Latest news with #massmurder
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NY Times columnist compares Elon Musk to history's worst murderers over USAID cuts
New York Times columnist David Brooks suggested Elon Musk belongs on a list of history's greatest mass murderers, including Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin due to DOGE'S cuts to USAID. "So far, 55,000 adults have died of AIDS in the four months since Trump was elected; 6,000 children are dead because of what Doge did. That's just PEPFAR, the HIV. You add them all up, that's 300,000 dead, and we're four months in. You add that all up and accumulate that over four years the number of dead grows very high," Brooks said on PBS News Hour Saturday. "There are mass murderers in the world, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Stalin. We don't have anybody on the list from America," Brooks added. Trump 'Agreed' On Shutting Down Usaid, Elon Musk Says The New York Times columnist conceded the so-called deaths that he claims Musk is responsible for are not "the same kind of genocide" perpetrated by the despots he cited, but maintained that Musk's closure of USAID made him partially responsible for mass deaths. The casualty counts Brooks cited were provided by a Boston University digital tracker that monitors deaths that it claims occur from changes in U.S. foreign aid created by Global Health Professor Brooke Nichols. When filtered for USAID cuts, the tracker states that 99,528 adults and 207,680 children have died this year from "funding discontinuation." Read On The Fox News App The communist regime Khmer Rouge killed between 1.5-3 million people between 1975 and 1979 in the Cambodian Genocide when the group plunged the country into mass violence targeting intellectuals and religious minorities following their overthrow of the Cambodian Monarchy and installation of Pol Pot as dictator in 1975. Thirty-eight million people died of starvation during Mao's Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine it produced. Mao biographers Jung Chang and Jon Halliday estimate that Mao was responsible for over 70 million peacetime deaths. Stalin killed over six million of his own citizens in the gulags, the Great Terror and other actions. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Brooks is purpotedly one of the few conservative voices at the New York Times. However, the columnist has espoused liberal views on a host of topics and has praised Biden's presidency. He has also positioned himself as a fierce critic of President Donald Trump. "Trumpism can be seen as a giant attempt to amputate the highest aspirations of the human spirit and to reduce us to our most primitive, atavistic tendencies," Brooks wrote in a recent column. USAID was set up in the early 1960s to act on behalf of the U.S. to deliver aid across the globe, particularly in impoverished and underdeveloped regions. The agency now operates in 60 nations and employs some 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom work overseas — though most of the on-the-ground work is contracted out to third-party organizations funded by USAID, according to a BBC report. The Trump administration, however, has argued that USAID is a corrupt organization that is mishandling U.S. taxpayer dollars. DOGE froze USAID funds and sent much of its staff home shortly after Trump took office. Musk, who was spearheading the DOGE effort to root out "waste, fraud and abuse" in government, has said the agency is beyond repair. The Trump administration announced that it would be cutting 90% of all USAID contracts in April. U2 frontman Bono recently made a similar claim as Brooks on Joe Rogan's podcast, saying 300,000 people have died due to USAID cuts. Musk swiftly shot back on social media, calling the Irish rocker a "liar/idiot" and claiming that there have not been any deaths from USAID cuts. "He's such a liar/idiot Zero people have died!" The Tesla CEO posted. Musk and Brooks did not respond to Fox News Digital's request to comment. Michael Dorgan contributed to this report. Original article source: NY Times columnist compares Elon Musk to history's worst murderers over USAID cuts
Fox News
3 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
NY Times columnist compares Elon Musk to history's worst murderers over USAID cuts
New York Times columnist David Brooks suggested Elon Musk belongs on a list of history's greatest mass murderers, including Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin due to DOGE'S cuts to USAID. "So far, 55,000 adults have died of AIDS in the four months since Trump was elected; 6,000 children are dead because of what DOGE did. That's just PEPFAR, the HIV. You add them all up, that's 300,000 dead, and we're four months in. You add that all up and accumulate that over four years the number of dead grows very high," Brooks said on PBS News Hour Saturday. "There are mass murderers in the world, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Stalin. We don't have anybody on the list from America," Brooks added. The New York Times columnist conceded the so-called deaths that he claims Musk is responsible for are not "the same kind of genocide" perpetrated by the despots he cited, but maintained that Musk's closure of USAID made him partially responsible for mass deaths. The casualty counts Brooks cited were provided by a Boston University digital tracker that monitors deaths that it claims occur from changes in U.S. foreign aid created by Global Health Professor Brooke Nichols. When filtered for USAID cuts, the tracker states that 99,528 adults and 207,680 children have died this year from "funding discontinuation." The communist regime Khmer Rouge killed between 1.5-3 million people between 1975 and 1979 in the Cambodian Genocide when the group plunged the country into mass violence targeting intellectuals and religious minorities following their overthrow of the Cambodian Monarchy and installation of Pol Pot as dictator in 1975. Thirty-eight million people died of starvation during Mao's Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine it produced. Mao biographers Jung Chang and Jon Halliday estimate that Mao was responsible for over 70 million peacetime deaths. Stalin killed over six million of his own citizens in the gulags, the Great Terror and other actions. Brooks is purpotedly one of the few conservative voices at the New York Times. However, the columnist has espoused liberal views on a host of topics and has praised Biden's presidency. He has also positioned himself as a fierce critic of President Donald Trump. "Trumpism can be seen as a giant attempt to amputate the highest aspirations of the human spirit and to reduce us to our most primitive, atavistic tendencies," Brooks wrote in a recent column. USAID was set up in the early 1960s to act on behalf of the U.S. to deliver aid across the globe, particularly in impoverished and underdeveloped regions. The agency now operates in 60 nations and employs some 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom work overseas — though most of the on-the-ground work is contracted out to third-party organizations funded by USAID, according to a BBC report. The Trump administration, however, has argued that USAID is a corrupt organization that is mishandling U.S. taxpayer dollars. DOGE froze USAID funds and sent much of its staff home shortly after Trump took office. Musk, who was spearheading the DOGE effort to root out "waste, fraud and abuse" in government, has said the agency is beyond repair. The Trump administration announced that it would be cutting 90% of all USAID contracts in April. U2 frontman Bono recently made a similar claim as Brooks on Joe Rogan's podcast, saying 300,000 people have died due to USAID cuts. Musk swiftly shot back on social media, calling the Irish rocker a "liar/idiot" and claiming that there have not been any deaths from USAID cuts. "He's such a liar/idiot Zero people have died!" The Tesla CEO posted. Musk and Brooks did not respond to Fox News Digital's request to comment.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
They Welcomed Weary Travelers with Kindness — Then Butchered Them: The Twisted Tale of America's Serial Killer Family
The Bender family killed at least eight people between 1870 and 1873 The family has become known as the "Bloody Benders," inspiring movies, television shows, books and more There is renewed interest in the Bender family murders, including a University of Kansas archeology class searching for answersIt was one of the first mass murder cases in United States history — and more than 150 years later, there are still few answers about what happened at the 'Bloody Benders'' cabin — and why. Between 1870 and 1873, a Kansas family now known as the 'Bloody Benders' terrorized travelers who stopped at their cabin looking for rest along the Osage Trail, killing their victims one-by-one after offering them a place to recoup and heal before heading back out in their search for land. At the time, the Homestead Act of 1862 promised settlers 160 acres, sparking a mass migration across the Midwestern state. According to the Library of Congress' records, the Osage Trail 'was an easy place to disappear.' And it didn't help that along the Osage Trail, there lived a murderous family: John Sr., his wife Elvira, their son John Jr., and daughter Kate. It's believed between eight and 11 victims died at the hands of the family. According to local KCTV, the Kansas Reflector, and A&E, eight bodies were discovered on the family's property while three more nearby were suspected to have been murdered by the Benders. It wasn't until the brother of a Kansas state senator went missing on the trail, and the lawmaker set out with a posse to go find him, that the Benders' killing spree was uncovered, according to the Reflector. The state senator, Col. Alexander York, questioned the Benders and grew suspicious of their answers, the outlet reported. But by the time he came back, the family had suddenly picked up and left, leaving more than a century-and-a-half of mystery to follow. Located along the Osage Trail, the Bender family appeared, by all accounts, to prey on travelers looking for food and shelter, according to local KCTV. Historians believe daughter Kate, who was a Spiritualist in her early 20s at the time, would distract travelers by offering spiritual healing services, according to the outlet. Kate would have the family's victims sit with their backs to a canvas curtain, according to the Reflector, while another family member hid and would bludgeon the victim over the head with a hammer. Then, the family members would drag their victim to a hidden cellar on the property and slit the victim's throat, leaving them there to die. 'It may have started in pure robbery and morphed into something a bit more twisted,' Lee Ralph, the author of Hell Comes to Play, a book about the Bender family, told KCTV last year. Nobody knows how many people the Bender family actually murdered, according to the Reflector, but at least eight bodies were discovered in a hidden cellar on the property in May 1873, including that of an infant. However, according to the outlet, by the time local investigators came knocking at the Benders' door, the family had vanished, sparking what the Reflector described as an 'enduring mystery' that is uniquely American. While the Bender family was never found, their brutal acts — and their vanishing act that followed — have inspired movies, books, television shows and more in the century-plus since their murders were committed. From the 2016 film Bender to episodes of Supernatural and The Librarians, the Bender family mystery has gone from local folklore to national entertainment. For a period of time, the local Cherryvale community even commemorated the twisted tale with an annual festival 'Bender Days,' according to the Reflector. Still in Cherryvale today, the town's historical museum features a section dedicated to the Benders – including photographs, replicas of wanted posters, and even a set of three hammers believed to have been used by the family in their three-year murder spree. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 'The whole thing is just so bizarre, and one of America's first documented mass murders,' Bob Miller, who now owns the land where the Benders' cabin is believed to have stood, told the Reflector. Miller purchased the land after years of interest in the case, hoping to one day be able to suss out some of the mystery for himself. 'Somewhere, somehow, some way, I'm going to get some kind of expert investigation going there,' he said. Miller is far from alone in his interest in the local murder mystery. In addition to books and interest from amateur investigators like Miller, one professor at the University of Kansas has even put her anthropological students to the hunt with a two-week field study in the summers that involve digging for artifacts, or clues, that could lead to new answers about what took place at the Benders' cabin. 'It's never been looked at through a scientific lens, the material culture of the things left behind,' Dr. Laura Norman told KCTV. 'So, we're hoping to add a little to the story.' As for Miller, he says Dr. Norman's efforts highlight a 'huge intrigue' that still remains around the case more than 150 years later. 'We're just getting a lot of interest from different sources. What the Benders did, how they did it and what happened to them. Where did they go?' he told KCTV, adding, 'There's so much more about them that we don't know.' Read the original article on People
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Bangladesh opens historic trial against fugitive ex-leader Hasina over crackdown that killed 1,400
DHAKA, June 1 — Fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a 'systemic attack' to try to crush the uprising against her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched its crackdown, according to the United Nations. Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule, and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka. The domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina's ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League. 'Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,' Mohammad Tajul Islam, ICT chief prosecutor, told the court in his opening speech. 'The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.' Islam lodged charges against Hasina and two other officials of 'abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising'. 'Not an act of vendetta' Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges as politically motivated. As well as Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun — who is in custody, but who did not appear in court on Sunday — and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who like Hasina, is on the run. The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026. The hearing is being broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television. Prosecutor Islam vowed the trial would be impartial. 'This is not an act of vendetta, but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity,' he said. Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe. The ICT court opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day Hasina fled the country. Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia. The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971. It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals. Earlier on Sunday, the Supreme Court restored the registration of the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to take part in elections. Hasina banned Jamaat-e-Islami during her tenure and cracked down on its leaders. In May, Bangladesh's interim government banned the Awami League, pending the outcome of her trial, and of other party leaders. — AFP
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
The surprising history of using vehicles as weapons for mass attacks
Charles Lane, a former columnist and deputy opinion editor at The Post, writes an occasional column for the Free Press. Another day, another apparent mass murder attempt by someone ramming a car into a crowded public space. This time it happened on Monday in Liverpool, where some 65 people sustained injuries, four life-threatening, when a driver plowed his dark gray Ford Galaxy minivan through a throng of celebrating soccer fans.
