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Jury selection is set to begin Monday, May 5, in New York in the high-profile trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose career has unraveled following his incarceration on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

Combs, 55, has been awaiting trial since 2024, accused of leading a criminal enterprise that prosecutors say coerced victims into drug-fueled sex parties through threats and violence. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains that any sex acts were consensual.

At a recent hearing, Combs’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, gave a glimpse of the defense strategy, characterizing the artist’s conduct as part of a consensual “swinger” lifestyle.

Prosecutors told the court that they had extended a plea deal to Combs — though the terms remain undisclosed but he declined to accept it.

If convicted, Combs, once credited with bringing hip-hop into the cultural mainstream, could face life in prison. Beyond his success in music, Combs has built a vast fortune through ventures in the liquor business and other industries.

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A former Mexican federal agent who testified against the drug trafficker son of the country's most wanted man was shot dead in the central state of Morelos, authorities said Thursday.

Ivan Morales was a prosecution witness in the U.S. trial of Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, a leader of Mexico's violent Jalisco New Generation cartel, who was jailed for life by a Washington court in March.

Gonzalez's father is Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — better known as "El Mencho" — who heads the cartel and has a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head.

Morales and his wife were shot dead on Wednesday morning as they were traveling in their vehicle in the Temixco area, around 60 miles from Mexico City, according to a police report.

State prosecutors are investigating the crime and have not ruled out revenge as a possible motive, local media reported.

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Jill Sobule, the acclaimed singer-songwriter and LGBTQ+ trailblazer best known for 90s hits 'I Kissed A Girl' and 'Supermodel', has died in a Minneapolis house fire. She was 66.

Born in Denver in 1959, Sobule released her first album in 1990, but found mainstream success with her self-titled second album, which featured 'I Kissed A Girl'.

The folk-pop track is often cited as a milestone for queer representation, as one of the first openly LGBT-themed songs to crack the US Billboard Top 20. It details two women connecting after they are fed up with their boyfriends — a ground-breaking but casual depiction of sexual fluidity presented as sweet, not salacious.

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China said it is evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the U.S.

Senior U.S. officials have reached out recently "through relevant parties multiple times," hoping to start tariff negotiations, China's Commerce Ministry said.

While Beijing appears to signal its readiness to engage in talks with the Trump administration, analysts cautioned that reaching a comprehensive deal will be a complex and time-consuming endeavor.

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Apple says it is shifting production of most iPhones and other devices to be sold in the US away from China, which has been the focus of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The majority of the iPhones bound for the US market in the coming months will be made in India, while Vietnam will be a major production hub for items like iPads and Apple Watches, chief executive Tim Cook says.

It comes as the technology giant estimated that US import taxes could add about $900m (£677.5m) to its costs in the current quarter, despite Trump's decision to spare key electronics from the new tariffs.

The Trump administration has repeatedly said it wants Apple to move production to America.

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Trump on Thursday sought to fast-track the pursuit of strategically important minerals such as nickel, copper and rare earth elements from the seabed in U.S. and international waters.

The order, which critics say contradicts global efforts to adopt regulation, is designed “to counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” according to the executive order.

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