By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — A former personal assistant who accuses Sean “Diddy” Combs of rape testified Monday that she continued sending the hip-hop mogul loving messages for years after her job ended in 2017 because she was “brainwashed.”

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The woman, testifying under the pseudonym “Mia,” pushed back at defense lawyer Brian Steel’s suggestions that she fabricated her claims to cash in on “the #MeToo money grab against Sean Combs.”

Mia was on the witness stand for her third and final day at Comb’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan, which is in its fourth week of testimony.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers concede he could be violent, but he denies using threats or his music industry clout to commit abuse.

Steel had Mia read aloud numerous text messages she sent Combs. In one from 2019, she told Combs that he’d rescued her in a nightmare in which she was trapped in an elevator with R. Kelly, the singer who has since been convicted of sex trafficking.

“And the person who sexually assaulted you came to your rescue?” Steel asked incredulously. He rephrased, asking if she really dreamed of being saved by a man “who terrorized you and caused you PTSD?” Prosecutors objected and the judge sustained it.

It was one of many objections during a combative and often meandering cross-examination that stood in contrast to the defense’s gentler treatment of other prosecution witnesses. Several times, the judge interrupted Steel, instructing him to move along or rephrase complicated questions.

In an Aug. 29, 2020, message to Combs, Mia recalled happy highlights from her eight years working for him — such as drinking champagne at the Eiffel Tower at 4 a.m. and rejecting Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger’s offer to take her home — saying she remembered only “the good times.”

In the same message, Mia mentioned once feeling “bamboozled” by a woman. Steel asked why she didn’t say Combs had bamboozled her as well.

“Because I was still brainwashed,” Mia answered.

Asked to explain, Mia said that in an environment where “the highs were really high and the lows were really low,” she developed “huge confusion in trusting my instincts.”

When Steel suggested her assault claims were made up, Mia responded: “I have never lied in this courtroom and I never will lie in this courtroom. Everything I said is true.”

She said she felt a moral obligation to speak out after others came forward against Combs, telling jurors: “It’s been a long process. I’m untangling things. I’m in therapy.”

Mia alleges Combs forcibly kissed her and molested her at his 40th birthday party, and raped her months later in a guest room at his Los Angeles home. She testified last week that the assaults were “random, sporadic, so oddly spaced out” she didn’t think they’d happen again.

For a long time, Mia said, she kept the assaults to herself — staying quiet even after her friend, Combs’ former longtime girlfriend Cassie, sued Combs in November 2023 alleging sexual abuse. The lawsuit, settled within hours for $20 million, touched off Combs’ criminal investigation.

Mia followed Cassie as the second of three key prosecution witnesses. The third, using the pseudonym “Jane,” will testify later this week.

Mia said she didn’t feel comfortable telling Cassie, the R&B singer whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, that she was also victimized. She said she didn’t tell prosecutors when she first met with them in January 2024, waiting about six months to do so.

“Just because you find out something doesn’t mean you immediately snap out of it. I was still deeply ashamed and I wanted to die with this,” Mia testified.

Steel suggested Mia only told prosecutors after she obtained legal counsel, accusing the witness of trying to lay the groundwork for a lawsuit against Combs.

But Judge Arun Subramanian shut down Steel’s attempts to ask Mia if she chose her attorney because of that lawyer’s success getting hefty judgments for writer E. Jean Carroll in sex abuse-related lawsuits against President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors warned that Steel’s treatment of Mia in the closely watched Combs case could deter victims from testifying in other, unrelated cases.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey accused Steel of yelling at and humiliating Mia, and argued that picking apart her social media posts was excessive and irrelevant.

“We are crossing the threshold into prejudice and harassing this witness,” Comey told Subramanian after jurors left the courtroom for a break.

Subramanian said he hadn’t heard any yelling or sarcasm in Steel’s questions but cautioned the lawyer not to overdo it with questions about Mia’s social media posts.

“It’s never been more important that the public and private sector address this safety crisis by expanding our network of pools and supporting programs that teach children to swim.”

The public pool at Goodhue Park in Staten Island in 2021. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Confession time: I’m a lifelong New Yorker who grew up in a neighborhood that abuts the East River, secured millions of dollars to restore one of the city’s most iconic public pools, and never learned how to swim. 

Unfortunately, the same is true for many children growing up around the city today. It’s why, as we prepare for summer, many New Yorkers are extra vigilant about their children going near the water to cool off. Headlines about missing children that evolve into drownings have become far too common from June to August, when young people with few other outlets seek the unfamiliar terrain of the water to cool off. 

This has to stop. It’s never been so important for us to reverse the trend and ensure as many New York City children as possible learn how to swim. It will certainly take all of us to get this done, but there’s already a network of programs like the one I now run ready to work with city and state leaders to make this happen. It’s never been more important that the public and private sector address this safety crisis by expanding our network of pools and supporting programs that teach children to swim. 

We know the challenge of the work ahead. Seven people drowned while swimming off of New York City beaches last year, which marked the highest number of fatalities since the pandemic. Almost all of those were off the shores of the Rockaways. The City Council to its credit has raised the alarm bell, as Speaker Adrienne Adams noted in her State of the City address last year that one in four New York children don’t know how to swim. The ratio of Black New York children, she noted, is an alarming one in three. 

There isn’t a magic bullet to a solution here. Of course, we always need more lifeguards at city beaches to spring into action when there’s an emergency. Then there’s the fact that a City Council analysis found a whopping 3 million New Yorkers—more than a third of our population—live in a district that doesn’t have a public pool. That alone is a problem because pools provide a safe, well-staffed venue for young people to learn and then safely swim. 

Public pools are important and the 91 currently operated is certainly not enough. Even still, all but 12 of those pools are outdoors, which means they’re only open basically two months out of the year—essentially Fourth of July to Labor Day. That doesn’t match the need when climate change has made it hotter from May into late September (if we’re lucky). 

That’s where the non-profit space must step up to fill the gap. At Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens, we’ve sought to do our part by offering different swim programs throughout the year. These lessons come at various levels based on children’s familiarity with the water, their age, and other factors. Apart from just lessons, we provide free access to many of the 4,000 students in our program. 

Our mission is to ensure the children who grow up in the Queensbridge, Ravenswood, Astoria and Woodside Houses have a healthy relationship with the water that surrounds them. We, along with the network of other swim programs throughout the city, have done our part to reverse this trend. In many cases, we have worked together to ensure this generation is the last to not have a safe relationship with the 520 miles of coastline that make up New York City. 

This kind of commitment is why Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens has made swimming an essential part of our plans for the future. Our hope is to break ground later this year on a new, $293 million facility that will deliver the first planetarium to Queens, along with new housing, a school, and  a state-of-the-art theater. Our new aquatic center will be the crown jewel of this proposed project which will include a regulation-sized eight lane pool, wading pool for youth beginning their swimming journey with their parents, and wet locker rooms open year round. T

his vision became closer to reality this spring thanks to a $2.5 million allocation from State Sen. Jessica Ramos, who grew up using our existing pool. This new facility will allow us to serve 16,000 youth here in Queens, giving each a chance for interaction with the aquatics center and potentially lifesaving swimming lessons. 

As we continue to raise funds for this project, we’re also committed to expanding swimming programs right now because our children cannot wait. We need to build on the existing capital commitments to build more public pools as well as support the nonprofit-owned ones that operate throughout the year. 

With the weather getting warmer, we all have a role to play. Let’s ensure the tragedies of last summer don’t repeat themselves this year.  

Costa Constantinides is the CEO of Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens and previously represented City Council District 22. 

The post Opinion: NYC Needs a Serious Conversation About Swimming appeared first on City Limits.

By KELVIN CHAN

LONDON (AP) — People in parts of the U.S. may be able to see Northern lights Monday night — or at least use a smartphone’s camera to reveal hints of the aurora not visible to the naked eye.

Space weather forecasters issued a rare, severe solar storm alert on Sunday after the sun let out a huge burst of energy called a coronal mass ejection last week. Another one headed toward Earth on Monday could produce more aurora sightings and with it, more social media posts of the majestic spectacle.

If you plan to head outside after sunset to look for the lights, and photograph them, there are things you can do to make sure you get the best shot. First, though, try to find a quiet, dark area away from light pollution and check the weather forecast — clouds can cover up the aurora borealis.

As for equipment, ideally, you should use a DSLR camera because its manual controls give you lots of control, and a tripod to hold it steady. But many people won’t have this sort of equipment. But if you’ve only got a smartphone, you can still take great photos of the night skies.

Here are some tips on how to shoot the Northern Lights:

A good setup

Before fiddling with your phone, take a few other steps to improve your chances of getting a good shot. First, dim your screen. A bright screen can hurt your night vision and both others nearby.

Even if you don’t have a tripod, it’s best not to hold your phone with your hands while shooting at night because there’s a good chance the picture will turn out blurry. Find something to rest your device against, like a hat, a book or even just the ground.

Of course, check the forecast because auroras are best seen in clear skies. Find a dark spot, away from city lights and look north. Also, consider going horizontal instead of vertical to capture a wider image.

Tips for the iPhone

First, turn off your phone’s flash. It’s usually marked by the lightning bolt symbol in the corner of the screen.

Next, use Night Mode, which is found on iPhone 11 and newer models. It usually turns on automatically in low light. You can tell it’s on because a circular icon with a crescent moon will appear in the top left corner of the screen.

For night shots, a longer exposure is better because there’s more time for light to hit the lens. Apple says Night Mode’s exposure length is normally determined automatically, but you can still experiment with manual controls.

To get to the controls, tap the arrow at the top of the camera screen, which will bring up a row of controls at the bottom. Tap find the exposure icon, which is the same crescent moon symbol as the Night Mode icon.

A slider will come up, which you can drag left or right to choose between Auto and Max timer settings. Max will give you the longest exposure time. Whichever setting you choose, it will be remembered for the next time.

Then, tap the shutter button to take your shot. Better yet, turn on the countdown timer. The delay gives you time to move away and reduces the chance any movement from your finger will affect the shot.

If you are going handheld, and the iPhone detects movement in the frame, it will display crosshairs. Try to keep them lined up to minimize any motion that can ruin the shot.

Tips for Android devices

There are similar night and astrophotography modes available on most Android devices.

On Pixel phones, tap the Night Sight setting at the bottom of the screen. If you’re using a tripod, the astrophotography setting will come up automatically once the phone has detected that it is still and ready, according to Google’s online guide.

Now you can press the shutter, which will trigger a five-second countdown timer before the phone starts taking a long exposure of up to four minutes.

If you don’t have a tripod, you’ll have to activate the astro mode by tapping the crescent moon icon and swiping the slider.

You’ll still get a five-second timer when you hit the shutter, which Google says “allows you to place your phone down on a steady surface facing the sky.” Then the phone will play a sound to let you know it’s done.

Newer Samsung phones can access an astrophoto mode, but users will have to download the company’s free Expert Raw camera app to get it.

Use a third-party app

If you feel like you need some outside assistance for your snapshots, tourist boards and other outfits from some Nordic countries have suggestions for you. Iceland Air, for instance, has a blog entry on the best apps for taking pictures of the Northern lights, including the Northern Lights Photo Taker, which costs 99 cents to download and “does exactly what it says,” according to the post.

Inspired by Iceland lists additional apps to try, especially if your default camera lacks manual controls. These include NightCap Camera, ProCamera, and Slow Shutter for iOS. For Android, ProCam X Lite is a good choice.

Visit Norway suggests similar camera replacement apps, but notes that you should test them before you go to see what works best for you and the type of phone you have.

AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay contributed from San Francisco.

Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.

By MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials have changed their advice to international travelers about measles, saying that Americans should be vaccinated against the virus no matter where they’re going.

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U.S. residents are recommended to get measles-mumps-rubella shots, anyway. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously emphasized the importance of vaccination for travelers going to countries with outbreaks.

Last week, the CDC updated its guidance to call for vaccinations for travelers going to all other countries.

Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, a researcher at George Washington University’s nursing school, called the update significant.

An Colorado outbreak last month stemmed from an international flight that landed in Denver, she noted. The CDC travel notice change reflects a recognition that people are not just being exposed to measles in countries where it’s spreading, but also in airplanes and during travel, she added.

“We’re seeing a shift from localized outbreaks to transmission in transit,” and the CDC seems to be responding to that, Darcy-Mahoney said.

The travel notice advises two doses for all Americans ages 1 and older. An early dose is advised for traveling infants ages 6 months to 11 months. The U.S. has seen more than 1,000 measles cases so far this year.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.