Author: USA Facts News

On 2 February 2025, Saffron Cole-Nottage and her daughter had been walking their dog alongside the seafront in Lowestoft, Suffolk, when she tragically slipped on a narrow path and became stuck in nearby sea defence rocks.

According to senior inquest officer Paul Sermons, Saffron had slipped twice on the path and landed with her head trapped between the rocks.

“While walking, Saffron lost her footing and slipped, landing on the pathway,” Sermons told the court.

“Although Saffron managed to get herself back up, she fell again and landed with her head between the sea defence rocks.”

He added: “Saffron became trapped and partially submerged in the water with the tide rising.”

Saffron’s daughter and members of the public would desperately attempt to free her from the rocks as emergency services rushed to the scene, however, they were unable to save her and the mum-of-three would die at the scene.

“Although they managed to free Saffron from the rocks, she tragically died,” Sermons added.

A coroner has since agreed to open a full inquest into her cause of death, with a pre-inquest review hearing scheduled for 6 June.

Saffron’s death was confirmed at the time by Suffolk Police, with a spokesperson stating: “The death is currently being treated as unexplained but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances at this time.”

Tributes were later left at the scene, as shocked locals shared their condolences to Saffron’s family.

Tributes laid included one which appeared to be from her children, which read: “My beautiful mummy, I love you the world.”

A second tribute read: “You will forever be missed by so many.”

“The family are obviously devastated,” Lowestoft local Tricia Butler, who visited the scene to lay flowers with her husband Barry, told the BBC.

“The family are obviously devastated. It’s just tragic, absolutely tragic,” she continued.

“It shouldn’t have happened… she had her whole life to live. It’s sad.”

Online tributes to Saffron were also shared on social media, which read ‘rest in paradise Saff’ while a second shared their condolences to the family of a ‘beautiful, amazing lady’.

“My beautiful bestie forever 32 the light to my everything I will miss u forever and always – the pain hurts so much, love you Saffron Cole-Nottage,” read a third.

We all enjoy knocking back a sweet treat or two and most of us are guilty of overindulging on junk food every know and again — but I’m pretty sure that none of us have either scoffed 50 thousand calories in just 24 hours.

However, one man decided to do just that and filmed the entire process for our viewing pleasure on his YouTube channel.

The man who attempted this artery clogging challenge was content creator and professional eater Erik Lamkin (@ErikTheElectric) who decided to see if it would be physically possible to consume the obscene amount of food needed to make up 50,000 calories back in 2021.

To put Erik’s challenge into context, the average daily guidance for an adult male is 2,500 calories, which means the content creator was aiming to eat enough food for 20 people in just one day.

Or just enough to keep himself going for nearly three weeks. Either way, that’s a serious amount of food.

Starting with pre-breakfast, Erik swung by McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts to pick up a various items, including two hot drinks, various sugary pastries as well as three bacon, egg and cheese McGriddles.

Then it was time to burn off some energy with a run before sitting down for breakfast. After eating two industrial size bowls of cereal with protein shake, the three McGriddles, HotPockets and a handful of chocolate bars, Erik was just shy of 20,000 calories — which means he still had some work to do.

Lunch came in the form of a 9,000 calorie burger challenge washed down with a Frappuccino. By this point Erik was starting to look a little sweaty from the sheer exertion of eating so much food, which meant that by meal number four he was seriously struggling.

“I feel exceptionally terrible right now, as to be expected,” he told the camera, after polishing off an oven pizza and jumbo s’mores cookie. “I really don’t know if I can do this.”

Just 11,000 more calories to go.

After spending ‘half an eternity in the bathroom’ as Erik delicately put it, he went in for meal number five, which included a smorgasbord of sickly treats before promptly passing out in a food coma.

With just a couple hours left on the clock, a very defeated Erik attempted his final meal and finished his 24 hour challenge on a whopping 50,408 calories.

The challenge also had a notable impact on Erik’s body, with his final weigh-in coming in at 190lbs (13 stone 8lbs) around 30 pounds heavier than his starting weight.

Erik’s impressive (or insane) achievement left viewers speechless, with many joking that the video made them feel a lot better about their own diets.

“I can’t imagine going to the bathroom after eating all that,” commented one viewer, while a second joked: “As a European, this is how we imagine USA.”

“I cannot BELIEVE he gained 30 pounds from this! that must have been extremely painful,” a third person added.

The NASA astronaut – along with colleague Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore – has been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024.

They were only supposed to be there for eight days, but were forced to extend their stay due to technical issues with the spacecraft, as well as Joe Biden’s alleged reluctance to bring them home, says Wilmore.

President Trump on the other hand promised on Thursday (7 March) to use his sidekick and SpaceX boss Elon Musk to work on their return to Earth.

Watch below as the 78-year-old takes time out to compliment Williams’ zero gravity hair-do:

“Biden left them up there,” Trump said to the reporters in the Oval Office.

“We have two astronauts that are stuck in space. I have asked Elon (Musk), I said, ‘Do me a favour. Can you get them out?’ He said, ‘Yes.’

“He is preparing to go up, I think in two weeks.”

He claims that the world’s richest man is ‘right now preparing a ship to go up’ and get them.

“And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid head of hair she’s got. There’s no kidding, there’s no games with her hair,” Trump added.

Addressing the two astronauts, he said: “We love you, and we’re coming up to get you. And you shouldn’t have been up there so long.”

Things then got a little weirder, as the POTUS added: “We’re going to get them out. We’re coming up to get you.

“They’ve been left up there. I hope they like each other, but they’ve been… maybe they’ll love each other, I don’t know, but they’ve been left up there. Think of it.

“There’s a danger up there too. It can have some failures up there. That would be very bad. You got to get them out.”

With Musk’s SpaceX being tasked with bringing the crew back to Earth, Wilmore and Williams are expected to return no earlier than 19 March.

The pair were asked in a press conference on Tuesday (4 March) if the Biden administration declined Musk’s offer to bring them back earlier.

“I can only say that Mr Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual,” Wilmore claimed.

“So I believe him. I don’t know all those details, and I don’t think any of us really can give you the answer that maybe that you would be hoping for.”

Musk added on X: “The astronauts were only supposed to be up there for eight days and now have been there for eight months.

“SpaceX could have sent up another Dragon and brought them home six months ago, but the Biden-Harris White House (not NASA) refused to allow it.

“President Trump asked to bring them back as soon as possible and we are doing so.”

The 47-year-old brutally told Kim Kardashian that her ‘career was over’ and said she resembled Marge Simpson after she styled herself for an appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Despite his damning critique, the businesswoman is still booked and busy these days – and just this week, a 60ft blow-up doll depicting her was erected in the centre of Times Square.

West was married to the reality star, 44, for nearly seven years before their divorce was finalised in November 2022.

The demise of the couple – who share children North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm together – was highly publicised and involved a lot of outbursts on West’s side.

Still, they were keen to make a go of the the co-parenting thing and stayed in communication for the sake of their kids… and Kardashian’s style.

West, who often used to refer to the Skims founder as his ‘muse’, has been heavily involved in his former wife’s outfit choices since they first met.

Fans will recall how he cleared out her entire closet in a 2012 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and gifted her a host of new clothes.

Speaking of him revamping her wardrobe during an appearance on Live With Kelly and Michael in 2015, Kardashian said: “I walked in my room and there was an entire room filled with all new clothes and all the stuff he wanted to fill back up my closet with and it was really cool new designers – I hadn’t even heard of some of these designers before.

“It really helped me fall in love with fashion. I eventually did get rid of most of that stuff and my style has totally evolved and changed, but I didn’t see it at the time, I had to work it out myself.”

Little did Kardashian know, she’d end up going right back to the drawing board with her style when she split from West a few years later.

The pair’s divorce was somewhat documented on the Hulu series, The Kardashians, and she gave viewers an insight into how she was coping amid the break-up.

In footage which was filmed in November 2021, which then aired in May 2022, the mother-of-four said she was feeling a bit lost as she usually turned to West for advice on ‘everything’.

“I got to a point where I would ask him for advice for everything – down to what I wear,” she told her sister Kourtney Kardashian. “Even now I’m having panic attacks like, what do I wear?”

The socialite went on to reveal that the ‘Blame Game’ rapper had styled her for her October 2021 appearance on Saturday Night Live.

However, Kardashian said that she had taken the reins in the fashion department herself when it came to choosing what to wear for the Wall Street Journal Magazine Innovator Awards the following month.

She said: “I was like, ‘How do I wear something that hasn’t been pre-vetted first?’ Like, it was like psychologically [hard].”

Kardashian ended up sporting a brown leather dress from her Skims x Fendi collection, which she paired with matching gloves and snakeskin-print heeled boots.

Telling her sister she was ‘so nervous’ about her attire being slated, Kardashian then explained that West had been in touch to share a scathing review of her outfit.

“He called me afterwards,” she said. “He told me my career is over and then he showed me a picture of Marge Simpson wearing something similar.”

Kardashian went on to tell viewers in her confessional that although she has ‘always been really into’ fashion, she has ‘never been the creative’.

“I definitely see what I like but I’ve never really been the visionary,” she explained. “Kanye would come in and be like, ‘You should do your hair like this. You should do your makeup like this’.

“That’s his love language, it’s clothes. And so, I always just trusted in him. But, it’s not just about clothes. That was like the last thing we had really in common.”

She then spoke of how she was struggling to navigate her own personal style after receiving constant direction for around a decade.

“I was always ‘The Kardashians’ with my sisters, and then I was ‘Kimye’,” she said. “Like, who is Kim K? That is the jump. How do I get there without Kanye?

“When I filed for divorce, it’s been like 10 months now,” she said at the time. “And I am finally just stepping out [and] being like, I can do this.”

The pair, who have a pretty striking resemblance despite being apparently unrelated (as far as they know), have spoken about doing a DNA test before, after McConaughey explained that his mother had known Harrelson’s father many years ago.

“In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families,” the 54-year-old said on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast.

“And my mom is there, and she says, ‘Woody, I knew your dad’. Everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after ‘knew’.

“It was a loaded K-N-E-W.”

He also said: “And that’s part of our bromance, right? My kids call him Uncle Woody. His kids call me Uncle Matthew etc etc. And you see pictures of us and my family thinks a lot of pictures of him are me. His family thinks a lot of pictures of me are him.”

Now, in a new interview, Harrelson has explained that the two actors are probably going to take the test once and for all to find out.

“Well, we haven’t done the DNA test, but we’re probably going to do that. I think there’s a real possibility,” he told Johnny Vaughan on Radio X.

When asked whose parent was ‘promiscuous’, Harrelson added: “I think all of our parents! You know, actually, it came out of one time Matthew’s mom, who called Mom-Mack, was just an incredible lady, but very devious. You never know what’s true, what’s not true. One time she said to me, after I’d known it for 25 years, she said, ‘I knew your father,’ and I found the ellipses troubling.

“Yeah, it sounds like something went on. And the thing was Matthew’s mom and dad divorced. They were married three times.

“Yeah. So, they’d split for a while, and during one of those splits, Charles Harrelson just seemed to find a little favour with her.”

Of course, if they did find out they were brothers, it would probably be a life changing discovery, especially for McConaughey.

“Look, it’s a little easier for Woody to say, ‘Come on, let’s do [DNA tests],’ because what’s the skin in it for him?” he explained on the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast.

“It’s a little harder for me because he’s asking me to take a chance to go, ‘Wait a minute, you’re trying to tell me my dad may not be my dad after 53 years of believing that?’ I got a little more skin in the game.”

Justin Blaxton, 34, was arrested on 27 February after making multiple threats about the president to police in Florida.

In a clip of the audio footage, released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Blaxton could allegedly be heard telling 911 operators: “I want Donald Trump at my house.

“Tomorrow’s his last day on planet Earth.”

In a separate call, he reportedly said: “I’m about to launch the missiles to destroy New York.

“I’m a Confederate soldier and I’m looking to get revenge.

“My missiles are attracted to Donald Trump’s tower.

“Tell the FBI that I’m a mass murderer.

“I need a ride to the airport to be taken to the White House to assassinate the President.”

After police received the threatening phone calls, cops drove to Blaxton’s house in Loxahatchee, Florida.

Blaxton – who reportedly has a history of mental illness – wasn’t there, but was arrested the next day.

The concerning call comes several months after Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt.

On 13 July 2024, 20-year-old Pennsylvania man Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump as he held a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Shots rang out while Trump was delivering a speech, and moments later Secret Service snipers responded by returning fire on Crooks, a registered Republican voter.

As Trump was bundled away by security, he got up and raised his fist to the crowd.

Taking to his social media site, Truth Social, Trump later said: “I want to thank the United States Secret Service and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.

“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead.

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.

“Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

Parker could be facing the death penalty after being arrested on suspicion of dealing ecstasy in the country.

The Brit was arrested outside his holiday villa in Bali earlier this year, having already been under police monitoring after entering Indonesia from Thailand.

Police believe he is part of an international drug ring operating out of Hungary and started tracking his movements, claiming that he acted suspiciously as he received a package of MDMA that was delivered to him on 21 January.

“After conducting a search and arrest, Thomas and the evidence were taken to the Bali Province National Narcotics Agency office for investigation,” Brigadier General Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat, from the Bali Province National Narcotics Agency said.

“He was ordered by his boss to pick up a package in Bali after flying from Thailand.

“The parcel contained MDMA which is illegal and punishable by death.”

The powder from the package was publicly tested and identified as just over a kilogram MDMA at a press conference, with it then being burned in an incinerator.

In Indonesia, possessing fewer than five grams of MDMA can land you with a jail sentence of between five and 15 years, while for over five grams the death penalty may be imposed.

If Parker is found guilty, he could be sentenced to death, which could be carried out by firing squad.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the island is notorious for its execution sites, which sees prisoners taken to an isolation cell before being led chained to nearby jungle areas.

It is here that they are reportedly tied to a post and shot by firing squad.

Indonesian law dictates that inmates must be told when their execution will take place at least 72 hours before.

According to The Straits Times, a former executioner explained that the firing squad is made up of highly trained shooters.

The prisoners are blindfolded and given the option of sitting, standing or kneeling.

Shooters fire simultaneously and if the inmate is not killed instantly, they may be told to fire at the head.

Prior to execution, the conditions in the Lapas Narkotika cells – for inmates on drug charges – seem pretty grim.

According to Prison-insider, there’s barely any windows, lack of nutritious food and reports of prisoners sleeping without blankets.

“Unlike in other prisons where there is decent lighting, the cells in Lapas Narkotika have small windows that do not provide much light,” reads the report.

“Prisoners sentenced to death confirm that in most cases the cells have a bed mattress, although not of good quality.

“Some prisoners in Lapas Narkotika reported that they were not given a blanket.

“Prisoners sentenced to death also have a limited number of clothes as there is not enough storage space for them.”

The topic of interstellar travel is back in the news once again as we inch towards the (hopeful) return of stranded astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams. The paid have now spent over 270 days – approximately nine months – marooned in space.

Butch, 62, and Suni, 59, were only meant to be in space for around eight days onboard the first crewed voyage of Boeing Starliner on 4 June, 2024.

However, things didn’t quite go to plan, as I’m sure you’re already aware.

Since then several seasons, the US presidential election, Christmas and 2024 have all come and gone before Butch and Suni had any idea of when they’d step foot on land once again. Fortunately, the pair are now hoping to return home at some point this month, but their interstellar ordeal is far from over.

What does being in space do to the body?

The longest time a human has ever spent in space was 437 days, with the record belonging to Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, while the American record goes to astronaut Frank Rubio, who returned to Earth after 371 days between 2022 and 2023.

When both Polyakov and Rubio returned made it back onto our planet they both noticed significant changes to their body, with the latter famously photographed as he was helped out of the spacecraft and taken for medical assessment.

Another notable case was that of US astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, who fainted during a welcome home ceremony in 2006.

So why does this happen? Well, the answer lies in the importance of gravity.

One of the biggest differences returning astronauts will notice is a loss of muscle mass, with the BBC reporting that space missions for longer than six months can see astronauts lose up to 30% of their muscle and bone mass.

Without gravity, astronauts have no need to use their muscles for activities such as walking, standing up or lifting heavy objects, with causes atrophy in their body.

NASA also added that weight-bearing bones lose an average of ‘1% to 1.5% of mineral density per month during spaceflight’.

Which means it’s no surprise why a returning astronaut would feel unsteady on their feet.

Changes to the body don’t end there either, with medical assessments taken from returning astronaut Scott Kelly also showed a decrease in speed and accuracy of his cognitive performance, a change in gut bacteria, weight loss and potential DNA damage from exposure to radiation.

This means that our noble spacefarers, Butch and Suni, have this all to look forward to. The prognosis was backed up by pulmonologist and Air Force veteran Dr Vinay Gupta, who recently told MailOnline the pair would need ‘at least six weeks of rehabilitation’ after coming home.

So much for eight days in space, huh. 

Canadian content creator Emily (@alwayssingingmom) revealed in a recent clip that she was ten hours into a 13-hour flight from Toronto to Dubai when she suddenly felt unwell and passed out while waiting for the bathroom.

“I almost died on a flight from Toronto to Dubai a couple of weeks ago and I want to talk about it,” Emily told her TikTok followers, explaining that the terrifying health scare occurred when she got up for the first time in ten hours on the flight in order to go to the toilet.

While waiting to use the facilities, Emily noticed she had a ‘deep, dull, aching’ pain in her chest and coughed three times before collapsing and hitting her head on the floor.

“I was unconscious for five minutes,” she revealed, going on to reveal her black eye and extensive bruising from the fall.

After regaining consciousness, Emily was helped into business class by an ‘amazing’ doctor and flight attendants. “I was vomiting profusely, sweating,” she added.

After landing in Dubai and seeking urgent medical attention, Emily would be diagnosed with a ‘life-threatening blood clot’ which was impacting both of her lungs.

“It’s essentially a miracle that I’m still alive,” she said of the ordeal.

Emily then went on to share the reason doctors believe that an otherwise healthy 33-year-old woman would suddenly fall so seriously ill was due to a combination of not moving during a long haul flight and taking hormonal birth control.

“Please get up and move on your flights,” she urged her followers.

Can long haul flights cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT)?

According to guidelines from the NHS, DVT is an urgent medical condition where a blood clot forms in a vein, usually in the leg. The blood clots can then travel up to the lungs and cause a life threatening condition known as a pulmonary embolism.

Passengers travelling on journeys lasting longer than three or more hours (either by plane, car or bus) are at a higher risk of developing DVT. The health service also adds that taking the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy are at an increased risk of developing the condition.

In order to decrease your risk of developing complications while on long travel journeys the NHS recommends the following:

• wearing loose clothing
• bending and straightening your legs, feet and toes every 30 minutes
• drinking water
• wearing flight socks
• taking regular breaks from sitting if possible

Emily also added that she was wearing compression socks during her flight but hadn’t been moving during the flight and urged her followers to make sure they move during long haul flights as well.

“Life is so precious,” she added. “And just really appreciate it.”

Thomas Parker was arrested in Indonesia earlier this year after police say they saw him acting suspiciously when having a package delivered.

He’s been in an Indonesian jail since then and is being charged with the importation, possession and trafficking of drugs.

Parker was yesterday (6 March) pictured in an orange prison jumpsuit alongside other inmates who had been arrested on drug related charges.

If he is found guilty then a judge would be allowed to sentence the 32-year-old to death, and the Indonesian method of execution is a firing squad.

He would be woken in the middle of the night and taken to his place of execution, where a firing squad would shoot him to death, though some of their guns would be loaded with blanks instead of bullets.

Anyone who survives the firing squad’s bullets is executed with a shot to the head.

Police said that Parker was acting ‘suspiciously’ as he collected a package from a man on a motorbike on 21 January.

When officers approached the Brit he allegedly tried to throw away the package in a panic and attempted to flee the scene.

The package contained a light brown powder, which ended up being identified as MDMA, while officers tracked the Brit to his Bali holiday villa and arrested him outside it.

While police claim that Parker was acting ‘suspiciously’ when he was receiving the package of MDMA, the 32-year-old had already been under surveillance as police believe him to be part of an international drug smuggling ring that operates out of Hungary.

Parker had been monitored after entering Indonesia from Thailand and Brigadier General Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat of the Bali Province National Narcotics Agency claimed that the Brit was acting on instructions to pick up drugs in Bali.

“After conducting a search and arrest, Thomas and the evidence were taken to the Bali Province National Narcotics Agency office for investigation,” the official said.

“He was ordered by his boss to pick up a package in Bali after flying from Thailand.

“The parcel contained MDMA which is illegal and punishable by death.”

Indonesia has very harsh laws surrounding drugs and the last 19 people the country executed had been convicted of drug trafficking.

However, people spend a long time on death row and the country has not executed anyone since 2016.