Latest news with #Bono:StoriesOfSurrender
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Automotive
- Toronto Sun
Elon Musk bashes 'liar' Bono over DOGE cuts criticism
'Zero people have died!' Tesla CEO said in a social media post ripping the U2 frontman Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox Bono poses during the "Bono: Stories Of Surrender" photocall at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival. Photo by Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images Elon Musk is firing back at Bono after the singer tried to outline how the billionaire's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths in developing countries. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account During an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast last week, the U2 frontman claimed DOGE slashing funding to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) led to more than 300,000 deaths worldwide. He landed on that jaw-dropping number after a report by Brooke Nichols, a mathematical health modeler at Boston University, projected what the toll was after the USAID cuts. According to a report published by the Washington Post last week, Nichols' model showed about 96,000 adults and 200,000 children have died because of the administration's cutbacks to funding for aid groups and support organizations. By her estimate, the overall death count grows by 103 people an hour. But Nichols offered caveats as she considered fallout from the department's $40-billion budget being cut. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The biggest uncertainties in all of these estimates are: 1) the extent to which countries and organizations have pivoted to mitigate this disaster (likely highly variable),' Nichols said in the Washington Post . 'And 2) which programs are actually still funded with funding actually flowing — and which aren't.' 'There's food rotting in boats and warehouses,' Bono said during a Friday appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience . 'There is 50,000 tons of food. The people who knew the codes — who were responsible for distributing that aid — were fired. That's not America, is it?' Rogan, however, asserting that USAID was 'a money-laundering operation.' 'For sure, there was no oversight, no receipts … Trillions that are unaccounted for,' Rogan said. Reacting to a viral clip of Bono's claims in the conversation with Rogan, Elon Musk also took aim at the musician directly. 'He's such a liar/idiot,' Musk wrote. 'Zero people have died!' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He's such a liar/idiot 🤦♂️ Zero people have died! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2025 Back in February, Musk on X called USAID ' a criminal organization. ' His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a halt on U.S. foreign aid. According to Bloomberg, t hat order left many aid recipients, especially across Africa and in Ukraine, scrambling. The agency provides support for everything from humanitarian projects to health initiatives to disaster relief. In his conversation with Rogan, Bono said that he was sympathetic to the American people wanting more transparency about how their tax dollars were being spent, but warned the cuts to USAID would have devastating consequences. 'To destroy, to vandalize, it felt like with glee, that these life support systems were being pulled out of the walls,' Bono said, citing a story in Christianity Today in which one worker said: 'We don't have the funds, we have to choose which child to pull off the IVs.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It just seems to me, I don't know if 'evil' is too strong a word, but what we know about pure evil is that it rejoices in the deaths, in the squandering of human life — particularly children,' Bono said. 'It actually rejoices in it. And whether it's incompetence, whether it's unintended consequences, it's not too late for people.' Rogan countered 't here's got to be a way to keep aid and not have fraud.' ' We help the world and when you're talking about making wells for people in the Congo to get fresh water, when you're talking about food and medicine to places that don't have access, no way that should have been cut out. And that should have been clear before they make these radical cuts,' Rogan added. Rogan also said that while Musk has suggested the cuts, nothing has been finalized yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. ' The ironic thing is, even though Elon Musk has proposed all these things and the DOGE committee has proposed all these things, they've made no cuts in terms of the budget. They've cut nothing,' he said. On X, numerous people took shots at Bono, with popular right-wing influencer Catturd writing, 'I agree 100% with Elon Musk that Bono is an idiot and a liar.' Conservative personality Oli London took aim at Bono's wealth: 'Bono is worth an estimated $700 million. He could single handedly save 300,000 lives and still have millions left over.' Back in March, Nicholas Enrich, then USAID's acting assistant administrator for global health, estimated that a funding freeze would lead to at least 12.5 million cases of malaria, with an additional 71,000 to 166,000 deaths annually, a 28% to 32% increase in tuberculosis globally and an additional 200,000 paralytic polio cases a year. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Bono said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was 'convinced people aren't dying yet.' Last week, Rubio said it was 'a lie' people died because of USAID cuts. 'The United States is the largest humanitarian provider on the planet,' he said, according to the Post . 'I would argue: How many people die because China hasn't done it? How many people have died because the U.K. has cut back on spending and so has other countries?' But Nichols maintained the abrupt halt in funding is 'what makes the U.S. approach so harmful.' 'It leads to interruptions in care, broken supply chains, and ultimately, preventable deaths. Also, exactly because the U.S. is the largest provider of humanitarian aid, it makes the approach catastrophic,' she told the Post . This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Last week, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! , Bono warned that ' there will be trouble' following Trump's cuts to foreign aid. 'We've got a lot of very religious Catholics, Evangelicals, Conservatives who are very, very, very angry with the person that they voted into office having demolished instruments of mercy and compassion like USAID or PEPFAR (United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which can save 26 million lives of people who have AIDS around the world,' Bono said. 'That's the America that we love. That's the America that we all want to be part of. And they are not happy, and there will be trouble.' mdaniell@ Read More Sunshine Girls News Columnists Columnists Olympics
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Elon Musk brands Bono a 'liar' and an 'idiot' over USAID cuts criticism
First, Donald Trump lashed out at one music icon... Now, Elon Musk is following suit and making his own rock star enemy. Bono was on the Joe Rogan podcast on Friday (30 May) to talk about the release of his documentary Bono: Stories Of Surrender. During the three-hour conversation, the U2 frontman took the opportunity to critise the Trump administration and singled out Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which oversaw the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Bono, who has been a campaigner for humanitarian aid for decades, criticised the cuts to international aid and cited a Boston University study that estimated that the cuts will cause more than 300,000 deaths around the world. 'There's food rotting in boats, in warehouses – 50,000 tons of it,' Bono said. 'The people who knew the codes, who were responsible for distributing that aid, were fired. That's not America, is it?' Unsurprisingly, considering Rogan voted for Trump, his audience were quick to react – and not in a happy way. One wrote: 'That guy's about as evil as they come Joe', while others stated they would be skipping the episode altogether and that it would be 'the first time I look forward to commercials'. Then came Elon Musk's reaction, who took to X to say brand the singer 'such a liar/idiot', before adding that 'zero people have died' as a result of the USAID cuts. In a later exchange, he said: 'South Park lampooned Bono as the biggest shit in the world. They were right.' Musk stepped down from his wildly unpopular role at DOGE last week after serving the maximum 130-day term as a special government employee without Senate confirmation. During his time at DOGE, hundreds of thousands of people participated in the "Hands Off" protests across all 50 states of the US to express their opposition to the policies of the Trump administration and cuts made by Musk's DOGE. "Hands Off" event organizers said: "They're taking everything they can get their hands on — our healthcare, our data, our jobs, our services — and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now." Check out some of the best signs seen during these nation-wide protests. Bono: Stories Of Surrender is a hybrid of concert movie and visual memoir, featuring spoken word passages from the singer's 2022 autobiography, 'Surrender.' It is streaming on Apple TV+ now.
Euronews
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Elon Musk brands Bono a 'liar' and an 'idiot' over USAID comments
First, Donald Trump lashed out at one music icon... Now, Elon Musk is following suit and making his own rock star enemy. Bono was on the Joe Rogan podcast on Friday (30 May) to talk about the release of his documentary Bono: Stories Of Surrender. During the three-hour conversation, the U2 frontman took the opportunity to critise the Trump administration and singled out Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which oversaw the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Bono, who has been a campaigner for humanitarian aid for decades, criticised the cuts to international aid and cited a Boston University study that estimated that the cuts will cause more than 300,000 deaths around the world. 'There's food rotting in boats, in warehouses – 50,000 tons of it,' Bono said. 'The people who knew the codes, who were responsible for distributing that aid, were fired. That's not America, is it?' Unsurprisingly, considering Rogan voted for Trump, his audience were quick to react – and not in a happy way. One wrote: 'That guy's about as evil as they come Joe', while others stated they would be skipping the episode altogether and that it would be 'the first time I look forward to commercials'. Then came Elon Musk's reaction, who took to X to say brand the singer 'such a liar/idiot', before adding that 'zero people have died' as a result of the USAID cuts. In a later exchange, he said: 'South Park lampooned Bono as the biggest shit in the world. They were right.' Musk stepped down from his wildly unpopular role at DOGE last week after serving the maximum 130-day term as a special government employee without Senate confirmation. During his time at DOGE, hundreds of thousands of people participated in the "Hands Off" protests across all 50 states of the US to express their opposition to the policies of the Trump administration and cuts made by Musk's DOGE. "Hands Off" event organizers said: "They're taking everything they can get their hands on — our healthcare, our data, our jobs, our services — and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now." Check out some of the best signs seen during these nation-wide protests. Bono: Stories Of Surrender is a hybrid of concert movie and visual memoir, featuring spoken word passages from the singer's 2022 autobiography, 'Surrender.' It is streaming on Apple TV+ now.
Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Bono backs Bruce Springsteen in Trump battle: 'There's only one Boss in America'
Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox Bono poses during the "Bono: Stories Of Surrender" photocall at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival. Photo by Andreas Rentz / Getty Images After praising Canada for electing Mark Carney as prime minister, Bono has sounded off on the contentious battle between U.S. President Donald Trump and rock star Bruce Springsteen. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week, the U2 frontman was asked who he's backing as the president and musician engage in an ongoing war-of-words. Bono laughed after being posed the question, responding: 'There's only one Boss in America,' namechecking Springsteen's nickname. Kimmel then asked Bono if he had seen Trump's recent Truth Social post in which he accused the singer of being paid — along with Springsteen, Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey — to endorse Kamala Harris during last year's presidential election. 'I don't want to cut in on your action, because I know the president at 1 a.m., or 1:30, or whatever, is usually thinking about you,' Bono replied, referencing Kimmel's own feud with Trump. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But he continued, denying that U2 received money to pitch Harris to American voters. 'Two points I'll make. One, to be the company of Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, and Oprah — I'll play tambourine in that band,' he joked. 'And two, U2 and I have never (been) paid or played a show to support any candidate from any party. It has never happened.' Hitting out at Trump's social media platform, calling Truth Social ' pretty antisocial' and remarking that 'it's not very true a lot of the time,' Bono said that ' there will be trouble' following Trump's cuts to foreign aid. ' I co-founded the One Campaign, which is, by design, bipartisan,' he said, acknowledging his anti-poverty organization. 'We've got a lot of very religious Catholics, Evangelicals, Conservatives who are very, very, very angry with the person that they voted into office having demolished instruments of mercy and compassion like USAID (United States Agency for International Development) or PEPFAR (United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which can save 26 million lives of people who have AIDS around the world,' Bono said. 'That's the America that we love. That's the America that we all want to be part of. And they are not happy, and there will be trouble.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump and Springsteen's fight began after the Born in the U.S.A. rocker lashed out at the president on the opening night of the European leg of his Land of Hope and Dreams Tour. 'In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,' he told the crowd in Manchester, England. Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump are seen in this combination file photo. Photo by Getty Images Springsteen also said that most of Trump's colleagues have failed to shield Americans 'from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government.' In response, Trump called the 20-time Grammy winner a 'dried-out 'prune'' and declared that he 'never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics.' He later returned to Truth Social and shared a doctored video of himself hitting a golf ball alongside a clip of the singer taking a tumble onstage after he's hit with an animated projectile. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2025 The ongoing conflict has drawn other rockers out of the woodwork, including Neil Young, who took to his website earlier this month to warn Trump he's 'not scared' of the president. 'Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America. You worry about that instead of the dyin' kids in Gaza. That's your problem,' he wrote. 'STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made.' mdaniell@ Read More Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances! Toronto & GTA Ontario Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls
Sky News AU
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
'Still really close': U2 rockstar Bono finally responds to romance rumours between his wife Ali Hewson and bandmate The Edge
Irish rockstar Bono has responded to rumours his wife Ali Hewson and U2 bandmate The Edge were together. The U2 frontman, 65, born Paul David Hewson, spoke to The Project on Sunday ahead of his upcoming film Bono: Stories of Surrender. The documentary delves into Bono's life as U2's lead vocalist and the trials and tribulations of being a son, father, husband, activist and rocker. In it, he suggested his wife of 43 years Ali and U2's lead guitarist David Howell Evans, known as The Edge, were "an item". He told The Project the rumour was "still a sore subject". And Bono praised the pair for being "the two cleverest in their year" at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. It's there the rockstar said Ali first appeared interested in David's guitar skills when the pair were in the year below Bono. "She (Ali) did seem to be taking an interest in his guitar playing and, as hard as I might practise, I just knew I couldn't touch this guy," Bono said. Ali Hewson and Bono depart the 'Bono: Stories Of Surrender' red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in May 2025 in Cannes, France. Picture:Bono and The Edge. Picture:"So I had to become, you know, the class clown." The founding member of U2 poked further fun at himself as he said Ali and David are "still really close" and "still talk about me behind my back". "They say it's out of concern," he joked. He said he didn't need to "worry about" them as some friends were "so consistent" and "there" for him. "Edge is one, Ali is another," he said. Scene from a U2 video film clip for The Sweetest Thing featuring Ali and Bono. Picture: News Limited. Bono met Ali at age 13, and after splitting up briefly and reuniting, he married the Irish businesswoman and activist in 1982. After their honeymoon on Jamaica's north coast, the newlyweds returned to live in a small mews house in Howth, 14km northeast of Dublin. They shared the home with the rest of U2's members Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. In his 2022 memoir Surrender, Bono said his wife would "have been happier" had he embarked on a whirlwind life with the band's members. "Ali would have been happier with a life that was simpler than the one we've ended up with," the rocker said. U2 performing on their Joshua Tree Tour at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Simon Cross/Supplied "Ali had never been 'just' my girlfriend, and now she was never going to be 'just' my wife." "She was also realising that there were three other men in her marriage. "Men whom she was more than fond of, but men who were taking her man away, not just in his wild imaginings, but physically, all over the world." In 2022, Bono told The Sunday Times Magazine Ali "wanted to jump" from their marriage when Bono became less present at home during U2's 1980s tour. However, he said the couple could always "pull each other back" out of the dark times. "It's not like our love was absent any dark undercurrents or briny water, (but) we got each other through those bits where it was hard to see where we were. Ali calls it 'the work of love'." Bono and Ali shared daughters Jordan, 36, Eve, 33, and sons Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q, 25, and John Abraham, 24. Elijah followed in his father's footsteps as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the rock band Inhaler. Eve is an established actress best known for her lead role in the Netflix hit Behind Her Eyes.
