Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

The defence has finished its cross-examination of Cassie Ventura, ending with a text exchange from September 2012.

Combs asks "want to freak-off one last time tonight?" referring to the sex encounters where he would direct and watch Ventura with escorts, sometimes lasting days at a time.

After initially replying, "what," Ventura texted, "I dont want it be the last time, I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives".

That ends the defence's questions and the prosecution immediately gets up and asks for that same text exchange to be shown again.

On one of the next pages of messages, we see that Ventura then said, "I can't do one last time, I'd rather not at all".

Ventura tells the court she was referring to the so-called "freak-offs".

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Questioning is now circling back to Ventura's 2023 civil lawsuit against Combs, which she testified earlier this week was settled for $20 million a day after it was filed.

Combs' lawyer is trying to establish a picture of Ventura's life before the lawsuit: She had just moved her family in with her parents. For income, she relied mostly on her husband's work as personal trainer.

Ventura pushed back against this characterization, saying the move wasn't for financial reasons, and that they just wanted to move to the East Coast.

Ventura was preparing for a tour of Australia and New Zealand set to begin in January 2024. She later cancelled that tour, after the lawsuit with Combs was settled.

"Because you didn't need it anymore," the defence says.

"That wasn't the reason why,” Ventura responds.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

With their cross-questioning coming to a close soon, the defence is now taking Ventura through the years after her relationship with Combs ended.

They pulled up a series of text messages between the two beginning in March 2019, the year after they broke up.

It looks like Combs would text her every month, wishing her well, and congratulating her on her first pregnancy.

He said on one occasion, "I miss my best friend."

"Hope you're taking care of yourself," she replied. "Miss you too."

We also saw that Combs had texted her she was his "ride or die" and that the two were "honestly lucky to be alive".

Ventura tells the court that was because they "partied" too much.

In one long message, he praised Ventura and said he hopes they can talk one day and that she doesn't hate him.

She replied, "I don't hate you, I never have", and said she would also like to sit down and talk. "I wouldn’t be at this beautiful point in my life without having been with you," she said.

Ventura says that conversation they talked about having about never ended up happening.

Proceedings have resumed, with Cassie Ventura back on the stand after the lunch break, according to US media reporters inside the courtroom.

Stick with us as we bring you the details.

With no cameras in the New York courtroom where Sean "Diddy" Combs is standing trial, we have to rely on sketches - as well as reports from our journalists in the room - to get a picture of how proceedings have played out.

Now, as the trial takes a short break, here's a couple of pieces to show how it's looked so far today.

Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Before lunch, the court also heard about other text messages between Combs and Ventura, these ones after the unexpected death of Kim Porter, the mother of some of Combs' children.

Ventura said she went to a memorial service in Georgia, and texted with Combs after she left. Ventura's texts brought up that Combs had said Porter was his "soulmate".

Ventura asked him: "What was the 11 years all about", referring to her own on-and-off relationship with the hip-hop mogul.

She told the court that after that memorial service, she "didn't see him again".

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Warning: Readers may find some details distressing

Before lunch, the defence spent time digging into another one of the allegations that has anchored Ventura's testimony this week: her accusation that Combs raped her in 2018.

In more deep dives into the couple's text message history, Estevao seemed to want to show the two had positive interactions around the time he allegedly raped her.

The lawyer repeatedly called attention to a message with a heart emoji that Ventura sent, and others where she says "Can't wait to see you".

But in a message shown to court from after a night they had together around that time, Combs texted her "I know I didn't turn you on last night".

The actual date of the alleged rape is in question, and the defence says Cassie has changed her story about it - originally telling the government it was in September and then saying it August.

Estevao dissected the couples text messages from both months. Ventura then testified that in late September 2018, she had sex with Combs.

While they were together, she told the court, she received a FaceTime call from her now-husband, Alex Fine - who we have seen in court this week - who she was dating at the time.

Later, Ventura told Estevao that she told Fine about the alleged rape and that he punched a hole through a wall in response.

• You can find organisations offering mental health support and advice through the BBC Action Line. Help and support outside the UK can be found at Befrienders Worldwide, , externalor you can call the US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988.

Court has broken for lunch until about 13:15 EST (18:15 BST).

We will be hearing more of Ventura's cross questioning when we're back.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

The defence is spending today, much like it did yesterday, entering text messages into evidence. On the stand, Ventura is asked if she remembers them.

Sometimes the defence reads out the content, other times it is Ventura who reads it out loud.

One message we hear about today is from when Ventura texted to him in April 2010: "freak off w/a girl". The defence says she was suggesting one of the sex acts in which Diddy allegedly watched and directed Ventura and escorts, sometimes recording it.

Other messages are about when Ventura saw images of Combs with another woman, only called Gina in court.

Ventura has previously testified those images are what led to her breaking up with Combs.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

There are lengthy moments today where Cassie Ventura is asked to read through old text messages between her and Combs.

She leans forwards to the monitor in front of her to spend a few minutes catching up on the at times four pages of texts that were written and sent years ago.

The jury is shown a blue wall of texts from after the pair had broken up. Diddy tells her she blames him, asking did he not take care of her?

Cassie replies he took care of her "materialistically" and "not where I needed it".

"I needed you to love me and put me first," Cassie reads the text out loud in court

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Combs is wearing a light coloured sweater, a similar outfit to what he has worn every day this week in court.

With his stark grey hair, he stands out among the sea of dark-suited lawyers that surround him.

During breaks he at times speaks animatedly with his legal team, gesturing with both hands and turning around to see who is behind him. Other times he appears to sit silently, slightly hunched forward.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

A few minutes ago, Ventura revealed under cross-examination that she is on prescription medication to treat her opioid addiction, a topic which came up a lot in the defence's questioning about drug use yesterday.

She also testified about her time at a trauma therapy centre in 2023. The defence asked her if she was treated for sex addiction, one of the treatments offered there, and she replied that she wasn't.

She confirmed she received several other treatments, which she said were all related to helping her deal with her trauma, recount memories and process them.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

The defence frequently turns back to Ventura and Combs' text messages, in an effort to show she wasn't forced into "freak-offs".

In one exchange, Combs asks her what she wants to do and says, "I'm not asking you to freak off, what do you want to do?" Ventura replies that she wants to smoke and eat.

Later they show another exchange where Cassie tells him that she isn't feeling great and is frustrated with herself. He replies that he loves her and that it's okay. She responds that "she loves (him) and sex with (him) means a lot."

In their direct questioning earlier this week, prosecutors argued that Ventura wanted to keep Combs happy, because she was concerned about the consequences if he became upset.

We may see them return to this argument later in their redirection, in response to this line of questioning from the defence.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

The pace of cross-examination is crawling this morning, with a lot of pauses and confusion over exhibits, despite the judge being clear that he wants more efficiency.

At one point, Diddy's lawyers suggest that their client was just as concerned as Ventura says she was about the videos of their "freak-offs" - the sometimes days-long sexual encounters in which Ventura would have sex with male escorts while Combs watched - getting out.

Ventura agrees that he supported her in preventing that from happening, but she says she wasn't aware of him ever paying a significant amount to keep them private.

Lawyers then play a recording from March 2015, in which Ventura is speaking to someone who claimed to have a sexual video of her.

She can be heard telling the man, “I will kill you" and that "it's not going to be by my hands, someone else is going to do it."

The defence points out that the encounter took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, while Combs was in California.

Again, this seems to be an attempt by the defence to damage Ventura's credibility with the jury, and to paint her as strong and in control, rather than a victim.

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from New York

According to court documents, prosecutors have filed a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian asking that the defence's cross-examination of Ventura be finished today - an ongoing point of contention this week.

"The defence has had ample time to prepare", the letter says, asking for their questioning to be wrapped by 4:30 pm EDT (2100BST).

The defence has said they will aim for that time, but couldn't give assurance they would definitely be finished by then.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

The defence appears to be continuing their strategy of painting Ventura as an unreliable witness, someone who was on drugs and cheating on her partner during the years in question.

Combs' lawyer Anna Estevao keeps bringing up incidents in which she says Ventura was seeing other men, including an unnamed former NFL player, and dancing with singer Chris Brown.

Those were both occasions the defence says Combs became angry and took Ventura's phone.

Ventura responds that she never danced with Brown, and that the NFL player she dated was when she and Combs were on a break.

Estevao also brings up an incident from Ventura's brother's birthday in 2013, when she says she got into a bar fight with someone.

She recalls texting Combs afterward, "I tried to kill a (expletive)".

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Cassie Ventura has started her testimony.

She walked into the courtroom wearing a white shirt and a black blazer, holding her belly - she is about eight months pregnant, a fact that has caused the judge to urge both sides to wrap up their questioning of her by the end of the day.

She picked up right where she ended yesterday - talking about the infamous alleged 2016 incident at the InterContinental, in which security camera footage shows Combs apparently hitting, kicking and dragging her.

In messages that Ventura sent to Combs after the alleged assault that left her with a black eye, she told him how unhappy she was about what happened.

"I'm not a ragdoll, I’m someone's child," one message said.

A key piece of evidence in this trial is CCTV footage of Sean "Diddy" Combs and his ex-partner, singer Cassie Ventura.

It shows a 2016 incident at the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles, where Combs is seen attacking Ventura in a hallway.

The video was obtained and published by CNN last year, and has been shown to the jury several times in this trial.

Ventura has testified about what happened that day, and a former hotel security guard was the first witness on the stand in this trial.

He testified that he found Combs there in a towel, slouched on a chair with a "devilish" look on his face, and a broken vase on the floor. Ventura sat cowering in the corner with her face covered, he said.

You can read more of the former security guard's testimony in the Diddy trial here.

Cassie Ventura has returned to court and is back on the witness stand to continue her testimony in the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex-trafficking trial.

Judge Arun Subramanian is at the bench and listening to the legal teams as they work out a few issues before the jury is brought in.

The prosecution has asked for Diddy's legal team to finish questioning Cassie Ventura by 16.30 EDT (21.30 BST).

They indicate they will then need 30 minutes for what is called the re-direct - when the prosecution has the opportunity to ask Ventura about items that may have been raised during her cross-examination.