World Leaks

CHRISTIAN Wade dreamed of a career in American sports after watching the Space Jam movie as a kid.

And he had his wife playing quarterback in the living room as he worked tirelessly to be an NFL star.

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Christian Wade tried his luck at an NFL career with the Buffalo Bills[/caption]

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The rugby star switched sports in his prime after missing out on England’s World Cup squad[/caption]

VIAGOGO

Wade, 33, shocked the world of rugby when he retired from the sport in his prime six years ago.

He moved to the US and landed a spot on the Buffalo Bills practice squad – where he made an instant impact.

“After a long journey, I was able to get on the field,” Wade said, speaking in London at a ‘Ticket to Tailgate’ event held by Viagogo.

“My number was called and I was able to score a touchdown with my first touch.”

Wade exploded for a 65-yard touchdown run in a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts in August 2019.

He played on the wing in rugby but then tried to forge a career as a running back in the NFL.

Wade worked his way up to play for England and was also part of a British and Irish Lions tour.

He rejected a chance to join the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015 to focus on trying to play for his country in a home Rugby World Cup.

Wade was overlooked for selection by England, and being offered a chance to join Jacksonville pushed him towards chasing his American dream.

But the mental aspect of playing in the NFL was unlike anything he’d experienced before.

“I was playing rugby, but I was fascinated by the way Americans train and their work ethic,” he said.

“It was something that was in my heart for a long time.

“It’s one thing to be able to run fast, but the amount of information you have to take in, that’s the bit that can slow you down.

“That’s the challenge I faced, just trying to understand the playbook to be able to play at the speed I want to play at.

“Mentally is really the biggest part of me that grew and it wasn’t necessarily something I was ready for.

“The amount of video you watch, the amount of meetings, the amount of detail we go into is crazy.

“In preseason, we’ve got 100 guys competing for roster spots and not everybody is going to get a chance to run the plays.

“I knew a lot of the time I would have to be ready to take reps without having run it before.”

Wade’s run in the NFL came to an end in 2022 when he was released by the Bills.

“Things were going really well in Buffalo,” he recalled

“But ultimately I got injured during preseason and was out for the season- that’s when I was released.

“I had two years left on my contract and was looking forward to try and push on because it took me two or three years to get to a stage where I was feeling comfortable.”

He returned to rugby with Racing 92 in France and now plays for Gloucester,

The 33-year-old now his eyes on Premiership glory and climbing up the league’s all-time try-scoring list.

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Wade scored a touchdown in his first preseason game with the Bills in 2019[/caption]

MONEY has poured in for the ‘world’s richest jockey’ in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – after he kicked a younger rival off a big ride.

Irish rider Dylan Browne McMonagle, 21, has ridden Al Riffa in both his Group 1 victories.

Sportsfile

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Take will carry the hopes of a nation when he rides Japanese horse Al Riffa in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe[/caption]

That includes last time out when the duo impressed in landing the Grosser Preis von Berlin – a race won by previous Arc winners Torquator Tasso and Alpinista.

But an ownership change of Al Riffa means it’s wily old veteran Yutaka Take, 55, who will take the ride.

Take is an absolute legend in his native Japan – he’s even had several horses named after him – but a relative unknown on these shores.

He might be a bit more familiar to French punters have ridden in their most prestigious race many times before.

But he’s never won the Arc – no Japanese horse ever has – and it’s awesome £2.5million first-place prize.

Not that it has stopped him winning a truly incredible sum on the track over the course of his career, though.

Take is believed to be the highest-earning jockey in the history of racing with career earnings said to be in the £700million mark.

You wouldn’t find many bookies willing to take a bet that big these days.

But there has been significant cash behind his mount Al Riffa in Sunday’s Arc.

Paddy Power make the the Joseph O’Brien-trained four-year-old an 11-1 chance.

And spokesperson Paul Binfield said: “The Arc market hasn’t ignited yet with ground conditions a bit up in the air and Thursday’s all-important draw still to come.

“But Al Riffa has attracted some cash on the back of Joseph O’Brien having legendary Japanese pilot Yutaka Take come into his Kilkenny nerve centre last week to get a feel of the Eclipse runner-up ahead of Sunday’s European middle-distance showpiece.”

The Irish bookies make Sosie the 7-2 favourite with long-time ante-post market leader Look De Vega the 11-2 second-fav.

However, Coral have seen more money for Prix du Jockey Club winner Look De Vega and make him 5-1 from 6-1.

The firm’s David Stevens said: “Look De Vega was only displaced as Arc favourite following his Prix Niel defeat to Sosie, but with punters reacting to the growing confidence connections have in their Prix du Jockey Club winner, it would not be hard to see him return to the head of what remains a wide open big race market.”

The ground is currently good to soft at Longchamp and it looks like it will be a dry week.

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A DIY-SAVVY homeowner has wowed with her tutorial for creating an eye-catching autumn mantel.

Casa Lawson gushed about how “cosy” her home looked after making the floral decor.

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Casa Lawson went viral on TikTok when she shared a tutorial for making an autumn mantle[/caption]

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Casa creatively arranged faux flowers and foliage bought from Dunelm around a mirror[/caption]

Casa (@casalawson) has garnered almost 87,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares home decor inspiration.

She went viral on the social media app when she shared how she embraced the season in her home.

She showed a stunning arrangement of faux flowers strategically placed alongside a mirror hung above her fireplace.

“I created the structure using chicken wire,” she said.

“I made a cylinder secured together with tyre wraps and then secured it to the wall using a clear command hook.

“Once I had done this I started building my base.”

Casa used the longest green foliage to build an L-shape bordering the mirror. 

Once she was satisfied, she began to add colourful flowers and berry sticks while focusing on strengthening the base.

“I then went in with the larger floral items like the hydrangeas,” she said.

“I kept stepping back after every few stems to see how it was looking and check that I was happy with the shape.”

Footage of the finished result shows blooms ranging from mustard yellow, dark purple to pastel pink artistically arranged.

Casa bought each of the artificial flowers from Dunelm, where prices start from just £1.

“I’m absolutely over the moon, it has made the house so cosy and I absolutely love it,” she said.

Thousands of viewers liked the video and said they were eager to recreate the autumn mantle in their own home.

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Stacey Solomon (pictured) has often embraced autumn by decorating her home with flowers and pumpkins[/caption]

“Superb, well done you!!!” one person commented.

“That’s really lovely, great colour choice,” another wrote.

“So beautiful, how much were the flowers if you don’t mind sharing,” a third chimed in.

“Thank you! I already had some of the stems but to buy all new would be about £120-£150 I think,” Casa replied.

The DIY decor follows the previous trend of making autumnal wreaths using fake flowers and foliage.

A member of the Facebook group Extreme Couponing and Bargain UK revealed they used a willow ring from Hobbycraft with faux flowers from eBay to get their desired look.

Pumpkins bought from the Pound Shop added to the seasonal look, with shades of orange, yellow, and red. 

They decided to get creative after struggling to find a pre-made autumnal wreath that they liked on Amazon.

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Dunelm’s artificial flowers start from £1 and their Artificial Berry Pick (pictured) costs £1.50[/caption]

THE Zodiac Killer slaughtered young couples and taunted cops and journalists with mysterious coded letters about his terrifying murder spree.

The murderer’s heinous crimes are being looked at in the Netflix documentary This is the Zodiac Speaking. Here we delve into the life of prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen.

Corbis - Getty

The Zodiac Killer was the nickname of a serial murderer who may have killed dozens of young men and women in northern California in the late 1960s and early 70s.

He is known to have targeted at least seven victims – three couples and a lone taxi driver – Two of them survived gun and knife ambushes.

The same killer has been linked to as many as 28 murders and he claimed to have killed 37 people in letters to newspapers.

The Zodiac name was used by the killer himself in taunting letters he sent to reporters, using a cross inside a circle as his signature – the same logo he scrawled on one victim’s car.

He also sent a series of cryptograms – a type of puzzle using encoded text – only one has been deciphered.

Part of it reads: “I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all.

“To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl.” 

Other letters included swatches of a shirt cut off a victim as proof he was the killer.

His final letter to a newspaper was in 1974, where he praised the film The Exorcist as “the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen” and signed off with his supposed score against the San Francisco police: “Me = 37, SFPD = 0”.

Prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen

In Netflix‘s docuseries This is the Zodiac Speaking viewers are being promised new information about the unsolved murder mystery. 

The series aims to give more evidence to suggest that Arthur Leigh Allen was the actual killer.

The convicted pedophile was discharged without honor from the US Navy and was sacked as a primary school teacher after allegations of sexual misconduct.

Allen was first interviewed as a Zodiac Killer suspect in 1969 after he was seen near the scene of one attack.

He came to police attention again in 1971 when his friend told officers he had spoken of his desire to kill people and used the name Zodiac.

NETFLIX

San Francisco police searched his home the following year but found no evidence linking him to the murders.

In 1974, Allen was arrested for molesting a 12-year-old boy and jailed for two years.

Cops raided his home again in 1991 and once more after he died in 1992.

They found a typewriter of the same kind used in one of the Zodiac Killer’s letters.

Allen had a wristwatch of the Zodiac brand.

This Is The Zodiac Speaking

Netflix documentary This is the Zodiac Speaking, which is directed by Ari Mark and Phil Lott, will bring viewers new interviews and clues that place even more evidence of Arthur Leigh Allen being the true culprit.

In the series, scheduled to drop on October 23, 2024, the filmmakers speak to a California family who once had Allen as a teacher, as well as family friends of the suspect. 

They go through previously unseen evidence, as they try to connect the dots between the killings and Allen.

Co-director Phil Lott told Variety: “A lot of this material is brand new,

“It hasn’t been seen before because when [Allen] died, there was no more investigation from a law enforcement perspective. 

“So there’s no one really to send it to. 

“So we got to look at all those letters and read the crazy, very incriminating material.”

Hundreds of people were missing or unaccounted for as of Monday throughout the southeastern United States, Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood Randall said

A mother is missing after a neighbor recorded the moment her house was swept away during Helene flooding. Her husband said they were clinging to each other when they hit a tree.

From Dotun Omisakin, Lagos The Lagos Police command has distributed packs of bottled water to protesters after over five hours of intense demonstration aimed at expressing their concern over the state of the country. The protesters, who began their protest, tagged ‘National Day of Survival’, at Ikeja under-bridge, later moved to Oregun and Freedom Park […]

Toyin Ilori Consulting is a fast-growing indigenous and dynamic firm of estate surveyors and valuers, registered in Nigeria as a business concern with Registration No. BN2099860 and recognised by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) with registration number A2174. And also with the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers with […]

Metaplanet a Japanese investment firm has increased its Bitcoin holdings by adding $6.9 million BTC to its total stash. This takes the total BTC holdings of Metaplanet to $32 million in BTC assets. In terms of Bitcoin assets, the Tokyo listed company simply acquired an additional 107.9 BTC taking its total holding of the asset …

The member representing Obingwa-West State constituency in Abia State House of Assembly (ABHA), Hon. Erondu Uchenna Erondu Jnr, has felicitated with Nigerians on the occasion of 64th Independence Day celebration. The lawmaker who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Public Service, in a release signed by his spokesperson, George Egejuru and made available to …