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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