P Diddy arrest: Hip-Hop’s Harvey moment

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P Diddy arrest: Hip-Hop’s Harvey moment

Six months after the police raided his homes as part of a human trafficking investigation, rapper Sean Combs aka Diddy was arrested yesterday in New York. More notably: the rap superstar was denied bail and remains behind bars—despite offering “a stunning $50 million bond.”

The background: There have been a number of damning allegations against Combs—which span the entirety of his 30-year career and involve up to ten lawsuits:

In a lawsuit, singer Cassie Ventura accused him of beating and raping her—and trafficking her to other men—while they were in a relationship back in 2005. Diddy settled the suit out of court last November.
In May, however, Diddy was caught—not in 4K, but in old CCTV footage from 2016—physically abusing her. He apologised and said he had sought therapy following the attack back then.
Joie Dickerson-Neal claims he drugged her and sexually assaulted her in 1991—and filmed it.
A Jane Doe says she was coerced into having sex with Combs and another singer in early 1990s.
In February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones—whom Diddy hired in 2022 to work on his 2023 album ‘The Love Album: Off The Grid’—filed a lengthy, detailed suit against Diddy and his son.
Jones claimed he was repeatedly drugged, subjected to sexual assaults and forced to solicit sex workers. He also implicated other celebs such as actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

This grand jury indictment: describes his sex trafficking organisation as the Combs Enterprise—which allegedly engaged in “sex trafficking, forced labour, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offences, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”

The raids conducted in March turned up this:

During the search, law enforcement seized narcotics, more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant used in Combs’s directed sex performances called “freak offs,” the indictment stated, as well as ammunition, a drum magazine and firearms — including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers.

About those ‘freak offs’: This is how the indictment describes them:

The indictment, which was filed with the court last week and unsealed on Tuesday, includes graphic descriptions of what it says Mr. Combs called “freak offs”: “highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity” in hotels and other locations that were fueled by drugs and could go on for days. At these events, the government says, women were plied with drugs to keep them “obedient” and coerced to participate in sex with prostitutes. Those coerced to participate in the orgies “typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use,” according to the indictment.

These ‘freak offs’ became the basis of long-term and repeated exploitation of these women, according to the US district attorney:

He used the embarrassing and sensitive recordings he made of the freak offs as collateral against the victims… He maintained control over the victims in several ways, including by giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts, and even by dictating their physical appearance.

The bottomline: This is hip-hop’s Harvey Weinstein moment—and the most high-profile MeToo-related arrest of a pop superstar since R Kelly. Expect a lengthy legal battle and a Netflix docu-series, or three.

Reading list: Washington Post (splainer gift link) has the report on Diddy’s arrest. NBC has a copy of the full indictment. The Hollywood Reporter has everything you need on Lil Rod’s magnum opus lawsuit.

Tel Aviv’s new offensive: A wave of pager bombings

Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded at the same time across Lebanon and Syria—as part of a covert operation targeting Hezbollah. At least nine people were killed —including an eight-year-old girl—and 2,750 were injured. These included Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon. Most of the injuries were to the face, stomach and hands. Watch a clip of the explosions below:

How they did it: The pagers belonged to members of Hezbollah. They had been recently acquired because of worries that Tel Aviv was tracking cell phones. According to the New York Times, Israel hid explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon—as a counter-offensive. How they did it:

The explosive material, as little as one to two ounces, was implanted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said. A switch was also embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives. At 3:30 pm in Lebanon, the pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from Hezbollah’s leadership… Instead, the message activated the explosives.

The fallout: Hezbollah officials are calling it the “biggest security breach”—which marks a significant setback in the battle with Tel Aviv. At the very least, they will be forced to change their method of communication—which was the aim of the operation. More worrying for Hezbollah:

The sophistication of the attack suggests that whoever is behind it has been collecting intelligence for a long time, [Nicholas] Reese explained. An attack of this caliber requires building the relationships needed to gain physical access to the pagers before they were sold; developing the technology that would be embedded in the devices; and developing sources who can confirm that the targets were carrying the pagers.

But most experts do not expect the attack to trigger a wider war—despite escalating tensions on the Lebanon border. Left unstated: Israel’s tactics now increasingly resemble terrorist attacks—and any remaining differences may soon disappear.

Reading list: The Hindu has the best, most detailed curation of the attack—and what it signifies. New York Times reports on the operation.

Instagram makes sweeping changes

Responding to intense government and parental pressure, the social media platform has made key changes to accounts of under-16 users. Here’s how these ‘Teen Accounts’ will work:

The handles will be set to private by default. To see any teen’s posts, a person will first have to be approved by them.
They can only be messaged or tagged by people they follow.
They will not receive notifications between 10 pm to 7 am to promote sleep.
The settings also filter out offensive words and limit who can contact them.
The app will send periodic screen time reminders as part of its “take a break” feature.

The reason why: Meta is merely bowing to the inevitable—making changes before it is forced to do so:

In June, Dr Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, called for cigarette-like labels on social media to warn of the potential mental health risks. In July, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation called the Kids Online Safety Act to impose safety and privacy requirements for children and teenagers on social media. And some states have passed social media restrictions… Dozens of state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against his company, accusing Meta — which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp — of knowingly hooking children on its apps while playing down the risks.

New York Times (login required) and NPR have more on the Meta move—and its significance.

Two Lancet studies of note

One: An India study on the impact of suicides show that they cost the Indian economy $16 billion (Rs 140,000 crore) in 2019. That’s higher than the union budget allocated to healthcare in FY2025. The number measures the “potential productivity losses for the years of life lost from premature death.” Also this:

Suicides by young adults between the ages of 20 and 34 contributed to nearly 53% of the total economic burden. The economic loss resulting from suicides by women was estimated to be $8.7 billion while that from suicides by men was estimated to be $8 billion.

The worst affected: Karnataka—followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. (The Telegraph)

Two: Another Lancet study predicts more than 39 million people could die across the world from antibiotic-resistant infections—over the next 25 years. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—i.e. resistance to antibiotics due to their overuse—has already taken a high toll—especially in India. It caused 104 million deaths in 2019. Even more depressing: Of these, 325,091 were children under five.

A recent Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report revealed the alarming presence of superbugs in 21 of the country’s leading hospitals—from 2017 to 2023. The Lancet study also confirms the presence of six superbugs—which are responsible for most of the deaths. The Print has more on the India figures.

The best pizzeria in the world is…

Una Pizza Napoletana in Manhattan. What’s even more impressive: It aced a contest—titled annual 50 Top Pizza awards—based in the motherland of pizzas—Italy. Of course, Italians still did pretty well—with 41 entries on the list. Even India made an appearance in the top 100 list—with Pizzeria da Susy in Gurgaon coming in at #82! FYI: the chef/owner is Italian—Susanna Di Cosimo—who offers “traditional Neapolitan classics to innovative creations featuring unique ingredients like spinach, pumpkin, and smoked salmon.” Please note: Paneer tikka not included (so not exactly a win for desi pizzas). You can see the entire list here. Indian Express has more on ‘Pizzeria da Susy’. (CNN)

what caught our eye

business & tech

The Verge has a must-read review of iOS 18—calling it an “ambitious update”, even though the AI software isn’t here yet.
Sticking with Apple, leaks reveal a potential new Mac mini and cheaper iPads may hit the market next month.
Google is backing a privately-funded satellite constellation that will detect wildfires.
In today’s edition of “new releases no one asked for”, you can now play Wordle in Virtual Reality, thanks to Meta Quest.
The Trumps have gone full crypto with their new grift World Liberty Financial.
The number of Indians taking home a nine-figure salary has risen by 63% over the past five years.
The Sunday newspaper The Observer could have new owners—The Guardian is in talks to sell it off to Tortoise Media, the startup that first reported on sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman.
Read the small print—Snapchat’s AI ‘My Selfie’ tool reserves the right to put your face in personalised ads.

sports & entertainment

Miley Cyrus has been sued for plagiarism. The core allegation: her 2023 hit ‘Flowers’ copied parts of Bruno Mars’ 2013 song ‘When I Was Your Man’.
Taaliyan for Pamela Anderson! The Zurich Film Festival—where she’s presenting her new film ‘The Last Showgirl’—will honour her with the Golden Eye award.
The deception-based game show ‘The Traitors’ will soon have an Indian version, presented by…(who else) Karan Johar!
The Supreme Court has granted bail to ‘Pulsar’ Suni, the prime accused in a 2017 sexual assault case of an actress in Kerala.
India have won the men’s hockey Asian Champions Trophy, beating China 1-0 in the final.
In a landmark move, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced equal prize money for men and women in World Cups, starting with next month’s Women’s T20 edition.
Men’s club football schedules are getting out of control—Manchester City’s Spanish star Rodri says players are very close to going on strike.

as for the rest

Delhi’s new Mukhya Mantri is… Atishi—who will serve as the interim CM after Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation. She will hold the fort until the upcoming Assembly elections slated for February 2025. Business Standard has a profile of her career.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court passed an order that said no bulldozer demolitions can be carried out without its permission till October.
Thanks to a stock surge, Oracle founder and chairman Larry Ellison has overtaken Jeff Bezos as the world’s second richest man.
Putin offered a novel solution to increase Russia’s population—take work breaks and have more sex!
“All good here,” reads one of the last text messages sent out by the crew of the Titanic-bound OceanGate submersible, shortly before it imploded. Our Big Story has more on the doomed 2023 mission to explore the shipwreck.
The Guardian has a must-read on Lafarge, a French cement company that paid millions to the terror group ISIS in Syria.
Poynter reports on a new term—‘sanewashing’—which is when journalists package “radical and outrageous statements in a way that makes them seem normal.” Yes, this is about the Donald.
Another day, another beef on beef—this time it’s a college hostel in Odisha that has axed seven students over a “whiff” of the offending meat.
The Central Board of Secondary Education will no longer allow students to write exams in any language other than Hindi or English—which has left Urdu-medium schools stranded.
Air India has announced a $400 million overhaul—featuring luxury seats, modern lights and other high-tech upgrades coming soon. Yeah, but will their flights actually take off on time?
Economic Times (splainer gift link) takes a look at why fake satellite signals pose a threat to navigation systems in aviation and defence operations.
A mega El Niño effect—and not volcano-induced global warming—may have been the main cause of the Great Dying mass extinction event over 250 million years ago.

Two things to see

One: In a beautiful show of solidarity, scores of women showed up to applaud Gisèle Pelicot—whose husband and 50 other men are accused of raping her, over the course of 10 years. She bravely agreed to make the trial proceedings public—to make sure the men could not hide their identities. (BBC News)

Two: The skies across the US and Canada lit up in bright and beautiful colours from an Aurora Borealis event—caused by a massive solar storm. Space has all the nerdy details.