South
Children forced to starve in hot sun as part of doomsday cult mass suicide: reports
A Christian doomsday cult in Kenya targeted children to die first in its final days, starving them to death before the adults followed through with the same plan.
Police are investigating what appeared to be a mass suicide in the southeast region of Kenya, where so far 201 bodies have been found in a forested area, according to a BBC report Sunday.
Investigators believe the bodies are connected to the alleged Christian doomsday cult of Pastor Paul Mackenzie, whose deputy preacher, Titus Katana, recently told the New York Times that children were killed first and ordered “to fast in the sun so they would die faster.”
KENYA STARVATION CULT: DOZENS OF BODIES RECOVERED ON CULT LEADER’S LAND
Katana has been helping authorities investigate the cult and has provided shocking details about its operation, including an interview with the Sunday Times in which he described abuses of children such as forcing them to be locked inside huts for days without food or water.
“Then they wrapped them in blankets and buried them, even the ones still breathing,” he told the outlet.
Followers of the cult were allegedly told they would get to heaven faster if they starved to death, the BBC reported, while autopsies of the bodies found showed signs of starvation, suffocation and beatings.
US EMBASSY PERSONNEL IN SUDAN EVACUATED AMID VIOLENT CONFLICT
Over 600 people who followed Mackenzie’s cult remain missing, while the alleged leader of the Good News International Church is in police custody and has denied allegations that he forced followers to starve themselves.
Katana told the New York Times that Mackenzie preached against education, arguing that it is satanic after receiving a “revelation from God.” Mackenzie also allegedly encouraged members not to seek medical attention during childbirth and preached against parents vaccinating their children.
Katana said he left the church after beginning to find some of Mackenzie’s teachings too “strange,” eventually opting to help authorities investigate the church he helped lead.
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Online writings and video sermons uncovered by the BBC show much of Mackenzie’s teachings revolved around the fulfillment of biblical prophecies about Judgment Day, with warnings about satanic forces ruling the world and the dangers of science.
Dallas, TX
Dallas’ new strategy to shutter homeless encampments
It is rewarding to see that efforts to reduce homelessness continue to yield results. Based on the latest point-in-time count, homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties declined for the third consecutive year.
This trend indicates that homelessness strategies are working for some individuals who have fallen on hard times. However, the strategies aren’t working for a significant number of visibly homeless individuals on streets and encampments within the city of Dallas, including those on City Hall’s doorstep. Homelessness intervention efforts now must make shuttering encampments and safely housing these homeless individuals a pressing priority. Too many chronically homeless people have been on the streets for years and must have humane but clear intervention.
Toward that end, Housing Forward, which coordinates homelessness strategies in Dallas and Collin counties, last week announced a goal to cut street homelessness by 50% by 2026 from 2021 levels when homelessness here reached an all-time high.
The $30 million, public-private plan would emphasize closing encampments in public spaces with a targeted “Street to Home” strategy to deploy behavioral health care and rehousing assistance onsite to speed up the process. Much of that focus will be on the central business district — including the area outside City Hall — where homeless advocates estimate that 300 to 400 people regularly gather.
This is a much-needed next step to address a multilayered problem that negatively affects homeless individuals and Dallas neighborhoods. The most recent point-in-time count conducted in Dallas and Collin counties in January revealed 3,718 homeless individuals, a 12% drop from 2023. And since 2021, when the homeless count reached its peak of 4,570, overall homelessness has declined 19% and unsheltered homelessness 24%. The homeless count in the city of Dallas stood at 2,929, an 8% decline from last year and a 20% decrease since 2022.
However, visible street homelessness, often synonymous with chronic homelessness, fell just 6.5% from last year’s count, suggesting that a new strategy is needed to more effectively empty, close, clean and secure homeless encampments so that these enclaves don’t reconstitute.
The reality is that public encampments pose unacceptable public health and safety problems. Unfortunately, transition of the most visible homeless individuals from life on the streets to rehabilitation services, housing and a better life isn’t happening fast enough.
Housing Forward’s new approach wisely recognizes the need for a more urgent response to mitigate public health, safety and quality of life concerns of entrenched encampments without compromising successful strategies. Housing Forward says the region has successfully housed over 10,000 previously homeless individuals — many of them families, homeless youth and veterans — since 2021.
Dallas is moving in the right direction, thanks in part to a more coordinated homeless response system than existed a decade ago. But in the interest of recapturing quality of life, Dallas must redouble its efforts to reduce the erosive impact of chronic homelessness and visible public encampments.
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com
Miami, FL
Poll: Was Magnussen right to aggressively defend during the Miami sprint race?
Kevin Magnussen racked up 35 seconds worth of time penalties during the Miami sprint race as he launched an aggressive defence on Lewis Hamilton.
The Dane stated he was playing a team game and aiding team-mate Nico Hulkenberg ahead to score points in the shorter race.
While Magnussen has accepted that his penalties were warranted, a question has been raised over the aggressiveness of the defence in a bid to score points.
Do you think Magnussen was right to be as punchy as he was during his fight against Hamilton?
Let us know in our poll below!
Atlanta, GA
Minnesota United defeat Atlanta United 2-1
Kervin Arriaga and Tani Oluwaseyi scored six minutes apart in the second half and Minnesota United held on for a 2-1 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night.
Arriaga ended a scoreless match in the 54th minute with his first goal of the season for Minnesota United (6-2-2). Arriaga scored in his second start and fifth appearance off an assist from Joseph Rosales. It was the fourth assist this season for Rosales with all of them coming in the last three matches.
Minnesota United took a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute on a goal by Oluwaseyi, who has a team-high five goals in three starts and 10 appearances in his first full season with the club. Oluwaseyi, a forward who turns 24 on May 15, got his feet wet last season, playing 11 minutes in two appearances. He was a 2022 draft selection out of St. John’s University.
Atlanta United (3-4-3) pulled within a goal in the 82nd minute after Saba Lobjanidze used assists from Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daniel Rios to score for a second time this season.
Dayne St. Clair stopped three shots for Minnesota United, which has won three in a row and entered play one point out of the Western Conference lead.
Brad Guzan totaled three saves for Atlanta United, which went winless in the month of April. Guzan had two saves and St. Clair had one in a scoreless first half.
The two clubs, who both joined the league in 2017, were playing for the first time since 2019. That match ended in a 3-0 victory for Atlanta United, which leads the series 4-2-0.
Atlanta United will host D.C. United on Saturday. Minnesota United returns to action on May 15 when it hosts the Los Angeles Galaxy.
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