- NEW YORK (AP) — A cryptocurrency investor has been arrested and charged with kidnapping a man and keeping him locked up for weeks in an upscale Manhattan apartment, where authorities say he was beaten, shocked and led to believe that his family was in danger if he didn’t give up his Bitcoin password. John Woeltz, […]
- AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a Republican proposal that cleared a major vote Saturday and would make the state the nation’s largest to impose such a mandate. If passed as expected, the measure is likely to draw a legal challenge from critics who […]
- By Katie Tam, Angie Teo and Ann Wang TAIPEI (Reuters) -With an admission letter in hand, Taiwanese student Yu-hsuan Lin was ready to attend her dream school, Harvard University, this September. But the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign students made her feel anxious and helpless, […]
- HONOLULU (AP) — An Oregon man who quit his job at a tire company and liquidated his retirement savings to set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix, reached his destination Saturday, welcomed by cheering fans at the end of a weekslong journey that he documented for his mass of followers on social media. Oliver […]
- NEW YORK (AP) — An explosion on a boat carrying raw sewage that was docked on the Hudson River in New York City killed a longtime city employee Saturday, authorities said. Another worker on the city-owned Hunts Point vessel was injured and taken to the hospital after the blast around 10:30 a.m. near the North […]
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- A crypto investor is charged with kidnapping and torturing a man in an NYC apartment for weekson May 25, 2025 at 3:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A cryptocurrency investor has been arrested and charged with kidnapping a man and keeping him locked up for weeks in an upscale Manhattan apartment, where authorities say he was beaten, shocked and led to believe that his family was in danger if he didn’t give up his Bitcoin password. John Woeltz, 37, was arrested Friday night after the victim escaped from the eight-bedroom town house and flagged down a traffic officer on the street for help, according to prosecutors. Woeltz was arraigned Saturday on charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, court records show. He was ordered held without bail, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office confirmed Saturday. His lawyer, Wayne Gosnell, said Saturday in an email that he had no comment. The 28-year-old victim arrived in New York City from Italy in early May, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity. It’s not clear how or if the two knew each other, but the district attorney’s office said in an email that prosecutor Michael Mattson told a judge Saturday that the victim, whose name has not been released, was abducted on May 6. Mattson said others were involved in the scheme to empty the victim’s Bitcoin wallet. That includes a person referred to in court records as an “unapprehended male.” The victim said he was bound by the wrists and tortured for weeks inside the apartment. His captors, according to prosecutors, drugged him, used electric wires to shock him, hit him in the head with a firearm and, at one point, carried him to the top of a flight of stairs where they dangled him over a ledge and threatened to kill him if he didn’t share his Bitcoin password. Believing that he was about to be shot, the victim was able to escape Friday after telling Woeltz that he would give up his password, which was stored on his laptop in another room. When the suspect turned his back, Mattson said, the victim ran out of the apartment. The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries that Mattson said were consistent with his descriptions of being bound and assaulted. A search of the town house turned up a trove of evidence, Mattson said, including cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor and night vision goggles, ammunition and polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head. Woeltz was ordered Saturday to surrender his passport. Prosecutors said he has the means to flee, including a private jet and a helicopter. He is due back in Manhattan criminal court next week. ___ Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Texas is closer to putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a key voteon May 25, 2025 at 1:18 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a Republican proposal that cleared a major vote Saturday and would make the state the nation’s largest to impose such a mandate. If passed as expected, the measure is likely to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it a constitutional violation of the separation of church and state. The Republican-controlled House gave its preliminary approval with a final vote expected in the next few days. That would send the bill to the desk of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has indicated he will sign it into law. “The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,” said Republican state representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill. Two other states, Louisiana and Arkansas, have similar laws, but Louisiana’s is on hold after a federal judge found that it was “ unconstitutional on its face.” Those measures are among efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. The vote in Texas came after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma on Thursday with a 4-4 tie following a string of high court decisions in recent years that have allowed public funds to flow to religious entities. Texas lawmakers also have passed and sent to Abbott a measure that allows school districts to provide students and staff a daily voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours. Abbott is expected to sign it. “We should be encouraging our students to read and study their Bible every day,” Republican state Rep. Brent Money said. “Our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading, more now than they ever have.” Supporters of requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms say they are part of the foundation of the United States’ judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. But critics, including some Christian and other faith leaders, say the Ten Commandments and prayer measures would infringe on the religious freedom of others. The Ten Commandments bill requires public schools to post in classrooms a 16-by-20-inch (41-by-51-centimeter) poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments, even though translations and interpretations vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship. Democratic lawmakers made several failed attempts Saturday to amend the bill to require schools display other religious texts or provide multiple translations of the commandments. A letter signed this year by dozens of Christian and Jewish faith leaders opposing the bill noted that Texas has thousands of students of other faiths who might have no connection to the Ten Commandments. Texas has nearly 6 million students in about 9,100 public schools. In 2005, Abbott, who was state attorney general at the time, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Texas could keep a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of its Capitol. ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Taiwan students heading to Harvard ‘anxious’ after US enrolment blockon May 25, 2025 at 12:28 am
By Katie Tam, Angie Teo and Ann Wang TAIPEI (Reuters) -With an admission letter in hand, Taiwanese student Yu-hsuan Lin was ready to attend her dream school, Harvard University, this September. But the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign students made her feel anxious and helpless, Lin told Reuters at her Taipei apartment. “The path towards my dream is actually harder and tougher than I expected. There are so many uncertainties,” she said. “I thought that I could accept all the changes along the way as what we have gone through in the past half year. However, this one is specifically (targeted) at the international students. So I kind of feel like really hit by it. And that’s why I feel kind of anxious.” The decision marked a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard called it a “blatant violation” of the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws. A U.S. judge temporarily blocked the administration’s order, but it did not provide comfort to Lin who has yet to receive her visa. “I think I would either defer my studies at Harvard, as they said that’s one of the possibilities, or I would probably apply for master programmes in Europe or the UK.” Taiwan’s education ministry said it expects 52 Taiwanese students to be affected by the U.S. government’s move, the island’s official Central News Agency reported. Another Taiwanese student, who asked to be identified only by his first name Vince, planned to start his public health studies at Harvard this year. “We are certainly feeling pretty nervous, and it’s been a dream for me to come from a small town in Taiwan all the way to Harvard,” he said. “I think that this is the best that the United States can offer. So, I would like to plead to the president that, please, I hope that this continuous generosity can be continued.” (Reporting by Katie Tam, Angie Teo and Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- An Oregon man who quit his job to set sail with his cat arrives to cheering fans in Hawaiion May 25, 2025 at 12:18 am
HONOLULU (AP) — An Oregon man who quit his job at a tire company and liquidated his retirement savings to set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix, reached his destination Saturday, welcomed by cheering fans at the end of a weekslong journey that he documented for his mass of followers on social media. Oliver Widger, who also was greeted by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Oahu, acknowledged he was nervous facing the crowd, which included reporters. Widger said he was feeling “really weird” — not seasick, but, “I just feel like I have to, like, hold on to things to not fall over.” He became an online sensation with his story, which followed a diagnosis four years ago with a syndrome that carried a risk of paralysis and made him realize he disliked his managerial job. He quit his job with “no money, no plan” and $10,000 of debt — and the goal of buying a sailboat and sailing around the world. He taught himself to sail mostly via YouTube and moved from Portland to the Oregon coast. He spent months refitting the $50,000 boat he bought. He set sail for Hawaii with Phoenix in late April, documenting their experiences for his more than 1 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million followers on Instagram. He said he thinks his story, which made national news, resonated with people. “I think a lot of people are, you know, you’re grinding at your job all day long and it doesn’t really matter how much money you make at this point, everybody’s just trying to do enough to get by and that just wears you out,” he said. “It’s just the world’s in a weird place, and I think people have seen that it’s possible to break out.” Green presented Widger with a proclamation. Fans swarmed Widger after the news conference, many holding cameras and seeking selfies. The scariest point of the trip came when a rudder failed, Widger said. Highlights included seeing dolphins and whales and periods of calm Pacific waters. “Being in the middle of the ocean when it was completely glass in every direction was an absurd feeling,” he said. Widger, 29, said he never truly felt alone, since he was communicating with friends by means including video conference. But he also lamented not experiencing the open waters in a way that other sailors — who didn’t have access to tools like Starlink internet satellites — have in years before. He said he may travel next to French Polynesia. But he said he had been focused on getting to Hawaii and not on what he’d do after that. He said he also needs to make repairs to his boat. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- 1 dead in New York sewage-boat explosion on Hudson Riveron May 24, 2025 at 11:18 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — An explosion on a boat carrying raw sewage that was docked on the Hudson River in New York City killed a longtime city employee Saturday, authorities said. Another worker on the city-owned Hunts Point vessel was injured and taken to the hospital after the blast around 10:30 a.m. near the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to city Fire Department Deputy Assistant Chief David Simms. A third worker refused medical treatment. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in statement that criminal intent was not suspected. The men on the boat, which takes raw sewage from the city to be treated, were doing work involving a flame or sparks when the explosion occurred, the U.S. Coast Guard said on social media. First responders found a 59-year-old man unconscious in the river, New York police said, and he was declared dead at the scene. The man had been a longtime employee of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection. His name has not been released, but the mayor said he was “a devoted public servant who gave 33 years of service to the New York City, and our hearts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues during this painful time.” The blast spread raw sewage over the deck of the boat, and firefighters and other first responders had to be decontaminated, Simms said. DEP said there did not appear to be any environmental impacts following the explosion. ___ This story has been updated to correct the number of injured employees who were taken to the hospital based on new information from authorities. One worker was transported, not two. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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