The federal sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose wildly successful career has been dotted by allegations of sexual violence, began on Monday in New York City with jury selection.

Three dozen potential jurors were questioned by Judge Arun Subramanian about their answers on a questionnaire meant to help determine if they could be fair and impartial at a trial that will feature violent and sexually explicit videos. Opening statements and the start of testimony are scheduled for next week.

The judge gave the would-be jurors a brief description of the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges against Combs, telling them he’d pleaded not guilty and was presumed innocent.

By the end of the day, the jury pool was half its size as some were excluded for personal reasons.

A similar number of jurors was expected to be questioned on Tuesday.

Unlike other recent high-profile celebrity trials, Combs’ court case won’t be broadcast live because federal courtrooms don’t allow electronic recordings inside — meaning courtroom sketch artists serve as the public’s eyes in the courtroom.

If convicted of all charges, he could face up to life in prison.

The 17-page indictment against Combs alleges that Combs engaged in a two-decade racketeering pattern of abusive behavior against women and others, with the help of people in his entourage and employees from his network of businesses.

Combs and his lawyers say he’s innocent and any group sex was consensual. They say there was no effort to coerce people into things they didn’t want to do, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket.

Technical problems plague N.J. airport

Air traffic controllers guiding planes bound for Newark Liberty International Airport lost radar and radio communication for more than a minute early last week before flights at the key hub were snarled for days, according to people familiar with the matter.

The outage of those key systems occurred on April 28 and lasted nearly 90 seconds, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the matter because it isn’t public. Following the incident, multiple employees were placed on trauma leave, the people said.

The incident and resulting reduction in staffing contributed to a week of flight delays and cancellations at Newark airport that pushed United Airlines to cut 35 daily round trips at the key hub, its biggest for international departures and a primary gateway for domestic flights. On Monday, Delta Air Lines, which has about 30 departures a day at Newark, said it is also canceling a “small number” of flights due to air traffic control restraints.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday called for the Office of the Inspector General to investigate the problems at Newark

Army copter flights paused over D.C.

The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington, D.C., airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon.

The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday. One official said the flights have been paused since Friday.

The pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport.

The unit had begun a return to flight within the last week, with plans to gradually increase the number of flights over the next four weeks, according to an Army document viewed by the AP.

Thursday’s close call involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Romanian P.M. resigns after national elections

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation on Monday, a day after the governing coalition’s joint candidate failed to advance to the runoff in the closely watched rerun of the presidential election.

The coalition’s candidate, Crin Antonescu, was third in Sunday’s first round, far behind top finisher hard-right nationalist George Simion and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.

“Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself,” the prime minister told reporters after a meeting of his Social Democratic Party.

Sunday’s rerun underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among Romanians and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties.

Iran steps into India-Pakistan peace talks

Iran’s foreign minister held talks with top Pakistani officials on Monday to try and mediate in the escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi after last month’s deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir; the United Nations urged both sides to exercise restraint.

Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Islamabad was the first by a foreign dignitary since tensions flared in the wake of the April 22 massacre of 26 people, most of them Indian Hindu tourists, in the town of Pahalgam, which India blames on Pakistan. Islamabad denies the accusation.

Tehran has offered to help ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Migrant boat capsizes near San Diego; 3 dead

A small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized early Monday off San Diego’s coast and left three people dead and four injured, while U.S. Coast Guard crews were searching for seven others, officials said.

Initially nine people were reported missing but later two were found and detained, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel said. He did not know which agency detained the individuals or why. The U.S. Border Patrol did not respond to an email asking if they were involved.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Sappey said it was unclear where the boat was coming from before it flipped shortly after sunrise about 35 miles north of the Mexico border. He described the vessel as a panga, single or twin-engine open fishing boats commonly used by smugglers.

“They were not tourists,” Sappey said. “They are believed to be migrants.”

13 miners found dead in Peru gold mine site

The bodies of 13 gold miners were found in an underground shaft at a site operated by Peru’s largest gold-mining company, President Dina Boluarte said Monday, in a region that has seen growing conflict over access to gold in recent years.

As the price of gold has climbed, small-scale mining has expanded in Peru, while the mining concessions of the Peruvian company, La Poderosa, have become a hotbed of illegal gold mining and the site of deadly clashes.

The bodies were found Sunday, according to Boluarte. The men had worked for an artisanal, or informal, mining operation that has a contract with La Poderosa, the company said in a statement Sunday.

N.Y. Times, Washington Post win Pulitzers

The New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and the New Yorker three on Monday for journalism in 2024 that touched on topics like the fentanyl crisis, the U.S. military and last summer’s assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.

The Pulitzers’ prestigious public service medal went to ProPublica for the second straight year.

The Washington Post won for “urgent and illuminating” breaking news coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. The Pulitzers honored Ann Telnaes, who quit the Post in January after the news outlet refused to run her editorial cartoon lampooning tech chiefs — including Post owner Jeff Bezos — cozying up to Trump.

The New York Times showed its breadth with awards honoring reporting from Afghanistan, Sudan, Baltimore and Butler, Pa. Doug Mills won in breaking news photography for his pictures of the Trump assassination attempt, including one that captured a bullet in the air.

Reuters won for its investigative series on fentanyl; The New Yorker’s Mosab Abu Toha won for his commentaries on Gaza; the Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer for its reporting on Elon Musk. The Journal was also a finalist for its “cool-headed” reporting on the plight of it own reporter, Evan Gershkovich, who was imprisoned in Russia.

— From news services