Musk vows to stay Trump’s ‘friend’ in bizarre black-eyed farewell

Billionaire Elon Musk bade farewell to Donald Trump in an extraordinary Oval Office appearance Friday, sporting a black eye, brushing aside drug abuse claims and vowing to stay a “friend and advisor” to the US president.As the world’s richest person bowed out of his role as Trump’s cost-cutter-in-chief, the Republican hailed Musk’s “incredible service” and handed him a golden key to the White House.But Trump insisted that Musk was “really not leaving” after a turbulent four months in which his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut tens of thousands of jobs, shuttered whole agencies and slashed foreign aid.”He’s going to be back and forth,” said Trump, showering praise on the tech tycoon for what he called the “most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations.”South-African born Musk, wearing a black T-shirt with the word “Dogefather” in white lettering and a black DOGE baseball cap, said many of the $1 trillion savings he promised would take time to bear fruit.”I look forward to continuing to be a friend and advisor to the president,” he said.But many people were more interested in the livid black bruise around Musk’s right eye.Speculation about the cause was further fueled by accusations in the New York Times Friday that Musk used so much of the drug ketamine on the 2024 campaign trail that he developed bladder problems.- ‘Punch me’ -The SpaceX and Tesla magnate said that his son was to blame for the injury.”I was just horsing around with lil’ X, and I said, ‘go ahead punch me in the face,'” 53-year-old Musk said. “And he did. Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually is…” he added, before tailing off.Musk, however, dodged a question about the drug allegations. The New York Times said Musk, the biggest donor to Trump’s 2024 election campaign, also took ecstasy and psychoactive mushrooms and traveled with a pill box last year.Musk, who has long railed against the news media and championed his X social media platform as an alternative, took aim at the paper instead.”Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russiagate?” said Musk, referring to claims that Trump’s 2016 election campaign colluded with Moscow. “Let’s move on. Okay. Next question.” Later in the day, when a reporter asked Trump if he was “aware of Elon Musk’s regular drug use,” Trump simply responded: “I wasn’t.” “I think Elon is a fantastic guy,” he added. The White House had earlier played down the report.”The drugs that we’re concerned about are the drugs running across the southern border” from Mexico, said Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, whose wife works for Musk. Musk has previously admitted to taking ketamine, saying he was prescribed it to treat a “negative frame of mind” and suggesting his use of drugs benefited his work.- ‘Disappointed’ -The latest in a series of made-for-TV Oval Office events was aimed at putting a positive spin on Musk’s departure. Musk is leaving Trump’s administration under a cloud, after admitting disillusionment with his role and criticizing the Republican president’s spending plans.It was a far cry from his first few weeks as Trump’s chainsaw-brandishing sidekick.At one time Musk was almost inseparable from Trump, glued to his side on Air Force One, Marine One, in the White House and at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.The right-wing magnate’s DOGE led an ideologically-driven rampage through the federal government, with its young “tech bros” slashing tens of thousands of jobs.But DOGE’s achievements fell far short of Musk’s original goal of saving $2 trillion dollars.The White House says DOGE has made $170 billion in savings so far. The independent “Doge Tracker” site has counted just $12 billion while the Atlantic magazine put it far lower, at $2 billion.Musk’s “move fast and break things” mantra was also at odds with some of his cabinet colleagues, and he said earlier this week that he was “disappointed” in Trump’s planned mega tax and spending bill as it undermined DOGE’s cuts.Musk’s companies, meanwhile, have suffered.Tesla shareholders called for him to return to work as sales slumped and protests targeted the electric vehicle maker, while SpaceX had a series of fiery rocket failures.

Israel threatens Hamas with ‘annihilation’ as Trump says Gaza ceasefire close

Israel on Friday said Hamas must accept a hostage deal in Gaza or “be annihilated”, as US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement was “very close”.It came amid dire conditions on the ground, with the United Nations warning that Gaza’s entire population was at risk of famine. Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas must agree to a ceasefire proposal presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff or be destroyed, after the Palestinian militant group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands.”The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the ‘Witkoff Deal’ for the release of the hostages — or be annihilated.”Israel has repeatedly said that the destruction of Hamas was a key aim of the war.Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in March following a short-lived truce.In the United States, Trump told reporters “they’re very close to an agreement on Gaza”, adding: “We’ll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow.”Food shortages in Gaza persist, with aid only trickling in after the partial lifting by Israel of a more than two-month blockade.Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, called Gaza “the hungriest place on Earth”.”It’s the only defined area — a country or defined territory within a country — where you have the entire population at risk of famine,” he said.Later, the UN condemned the “looting of large quantities of medical equipment” and other supplies “intended for malnourished children” from one of its Gaza warehouses by armed individuals.Aid groups have warned that desperation for food and medicine among Gazans was causing security to deteriorate.- ‘Crusade’ against Israel -Israel has doubled down on its settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, while defying calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders for a two-state solution.This week Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.London said the move was a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood while Egypt called it “a provocative and blatant new violation of international law and Palestinian rights”.The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which includes Egypt, also condemned Israel’s decision.On Friday, Katz vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the West Bank.Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law and seen as a major obstacle to a lasting peace in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Katz framed the move as a direct rebuke to Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.Macron on Friday said that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”.Israel’s foreign ministry accused the French president of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state”.Separately, a diplomatic source told AFP that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan would make the first visit of its kind to the West Bank on Sunday.- ‘Children in pieces’ -The White House announced on Thursday that Israel had “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas.The Palestinian group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands, but stopped short of rejecting it outright, saying it was “holding consultations” on the proposal.Gaza’s civil defence agency told AFP that at least 45 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Friday, including seven in a strike targeting a family home in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.Palestinians sobbed over the bodies of their loved ones at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital following the strike, AFPTV footage showed.”These were civilians and were sleeping at their homes,” said neighbour Mahmud al-Ghaf, describing “children in pieces”.The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said separately that the air force had hit “dozens of targets” across Gaza over the past day.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Friday that at least 4,058 people had been killed since Israel resumed operations on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,321, mostly civilians. Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israël somme le Hamas d’accepter la proposition américaine de trêve ou d’être “anéanti”

Israël a sommé vendredi le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas d’accepter la proposition américaine de trêve à Gaza et de libération des otages retenus depuis l’attaque 7 octobre 2023 ou alors d'”être anéanti”, le président américain Donald Trump assurant qu’un cessez-le-feu était “tout proche”.Israël fait face à une pression internationale croissante concernant la guerre dans la bande de Gaza et la situation humanitaire dans le territoire palestinien, où un blocus de plus de deux mois, partiellement assoupli la semaine dernière, a entraîné de graves pénuries de nourriture, de médicaments et d’autres biens de première nécessité.L’armée israélienne y a récemment intensifié ses opérations militaires, dans le but affiché de prendre le contrôle de la totalité du territoire palestinien et de libérer les derniers otages qui y sont toujours retenus.Dans la soirée, le ministre israélien de la Défense, Israël Katz, a indiqué que l’armée poursuivait ses opérations “avec toute sa force” tout en “tout en évacuant la population locale de chaque zone de combat”, a-t-il indiqué dans un communiqué menaçant le mouvement islamiste palestinien.”Les meurtriers du Hamas vont maintenant devoir choisir: accepter les termes de ‘l’accord Witkoff’ pour la libération des otages — ou être anéantis”, a déclaré M. Katz en référence à la proposition de trêve de l’émissaire américain pour le Moyen-Orient, Steve Witkoff.- Pillages d’entrepôts -“Ils sont très proches d’un accord sur Gaza”, a indiqué pour sa part M. Trump lors d’une conférence de presse.La bande de Gaza est “l’endroit le plus affamé au monde”, où “100% de la population est menacée de famine”, a déclaré à Genève le porte-parole du bureau des affaires humanitaires de l’ONU (Ocha), Jens Laerke.”Aujourd’hui, un groupe d’individus armés a pris d’assaut les entrepôts d’un hôpital de campagne à Deir el-Balah, pillant de grandes quantités de matériel médical, de fournitures, de médicaments et de compléments alimentaires destinés aux enfants souffrant de malnutrition”, a déclaré dans la soirée le porte-parole du secrétaire général de l’ONU, Stéphane Dujarric.Les négociations sur un cessez-le-feu visant à mettre fin à la guerre déclenchée par l’attaque du Hamas en Israël le 7 octobre 2023 n’ont pas encore abouti depuis la reprise des combats à la mi-mars, à l’initiative d’Israël, après une trêve de deux mois.Jeudi soir, la porte-parole de la Maison Blanche, Karoline Leavitt, avait annoncé qu’une nouvelle proposition américaine de cessez-le-feu avait été approuvée par Israël.Un peu plus tard, Bassem Naïm, l’un des dirigeants en exil du Hamas, avait déclaré à l’AFP que cette proposition ne répondait pas aux demandes du mouvement, dans la mesure où elle “signifie, en essence, la perpétuation de l’occupation, la poursuite des meurtres et de la famine”.Selon une source proche du Hamas, le mouvement déplore l’absence de garanties sur la poursuite des discussions pendant la trêve, en vue de parvenir à un cessez-le-feu permanent.Le Hamas a toutefois indiqué vendredi qu’il menait “des consultations avec les forces et factions palestiniennes” au sujet de la proposition “transmise par M. Witkoff par l’intermédiaire de médiateurs”.Réagissant aux prises de position du Hamas, le ministre israélien de la Sécurité nationale, Itamar Ben Gvir, hostile à tout compromis depuis le début de la guerre, a appelé vendredi le gouvernement à employer “toute la force nécessaire” pour en finir avec le Hamas.- 45 morts -Sur le terrain, la Défense civile de Gaza a indiqué que 45 personnes avaient été tuées vendredi dans des attaques israéliennes à travers le territoire palestinien.L’attaque du 7-Octobre a entraîné la mort de 1.218 personnes côté israélien, en majorité des civils, selon un décompte de l’AFP établi à partir de données officielles. Sur les 251 personnes enlevées par le Hamas ce jour-là, 57 sont toujours retenues dans la bande Gaza, dont au moins 34 sont mortes, selon les autorités israéliennes.Plus de 54.321 Palestiniens, majoritairement des civils, ont été tués dans la campagne militaire israélienne de représailles, selon des données du ministère de la Santé du gouvernement du Hamas pour Gaza, jugées fiables par l’ONU.Parallèlement aux opérations dans la bande de Gaza, Israël a multiplié l’expansion de ses colonies en Cisjordanie, ignorant les appels du président français et d’autres dirigeants mondiaux ainsi que de l’ONU en faveur d’une solution à deux Etats, israélien et palestinien.Au lendemain de l’annonce jeudi par Israël de la création de 22 nouvelles colonies juives en Cisjordanie occupée, l’Egypte a dénoncé “une nouvelle violation provocatrice et flagrante du droit international et des droits des Palestiniens”.”En outre, les colonies israéliennes représentent un obstacle majeur à la réalisation d’une solution à deux Etats et d’une paix juste, durable et globale”, a souligné Le Caire dans un communiqué.Les 57 membres de l’Organisation de la coopération islamique (OCI), qui incluent l’Egypte, ont également condamné la décision d’Israël.Le ministre israélien de la Défense, Israël Katz, a défié ouvertement vendredi Emmanuel Macron et les Nations unies en affirmant qu’il n’était pas question de laisser advenir un Etat palestinien en Cisjordanie.De son côté, l’Arabie saoudite a annoncé que son chef de la diplomatie se rendrait dimanche à Ramallah, en Cisjordanie, une première visite à ce niveau dans les Territoires palestiniens depuis 1967.

Israël somme le Hamas d’accepter la proposition américaine de trêve ou d’être “anéanti”

Israël a sommé vendredi le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas d’accepter la proposition américaine de trêve à Gaza et de libération des otages retenus depuis l’attaque 7 octobre 2023 ou alors d'”être anéanti”, le président américain Donald Trump assurant qu’un cessez-le-feu était “tout proche”.Israël fait face à une pression internationale croissante concernant la guerre dans la bande de Gaza et la situation humanitaire dans le territoire palestinien, où un blocus de plus de deux mois, partiellement assoupli la semaine dernière, a entraîné de graves pénuries de nourriture, de médicaments et d’autres biens de première nécessité.L’armée israélienne y a récemment intensifié ses opérations militaires, dans le but affiché de prendre le contrôle de la totalité du territoire palestinien et de libérer les derniers otages qui y sont toujours retenus.Dans la soirée, le ministre israélien de la Défense, Israël Katz, a indiqué que l’armée poursuivait ses opérations “avec toute sa force” tout en “tout en évacuant la population locale de chaque zone de combat”, a-t-il indiqué dans un communiqué menaçant le mouvement islamiste palestinien.”Les meurtriers du Hamas vont maintenant devoir choisir: accepter les termes de ‘l’accord Witkoff’ pour la libération des otages — ou être anéantis”, a déclaré M. Katz en référence à la proposition de trêve de l’émissaire américain pour le Moyen-Orient, Steve Witkoff.- Pillages d’entrepôts -“Ils sont très proches d’un accord sur Gaza”, a indiqué pour sa part M. Trump lors d’une conférence de presse.La bande de Gaza est “l’endroit le plus affamé au monde”, où “100% de la population est menacée de famine”, a déclaré à Genève le porte-parole du bureau des affaires humanitaires de l’ONU (Ocha), Jens Laerke.”Aujourd’hui, un groupe d’individus armés a pris d’assaut les entrepôts d’un hôpital de campagne à Deir el-Balah, pillant de grandes quantités de matériel médical, de fournitures, de médicaments et de compléments alimentaires destinés aux enfants souffrant de malnutrition”, a déclaré dans la soirée le porte-parole du secrétaire général de l’ONU, Stéphane Dujarric.Les négociations sur un cessez-le-feu visant à mettre fin à la guerre déclenchée par l’attaque du Hamas en Israël le 7 octobre 2023 n’ont pas encore abouti depuis la reprise des combats à la mi-mars, à l’initiative d’Israël, après une trêve de deux mois.Jeudi soir, la porte-parole de la Maison Blanche, Karoline Leavitt, avait annoncé qu’une nouvelle proposition américaine de cessez-le-feu avait été approuvée par Israël.Un peu plus tard, Bassem Naïm, l’un des dirigeants en exil du Hamas, avait déclaré à l’AFP que cette proposition ne répondait pas aux demandes du mouvement, dans la mesure où elle “signifie, en essence, la perpétuation de l’occupation, la poursuite des meurtres et de la famine”.Selon une source proche du Hamas, le mouvement déplore l’absence de garanties sur la poursuite des discussions pendant la trêve, en vue de parvenir à un cessez-le-feu permanent.Le Hamas a toutefois indiqué vendredi qu’il menait “des consultations avec les forces et factions palestiniennes” au sujet de la proposition “transmise par M. Witkoff par l’intermédiaire de médiateurs”.Réagissant aux prises de position du Hamas, le ministre israélien de la Sécurité nationale, Itamar Ben Gvir, hostile à tout compromis depuis le début de la guerre, a appelé vendredi le gouvernement à employer “toute la force nécessaire” pour en finir avec le Hamas.- 45 morts -Sur le terrain, la Défense civile de Gaza a indiqué que 45 personnes avaient été tuées vendredi dans des attaques israéliennes à travers le territoire palestinien.L’attaque du 7-Octobre a entraîné la mort de 1.218 personnes côté israélien, en majorité des civils, selon un décompte de l’AFP établi à partir de données officielles. Sur les 251 personnes enlevées par le Hamas ce jour-là, 57 sont toujours retenues dans la bande Gaza, dont au moins 34 sont mortes, selon les autorités israéliennes.Plus de 54.321 Palestiniens, majoritairement des civils, ont été tués dans la campagne militaire israélienne de représailles, selon des données du ministère de la Santé du gouvernement du Hamas pour Gaza, jugées fiables par l’ONU.Parallèlement aux opérations dans la bande de Gaza, Israël a multiplié l’expansion de ses colonies en Cisjordanie, ignorant les appels du président français et d’autres dirigeants mondiaux ainsi que de l’ONU en faveur d’une solution à deux Etats, israélien et palestinien.Au lendemain de l’annonce jeudi par Israël de la création de 22 nouvelles colonies juives en Cisjordanie occupée, l’Egypte a dénoncé “une nouvelle violation provocatrice et flagrante du droit international et des droits des Palestiniens”.”En outre, les colonies israéliennes représentent un obstacle majeur à la réalisation d’une solution à deux Etats et d’une paix juste, durable et globale”, a souligné Le Caire dans un communiqué.Les 57 membres de l’Organisation de la coopération islamique (OCI), qui incluent l’Egypte, ont également condamné la décision d’Israël.Le ministre israélien de la Défense, Israël Katz, a défié ouvertement vendredi Emmanuel Macron et les Nations unies en affirmant qu’il n’était pas question de laisser advenir un Etat palestinien en Cisjordanie.De son côté, l’Arabie saoudite a annoncé que son chef de la diplomatie se rendrait dimanche à Ramallah, en Cisjordanie, une première visite à ce niveau dans les Territoires palestiniens depuis 1967.

Trump vowed to remake aid. Is Gaza the future?

President Donald Trump has slashed US aid and vowed a major rethink on helping the world. A controversial effort to bring food to Gaza may offer clues on what’s to come.Administered by contracted US security with Israeli troops at the perimeter, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is distributing food through several hubs in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.An officially private effort with opaque funding, the GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for over two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.The organization said it had distributed 2.1 million meals as of Friday. The initiative excludes the United Nations, which has long coordinated aid distribution in the war-ravaged territory and has infrastructure and systems in place to deliver assistance on a large scale.The UN and other major aid groups have refused to cooperate with GHF, saying it violates basic humanitarian principles, and appears crafted to cater to Israeli military objectives.  “What we have seen is chaotic, it’s tragic and it’s resulted in hundreds of thousands of people scrambling in an incredibly undignified and unsafe way to access a tiny trickle of aid,” said Ciaran Donnelly, senior vice president of international programs at the International Rescue Committee (IRC).Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said his aid group stopped work in Gaza in 2015 when Hamas militants invaded its office and that it refused to cooperate in Syria when former strongman Bashar al-Assad was pressuring opposition-held areas by withholding food.”Why on earth would we be willing to let the Israeli military decide how, where and to whom we give our aid as part of their military strategy to herd people around Gaza?” said Egeland.”It’s a violation of everything we stand for. It is the biggest and reddest line there is that we cannot cross.” – Sidelining UN -The UN said that 47 people were injured Tuesday when hungry and desperate crowds rushed a GHF site — most of them by Israeli gunfire — while a Palestinian medical source said at least one person had died.The Israeli military denied its soldiers fired on civilians and the GHF denied any injuries or deaths. Israel has relentlessly attacked Gaza since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Israel has vowed to sideline the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, accusing it of bias and of harboring Hamas militants.UNRWA said that nine out of thousands of staff may have been involved in the October 7 attack and dismissed them, but accuses Israel of trying to throw a distraction.John Hannah, a former senior US policymaker who led a study last year that gave birth to the concepts behind the GHF, said the UN seemed to be “completely lacking in self-reflection” on the need for a new approach to aid after Hamas built a “terror kingdom.””I fear that people could be on the brink of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good instead of figuring out how do we take part in this effort, improve it, make it better, scale it up,” said Hannah, who is not involved in implementing the GHF.Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, defended the use of private contractors, saying that many had extensive Middle East experience from the US-led “war on terror.””We would have been happy if there were volunteers from (other) capable and trusted national forces… but the fact is, nobody’s volunteering,” he said.He said he would rather that aid workers coordinate with Israel than Hamas.”Inevitably, any humanitarian effort in a war zone has to make some compromises with a ruling authority that carries the guns,” he said.- Legitimacy issue -Hannah’s study had discouraged a major Israeli role in humanitarian work in Gaza, urging instead involvement by Arab states to bring greater legitimacy.Arab states have balked at supporting US efforts as Israel pounds Gaza and after Trump mused about forcibly displacing the whole Gaza population and constructing luxury hotels.Israel and Hamas are negotiating a new Gaza ceasefire that could see a resumption of UN-backed efforts.Aid groups say they have vast amounts of aid ready for Gaza that remain blocked.Donnelly said the IRC had 27 tons of supplies waiting to enter Gaza, faulting the GHF for distributing items like pasta and tinned fish that require cooking supplies — not therapeutic food and treatment for malnourished children.He called for distributing relief in communities where people need it, instead of through militarized hubs.”If anyone really cares about distributing aid in a transparent, accountable, effective way, the way to do that is to use the expertise and infrastructure of aid organizations that have been doing this for decades,” Donnelly said.

Crypto duo faces kidnapping charges in alleged bitcoin theft attempt

The latest crime thriller gripping New York is the alleged kidnapping of a wealthy Italian man whose captors attempted to torture the crypto millionaire into giving up his bitcoin password.It began amid the backdrop of wild parties, immortalized in pop culture through films like “The Wolf of Wall Street,” in a posh Manhattan nightclub where the nouveau riche and flashy Wall Street bros congregate.It ended on the morning of May 23, when a man ran to a police officer near Mulberry and Prince streets in the Soho district of Manhattan.The barefoot man claimed he had just escaped a luxurious apartment where he was held captive for 17 days after entering the United States.  Police arrived at the scene and arrested John Woeltz, 37, dubbed “the crypto king of Kentucky” by tabloids, who is facing charges of kidnapping, criminal possession of weapons, assault and unlawful imprisonment. Woeltz’s 24-year-old assistant was also detained but does not face the same charges.A second man, William Duplessie, 33, who is the founder of the startup Pangea Blockchain International, turned himself in on Tuesday and was charged similarly to Woeltz. Duplessie, who originally hails from Miami, appeared in court Friday wearing a jail uniform. – Philosophy degree -According to details reported by local media, the presumed victim is Italian cryptocurrency entrepreneur Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, who visited John Woeltz’s rented home — which goes for $30,000 a month — upon arriving from Italy on May 6.Once there, Woeltz and Duplessie confiscated his electronic devices and passport, and demanded the access code to his bitcoin assets, police said.After his refusal, the two men allegedly tortured Carturan, striking him with a rifle, pointing the weapon in his face and taking him to the building’s fifth floor, where they threatened to throw him out the window, local media reported.”He’s a 37-year-old man with no prior criminal record. He’s a college graduate with a degree in philosophy. He has been very successful in the technology world,” Woeltz’s lawyer Wayne Ervin Gosnell said during a court hearing Thursday. The defense requested Woeltz’s conditional release in the state of New York in exchange for a $2 million bond.Gosnell also noted that it has been said Woeltz “owns a private jet,  he owns a helicopter. That is not true.”- Lavish lifestyle -Though Woeltz has neither a jet nor a helicopter, he leads an exceedingly lavish lifestyle, according to the New York Post and TMZ, which published racy images of the suspects partying at The Box, a New York nightclub. The Post also mentioned frequent parties at the Soho apartment that is the scene of the alleged kidnapping.In recent months, cases of kidnappings or attempted abductions in the cryptocurrency world have multiplied globally as bitcoin, the most capitalized cryptocurrency, has grown to historical peaks.For Adam Healy, CEO of Station70, a firm specializing in crypto protection, these crimes are not new — he worked on a case years ago when an American traveling to Egypt was kidnapped for his crypto assets.”I think that the frequency and the ruthlessness is increasing,” Healy said. In the last six to eight months, he has seen “a significant uptick in those that are known to hold crypto or executives at crypto firms, things along those lines, getting targeted by a wide range of different criminals.”Healy attributed part of the uptick in crime to the rising price of bitcoin. “It’s a bigger target,” he said, and they are boosted by the ease with which massive payloads can be transferred with no oversight — as long as the crypto user can log in. “Historically, if you wanted to kidnap something that was high net worth and they had, I don’t know, ten million dollars in their JP Morgan account, it was kind of hard to get to,” Healy said. “You couldn’t just go to the bank and get a million dollars out.”