Author: USA Facts News

The rapper, 55, is currently awaiting trial on a string of federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in a New York jail, all of which he has denied and pleaded not guilty.

Today (12 January), his legal team announced that he is suing TV network NBC, as well as its streaming service Peacock and production company Ample over Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.

The one hour and 39 minute documentary, which aired last month, gave viewers a glimpse into Diddy’s early life and featured interviews from childhood friends, former employees and some of his alleged victims.

Diddy has slammed the documentary in a lawsuit filed in New York County’s Supreme Court (via The Independent) on 12 February, alleging that it is full of ‘fresh lies and conspiracy theories’.

The complaint claims that Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy included defamatory and false statements about the ‘Last Night’ rapper, while alleging that NBC wanted ‘to capitalise on the public’s appetite for scandal without any regard for the truth and at the expense of Mr Combs’s right to a fair trial’.

The lawsuit claims that the ‘entire premise of the documentary assumes that Mr Combs has committed numerous heinous crimes, including serial murder, rape of minors, and sex trafficking of minors’, according to the BBC.

Furthermore, it alleges that the documentary ‘maliciously and baselessly jumps to the conclusion that Mr Combs is a ‘monster’ while featuring claims which the creators supposedly ‘knew were false or published with reckless disregard as to whether they were false or not’.

The programme also ‘falsely, recklessly, and maliciously accuses Mr Combs of murdering’ people close to him, such as the mother of three of his children, Kim Porter, and rapper Biggie Smalls, according to the lawsuit.

Diddy’s legal team say he has suffered ‘substantial reputational and financial harm’ as a result of Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.

The father-of-five is seeking a jury trial and £80.5million ($100million) in damages.

The rapper is currently awaiting trial in New York (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)

His lawyer Erica Wolff said (via the BBC) that NBC, Peacock and Ample ‘made a conscious decision to line their own pockets at the expense of truth, decency, and basic standards of professional journalism’ and ‘maliciously and recklessly broadcast outrageous lies’.

Regarding the numerous lawsuits and accusations against him, Diddy’s representatives previously told LADbible in a statement: “No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it won’t change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor.

Called the Big Nude Boat Trip 2025, travel company Bare Necessities is behind the trip. Having set sail from PortMiami last week (3 February), the 11-day long journey has seen the firm take over the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship.

Taking the 2,300 strong guests across the Caribbean, Norwegian Pearl calls at Great Stirrup Cay, a private island in the Bahamas, followed by Puerto Rico, St Maarten, Dominica, Martinique, and St Lucia before returning to Great Stirrup Cay on the journey home at the end of this week.

“For over three decades, we’ve been working to break down the barriers against social nudity and make clothing-optional vacationing a viable and acceptable option for all,” Bare Necessities says.

“We support the belief that sexuality is not a state of undress, but rather, a state of mind. Social nudity is not a sexual activity, and we strive to dispel the misconception that it is anything but natural and beautiful. We have made strides in the acceptance of nude vacationing and our wide range of cruise charters are a testament to our success.”

For those thinking the ‘nude’ aspect of the cruise means it is one for swingers or those in open relationships – a so-called ‘spicy cruise’ – think again.

In fact, those partaking in sexual activity that goes against ‘standards of etiquette and decorum’ – such as in public – will be forced to leave the ship at the next opportunity.

“Bare Necessities cruises are not sexual,” the company says.

“If you are seeking a lifestyle / swinger cruise, we are not the right product for you. As an affiliated club of the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR), we adhere to its standards of etiquette and decorum.

“Violations of these rules will result in offenders being disembarked from the ship at the earliest opportunity, without refund or compensation.”

But you can be naked on the trip?

Absolutely. Just be sensible, such as when at port when it comes to listening to announcements.

Bare Necessities says: “When the ship is at sea or anchored in a port, passengers can be nude unless announcements have been made to the contrary. When the ship is docked alongside in port, all passengers must be dressed throughout the vessel, including balconies, until the ship leaves port and an announcement is made that nudity is again permissible.”

It adds: “Displaying yourself nude in front of other ships in port or while port authorities are on board the vessel for clearance is strictly prohibited.”

You don’t need to wear clothes in the self-serve buffet area but clothes are needed in the dining areas where casual clothing is permitted (no robes).

“Lingerie, fetish-wear, and excessive genital jewellery are not appropriate at any time,” it says. “Please sit on a towel at all times while nude, in a G-string, thong, or any time you are bare-bottomed. A fresh beach towel will be provided in your stateroom each day for that purpose. Stacks of smaller towels will be placed throughout the ship outside of common areas in case you arrive without one.”

Definitely a trip for nudists (Getty Stock Images)

What about taking photos and videos?

As you can imagine, there are strict rules on this front. Consent is vital and there are ‘no photo zones’ to look out for.

If you don’t obey the areas where there is a ban, you risk your device being confiscated and the images deleted.

‘Fondling’ ban and drug issues

There is a ban on touching yourself or other people in a sexual manner in public areas.

“Fondling or inappropriate touching of personal body parts or those of someone else, overt sexual activity or any solicitation for sexual acts is strictly prohibited,” the website reads.

In case you’ve missed it, there’s an asteroid hurtling through space that could very well end up smashing into our planet within the next eight years. Labelled 2024 YR4, the rogue chunk of rock is currently travelling away from us, after passing by at a distance of 828,800 kilometres on Christmas Day 2024, however, it will be back.

And this time there’s a chance of it colliding with Earth.

2024 YR4 is currently forecasted to begin making its Earth-bound approach in late 2028, with current estimates penciling in 2032 as a day in which it could hypothetically make impact.

The current line from NASA officials is that they are monitoring YR4 as an object of interest, but don’t start panicking just yet, as the asteroid currently has a 2.3% chance of crashing into us, according to forecasts made this month.

Which means there’s a 97.7% chance that we’re not on track to live out the plot of an apocalyptic disaster film just yet — hooray!

However, the pessimists – or pragmatists – among us will likely be pointing out that a slight chance of 2024 YR4 hitting Earth doesn’t mean that we’re fully in the clear.

One person to share this point of view is volcanologist Dr Robin George Andrews, who recently pointed out that we only have eight years to come up with a plan for the worst case scenario.

“You need 10 years or more to build, plan and execute an asteroid deflection mission,” he recently pointed out on X, adding: “We have less than eight years to potentially deal with it, if needed.”

He added: “But we don’t have much time, and we don’t have enough info about this rapidly fading asteroid to properly inform our planetary defence decisions yet.”

What would happen if asteroid 2024 YR4 hits Earth?

Once again, it’s worth reminding you that we’re not staring directly into the possibility of a dinosaurs 2.0 event should YR4 end up smashing into the planet.

Astronomers believe the asteroid is around 40m to 100m wide, with NASA stating that damage would be ‘localised’ instead of a mass extinction event.

The Terminator legend has managed to pass his acting genes onto two of his five children, with son Patrick starring in the upcoming edition of HBO’s hit anthology show The White Lotus, which will be hitting our TV screens very soon.

Patrick is playing the role of Saxon Ratliff, the eldest child of Timothy (Isaacs) and Victoria (Posey) and if his father’s comments are anything to go by, his role contains some pretty steamy scenes.

Appearing on the red carpet alongside his son, Schwarzenegger couldn’t help but share a post on Instagram from the moment — revealing that viewers can expect to see the 31-year-old in the buff.

“I was so pumped to take a break from filming to celebrate @patrickschwarzenegger at the White Lotus Season 3 premiere,” he captioned the image, before going on to add that he wasn’t fazed by seeing his son’s nude scene on screen.

“What a show! I could claim to be surprised to find out he has a nude scene, but what can I say – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Don’t miss it this Sunday – trust me.”

Fans of Schwarzenegger Sr will, of course, remember that Arnie gets undressed in 1984’s The Terminator – so it’s likely familiar territory for him.

The White Lotus will hit our screens in 16 February, which means we’ve only got a few days to wait until heading out to Thailand.

Reviews are already beginning to trickle in for the new season — and it’s good news for fans of the series.

Patrick Schwarzenegger stars in season three of White Lotus (HBO)

FandomWire has praised the acting of season three’s stats, writing that it’s ‘difficult to choose a standout’ star from the ensamble cast, while Collider called the episodes ‘the show’s darkest and most existential instalment’ in their review.

However ,The Hollywood Reporter did note how the premise of the series is beginning to feel a little too familiar in their review, writing: “Some been-there-done-that has begun to set in. What remains fresh, though, is the interpretation.”

The British author is behind one of the biggest franchises of all time in the Wizarding World, having penned the first Harry Potter book, The Philosopher’s Stone, in 1997.

A film of the same name was released in 2001, the first of eight starring Daniel Radcliffe as the titular character, with Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as Hermione and Ron, respectfully.

In fact, Rowling went as far as saying that the likes of Radcliffe and Watson can ‘save their apologies’ after they issued statements about her stance on the transgender community.

What did JK Rowling say?

In June 2020, the author shared a link on social media to an article called ‘Opinion: Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate’.

This was then followed by Rowling claiming if ‘sex isn’t real’, then there’s no ‘same-sex attraction’ and ‘the lived reality of women globally is erased’, which led to accusations of transphobia, which she denied.

She said that she respected ‘every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them’, explaining that she wants them to be free of discrimination.

Rowling also wrote: “I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men,” but added that she doesn’t agree when it comes to trans women in spaces such as bathrooms, claiming it ‘opens the door to any and all men who wish to come inside’.

How did Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson respond?

Following Rowling’s comments, Radcliffe wrote about the issue in an open letter for LGBTQ+ organisation, The Trevor Project.

“It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities,” he said, apologising for the ‘pain’ caused by Rowling and hoped it wouldn’t ‘taint’ the Harry Potter films for trans and non-binary fans.

Watson also responded, taking to Twitter at the time to write to her followers: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”

“I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are,” she added.

Grint has also responded to the author’s comments, saying: “I firmly stand with the trans community… Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”

The author seemed to cut ties with the Harry Potter actors (Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty)

Rowling’s response to the criticism

Fast forward to April 2024, and Rowling was back sharing her views on the transgender community, this time in agreement with an independent review of the NHS’ gender identity services for children.

The four year study, carried out by Dr. Hilary Cass, found that they had ‘remarkably weak’ evidence when it came to the long-term effects of things such as puberty blockers, to manage ‘gender-related distress’.

Rowling called it a ‘watershed’ moment, and a fan wrote online that they were waiting for Radcliffe and Watson to ‘publicly apologise’, saying that they were ‘safe in the knowledge’ that the actors would be forgiven.

However, the author brutally replied, saying: “Not safe, I’m afraid.”

Rowling went on: “Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.”

Radcliffe responded to Rowling’s comments (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)

Radcliffe’s response to Rowling’s comments

In response to Rowling’s comments, Radcliffe told The Atlantic that the whole situation ‘makes him really sad’.

He continued: “It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.

“Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person.

But Melissa Rauch’s poor mother was left ‘mortified’ rather than bursting with pride after hearing about the beginning of her journey on The Big Bang Theory.

The actress, 44, joined the cast of the hit sitcom as Bernadette Rostenkowski back in 2009, and quickly became an integral part of the show’s makeup.

She joined the likes of Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco in season three before eventually getting hitched to Simon Helberg’s character Howard Wolowitz.

Although her first appearance in The Big Bang Theory seemed to go off without a hitch to fans, that wasn’t exactly the case on set.

It turns out that Rauch gave herself quite the reputation among the crew on her first ever day, after a misunderstanding about her ‘masturbating’ in front of a live studio audience.

“The first episode of the season I had a little…incident,” she explained. “We were shooting a scene and I’m in a hotel room bed.

“And in my own personal life, whenever I get under covers, I’m always really cold.

“So I just tend to pull the covers up really high and just leave my head out and then I kind of like warm up my hands like I’m a boy scout starting a fire with sticks or something.”

Resourceful, Rauch – but I’m sure you can guess why this hack wasn’t a good idea, while filming a scene for The Big Bang Theory.

The Night Court star continued: “So I’m under the covers and it’s really cold on set, because they keep it cold and I’m under there and we’re shooting the scene and – out of habit – I’m doing this (rubbing hands together) under the covers.

“We shot the whole scene, there’s a studio audience.

“And after the scene was over, our director and producer came over to me and they were like, ‘We need to see your hands in the next take – it looked like you were having way too much fun with yourself under the covers’.

“Then after the show, we were we take our bows and I was talking to some people in the audience and this little boy said to me, ‘Did you shoot that scene again with your hands out because it looked weird? Because my dad said it looked real weird.'”

The actress said her mum was left ‘mortified’ by her slip up (CBS)

As most people would, Rauch decided to call her mother – who she modelled Bernadette’s ‘sweet, high-pitched purr’ off – to fill her in on her first day faux pas.

The actress added: “She asked me how the first episode went and I told her and she was mortified.

“She’s like, ‘I hope people understand that you weren’t really doing that, that’s disgusting! People have been fired from that, people have lost their careers for doing that in movie theatres!’

“She’s so upset about it. So now every week I just keep on saying, ‘Uh, something else happened at work…’

“And she’s like, ‘Stop doing that! You did it again? It’s enough, keep your hands to yourself!”

And he could be coming to a beach near you this summer.

Named Contender — unfortunately not for status as contender for biggest prey in the known ocean — this mega shark was discovered back in January, about 45 miles off the coast of the Florida-Georgia boarder.

How big is Contender?

Discovered by global shark tracker OCEARCH, Contender reportedly measures at 13 feet nine inches long and tips the scales to a whopping 749.79 kg.

To put that into context, the average male in the UK is around 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 84.5 kg, so you can see that Contender is a pretty chunky boy.

However he is not the biggest shark ever recorded, with that honour going to a female great white who came in at 19.1 feet in length and around 2,000 kg in weight.

Definitely not a creature you’d want to encounter while swimming around in the sea.

Researchers at OCEARCH have since tagged this beast of the seas in hopes that his data will help with understanding shark migration patterns.

The group has also collected biological samples, including urogenital material (which is the shark’s genital region), for analysis.

Where is Contender now?

Keen to take a trip to the eastern coast of Florida but don’t fancy encountering Contender in the waters, or just curious to learn more about the migration patterns of great white sharks in the Atlantic?

Well, you’ll be pleased to know that OCEARCH post regular Contender location updates onto their website.

After being tagged near the boarder on 17 January, Contender journeyed north before doing a u-turn and heading back down to Florida’s coast.

His last location was recorded on 10 February and pinged in a stretch of ocean which is close to the John F. Kennedy Space Centre, just under an hour away from Orlando.

If you’re interested in tracking Contender or any of the other marine creatures which OCEARCH are studying, check it out yourself here.

How common are shark attacks?

According to statistics from the Florida Museum of Natural History, your odds of being attacked by a shark stand at around 1 in 11.5 million (via WLRN) – which means you’d have to be fairly unlucky.

However unprovoked bites aren’t unheard of, with 47 of the 88 bites recorded by International Shark Attack File being unprovoked.

No, it’s not some wild fantasy – it’s a village located in East Sussex.

It’s a place where children don’t watch TV or use social media, and don’t even have phones.

The village is home to 300 people, and they have spent almost half a century living away from mainstream society.

Darvell is located near the town of Hastings, and all of its inhabitants are part of a group of radical Christians called The Bruderhof.

Its population consists of families and singles as part of a self-sufficient community where they run their own farm and orchard for food, among other things.

They run their own kitchen, schools, and even a business that makes toys for children, as well as furniture. Oh, and it’s worth millions of pounds.

People here live as disciples of Jesus and relinquish their belongings, money, and status if they choose to join the group.

The British community chooses to live their lives based on early biblical text, and as expected, there are non-negotiables when it comes to divorce, same-sex relationships and even what you can wear.

A normal day starts at 6.00am, with school and work running from 7.30am to 5.00pm with a two-hour break in-between, reports The Mirror.

Fashion of any sort is prohibited, with simple traditional dresses with headscarves a common choice.

Loose shirts, plaid dresses, and skirts are also acceptable.

When it comes to life choices and decisions, jobs and where you live is decided for you, and while this sounds alien, there are actually 23 more Bruderhof settlements across the world.

This means there are thousands of people who follow this way of life, which was founded in Germany in 1920 as a pacifist movement.

Bernard Hibbs is one of the residents at the village, and lives in Durvell with his wife Rachel and their three children in a shared house with other families, including his own parents.

They usually eat their meals with other residents in a communal dining room, where they also sing and worship as a collective.

The 38-year-old revealed it all began with people that wanted to ‘follow Jesus completely’, though the community had their property confiscated by the Nazis at the time.

“We fled to England and were accepted here – in fact a lot of English people joined us,” he explained to Wales Online.

“The vision those initial young people had is still alive today, we are simply trying to follow the teachings of Jesus in our daily lives.”

Bernard was just nine when he joined, and said he cried every time he left the community.

“It might sound hard, but once you do it, you realise how happy you can be living a life where you own nothing,” he insisted, while emphasising that it’s not a cult.

There are numerous other communities like this across the globe (Bruderhof)

Admitting that some people that have visited have expected the community to be a cult, he revealed: “When they come, they find we are far too normal to qualify – there are no UFOs, no weird rituals, no secret handshakes.”

He added that people can come and go, explaining that nobody is forced to think one way, saying: “We disagree amongst each other on almost everything, from Brexit to how often we should mow the grass.

“We are of course occasionally accused of being a cult, but that is to be expected. In our experience, if people visit and see for themselves those concerns are easily answered.”

Bernard is the outreach director, so he is one of a handful with a computer and smartphone, highlighting: “I have no worries, no fears, no mortgage, I don’t own anything,

“There are 10 cars for 300 people. If I need a pair of shoes, I’ll ask for it and get it. Same-day shopping,” he pointed out.

We’ve all seen films such as Deep Impact or Armageddon depicting the idea of an apocalyptic asteroid headed towards our planet, but this could soon become a reality.

Minus the apocalyptic part though, thankfully.

However, Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2.3 percent chance of colliding with Earth in seven years’ time, and its estimated width of 90m means it is roughly the size of Big Ben.

The celestial body has been closely monitored by NASA since its December 2024 discovery.

The asteroid is heading towards our atmosphere, and it looks like we’re relying on the lens of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most powerful telescope ever created, to better understand its properties and how much damage it could cause.

The European Space Agency explained that while there is just below a 98 percent chance of the asteroid passing by without a fuss, astronomers are trying to understand its orbit and impact risk.

However, it will be out of view from Earth in a few months and will only become visible again in 2028.

Currently, the celestial body’s estimated impact has been likened to the infamous Tunguska asteroid, which flattened 830 square miles of Siberian forest back in 1908.

However, it’s worth noting that the early estimates of its size could be wrong, as experts need a more powerful telescope.

Enter, the JWST.

We’ll need JWST to get a better understanding of the asteroid (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Astronomers have been using powerful telescopes around the world to measure the asteroid’s orbit, but what’s key is its size.

Currently, scientists are limited when it comes to studying the asteroid due to the lack of visible light that is reflected from the Sun, as the brighter the asteroid, the larger it is in size.

The ESA writes: “2024 YR4 could be 40 m across and very reflective, or 90 m across and not very reflective.”

This is a huge gulf in size, but JWST doesn’t need light, it instead studies infrared light (heat) emitted from objects, giving us a more accurate estimate of the asteroid’s size.

Using the telescope’s MIRI instrument, ESA, NASA and other organisations will be able to take action against any possible hazards.

The first observations with JWST will take place in early March this year, as the asteroid will become observable by the telescope and be at its brightest.

This will be followed by more observations in May, with researchers looking to use these observations to study if the temperature of the asteroid changes, making final measurements until it comes back into our view in three years’ time.

JWST will help to carry out two observations this year (Getty Stock Image)

A fraction of JWST’s observational time is used for something called ‘Director’s Discretionary Time’, which is used for new discoveries or time-critical tasks that can’t wait until the next proposal cycle.

Unsurprisingly, a team of astronomers from teams around the world submitted a proposal to use some of this time to study the asteroid, which has been accepted.

The time they have been given? Just four hours.

It’s not much but the results will be insightful and published for the public to access.