Sean “Diddy” Combs has apologised and taken “full responsibility” for “all of the hurt and pain” he has caused others in a letter to the court, less than 24 hours before he is due to be sentenced.

The hip-hop mogul did not give evidence during his trial earlier this year, so this is the first time he has addressed Judge Arun Subramanian.

Combs was convicted of two prostitution-related charges in July, following a trial lasting almost eight weeks, but was cleared of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

In the letter, the 55-year-old admits “past wrongs” but says he is no longer running from his “many mistakes”.

He also addresses the infamous CCTV footage from an LA hotel in 2016, which showed him attacking his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura.

“First and foremost, I want to apologise and say how sincerely sorry I am for all of the hurt and pain that I have caused others by my conduct,” Combs writes. “I take full responsibility and accountability for my past wrongs.”

The rapper describes the last two years – which started with a civil lawsuit filed by Cassie in November 2023 – as the “hardest” of his life, but admits: “I have no one to blame for my current reality and situation but myself.”

Since his arrest in September 2024 and subsequent time in prison, the rapper says he has “had to look in the mirror like never before” and admits his “downfall was rooted in my selfishness”.

Combs is due to be sentenced on Friday and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors have called for at least 11 years, while his defence team argues he should serve no more than 14 months. The latter would see him walk free almost immediately after time already served.

His letter comes after several filed by witnesses who testified during the trial, including Cassie, who has urged the judge not to be lenient and expressed fears for her safety.

She alleged on the witness stand that she was coerced and sometimes blackmailed into taking part in sex sessions with male escorts. Combs has strenuously denied allegations of sexual abuse, and jurors cleared him of sex trafficking, only finding him guilty of the charges relating to hiring the sex workers.

However, his legal team admitted from the beginning that he had been violent in the past.

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‘I could not forgive anyone putting a hand on one of my daughters’

Talking about the 2016 CCTV footage – which showed Combs, wearing only a towel and socks, attacking Cassie in a hallway – he says in his letter: “The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily.

“I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be. My domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will have to forever carry. The remorse, the sorrow, the regret, the disappointment, the shame.”

He goes on to say he feels sorry “for something that I couldn’t forgive someone else for: if they put their hands on one of my daughters.”

The footage was played several times during his trial after first being made public by CNN in May 2024.

The hip-hop mogul also references “Jane”, another former girlfriend who testified against him in court, who did not give her real name.

“I thought I was providing for Jane concerning her and her child, but after hearing her testimony, I realised that I hurt her,” he writes. “For this I am deeply sorry. I lost my way … Lost in the drugs and the excess.”

‘The old me died in jail’

Combs goes on to describe his time in prison, saying he has been “humbled and broken to my core” and that there “have been so many times that I wanted to give up”.

“The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you – I choose to live.”

Combs says he has had therapy and has been “working diligently to become the best version” of himself, and that there has been some good to come out of his time in prison.

“For starters, I am now sober for the first time in 25 years. I have been trying my best to deal with my drug abuse and anger issues and take accountability as well as positive steps towards healing.”

Asking Judge Subramanian for “mercy” for himself, his seven children and his 84-year-old mother, he says: “I have failed my children as a father. My father was murdered when I was three years old so I know first-hand what it is to not have a father. More than anything, I just want the opportunity to return home and be the father that they need and deserve.”

Combs goes on to say he is “scared to death” at the thought of spending more time away from his family, and that he no longer cares “about the money or the fame”.

And as previously detailed by his lawyers, he describes conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn as inhumane – but says he is not looking for “pity or sympathy”, and that his time there has “changed me forever!”.

Combs concludes by vowing to never commit another crime again: “I can’t change the past, but I can change the future … I’m committed to the journey of remaining a drug free, non-violent and peaceful person.

“Today, I humbly ask you for another chance – another chance to be a better father, another chance to be a better son, another chance to be a better leader in my community, and another chance to live a better life.”

Elon Musk has become the first person ever to reach a net worth of more than $500bn (£371bn).

The milestone was boosted by a recovery in Tesla stock and soaring valuations in the tech entrepreneur’s other startups this year, according to the Forbes billionaires index.

Tesla shares had a bumpy start to 2025, but climbed as investor optimism grew when Musk took a step away from his role in the Trump administration and refocused on his businesses.

Last month, Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm said Musk was once again “front and centre” at the company after spending several months at the White House.

Musk’s wealth is heavily linked to Tesla, where he owned over a 12.4% stake as of 15 September.

The company’s shares have gained more than 14% year to date and closed 3.3% higher yesterday – boosting Musk’s net worth by over $6bn (£4.4bn).

Musk has bought approximately $1bn (£740m) worth of shares, signalling strong confidence in Tesla’s future as it shifts focus from being just an automaker to becoming a leader in AI and robotics.

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However, declining vehicle sales and ongoing pressure on profit margins have weighed on the stock, causing it to be among the weakest performers within the “magnificent seven” group of major tech companies.

Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI and his rocket company SpaceX have both seen their valuations increase this year.

According to Pitchbook data, xAI was valued at $75bn (£55bn) as of July.

Bloomberg News reported in July that SpaceX was planning to raise funds and sell insider shares in a deal valuing the company at approximately $400bn (£296bn).

Oracle founder Larry Ellison ranks second on the Forbes rich list, with a net worth of about $350.7bn (£260bn) as of Wednesday.

The screams from the women and children pierce the air as the battering ram smashes through the front door of their home.

There’s shouting and all-round chaos as police officers – machine guns and pistols held out in front of them – pile inside.

Doors are kicked in, curtains ripped down, drawers are opened in bedrooms, and boxes and tables are overturned.

“There’s children here!” the women shout, as they all drop to the floor.

We are on a drugs raid in Guayaquil in Ecuador, and the police say they have good intelligence that this is the home of a drug dealer.

I have done dozens of embeds during my career covering Latin America’s drugs gangs, and it’s always deeply upsetting to see children caught up in it.

These are homes, and these are women and children, but their rights are trumped by their circumstances – they are poor, live in a rough area, and the likelihood is that one of their family members is part of a gang.

The police coming through their door is a fact of life for them.

What has changed here, though, is that the raids have increased, and will continue to.

Why? Because US President Donald Trump has launched a war against drug cartels – and is demanding that countries on his list of troublesome nations tow the line and join him, or face punishing sanctions or worse.

Ecuador doesn’t produce drugs, but it is used as a transit country by drug cartels in this region. Its ports are the gateway to sea routes north to the United States and west to Asia and the South Pacific.

It is for this reason that Ecuador is on Trump’s list. But Ecuador wants help combatting these criminal networks and has been co-operating with the US.

Trump has been sending resources and military muscle to Ecuador, and the US is planning to open a military base there.

In exchange, Ecuador’s security forces are raising their game to assure America that they are on the same page.

We witnessed this effort in real time, guided through multiple raids by a police officer with the call sign “Lynx”. He’s a former special forces officer now affiliated with the drugs squad, and he is something of a phenomenon.

“The United States [is] giving us money, guns, technology, and we are so happy about that,” he told me.

“It’s very important for the war.”

You could say that Lynx is in many ways the poster boy of the Ecuadorian police – he’s extremely confident, highly rated by his superiors and adored by his team.

Among his repertoire of skills, he is an expert drone pilot.

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I joined him in the car park of the police headquarters as he put up his drone and started spotting drug deals on the streets a kilometre or so away. We watched the screen on the controller as two transactions took place.

The multibillion-dollar drugs business is a vast global network, and by taking out the “small guys” as Lynx calls them, they hope to disrupt the chain higher up.

“We always grab the small guys, and they talk … give me that guy, he’s a bigger guy, and then we go, go, go,” is how Lynx describes taking out the chain.

They hope that any intelligence they can gather from the lower links will ultimately be valuable information they can pass on to the US to catch more important figures.

Lynx briefs his boss, and then we jump in our vehicles as the police try to track down the dealers. They find them – and the drugs they were selling – the next day.

The same day, we head to a notoriously dangerous hilltop neighbourhood with Lynx and the rest of the officers. They are looking for more drugs and dealers who will talk.

They arrest one man they say is a lookout – and as they search through piles of rubbish for drugs, they find bags of cocaine.

Lynx thinks we are being watched, so he sends his drone up again, this time to see what’s happening in the streets above us.

“Many people [are] up on the hill, like radars looking for us, and what we are doing, and they have an advantage because they’re higher up,” he says.

“We will take the evidence, and that guy is not the owner, he is just a lookout,” he says, pointing to the man in handcuffs on the floor.

“And then I’m going to take you next to where a big drug dealer is, a strong dealer.”

I ask Lynx if he thinks people who do drugs in London, New York, or Los Angeles – or anywhere really – think about him and his officers on the streets every single day.

“I think no, because they’re in the countries more powerful, smarter, if they really [knew] I think they would think no, it’s bad, because people are killing in poor countries for the drugs, for the drugs [they] are consuming,” he replied.

“Maybe they’ll think, oh I don’t have to do that.”

The haul of drugs, weapons, ammunition and money from the raids we joined is pretty impressive.

Bags of marijuana, kilo packets of cocaine cut for sale, alongside a kilo of pure cocaine paste. There’s also money, weapons and ammunition.

It’s something of a Latin American tradition to display the results of these raids.

Behind the table, also on display, are the alleged gang members.

Who they know is worth more than all the drugs in front of them, which is what the Americans want.