British duo Chantelle Cameron and Savannah Marshall have signed with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.
The United States-based promotion has been securing some of the world’s best female boxers in recent months, signing the likes of Ellie Scotney, Ramla Ali and American Alycia Baumgardner.
“MVP represents the most dominant roster of UK women’s athletes in boxing,” said Paul and his MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian after the latest signings.
Both women are expected to make their promotional debuts on the undercard of Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano 3, on 11 July in New York.
Cameron, 33, is a former undisputed champion at light-welterweight and is the only fighter who holds a win over Ireland’s Katie Taylor in the professional ranks.
The Northampton fighter swapped Matchroom for Queensberry last year, but has now decided to part ways with Frank Warren in favour of YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul.
Marshall, 33, has not fought since 2023 when she became the then second undisputed boxing world champion from England, behind Cameron, by collecting all four super-middleweight world titles.
Cameron and Marshall join a growing stable of female pound-for-pound greats at MVP, with Denmark’s two-weight world champion Dina Thorslund recruited this year and seven-weight world champion Amanda Serrano leading the female faction.
Serrano takes on Taylor in their trilogy fight at Madison Square Garden, topping an all-women card with Scotney and Baumgardner set to defend their world titles.
Light-welterweight Cameron has spent the past year chasing a third fight with Taylor, and will be hopeful of fighting the winner of Taylor v Serrano 3 later this year.
Paul is a divisive figure in boxing, but continues to be one of the biggest draws in the sport.
The opening arguments in the high-profile criminal trial of rapper and music mogul Sean Combs, better known by his nickname Diddy, are set to begin on Monday in Manhattan, New York.
The three-time Grammy winner has been in federal custody since September on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transporting to engage in prostitution. His trial officially began on May 5.
The multimillionaire American record producer and founder of Bad Boy Records has been accused of using his fame and money to abuse women over the course of 20 years.
The 55-year-old rap star has pleaded not guilty to all charges. But if he is found guilty on all counts, he could face a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to a life term.
Here is everything you need to know about his trial:
What can we expect on Monday?
On Monday, the jury of 12 jurors and six alternates is expected to be finalised, paving the way for opening statements by the government and then the defence.
US District Judge Arun Subramanian will preside over the trial.
Over the course of a two-month trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from three and possibly four of the rapper’s female accusers, as well as his former employees who prosecutors say helped arrange and cover up his actions.
In this courtroom sketch, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, accompanied by lawyers Marc Agnifilo and Anthony Ricco, attends a hearing in a federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, US [File: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters]
What are the charges against Combs?
A five-count indictment against the Hip-Hop artist has accused him of sex trafficking, racketeering and transporting individuals for the purpose of prostitution. The indictment also makes claims of sexual assault, physical violence, kidnapping, forced labour, bribery, obstruction of justice and arson against Combs.
He “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals”, the indictment said.
This involved years of carrying out threatening and coercive behaviour towards women “to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”, it added.
Over two decades, Combs used violence and threats to force women to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs”, according to the indictment.
Combs would often watch the performances, masturbate and film them, sometimes using the recordings as blackmail to ensure his alleged victims did not report his abuse, prosecutors say.
In one 2016 incident that was captured on hotel surveillance footage that prosecutors plan to show the jury, Combs was seen kicking and dragging a woman as she was trying to leave a “Freak Off”, prosecutors say.
CNN last year broadcast footage that appeared to show Combs attacking his former girlfriend, the rhythm and blues singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, in 2016 in a Los Angeles hotel hallway. Combs apologised after the video aired.
Who is going to testify?
Ventura is likely to testify as a key witness for the prosecution.
She sued Combs in November 2023, saying he abused her for years, also involving allegations of rape. However, the lawsuit was settled the next day, with the terms of the settlement remaining undisclosed.
But it triggered a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits from people making similar claims.
Three other alleged victims, all women and only known to the public by pseudonyms, are also set to testify, as well as former business associates and law enforcement officers.
What evidence has been presented so far?
A central part of the prosecution’s case rests on the 2016 leaked video showing Combs beating Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.
The video, released by US media outlet CNN in May 2024, was widely circulated on other news platforms and social media sites.
While Combs’s lawyers have argued the video should not be presented in court, Judge Subramanian said he would allow it.
“The defence can’t show the footage is inadmissible,” he said in a ruling in late April. “There’s no unfair prejudice to Mr. Combs.”
Moreover, in March 2024, his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal authorities and dozens of electronic devices were recovered.
During a hearing in October, one of the prosecutors, Emily Johnson, said 96 electronic devices had been seized in March. Eight of those contained some 90 terabytes of data, which Johnson labelled as “extraordinary”.
What is the defence saying?
Combs has repeatedly denied the allegations.
His lawyers are expected to argue that the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual, and say there is nothing illegal about a “swingers” lifestyle in which Combs and his girlfriends occasionally brought a third person into their relationships.
Their strategy at trial will hinge on undermining the credibility of the women who testify against Combs, including by arguing they were motivated by money to accuse him of wrongdoing and have unreliable memories.
Marc Agnifilo, his lawyer, has asserted the indictment was an “unjust prosecution” of his client and that Combs was not a “criminal”.
Agnifilo has said the 2016 hotel incident depicted the aftermath of a dispute over infidelity and was not evidence of sex trafficking.
In a court hearing on Friday, Agnifilo said Ventura had a history of domestic violence, undercutting prosecutors’ argument that she was a victim.
Ventura’s lawyer declined to comment.
Where is Combs right now?
The Bad Boy Records founder has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, without bail since his arrest in September.
He has been denied bail three times, with Judge Subramanian saying there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering.
What sentence does Combs face if convicted?
Combs could face up to life in prison if the jury convicts him on the racketeering charge.
If convicted on the sex trafficking charge, he would have to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and a maximum of 10 years in prison if found guilty on the charges of transporting to engage in prostitution.
The Duchess of Sussex’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, confirmed that a comment made by Prince Harry ahead of his 2018 royal wedding had hurt the Markle family, saying ‘something was not right’
Prince Harry’s comment about Meghan and family did not go down well with the Markles
Meghan Markle has been estranged from her father for many years now; the 80-year-old has never met his grandchildren, Archie, six, and three-year-old Lilibet, nor his son-in-law, in person.
Prince Harry is famously no longer in contact with his family, either. And he was previously accused of widening the rift between Meghan and her loved ones when he sat down for an interview in 2017.
While speaking to Radio 4 ahead of the couple’s 2018 wedding, Harry was asked if there were family traditions he needed to explain to his future wife. “Plenty,” he said, “We’ve got one of the biggest families that I know of and every family is complex as well. She’s done an absolutely amazing job.”
He added: “She’s getting in there and it’s the family, I suppose, she’s never had.”
READ MORE: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ruthlessly mocked on TV show in brutal joke about the couple
His remarks did not sit well with Meghan’s family. Writing in their book, Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, noted: “Harry’s comment only heightened the already tenuous family dynamic and foreshadowed what was to come.”
In response to Harry’s remarks, Meghan’s half-sister Samantha took to X (formerly Twitter ), writing: “Actually she has a large family who were always there with her and for her. Our household was very normal and when dad and Doria divorced, we all made it so it was like she had two houses. No one was estranged, she was just too busy.”
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Samantha later confirmed in the 2019 Channel 5 documentary Meghan And The Markles: A Family At War that Harry’s comment had hurt the family. She said: “The first thing I thought was, ‘I don’t think Harry has been given the full story’. Something was not right. Though we weren’t the classic family together on schedule for every holiday, we were family.
“Then we questioned why… why would she be embarrassed about her family? Why would you need to set the stage differently? It was starting to feel like she wasn’t reaching out to the family.”
READ MORE: Prince Harry has ‘two different problems’ that have left him ‘broken’
It comes after it was revealed that Thomas is now living in a £500-a-month high-rise flat on the densely populated island of Cebu in the Philippines. The 80-year-old former Hollywood lighting director now resides more than 7,000 miles away from his daughter.
He is being cared for by Meghan’s older half-brother, Thomas Jr, 58, as he adjusts to life in his new tropical home. But he is said to be ‘struggling’ to cope in Cebu’s punishing climate, where temperatures this week reached 33C with humidity levels approaching 90 per cent.
“There are only two types of weather in Cebu: hot and humid, and hot and humid and raining. It’s brutal even for men half his age, but it’s still sad to see him looking as though he’s struggling,” a source told The Mirror.
Thomas has been spotted using a walking stick to navigate the area’s uneven roads and paths, and he was photographed on the day after Archie’s sixth birthday sitting alone in blistering heat, outside a supermarket near his new home.
Thomas Jr, meanwhile, revealed to the Mirror that he is working on a book of his own, which will include his memories of Meghan’s childhood. He said: “When my book is finished, ooh it’ll be swooped up real quick cos it’s getting there. I’m working on it. It’s coming out.
“It’s gonna be good. I really want to maybe spin off the book, then when the book gets read, the documentary will follow. I’m not a greedy person, it’s not about the money, it’s about the principle.
“Of course it would be nice to have a nice little cushion from selling a book, sure.” Referring to his new life to the Philippines with his father, Thomas added in an online video: “Everybody wants the book. I now have dedicated time. It’s not easy moving.”
The thought of watching an India Test team without Virat Kohli in it will take some getting used to.
I first played a full international against Kohli in an ODI at Lord’s in 2011, then in Test cricket in India the following year, when England famously won the series 2-1.
But my first encounter with him came some time before, in an Under-19 series in the UK in 2006. We played three four-day ‘Test’ matches, with some recognisable names on both teams: Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth and Ishant Sharma. Kohli and I were both 17, so playing a couple of years above our age group.
Even then, as a youngster a far cry from the supreme athlete he turned into, the competitiveness and fire that has characterised Kohli’s career shone brightly.
In the first game at Canterbury he made 123 in the first innings. It was full of trademark Kohli shots: clips through mid-wicket and punches through the covers with a checked drive.
What I remember most vividly is how keen he was to engage in a battle with us. In age-group cricket, some players are there to score their runs so they progress through the system. Not Kohli. He was there to win. It was this trait that elevated him above his peers and served him so well throughout a Test career that has carried the hopes of 1.4bn people.
From then on, we crossed paths regularly. At the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, we even crossed paths on a nightclub dancefloor. These days he would have too much of an image to uphold, and too much security required, to be seen in the same dodgy establishments as yours truly.
Kohli captained the India team that won that tournament. His expression on lifting the trophy, screaming in delight, was one that became familiar when he celebrated an India wicket in a Test.
Even at that age he was the prized wicket in the India team, the one you’d phone home to tell your parents about. It was no surprise he made his full one-day international debut later that year, immediately looking at home.
Getty Images
Bowling to Kohli was tough. You never wanted to engage him too much, because you knew that it would bring out the best in him. At the same time, you never wanted to back down so much that he didn’t respect you.
If you bowled too full, he could punish you on both sides of the wicket. Drop short and he played off the back foot just as well. You knew you couldn’t miss.
He walked to the crease with his shoulders pushed back. You could sense an anticipation in the stands, even when Kohli was playing outside of India. It was intimidating, and you just had to stay in control of your own emotions.
There was an intensity about everything he did, and that extended off the field.
In 2016, we played a five-Test series in India. It was a long, gruelling tour that turned out to be Alastair Cook’s last as England captain.
As you move around the country, tourists typically stay in the same hotels as the India team, so you see them quite a lot away from the ground.
Two things stood out. Firstly, if Kohli even set foot in the hotel lobby, it was pandemonium. There were people just trying to catch a glimpse of their hero as he made his way to the team bus. Living with that level of stardom and pressure is like nothing any English cricketer can imagine.
Secondly was the way in which the India team had changed their attitude to training. On the previous Test tour, four years earlier, we would generally be the only team using the hotel gym. We would have free rein to use whatever equipment we pleased.
By 2016, these hotel gyms had now become boutiques to Kohli’s fitness regime, and the rest of the team followed on his coattails. There were Olympics lifting bars, weights and an on-call fitness trainer. It was obvious we were dealing with a very different India team, one that became formidable as a result.
That Kohli intensity was always going to be hard to sustain and I don’t think it’s surprising his Test batting numbers tailed off towards the end of his captaincy, then again as he fell back into the ranks.
That does not detract from his status as a great of the game. In terms of the Fab Four, he is the first to retire from Test cricket and his numbers do not match those of Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith.
On a personal note, he is responsible for one of my few moments of cricket badgerism.
I liked getting shirts from players in the opposition and I wanted one from Kohli.
At the end of an ODI at Dharamsala in January 2013, we swapped shirts. We didn’t sign them, but I kept hold of his.
When we next played against each other, at Edgbaston in August 2014, I took my shirt along and asked the dressing room attendant if Kohli could sign it. He did, addressing me as ‘Steve’, a name only my mum uses. Funnily enough, Kohli did not ask for me to sign his Finn shirt.
I always found him to be polite, interesting and someone who would be a very good team-mate. I was never lucky enough to experience him as that.
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that Kohli has done more to maintain the primacy of Test cricket than any other player in the modern era.
It would have been so easy for him to walk away from the grind much sooner than this. He could have basked in the financial prosperity of the Indian Premier League, influenced his 271m Instagram followers (three times more than David Beckham) and used his image to secure his family’s future.
The thought of watching an India Test team without Virat Kohli in it will take some getting used to.
I first played a full international against Kohli in an ODI at Lord’s in 2011, then in Test cricket in India the following year, when England famously won the series 2-1.
But my first encounter with him came some time before, in an Under-19 series in the UK in 2006. We played three four-day ‘Test’ matches, with some recognisable names on both teams: Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth and Ishant Sharma. Kohli and I were both 17, so playing a couple of years above our age group.
Even then, as a youngster a far cry from the supreme athlete he turned into, the competitiveness and fire that has characterised Kohli’s career shone brightly.
In the first game at Canterbury he made 123 in the first innings. It was full of trademark Kohli shots: clips through mid-wicket and punches through the covers with a checked drive.
What I remember most vividly is how keen he was to engage in a battle with us. In age-group cricket, some players are there to score their runs so they progress through the system. Not Kohli. He was there to win. It was this trait that elevated him above his peers and served him so well throughout a Test career that has carried the hopes of 1.4bn people.
From then on, we crossed paths regularly. At the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, we even crossed paths on a nightclub dancefloor. These days he would have too much of an image to uphold, and too much security required, to be seen in the same dodgy establishments as yours truly.
Kohli captained the India team that won that tournament. His expression on lifting the trophy, screaming in delight, was one that became familiar when he celebrated an India wicket in a Test.
Even at that age he was the prized wicket in the India team, the one you’d phone home to tell your parents about. It was no surprise he made his full one-day international debut later that year, immediately looking at home.
Getty Images
Bowling to Kohli was tough. You never wanted to engage him too much, because you knew that it would bring out the best in him. At the same time, you never wanted to back down so much that he didn’t respect you.
If you bowled too full, he could punish you on both sides of the wicket. Drop short and he played off the back foot just as well. You knew you couldn’t miss.
He walked to the crease with his shoulders pushed back. You could sense an anticipation in the stands, even when Kohli was playing outside of India. It was intimidating, and you just had to stay in control of your own emotions.
There was an intensity about everything he did, and that extended off the field.
In 2016, we played a five-Test series in India. It was a long, gruelling tour that turned out to be Alastair Cook’s last as England captain.
As you move around the country, tourists typically stay in the same hotels as the India team, so you see them quite a lot away from the ground.
Two things stood out. Firstly, if Kohli even set foot in the hotel lobby, it was pandemonium. There were people just trying to catch a glimpse of their hero as he made his way to the team bus. Living with that level of stardom and pressure is like nothing any English cricketer can imagine.
Secondly was the way in which the India team had changed their attitude to training. On the previous Test tour, four years earlier, we would generally be the only team using the hotel gym. We would have free rein to use whatever equipment we pleased.
By 2016, these hotel gyms had now become boutiques to Kohli’s fitness regime, and the rest of the team followed on his coattails. There were Olympics lifting bars, weights and an on-call fitness trainer. It was obvious we were dealing with a very different India team, one that became formidable as a result.
That Kohli intensity was always going to be hard to sustain and I don’t think it’s surprising his Test batting numbers tailed off towards the end of his captaincy, then again as he fell back into the ranks.
That does not detract from his status as a great of the game. In terms of the Fab Four, he is the first to retire from Test cricket and his numbers do not match those of Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith.
On a personal note, he is responsible for one of my few moments of cricket badgerism.
I liked getting shirts from players in the opposition and I wanted one from Kohli.
At the end of an ODI at Dharamsala in January 2013, we swapped shirts. We didn’t sign them, but I kept hold of his.
When we next played against each other, at Edgbaston in August 2014, I took my shirt along and asked the dressing room attendant if Kohli could sign it. He did, addressing me as ‘Steve’, a name only my mum uses. Funnily enough, Kohli did not ask for me to sign his Finn shirt.
I always found him to be polite, interesting and someone who would be a very good team-mate. I was never lucky enough to experience him as that.
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that Kohli has done more to maintain the primacy of Test cricket than any other player in the modern era.
It would have been so easy for him to walk away from the grind much sooner than this. He could have basked in the financial prosperity of the Indian Premier League, influenced his 271m Instagram followers (three times more than David Beckham) and used his image to secure his family’s future.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will be waiting to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Turkiye to talk face-to-face, as part of peace negotiations scheduled for May 15. It’s not clear however if Putin will attend.
