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Victor Wembanyama – who is listed at 7ft 4in tall and has an 8ft wingspan – is being touted as a future NBA star.

The 19-year-old basketball player is making waves in the sport as the first pick in the 2023 Draft in New York on Thursday, who was chosen by the San Antonio Spurs star.

The Frenchman is considered one of basketball’s biggest prospects and most coveted picks since LeBron James in 2003.

He arrived at Newark International Airport outside of New York City earlier this week surrounded by fans – some with Spurs jerseys with his name already printed on the back.

Already building a legion of fans in the US, it was his first official taste of stardom – and his draft selection was not the least surprising to pundits.

Victor Wembanyama. Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Who is the French phenom?

Due to his height and wingspan alone, the French centre is expected to have an immediate impact in the NBA.

He has strong floor play, likes to shoot from outside and is effective in the interior.

Wembanyama averaged 20.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocked shots and 2.5 assists in 44 games this season for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92.

And the sport runs in the family: Wembanyama’s older sister, Eve, is a professional basketball player, and their younger brother Oscar, is also starting to make a name for himself in the game.

Their father, Felix, was a track and field athlete, and mother, Elodie, is a basketball coach and former player.

Wembanyama played football as a goalkeeper and also practised judo before focusing on basketball.

Victor Wembanyama
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Victor Wembanyama in action in France last year for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92

Victor Wembanyama with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the first pick in the 2023 Draft. Pic: AP
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Wembanyama with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the first pick in the 2023 Draft. Pic: AP

High expectations

Wembanyama was the consensus choice to be selected first and is regarded as a generational talent – but he insists that won’t affect him.

“I don’t let all this stuff get into my head,” he said after he landed in the US.

“I’ve got such high expectations for myself that I’m immune to all this stuff. I really don’t care.”

He was the presumed number one pick for months, the rare certainty in an NBA draft process that’s often a guessing game.

Yet, as the clock above the stage he was facing ticked all the way down to zero, butterflies set in – with Wembanyama describing it as the “longest five minutes of my life”.

“This is accomplishing something that I have been dreaming of my whole life,” Wembanyama said on ESPN’s broadcast.

“Hearing that sentence from [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver, I’ve dreamed of it so much that I have to cry.”

Fans cheer during the San Antonio Spurs' NBA basketball draft party. Pic: AP
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Fans cheer during the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA basketball draft party. Pic: AP

A fan holds a photo of Victor Wembanyama during the San Antonio Spurs' NBA basketball draft party at AT&T Center in San Antonio. Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

What are people saying about him?

Spurs have won five NBA titles under coach Gregg Popovich and have previously hit the number one overall draft pick jackpot twice with the selections of future Hall of Famers David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).

“We’re thrilled that we were able to bring Victor on board,” Popovich told a news conference.

“He’s obviously a heck of a talent, a very mature young man. But just like with every draft pick, whether it’s the first pick or the 27th pick, or the 38th pick, we have a responsibility to each and every one to try to create an environment where they can reach the best success possible for them.

“We’re going to get him on the court, and we’re going to see him play, and we’ll go from there.”

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Wembanyama wants to join Robinson and Duncan as championship winners.

“It’s tough to win in this league,” Wembanyama said after the draft – but he has already targeted winning an NBA championship ring.

“My goal is to try and learn as much as possible because I want to win that ring.”

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Oasis gig death: Witness saw similar incident and asks ‘were lessons learned’?

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Oasis gig death: Witness saw similar incident and asks 'were lessons learned'?

A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.

Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.

He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.

Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.

Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.

Oasis, meanwhile, said they were “shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan” at their Wembley concert on Saturday.

The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.

In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.

Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?

Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
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Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans

During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.

She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.

She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.

“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.

“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.

“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”

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Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.

She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.

“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”

She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.

A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.

“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”

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TV presenter Jay Blades charged with two counts of rape 

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TV presenter Jay Blades charged with two counts of rape 

TV presenter Jay Blades has been charged with two counts of rape, police have confirmed.

West Mercia Police said the 55-year-old is due to appear in court next week.

The force said: “Jason Blades, 55, of Claverley in Shropshire, has been charged with two counts of rape.

“He is due to appear at Telford Magistrates’ Court on 13 August 2025.”

Blades found fame on the furniture restoration programme The Repair Shop after he started presenting in 2017.

A furniture restorer, he was the face of the popular BBC show that featured people having their treasured objects repaired and rejuvenated.

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Blades was also the presenter of the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020 and took part in Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off, and Comic Relief.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs denied bail again ahead of sentencing

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail again ahead of sentencing

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.

Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.

Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.

During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.

Sean "Diddy" Combs reacts after verdicts are read of the five counts against him, during Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New
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Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg

In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences.

The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.

After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.

In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”

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U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian gives legal instructions to the jury, during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City
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Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper

He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.

“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”

As well as Combs’s bail application, his legal team has also filed a motion calling for him to be acquitted or given a new trial on the prostitution-related charges only.

The judge has not yet responded to this application.

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How the Diddy trial unfolded

How long could Diddy be jailed for?

Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.

However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.

On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.

The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.

Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.

As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.

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