BBC News Briefing

2 July, 2025

Doug has short ginger hair and wears glasses with a black rim. His head and the tops of his shoulders can be seen and he is wearing an orange top

Doug Faulkner

Hello. Sean "Diddy" Combs has been cleared of racketeering and sex trafficking by a New York jury. The music mogul was found guilty of two lesser charges. My colleagues in Ukraine have taken a look at a surprising new tool which is saving lives on the frontline. And, how far would you go for a good meal? We've got the story of a Michelin-starred chef who's sending her lobster bisque into space.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Diddy cleared of racketeering and sex trafficking but guilty of lesser charges

A court sketch showing Sean Combs holding up a fist while wearing a yellow suit and shirt colour

Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing up to 10 years in prison. Credit: REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has been cleared of racketeering and sex trafficking but found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution against two former partners. The rapper, 55, faces up to 10 years in prison for each of those charges but the prosecution could not convince the jury of the more serious charges - we take a look at why. When the verdicts were given he celebrated then appeared to give thanks, making prayer signs towards the jury and his family, writes the BBC's Madeline Halpert from court to hear the verdict.

Latest updates

GET UP TO SPEED

Donald Trump, wearing a blue suit and white shirt as well as a red Gulf of America baseball cap, speaks into a microphone

Trump's budget bill edges closer to becoming law

The president's bill is returning to the House of Representatives but sticking points remain.

What are they? >

Sir Keir Starmer, dressed in a blue suit and wearing glasses, turns to one side as he speaks at the despatch box in the House of Commons, o his left is ANgela Raner, who has ginger hair and is wearing a red dress, and on the other is Rachel Reves, who has long brown hair and is wearing a blue suit while rubbing away a tear

UK PM backs chancellor after she appears tearful

Downing Street says the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, is "going nowhere" despite a tearful appearance in Parliament.

Get the latest >

Two Australian Indigenous performers adorned in traditional body paint standing back-to-back

British colonists carried out genocide - inquiry

A landmark Aboriginal-led inquiry says British colonists committed genocide against Australia's Indigenous population.

Read more >

The Priness of Wales who has long brown hair and is wearing a light brown jacket with a striped brown and white shirt

Cancer treatment is life-changing, says Kate

The Princess of Wales spoke candidly to hospital patients about the challenges of recovering after chemotherapy.

Watch the video >

AT THE SCENE

Kyiv

The magnets saving lives in Ukraine

A man's hands hold a small shard of jagged metal between thumb and index finger and a piece of paper

The shard of metal was removed from Serhiy Melnyk's heart using a new technology. [Credit: Kevin McGregor/BBC]

With the rise of drone warfare in Ukraine shrapnel injuries are increasing. It has led to the development of a magnetic extractor - a thin magnet-tipped device strong enough to lift a sledgehammer.

Anastasiya Gribanova and Scarlett Barter, BBC Ukrainian Service and World Service

From his pocket, Serhiy Melnyk pulls out a small rusty shard, wrapped neatly in paper.

He holds it up. "It grazed my kidney, pierced my lung, and my heart," says the Ukrainian serviceman quietly.

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Traces of dried blood are still visible on the shrapnel from a Russian drone that became lodged in his heart while he was fighting in eastern Ukraine. Untreated, Serhiy's injury would have been fatal.

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Cardiovascular surgeon Serhiy Maksymenko shows footage of the metal fragment trapped in Serhiy's beating heart before it is delicately removed by a thin magnet-tipped device. In just one year, Doctor Maksymenko's team has performed over 70 successful heart operations with the device, which has changed the face of front-line medicine in Ukraine.

Keep reading

Drone strike: Three people have been killed in a Ukrainian attack on a factory in Izhevsk, Russian officials say.

'Mariupol is diseased': Residents deny Russian claims that the occupied city is returning to normal.

A view over the shoulder of a woman wearing a white and black panama hat, with a white shirt. She is looking down on a tennis court, on which a player in white can be seen

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SOMETHING DIFFERENT

The real Wimbledon rules

These are the dos and don't for spectators at the quintessentially British tournament.

What are they?

And finally... in France

We've all heard someone describe their food as out of this world but now a Michelin-starred chef is taking it one step further as her lobster bisque and foie gras get set to blast off to the International Space Station. Angela Pic has steamed up with astronaut Sophie Adenot to create gastronomic delights that will travel to the ISS next year. Lift (off) the lid on her menu.

US Politics Unspun newsletter

No noise. No agenda. Just expert analysis of the issues that matter most, from North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher.

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– Doug

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