In today’s newsletter: Rape allegations at Cornell University put New York laws in the spotlight. Palestinian family attacked during their attempt to return to the West Bank. And an exclusive look at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ cushy prison accommodations.
Here’s what to know today.
Cornell rape allegations spotlight stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism
New York state laws about consent and sexual assault are drawing national attention after prosecutors reopened the case of a former Cornell University student who alleges fraternity members raped her in 2024.
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The law defines “mentally incapacitated” as victims being rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling their conduct due to the influence of alcohol or drugs given to them without their consent.
Defending his previous decision to not seek criminal charges, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the former student “described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”
Some legal experts say the law effectively sets a higher bar for prosecutors and advocates have lobbied for changes in recent years. In states like California and Virginia, victims do not have to be given drugs or alcohol without their consent to be considered mentally incapacitated.
EXCLUSIVE: Diddy’s pampered life in prison includes massages, nude photos and Hennessy
02:12
As Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs serves a 50-month sentence for prostitution-related offenses, sources inside New Jersey’s Fort Dix federal prison tell NBC News the disgraced hip-hop mogul is still living a privileged life.
Multiple sources say Combs uses a contraband phone to scroll Instagram and scan sexually explicit photos that an old girlfriend sends him. Other inmates cook and clean for him — one even gives him Chinese-style massages.
Combs has spent thousands of dollars in the low-security prison, sources said, with the money flowing from people outside the facility to the commissary accounts of those inmates performing services for him.
A spokesperson for the disgraced hip-hop mogul downplayed the details, saying “the only real news is that Sean continues to serve his sentence while awaiting the court’s decision on his appeal.”
But photos and videos taken from inside the prison and reviewed by NBC News paint a picture of wealth, even behind bars.
Read more on our exclusive look inside Combs’ experience in prison.
Israel-bound flight diverted amid reports that a pilot was stabbed in the cockpit
A flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia amid reports of a bloody onboard altercation.
The mother of a passenger on the FlyDubai plane said her daughter heard screaming and somebody, whom she believed was a pilot, asking for help.
She said the plane started to lose control, with one man taking out a knife and attempting to kill the pilot.
“There was a lot of blood around,” she said, according to her daughter’s account.
The Israeli military told NBC News that the country had scrambled at least two jets in response to the incident. They said the military had not yet ruled out the possibility of the incident being terrorism-related.
Read more about the emergency landing.
Settlers clash with Israeli forces to prevent Palestinian family’s return to West Bank home
The Tubassi family was forced to leave their home in July after a siege by violent Jewish settlers in the West Bank town of Jalud, but after Israeli forces tried to facilitate their return, they were met with more violence.
Mahmoud Tubassi said he was told that Israeli officials would accompany him, his wife and their son, but settlers started throwing stones at the armed police and military when they arrived at their home.
After the settlers entered the property, the family was urged by the security forces to go to the roof. The soldiers formed a physical barrier between the family and the settlers, Tubassi said. The family were then told to get back in an armored car and driven to safety, he added.
It was the second time Tubassi and his wife Aida Ahmed Abdullah suffered at the hands of settlers. On Aug. 28, a group attacked them and an NBC News crew that was interviewing them.
Though the family’s repeated attempts to return home are the result of an order by Israel’s High Court of Justice, the attacks have become a growing concern for the country’s leaders, who have struggled to explain how such a formidable military has found itself outmatched by hundreds of lightly armed young men.
Staff Pick: Promises unkept: Senior living home bankruptcies rob families of their life savings
Moving your aging mom and dad into a retirement community is stressful enough. But imagine learning that the hefty entrance fee your parents paid won’t be returned, even though their contract promised it.
That’s the story I heard from seven anguished members of The Buckingham Continuing Care Community in Houston, TX. After the community filed for bankruptcy in late 2025 and was sold to a new operator, the court overseeing the case ruled current and former residents and their families had no standing to recover the $144 million in entrance fees they’d paid.
The families I interviewed all said they were speaking to NBC News to warn about the risks residents face of senior living operators breaking their refund promises. As Emily Ryan said: “Maybe the only thing we get out of this is that we teach other seniors in America, across the United States, to be careful.”
— Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial investigative reporter
Read All About It
- Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., wrongly accused special counsel Jack Smith of perjury during a hearing on his investigations into Trump.
- After a week of fierce competition, “Backpack” emerged victorious as Fat Bear Week champion, earning the title of the heftiest bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.
- Democrats hope to swipe both a Senate and a House seat from Republicans in this solid red state.
- The Trump administration paid for TV ads showing him in a favorable light using money intended for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, sources confirmed to NBC News.
- OpenAI launched a new agent product, Dots, focused on tackling autonomous tasks just days after apologizing for a hack by its own bots.
- Michigan police took a parent into custody after a toddler at a daycare center pulled a loaded handgun in a holster from their backpack, police said.
NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified
In the newest edition of our series The Internet Made Me Ask, our editor speaks with experts to find out exactly how often you should be washing your makeup brushes. (Spoiler alert: It’s more often than you might think.) Plus, KitchenAid appliances are more than 65% off on Amazon right now. Shop the deals before they’re gone.
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