A union-backed effort would boost wages for hotel and airport workers. But with tourism down, and the city in a slump, hotel owners fear for their survival.
Rolando Quintanilla, a maintenance worker at the Hollywood Hotel. His wages would rise to $30 an hour under a measure passed by the Los Angeles City Council.
A still showing Israeli hostage Evyatar David being held in a Gaza tunnel from the video released by Hamas
The brother of an Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip has told the BBC that a Hamas video showing him emaciated and weak is a "new form of cruelty" that has left his parents shattered.
Hamas released the footage of Evyatar David, 24, on Saturday, drawing strong condemnation from Israel and Western leaders.
"He's a human skeleton. He was being starved to the point where he can be dead at any moment, and he suffers a great deal. He barely can't speak, he barely can move," David's brother Ilay said in an interview on Monday.
In the video, Evyatar says: "I haven't eaten for days... I barely got drinking water." He is seen digging what he says will be his own grave.
Ilay David
Evyatar David (L) with his brother Ilay shown here in happier times
Hostages' families have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prioritise their release as reports suggest he might be planning to expand the military campaign.
The footage of Evyatar was released after Palestinian Islamic Jihad published video of another hostage, Rom Braslavski, thin and crying.
Both men were abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
Ilay David said his father had barely recognised his son Evyatar's voice on the video and had not been able to sleep. He said his mother cried all day.
"Seeing those images of my brother as a human skeleton, we understood it's, it's, it's a new kind of cruelty," Mr David said. "It's the lowest you can get."
He called on world leaders to unite to save him and other hostages "from the cruel, twisted hands of Hamas".
"So we have to be so focused on delivering the message, which is, Evyatar is dying, we need to give him medicine, to give him food, proper food, and you need to get this treatment now, or else will die."
Hamas's armed wing has denied it intentionally starves prisoners, saying hostages eat what their fighters and people in Gaza eat.
After the hostages' videos were released, Netanyahu spoke with their families, telling them that efforts to return all the hostages "will continue constantly and relentlessly".
But an Israeli official - widely quoted by local media - said Netanyahu was working to free the hostages through "the military defeat of Hamas".
The possibility of a new escalation in Gaza may further anger Israel's allies who have been pushing for an immediate ceasefire as reports of Palestinians dying from starvation or malnutrition cause shock around the world.
The main group supporting hostages' families condemned the idea of a new military offensive saying: "Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to doom."
That view was pointedly made in a letter by some 600 retired Israeli security officials sent to US President Donald Trump urging him to pressure Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza.
"Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: End the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering," they wrote.
The group included former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, Ami Ayalon, former chief of Shin Bet - Israel's domestic secret service agency - former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon among others.
"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," they said.
"At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war," said Ayalon.
The former top leaders head the Commanders for Israel's Security (CIS) group, which has urged the government in the past to focus on securing the return of the hostages.
"Stop the Gaza War! On behalf of CIS, Israel's largest group of former IDF generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents, we urge you to end the Gaza war. You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well," they wrote to the US president.
Other
A still of a video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad showing hostage Rom Braslavski
Israel launched a devastating war in Gaza following Hamas's 7 October attack in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.
More than 60,000 people have been killed as a result of Israel's military campaign in Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
On Monday, the ministry reported that at least 94 people had been killed in Gaza in the past day, including dozens it said had died in Israeli strikes.
The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.
Such reports have become almost daily in recent months but are hard to verify as international journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza.
UN-backed agencies have said the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza.
The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.
Disruptions to Eurostar trains are expected to continue until the end of Monday
Passengers on several Eurostar trains are facing delays and cancellations after a power supply issue on a rail line in northern France led to its closure.
The Eurostar website shows at least nine services on Monday between London and Paris have been cancelled, while a further 15 services have been delayed.
The problem started at about 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Monday and disruptions are expected to continue until the end of the day, with trains being diverted to run on slower lines.
Eurostar has advised passengers to postpone their journeys if possible.
Some services between Brussels and Paris and between Amsterdam and Paris have also been cancelled, delayed or faced other disruptions due to the rail closure, which happened on the high-speed line between Moussy and Longueil in the Hauts-de-France region.
Inside the JM Finn Stand at The Oval, opposite the pavilion, is a staircase that leads up to the Test Match Special commentary box. It is used by media and spectators alike.
Because of their size, they presumably belonged to a man. Quite how the owners misplaced them, or when they realised their loss, is unclear. However, it raises the prospect that someone left this famous old ground both shoeless and pantless.
It would have been entirely in keeping with the mayhem that had already played out on Monday morning.
There had been 57 minutes of the most intense, dramatic and emotional sport you could ever wish to see.
Twenty-five days of gripping Test cricket came down to a one-armed man painfully scampering 22 yards of south London turf. One wonders how the productivity of the UK was affected at the beginning of the working week, or how many offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru closed early.
There had been an element of farce to the previous evening. Players went to the dressing rooms because of rain and bad light when the game was on a knife-edge, then stayed there as the gloom turned to evening sunshine.
Any frustration over the events of Sunday turned into anticipation of what might be possible on Monday. Thirty-five runs or four wickets. The Oval was sold out, but would anyone bother to turn up?
Turn up they did, filling this historic venue with constant noise and nervous energy. There were echoes of the 2005 Ashes classic in Birmingham, when Edgbaston was full for what might have only been two deliveries of action. Just like then, there was a rich reward for turning up. India's six-run win here is the narrowest of its kind in this country since England beat Australia by two runs 20 years ago.
India began the day with a huddle that seemed to have every member of the touring party included. Security, chef, bus driver. England, naturally, played football.
Fittingly, it was Surrey v England. When Jamie Overton took fours off each of the first two balls of the day, England had almost a quarter of the runs they required. It was the best it got.
Jamie Smith has looked increasingly frazzled in his first five-Test series as a wicketkeeper. He wafted at two deliveries, then edged the third. The dhol drum of the Bharat Army beat out the rhythm of We Will Rock You, and rocked England were. When Overton was struck on the pad, umpire Kumar Dharmasena paid his own 2005 tribute with the slow finger of Rudi Koertzen.
Josh Tongue had a scattergun game with the ball and found himself as the last line of defence before the stricken Chris Woakes.
On Sunday evening, Woakes somehow folded his dislocated shoulder into a set of cricket whites, which sounds excruciatingly painful in itself. When Tongue had his stumps rearranged by Prasidh Krishna, security staff rushed on to the outfield, believing the match to be over. They had not been briefed that Woakes, the nicest man in cricket, is also the bravest.
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'Here he comes!' - Woakes comes out to bat with arm in sling
Earlier this year, Woakes had a tattoo inked on his left tricep in memory of his late father Roger, who died last year. Now the same arm was strapped under his England sweater as he descended the pavilion stairs, putting his broken body on the line for the Three Lions on his chest.
History will remember Woakes as a World Cup winner in both formats, an Ashes winner and one of the finest seamers in English conditions. This will trump them all. The Wizard will always be the man who tried to help England win a Test with only one functioning arm.
How painful it must have been for Woakes to run three times between the wickets, his shoulder jolted by every step. Mercifully, he never faced a delivery. While Woakes played Jack Leach, Gus Atkinson could not ape Ben Stokes. Atkinson was bowled attempting to hit the six that would have levelled the scores and won the series.
According to Stokes, Woakes' reaction in the dressing room was to "shrug his shoulder", which is probably the last thing he should have done.
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'England panicked' - Vaughan on fifth Test defeat
The last word went to Mohammed Siraj, who personified the unbreakable spirit and never-say-die attitude of a young India team. He carried the torch of the retired Virat Kohli, with the ability to get into a fight in a phone box.
There was barely a time in this Test when Siraj was not bowling, haring in with the pavilion behind him. Thriving on responsibility, both Siraj's average and strike-rate are better when he is not playing in the shadow of Jasprit Bumrah. India's two wins in this series came in matches Bumrah did not play.
A series level at 2-2 was a fair result, even if England will feel aggrieved they were denied in the drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford. If they had caught Ravindra Jadeja on nought in Manchester, or any of the six they dropped in India's second innings here, it might have been different. The sight of India great Sunil Gavaskar leading his TV production staff in song on the Oval outfield said much about which side would be happier with the result.
It was highly creditable for England to get so close to chasing down 374, what would have been their second highest of all time. It was also a missed opportunity for a statement series win.
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Watch all five of Siraj's wickets in England's second innings
Whisper it quietly, but there is a chance this was the last home Test for the England team as we know it.
There is certainly a scenario where a poor Ashes leads to one of captain Stokes or coach Brendon McCullum walking away. Stokes may simply decide he has had enough of rehabbing from injuries.
As cruel as it sounds, Woakes' heroics may be his last act in an England shirt. Mark Wood is 36 in January. England's next home Test is in June.
There was a moment on Saturday morning of this Test, when England were fielding and contemplating a potential DRS review. In the conversation were Smith, Atkinson, Zak Crawley, Jacob Bethell, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett. It was a window into what the senior England players will look like the next time India tour this country.
If this is the end of something, England went out playing the hits. Attempting the unthinkable, stirring the emotions like few other teams can. They are exhilarating and infuriating in equal measure, never boring, and responsible for the rebirth of Test cricket in this country.
Crucially, the Bazball era is still to claim a top prize. The full home series against Australia and India played under Stokes and McCullum have been drawn 2-2. England have beaten neither since 2018, when Alastair Cook was still in the team. Trips to both countries have recently ended in shellackings, regardless of who has been in charge.
The next chance to change that record comes quickly, starting in Perth in November.
Bazball in Australia. The drama, emotion and craziness would be nice. A win would be better.
This black animal carrier was used to transport the kittens
A 17-year-old boy has been detained for the torture and killing of two kittens that were found cut open in a wooded area in west London.
He was given a 12-month detention and training order by District Judge Hina Rai, who said that the killings near Ruislip Golf Course were "without a doubt the most awful offences against animals I have seen in this court".
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, had also dreamed of killing a human and "getting away with murder". His accomplice in the animal abuse, a 17-year-old girl, will be sentenced later.
A passerby saw the boy holding a black bag, which was "moving slightly as if something live was inside it", Highbury Corner Magistrates' heard.
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing
'Horrific'
The boy was given a lifetime ban on keeping or owning animals.
Along with the girl, who also cannot be named because of her age, the teenager had previously pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animals by mutilating and killing them.
A member of the public who found the kittens warned another passerby not to go down the footpath because "there is something horrific down there".
The black kittens were found with ropes attached to them and had been cut open. Also discovered at the scene were blowtorches, three knives and a pair of scissors.
One kitten was found hanging from a rope and was completely ripped open, with its eyes bulging, the court heard.
Alongside the tools, a significant amount of blood and fur were found.
The teenagers also admitted one count of unlawful possession of a knife.
Alamy
The kittens were found near Ruislip Golf Course
Sentencing the boy, Judge Rai told him his actions had been "extensively planned" and were "clearly premeditated".
She told him: "You said sorry in your [police] interview but reports also show that you struggle to show empathy and realise that the kittens would suffer."
She added: "It seems you chose the kittens because they have emotion and you would have power over them."
Notes on the boy's phone detailed his desire to kill another person.
They read: "I really wanted to murder someone.
"Every day I was researching how to get away with murder. I have come close. I have killed cats to reduce my urges. I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats."
The boy, who may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism which has yet to be diagnosed, had no previous convictions.
In recent months, he had documented his deteriorating health on social media, his Talk TV programme and his podcast Tales of the Whales.
He first gained prominence in the 1980s as the host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire in Leeds, before hosting a night-time radio show on TalkSport in the late mid-late 90s.
When TV stations first started airing programmes after midnight in the late 1980s, one presenter seized the opportunity to gain fame - and infamy - with a type of live late-night show that hadn't been seen on British screens before.
On the James Whale Radio Show, the presenter was a cross between a shock jock, talk show host, gonzo roving reporter and working men's club MC.
Launched in 1988, Whale's live, often chaotic programme was like a daytime TV format gone rogue: one which had lost its inhibitions and any qualms about upholding the usual standards of taste and decency.
Some said it had completely lost its morals. But many viewers loved it.
Whale took calls from - and unceremoniously cut off - callers. He sparred with celebrities and expert guests, dallied with scantily-clad "bimbos", and offered combative, sardonic or flippant takes on topical issues, from immigration to teenage gambling to sex therapy.
In short, it entertained and offended in equal measure.
The James Whale Radio Show had "Radio" in its title because it went out live from Leeds on both Radio Aire and ITV simultaneously at 1am on a Friday night, as people sat at home after coming back from the pub.
ITV/Shutterstock
The James Whale Radio Show ran on ITV (and on the radio) from 1988-92
'Mighty Mouth'
At first, it only went out in Yorkshire and the north-west, but was soon picked up elsewhere as ratings went up and other ITV regional counterparts floundered.
When it arrived on London Weekend Television in April 1989, the press started to take notice.
A review in The Stage newspaper noted how "Mighty Mouth" Whale had taken a "critical hammering" since transferring across the ITV network.
But it added that, because it was broadcast so long after any family audience had gone to bed, it was pointless to complain about the show's "crudities, ruderies, or the occasional swear word".
In fact, the reviewer found Whale "the liveliest natural new personality to turn up on TV for ages", saying he possessed "a surfeit of punch and charisma".
Getty Images
Whale on Metro Radio in Newcastle in the 1970s
The smooth-voiced Whale, from Surrey, had been presenting on Radio Aire since 1982, after cutting his teeth on stations in Middlesbrough, Derby and Newcastle.
On Newcastle's Metro Radio from 1973-80, he set the template for phone-ins that gave callers short shrift.
Before that, Whale's first proper job in broadcasting had been to found a radio station inside Top Shop at London's Oxford Circus in 1970 - the country's first in-store station.
The 70s and 80s were the ages of larger-than-life radio DJs, and Whale's stint at Radio Aire saw him named local DJ of the year at the Sony Radio Awards in 1988.
Moving to the small screen that year, he gained a national reputation, for better or for worse.
'Filth and degradation'
As one sketch duo who appeared on The James Whale Radio Show half-joked, the programme was known for its "controversy, filth and degradation - and that's just behind the scenes".
It featured regular appearances from comics like Bernard Manning, Steve Coogan and Charlie Chuck, while Whale threw singers Wayne Hussey and Lemmy off for turning up drunk.
The host even stormed off his own show once, frustrated with things going wrong behind the scenes. But he also revelled in the chaos, and (usually) steered the show through it with some aplomb.
The James Whale Radio Show lasted until 1992, with the host keeping much of its flavour for another late-night format, Whale On, from 1993 to 1995.
But it was up against other, hipper shows like The Word, and a balding, middle-aged, middle-class man being risqué suddenly seemed less cutting-edge.
Getty Images
Whale entering the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2016
In 1995, Whale went back to radio with an opinionated late-night phone-in on Talk Radio.
He hit the headlines two years later when it was revealed that a female listener who appeared on air to invite him to "pop round for a coffee" was in fact his lover. Whale's wife of almost 30 years, Melinda, stuck with him.
The presenter was one of the few non-sport presenters to survive when the station rebranded as TalkSport in 2000, but was sacked eight years later after calling on his listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election.
Regulator Ofcom ruled it was a serious breach of impartiality rules, and fined the station £20,000.
Whale pitched for a job with Johnson, saying: "Ken Livingstone had 70 media advisers. Boris Johnson only needs me. I'm ideal. I know what the ordinary man or woman on the street thinks."
The future prime minister didn't take him up on the offer.
Having hosted an afternoon weekend show at LBC in the 90s, Whale returned to the station as drivetime host the same year (despite having called the station's programme director a "pillock prize-prat and a half" not long before).
'Hedonistic years'
Also in 2000, Whale was first diagnosed with cancer when a large tumour (he said it was "the size of a football") was found in his kidney.
The kidney and tumour were successfully removed. For the next few years, he and Melinda decided to live life to the full.
"Those were my hedonistic years - I ate as much steak as I wanted and drank copious amounts of wine," he said. "Every weekend, we flew off to a destination we'd never seen. We ran up huge bills. I didn't care."
He also wanted to raise awareness about the disease, so set up the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer in 2006. It merged with Kidney Cancer UK nine years later.
Whale stayed at LBC for five years before hosting the BBC Essex breakfast show for three and launching an online version of The James Whale Radio Show.
In 2016, he took part in the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother - becoming the sixth housemate to be voted out.
Three months later, he went back to TalkRadio, but was suspended in 2018 after an interview with author and journalist Nichi Hodgson about her being raped.
In a video clip, the presenter could be seen mouthing the words "orally raped", shaking his head and laughing when Ms Hodgson gave details about what had happened to her.
Getty Images
James Whale photographed in 2023
"What began as a typically strident exchange between me and a journalist known for his belligerent presenting style became a merciless exercise in how not to interview someone who has experienced a sexual assault," Ms Hodgson wrote in The Guardian.
TalkRadio admitted the interview "completely lacked sensitivity", but Whale eventually kept his job.
In 2018, his wife Melinda died of lung cancer. Two years later, he was forced to take a break from broadcasting because his disease had spread to his remaining kidney, spine, brain and lungs.
He recovered enough to walk down the aisle with Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021. They had got chatting in their local pub in Kent when they found out their spouses were both being treated by the same doctor.
In 2024, Whale was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity, and he continued hosting a weekly radio and TV show on Talk.
He lost none of his fiery opinions or ability to outrage, causing controversy by saying the "Navy should be out there pointing weaponry" at migrants in small boats, and clashing with pro-Palestinian guests over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
He carried out his final interview, with his "good friend and political hero", Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.
Dragon's Den businessman Theo Paphitis hailed his charity work for Kidney Cancer UK, adding: "They broke the mould when they made James, and there's a good reason that he has lasted decades as a broadcaster on the airwaves."
Actor Shane Richie said: "Love him or loathe him there's been no denying that the Whale was and will always be regarded as a one-off unique broadcaster.
"In the eighties, James moved the goalposts when it came to live TV... his late-night Friday talk show was the stuff of legend and is still regarded as a show that moved the parameters of British television."
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said: "He made direct speech entertaining. With that he was ahead of his time. I'm just sorry he hasn't had more time."
Whale kept broadcasting for as long as he could as the cancer tightened its grip.
"I've spent much of my professional life winding people up about their stupidity, taking the wind out of their sails, and I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss that," he wrote in one of his last weekly columns for the Daily Express.
"It wasn't always presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and leaders of industry – though they often got their comeuppances – sometimes, it was just normal folk who needed taking down a peg or two.
"But boy have I had some fun, and hopefully created some entertaining, engaging radio that has made people think a bit harder."
Radio host Charlamagne tha God fired back at President Donald Trump, accusing the president of pushing authoritarian tactics after Trump called the radio host a “dope” in a recent social media post.
On Monday’s episode of his radio show "The Breakfast Club," Charlamagne said Trump also failed to deliver on key campaign promises and used his show to dissect the president’s Truth Social post point by point.
“Listen, my fellow Americans, we are in a strange time right now, a time we have never seen because authoritarian strategy is being used against anyone who speaks out against this administration,” Charlamagne, whose given name is Lenard McKelvey, said.
Soon after, the president responded by calling Charlamagne a “racist sleazebag,” a criticism Charlamagne defended against on Monday.
“He called me a racist. I didn't mention race, not one time on Lara Trump. I didn't bring up the fact that President Trump issued an executive order directing oversight of institutions like the Smithsonian to remove or suppress narratives about systemic racism and Black history,” Charlamagne said, referring to an executive order earlier this year demanding the Smithsonian remove exhibits that divided Americans "based on race."
Charlamagne added that he was “just talking to your base” and letting voters know Trump hasn’t kept the promises he made on the campaign trail.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Charlamagne also accused Trump of making the economy “worse” before criticizing the president's decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, after the latest monthly jobs report came in well under expectations.
“It's actually hilarious to see you upset about the high unemployment rates when you let Elon Musk take a chainsaw to the federal government and fire a bunch of government workers earlier this year. You did that, President Trump, and now you're doing exactly what the Biden administration did, trying to convince America the economy is all good when it's not,” he said.
Still, Charlamagne said that he is actually “rooting” for Trump.
“President Trump, don't worry about Lenard, okay, don't worry about Charlamagne tha God. I know something I said hit a nerve and rattled you a little bit, but I don't want you rattled,” Charlamagne said. “I want you to end wars, okay? I want you to keep the border secure. I want you to have the economy booming, okay? I want all these things to be true. I am an American. I don't care who's in the White House. I want America to succeed. But I need you focused, and right now you’re not focused.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had a message Sunday for the dozens of Democratic legislators who fled the state to derail a mega-partisan gerrymander: “This truancy ends now.”
But Abbott’s options to compel those Democrats — whose departure to Illinois and other states is preventing the state Legislature from conducting any business — to return and vote are more constrained and legally uncertain than he let on. And they may take significant time to resolve in court.
Abbott and other Texas Republicans face a hard deadline as they are preparing to adopt maps that could net the GOP five seats in the U.S. House, potentially cementing the party’s majority in Congress. Maps need to be completed before the end of the year so that election officials can prepare for the state's March 3 primaries. The move has also prompted retaliation threats by Democratic governors in other states and roiled expectations for the 2026 elections, when Democrats hope to take the House and act as a check on President Donald Trump.
Here’s a look at the central questions as Abbott’s standoff with Texas House Democrats deepens into a monumental political and legal brawl.
Why did Texas Democrats leave the state?
Texas’ constitution requires two-thirds of the state’s 150 House members to be present to conduct business. That gives the 62-member House Democratic minority a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option to grind the Capitol's business to a halt even if they would be outnumbered on an up-or-down vote.
By absconding from Austin — and the state altogether — Democrats ensured that the Legislature lacked a quorum to convene for a special session called by Abbott to address redistricting. There is some recent history on this: Democrats mounted a similar effort to “break quorum” in 2021 in protest of election-related legislation. The effort ended after Democrats gradually trickled back into the state, amid a similar flurry of arrest threats and lawsuits.
Importantly, breaking quorum is not a crime. However, if the absentee Democratic lawmakers remained in Texas, Abbott could order state troopers to haul them to the Capitol. That’s why they fled for the friendlier confines of Illinois and other blue states, where Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other allies have vowed to shelter them from Texas’ demands to bring them back.
What are Abbott’s legal options?
Federal laws allow states to demand the return, or “extradition,” of criminal fugitives from other states. But because breaking quorum is not illegal, Abbott can’t seek help from the courts to compel the Democrats’ return.
Instead, Abbott threatened to take another action against the absentee lawmakers: Ask Texas courts to remove them from office altogether. State law permits a Texas district court to determine whether a public official has “abandoned” his or her office, declaring it vacant — enabling the governor to set new elections to fill the empty seats.
“Come and take it,” dared state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus leader, in an appearance Monday morning on CNN. Wu declared Abbott’s threat to be “all bluster.”
The governor’s threat is rooted in a nonbinding legal opinion issued in 2021 by Attorney General Ken Paxton, amid the last attempt by Democrats to break quorum. Paxton, notably, took no position on whether breaking quorum is constitutional.
The republican AG also declined to say whether fleeing Democrats could or should be removed from office. Rather, he called it a “fact question for a court” that he said was beyond the scope of his office to decide. He noted instead that he could file what are known as “quo warranto actions” in court, asking a judge to determine whether the missing lawmakers had officially vacated their seats.
How would a judge make that call? Paxton said he wasn’t certain.
“We find no constitutional provision or statute establishing an exhaustive list for why a vacancy occurs or the grounds under which an officer may be judicially removed from office,” he wrote.
How long could it take Abbott to force the Legislature back into session?
This is the most uncertain aspect of Abbott’s gambit. Paxton’s office would need to file “quo warranto” actions in various judicial districts for more than 50 fleeing lawmakers. Judges may take up these cases on different timelines and reach different conclusions, requiring appeals that could wind their way to the Texas Supreme Court.
Paxton acknowledged in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that the timeline would be problematic.
“The challenge is that [it] wouldn't necessarily be an immediate answer, right?” he said. “We'd have to go through the court process, and we'd have to file … in districts that are not friendly to Republicans,” Paxton said. “So it's a challenge because every, every district would be different. We'd have to go sue in every legislator’s home district to try to execute on that idea."
And even if Abbott and Paxton win a clean sweep in removing the Democrats from office, it would then require a time-intensive process of calling special elections to fill the vacancies — and guaranteeing that the winners of those elections also remain in the state as well.
That timing matters when the GOP-led redistricting plan is on a fixed timeline: A new map must be adopted by early December in order to be in place for the 2026 midterm cycle. That would require Democrats to remain out of state for about four months while they accumulate $500-per-day civil fines. The current special Legislative session is slated to end on Aug. 19, but Abbott could call another one.
Could the Democrats be charged with crimes?
Abbott’s letter, though sharply critical, stopped short of actually accusing Democrats of breaking the law. Rather, he suggested that if outsiders are helping them fundraise to cover their fines, they might run afoul of bribery laws.
“It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature,” Abbott said in a Fox News interview Monday. “And the reports are these legislators have both sought money and offered money to skip the vote, to leave the legislature, to take a legislative act."
If Texas prosecutors in fact level any such charges, then Abbott’s authority to return them grows stronger. He could then ask courts in Texas and Illinois to seek the return of the missing lawmakers.
“I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons,” he said in his Sunday statement.
“Odd Lots” goes deep on lentils in Saskatchewan, the global tractor supply and trucking markets. Is it the skeleton key to understanding this strange economic moment?
A live episode of “Odd Lots,” a podcast hosted by Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, at Racket NYC.
Thirteen people were treated for smoke inhalation after the fire ignited early Monday morning. Service was suspended on two lines for nearly five hours.
Rupert Matthews has been Leicestershire's PCC since 2021
The police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland has defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK.
Rupert Matthews has held the position since 2021 and served as an MEP for the East Midlands for the Tories between 2017 and 2019.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, he said the "dark heart of wokeness" needed to be cut out of the criminal justice system.
"The self-serving, self-entitled liberal elite who have let our country down time after time are now on notice their day is almost done," he said.
"Be they Conservative or Labour governments, everyone knows our politicians have failed us all. They have let this country down. They have let the British people down. Enough. Now is the time for Reform."
Matthews was re-elected as PCC in May 2024, beating Labour's Rory Palmer by 860 votes.
Announcing the defection on Monday, Farage told the conference: "He's twice been elected as a Conservative but today he comes across to us as our first police and crime commissioner."
Musk has been appealing the decision made by the Delaware court in 2024 and on Monday Tesla told shareholders it was "confident" that the $29bn of shares "will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla" especially as "the war for AI talent is intensifying".
The award should boost Musk's voting power on the electric car company's board.
"It is imperative to retain and motivate our extraordinary talent, beginning with Elon", Tesla's board wrote on X, a platform owned by Musk, adding that "no one matches Elon's remarkable combination of leadership experience, technical expertise".
The company said the billionaire had a "proven track record" in building "revolutionary and profitable businesses".
Tech firms trying to assert themselves in the AI sector have been offering huge sums to workers at rivals in an effort to persuade them to join them and boost their development.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was said to have recently tried to lure top developers from ChatGPT-creator OpenAI with million-dollar pay deals.
Meanwhile Microsoft's AI division, headed up by former Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, recently gained several new hires from Google's ranks.
Tesla the company was at an "inflection point" and needed Musk's prowess as it pivots from being an electric vehicle firm to an AI and robotics focussed company.
The company added that the share award would be attractive for Musk "with other "demands on his time and attention".
Musk's other roles include executive positions at xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, which makes tunnels and other infrastructure in the US.
He recently announced that he was stepping back from politics, after a stint as US President Donald Trump's advisor.
Police appealed for any witnesses who were in the Cheverel Street area of Nuneaton to come forward after the alleged rape
Two men have appeared in court, charged in connection with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton.
Ahmad Mulakhil is accused of rape, while Mohammad Kabir is accused of kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting the rape of a girl aged under 13.
Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch has alleged the two men were asylum seekers, which the BBC has been unable to verify independently, and accused Warwickshire Police and the Home Office of covering up their immigration status.
Police refused to disclose further details, saying: "Once someone is charged with an offence, we follow national guidance. This guidance does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status."
In a statement to the BBC the Home Office said: "Foreign nationals who commit crimes should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and justice delivered."
Mr Kabir and Mr Mulakhil, both 23 and from the Warwickshire town, have appeared before magistrates in Coventry and will both appear at Warwick Crown Court on 26 August.
Mr Mulakhil is also facing an additional charge of rape relating to a different case.
Anyone who was in the Cheverel Street area of Nuneaton between 20:30 and 21:45 BST on 22 July and saw anything of interest is urged to come forward by Warwickshire Police.
'Risk to public order'
Finch, who at 19 became the youngest council leader in the UK and represents Reform UK, published a letter on his social media accounts on Sunday, addressed to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, the Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, Alex Franklin-Smith, and the chief executive of the council, Monica Fogarty.
He said Ms Fogarty had told him that Mr Kabir was an asylum seeker living in a house of multiple occupancy.
Residents had "very easily been able to join the dots together" and conclude that the men were asylum seekers, he said.
"Residents of Warwickshire can see they have not been told the full story," he said.
"I am disgusted that one year on from the social unrest that we saw in parts of the UK in 2024, the Home Office and the police have clearly not learned any lessons from the handling of similar incidents last year."
He added: "I strongly believe that the only risk to public order from this case in Warwickshire comes from the cover-up itself."
In a statement, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: "It is essential to state that policing decisions—such as whether to release details about a suspect—must follow national guidance and legal requirements."
He added that he would not speculate on the personal circumstances of those involved while court proceedings were active.
The BBC has contacted Warwickshire County Council for comment.
Families of Israeli hostages have consistently demanded the government prioritises their release
A group of some 600 retired Israeli security officials, including former heads of intelligence agencies, have written to US President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza.
"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," the officials said.
"Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: End the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering," they wrote.
Their appeal comes amid reports that Netanyahu is pushing to expand military operations in Gaza as indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas have stalled.
Israel launched a devastating war in Gaza following Hamas's attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.
More than 60,000 people have been killed as a result of Israel's military campaign in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.
UN-backed agencies have said the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza.
The latest intervention by the top former Israeli officials came after videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages were released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.
The videos were widely condemned by Israeli and Western leaders.
Reuters
The open letter urges Donald Trump to help end the suffering
After the videos were released, Netanyahu spoke with the two hostage families, telling them that efforts to return all the hostages "will continue constantly and relentlessly".
But an Israeli official - widely quoted by local media - said Netanyahu was working to free the hostages through "the military defeat of Hamas".
The possibility of a new escalation in Gaza may further anger Israel's allies which have been pushing for an immediate ceasefire as reports of Palestinians dying from starvation or malnutrition cause shock around the world.
The main group supporting hostages' families condemned the idea of a new military offensive saying: "Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to doom."
That view was pointedly made in the letter to Trump by former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon among others.
"At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war," said Ayalon.
The former top leaders head the Commanders for Israel's Security (CIS) group, which has urged the government in the past to focus on securing the return of the hostages.
"Stop the Gaza War! On behalf of CIS, Israel's largest group of former IDF generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents, we urge you to end the Gaza war. You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well," they wrote to the US president.
Israel has faced growing international isolation, as the widespread destruction in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinians spark outrage.
Polls around the world suggest that public opinion is increasingly negative about Israel, which is putting pressure on Western leaders to act.
But it is not clear what pressure, if any, Trump will choose to exert on the Israeli prime minister.
The US president has consistently backed his ally, even though he publicly acknowledged last week that there was "real starvation" in Gaza after Netanyahu insisted there was no such thing.
Two girls shot in Gaza - BBC pieces together what happened and looks at dozens more child shootings
Nine people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, were kidnapped from an orphanage near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince on Sunday, officials have said.
Gena Heraty, the facility's director, was among those taken from the privately-run Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff during the early hours of the morning, according to Mayor Massillon Jean.
Seven employees and a child were also taken from the orphanage, which cares for more than 240 children, some with disabilities.
Attackers broke into the orphanage at about 15:30 local time (07:30 GMT) "without opening fire," Jean said, describing it as a "planned act".
The attackers had broken through a wall to enter the property, Jean said, before heading to the building where Ms Heraty was staying.
Gang members are thought to be responsible for the attack, Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported.
Ms Heraty, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, called the organisation that runs the orphanage - Our little brothers and sisters - early on Sunday to confirm she was among those kidnapped, a source told the AFP news agency.
No demands or ransom requests have been made, the source said.
Ireland's foreign affairs department said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance.
Gena Heraty, who was born in Liscarney, County Mayo, has received numerous awards for her humanitarian work, including the Oireachtas Human Dignity Award.
She previously told the Irish Times that she had no intention of leaving Haiti, despite growing gang violence and threats to her own safety.
"The children are why I'm still here. We're in this together," she told the newspaper in 2022.
Since early 2025, Kenscoff commune, on the southern outskirts of Port-au-Prince, has been one of the city's districts suffering from constant incursions and raids by Haiti's criminal gangs, which already control most of the capital and large swathes of the interior of the country.
Haiti's police, along with its Kenyan police allies and foreign contractors using weaponised drones, have repeatedly sought to dislodge the gangs from their positions and bases, but have not succeeded in pushing them back.
Gang violence and kidnappings are also common in other areas in and around Port-au-Prince, where the UN says armed groups control about 85% of the city.
On 7 July, six Unicef employees were kidnapped during an authorised mission in an area controlled by armed groups in Port-au-Prince. Although one employee was released the following day, five others were held captive by a gang for a further three weeks.
Getty Images
The number of people internally displaced by gang violence in Haiti has tripled to more than one million, the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned in January, half of those displaced are children
In the first half of 2025, UN figures show that almost 350 people were kidnapped in Haiti. At least 3,141 people were also killed in the same period, the UN Human Rights Office said.
UN Human Rights chief, Volker Türk, has warned that a surge in gang violence is threatening to further destabilise the nation, with a record 1.3 million people displaced by the disorder as of June.
The UN has said families are "struggling to survive in makeshift shelters while facing mounting health and protection risks".
Adrian de Wet (L) will take the stand against his boss Zachariah Johannes Olivier (R)
A white South African farm worker accused of killing two black women says he was forced to feed their bodies to pigs, according to lawyers.
Adrian de Wet is one of three men facing murder charges after Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were killed while allegedly looking for food on a farm near Polokwane in South Africa's northern Limpopo province last year.
Their bodies were then alleged to have been given to pigs in an apparent attempt to dispose of the evidence.
Mr De Wet, 20, turned state witness when the trial started on Monday and says farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier shot and killed the two women.
Ms Makgato and Ms Ndlovu were searching for soon-to-expire dairy products which had been left for pigs when they were killed.
Mr De Wet, a supervisor on the farm, will testify that he was under duress when he was forced to throw their bodies into the pig enclosure, according to both the prosecution and his lawyer.
If the court accepts his testimony, all charges against him will be dropped.
The case has sparked outrage across South Africa, exacerbating racial tensions in the country.
Such tension is especially rife in rural areas, despite the end of the racist system of apartheid more than 30 years ago. Most private farmland remains in the hands of the white minority, while most farm workers are black and poorly paid, fuelling resentment among the black population, while many white farmers complain of high crime rates.
William Musora, 50, another farm worker, is the third accused. He and Mr Olivier, 60, are yet to enter a plea and remain behind bars after their bail applications failed.
The three men also face charges of attempted murder for shooting at Ms Ndlovu's husband, who was with the women at the farm - as well as possession of an unlicensed firearm and defeating the ends of justice.
Mr Musora, a Zimbabwean national, faces an additional charge under South Africa's Immigration Act over his status as an illegal immigrant.
The Limpopo High Court was packed with supporters and relatives of the victims ahead of proceedings.
Members of opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters, which has previously called for the farm to be shut down, were also present in the courtroom.
US rapper Soulja Boy was arrested on suspicion of weapons charges in Los Angeles early Sunday morning, according to US reports.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) confirmed to CBS News that the star, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was arrested at around 2:35am local time in the Melrose neighborhood of the city.
Officers conducted a traffic stop and discovered that Way, a passenger in the vehicle, was allegedly in possession of a firearm.
The rapper and producer, known predominantly for his 2007 hit Crank That (Soulja Boy), was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm while being a felon.
The 35-year-old built a following off the back of the track which was attached to a popular dance trend at the time.
CBS - the BBC's partners in the US - have contacted the rapper's representatives for a comment.
Separately, in April this year, Soulja Boy was ordered to pay $4.25m to a woman who accused him of sexual battery and abuse.
The unnamed woman sued the star saying he regularly raped her and beat her and sometimes kept her as a prisoner after she was hired as his assistant.
Way had denied abusing her and said their relationship was consensual - but a jury in a civil trial found him liable for sexual battery, assault and gender violence.
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