demolition. HS2 Ltd also stands accused of using underhand tactics to force through cut-price purchase deals - and in one case 'acting like the Gestapo'.

SPOILER ALERT: With the help of well-placed sources on the Star Wars VII production set, The Mail on Sunday has compiled a definitive guide to the secrets behind the first 'mega film' of the millennium. Above, heroine Rey (left), robot BB-& with a Desert Walker (top left), Harrison Ford as Han Solo (bottom left), baddie Kylo Ren with his stormtroopers (top centre), stormtroopers that have been replicated for Christmas gifts (bottom centre), Darth Vader's only appearance as a burned-out death mask (top right) and stormtroopers' E-11 blaster rifle (bottom right).

The new celebrity trend of exposed shoulder blades is bringing sexy...well, back. Hollywood fashionistas are even claiming the back is the new erogenous zone. The Duchess of Cambridge (left), Sienna Miller (second left), Naomi Campbell (centre), Suki Waterhouse (second right) and Heidi Klum (right) have all given the new look a go on the red carpet. But some have managed to flash their flesh with more success than others...

With London now home to 150,000 Russian speakers, what better place to host the revival of the tsarist era's most prestigious society event? Tanya de Grunwald meets modern-day Anastasias at the Russian Debutante Ball. The girls (left), who are among 60 debutantes who were hand-picked from 200 applicants by Dr Elisabeth Smagin-Melloni's committee, have spent weeks preparing for the day where they ensure they are looking their best (top right) and know all the dance moves (bottom right).

Forget acrimony and bitterness, Heather Kerzner (left; top right) describes her ex-husband, hotel magnate and self-confessed workaholic Sol, as an 'amazing man'. The couple (bottom right) had been married for 12 years when Heather filed for divorce citing unreasonable behaviour. Here she talks to Katie Nicholl about life post-divorce, including her new career.

Think of a treehouse and you'd probably imagine a single room made from plywood, perched amid the branches of a solitary tree. But that's not the case at De Fontenay - an elegant red-brick property (below) in Hyde Heath, Buckinghamshire, where the treehouse (top right; top left) not only includes hot and cold running water, electricity and a wood-burning stove but also special design features such as flooring reclaimed from a school gymnasium. De Fontenay, which has six bedrooms spread over three storeys and four acres of land, is on the market for £3.5million.

David Cameron (inset with wife Samantha) has joined a new London club - and for free. He has accepted honorary membership of Mark's Club in Mayfair (left) - described as a 'haven of exclusivity'. The disclosure could hardly be less timely for the Prime Minister, coming less than a week after his plan to cut tax credits for low earners was rejected by the Lords. The uber-exclusive club counts Daisy Lowe (right) and Boris Johnson among its guests.

Last week The Hairy Bikers - TV's quirky cookery presenters (pictured left) - revealed how their experiences of bullying and family tragedy blighted their childhood years. Here, in the second exclusive extract from their moving joint autobiography, Dave Myers, pictured on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 (bottom right), and Si King, pictured with Dave on their first cooking show (top right), tell how personal heartbreak and dire financial straits led them to change careers and begin their unlikely quest for stardom - and how their rapidly increasing waistlines very nearly scuppered their chances of success...

This groom knows how to make an entrance - delighting the crowd assembled as his wedding venue by rolling up in the Batmobile. The guests burst into applause as he waved from the car's open roof. Batman himself then clambers out of the vehicle, to announce the traditionally-dressed groom (inset) to his expectant guests. But apparently the groom has retro tastes, opting for a model circa 2000 rather than the more elaborate model of The Dark Knight trilogy.

Twins Lisa and Louise Burns (pictured right), now 46, who sent shivers down viewers' spines as the Grady daughters (left) in The Shining, have spoken about their experience working on the classic horror movie. They reveal how Jack Nicholson, despite his maniacal performance and playboy reputation, acted as a father-figure and mentor for the then 10-year-old girls from London, England (Nicholson pictured inset playing Jack Torrance in the film). The twins also reveal their casting as the Grady daughters was an accident, as director Stanley Kubrick had never intended to use twin sisters.

The young man was filmed opening the door of his fridge to make a sandwich at his British university halls (left). But as he did so, he lost his balance and fell to the right - and then backward. Unfortunately for the student, he clung on to the fridge as fell, causing it to topple toward him (centre). As he suddenly became aware of what was about to happen, the young man let out a terrified roar. However, after a load of food spilled on to him (right), he soon saw the funny side of the situation.

The C4 documentary Secret Life Of 4 Year Olds was so popular last year that programme makers have re-visited the concept with kids aged five and six in this 'Big Brother for little people'. Cameras follow a selected group of youngsters as they react to a range of tasks set up to test their characters, in a nursery environment - but without a single adult.

The elusive Omura whale has been recorded on film for the first time. Footage of the rare and little known species was captured by an international team of biologists off the coast of Madagascar. Up until now there had never been a confirmed sighting of the mammal by scientists in the wild and as such their numbers are unknown.

Many firms are making the same alluring claim, that their classes can blast an astonishing 1,000 calories per hour. As a fitness blogger, POPPY CROSS keeps herself in shape by working out about five times a week. But she has her suspicions about these attention-grabbing classes. Can they really deliver the energy burn that is claimed?

Tens of thousands of Australians turned out in style to celebrate one of the biggest race days of the year, spurred on by drinks from the bar at the grounds of the Flemington race track in Melbourne. Champagne flowed, empty beer cans piled up, and grown men donned their fanciest mini-skirts as racegoers slipped makeshift plastic bags on to combat the muddy grounds, caused by relentless rain that bucketed down for most of the day.

this stag, Adam Hartly, now 27, came remarkably close to pulling off a legendary leap, lining up the jump and going for glory (top left). He makes it to the jetty in Lake Windermere (top right) but stumbles backwards (bottom right) and topples back into the water (bottom left). The bachelor party then headed to the most fitting where the stag could dry his sodden clothes, the local pub

The shocking footage was captured on CCTV in the Silvassa district of Dadar and Nagar Haveli in India, and shows Tejas Jaiswal playing in a car park close to his parents home (left). He sits static as the car reverses out of a tight space, and the boys tiny body is dragged forward by the wheel of the car (right). The boy's body is crushed under the wheel of the heavy car as it reverses painfully slowly over him and into the road. But miraculously, the boy escaped with just a fractured leg (top) and is expected to make a full recovery in just a few weeks.

The Embraer Lineage 1000E is the pinnacle when it comes to private planes and was designed to cater to long-haul journeys embarked upon by royalty and powerful politicians alike. The £34million plane is divided into five area including a master bedroom (top right), a walk in shower (bottom left), dining table (bottom right) and kitchen with a £35,000 dishwasher (top left).