P Diddy: Guns found at Sean Combs’ homes during federal raids, sources say
Firearms have been found by federal agents searching homes belonging to rapper Sean Combs, three sources close to the matter have told Sky News’s US partner network NBC News.
The 54-year-old‘s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents on 25 March, as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, the AP news agency reported.
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ homes raided by Homeland security
Several phones were seized from Combs in Miami before he was scheduled to depart on a trip to the Bahamas, NBC News understands.
The rapper – who is also known as P Diddy and Puff Daddy – has been embroiled in a string of serious allegations in recent months.
Three women and a man were interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to the probe, according to NBC News.
It’s not yet known what kind of firearms were found or whom they belonged to.
Following the raids on his house in late March, Combs’s lawyer Aaron Dyer said there had been a “gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed”.
“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” he added.
Mr Dyer said Combs had not been arrested or had his ability to travel restricted, and neither had any of his family members.
“This unprecedented ambush – paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence – leads to a premature rush to judgement of Mr Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
Multiple lawsuits
Combs has also recently faced several lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and other wrongdoing.
In February, a music producer alleged Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Combs’s lawyer responded by saying: “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies”.
Cassie Ventura and Combs pictured in 2015. Pic: Reuters
The rapper’s former protege and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, also sued him in November alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and beaten by Combs over a 10-year period.
Combs rejected the accusations, calling them offensive and outrageous.
The case was settled the day after it was filed.
Since then, three other women have filed lawsuits in the Southern District of New York alleging that Combs sexually assaulted them. Two said they were teenagers at the time.
Combs has denied all the allegations, calling them “sickening” and “awful”.
Combs is among the most influential hip hop producers of the past three decades, building one of hip hop’s biggest empires and founding record label Bad Boy Records in 1993 working with artists including Notorious BIG, Mary J Blige, Usher and Lil Kim.
A three-time Grammy winner, his latest album, The Love Album – Off the Grid, was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards. He neither won nor attended.
Sky News has contacted representatives for Combs for comment.
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Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
R Kelly’s challenge against a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been quashed by an appeals court.
The singer was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison, a Chicago court ruled on Friday.
He was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
In his appeal, Kelly, 57, argued Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied, rather than the current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive.
The appeals court rejected this, labelling it an attempt by Kelly to elude the charges entirely after “employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet”.
He also argued that charges involving one accuser should have been tried separately from the charges tied to three other accusers due to video evidence that became a focal point of the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, only identified as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-judge panel from the appeals court noted jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the 13 counts against him “even after viewing those abhorrent tapes”.
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In a written statement, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said they plan to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly”.
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
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