Today in History: Derecho rakes the US Midwest
In 1821, Missouri became the 24th state admitted to the Union.
In 1945, a day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Imperial Japan conveyed its willingness to surrender, provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged. The Allies responded the next day, saying they would determine the Emperor's future status.
In 1969, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson's cult, one day after actor Sharon Tate and four other people were slain.
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In 1977, postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, New York, accused of being 'Son of Sam,' the gunman who killed six people and wounded seven others in the New York City area.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to still-living Japanese-Americans who were interned by their government during World War II.
In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the US Supreme Court, serving until her death in September 2020.
In 2006, British authorities announced they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up 10 aircraft heading to the US using liquid explosives made to look like soft drinks.
In 2018, Richard Russell, a 29-year-old airline ground agent, stole a commercial plane from Sea-Tac International Airport near Seattle; he flew for 75 minutes, performing dangerous stunts while being chased by military jets before crashing into a remote island in Puget Sound, killing himself.
In 2019, Jeffrey Epstein, accused of orchestrating a sex-trafficking ring and sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found unresponsive in his cell at a New York City jail; he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The city's medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging.
In 2020, a powerful derecho struck several Midwest US states, causing four fatalities and an estimated $11 billion in damage, making it the costliest thunderstorm in modern US history.
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NBC News
24 minutes ago
- NBC News
Man accused of faking death and fleeing U.S. convicted of rape
A man accused of faking his own death and fleeing the United States to avoid sexual assault and fraud allegations was convicted of rape in Utah on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. A Salt Lake County jury found Nicholas Alahverdian, who has been identified and charged by authorities in Utah as Nicholas Rossi, guilty after three days of testimony. Deliberations began Wednesday. He will be sentenced in October, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Alahverdian faces a second rape trial in nearby Utah County scheduled for September. In 2022 — two years after an online obituary stated that Alahverdian died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma — Alahverdian was arrested in Scotland under the name Arthur Knight. Speaking with a British accent and appearing in a wheelchair, he denied that he was Alahverdian and claimed that he was an Irish orphan who had become a businessman. In his opening statement, the prosecutor in the Salt Lake County case said that Alahverdian admitted his true identity under oath last year. He accused Alahverdian of raping a 24-year-old woman in 2008 after a whirlwind romance and engagement. At trial, the victim testified that Alahverdian quickly became controlling and mean after she bought their rings and lent him money for rent. When she removed the ring and told him their relationship was over they fought and he eventually assaulted her, she testified. Alahverdian's defense lawyer, MacKenzie Potter, compared the allegations to an 'old puzzle from the thrift store,' saying that 'not all the pieces are there.' The victim's story had changed over time, Potter said, and it can't be verified. Alahverdian, who was raised in Rhode Island's foster youth system and later became an outspoken aide in that state's legislature, was previously accused or convicted in other assault and sex crimes cases involving women he was in relationships with. In a case in Massachusetts in 2010, a woman he was married to at the time told authorities he held her down, grabbed her neck, struck her in the face and refused to let her leave their home following an argument over a crying baby. Alahverdian pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic assault and was sentenced to probation. In Ohio in 2008, a woman whom Alahverdian met on MySpace accused him of sexually assaulting her while walking to class at a local community college. He denied the allegation and was charged with public indecency and sexual imposition, a misdemeanor crime indicating sexual contact against a person's will. After a trial, Alahverdian was fined and ordered to register as a sex offender. The second Utah case, also from 2008, involves a woman who said they'd started dating after they met on MySpace. An affidavit in support of an arrest warrant shows that she told authorities that she broke it off after he became increasingly aggressive and borrowed money without paying her back. On Sept. 13 of that year, she said she went to his home after he said he'd pay her back, according to the affidavit. He instead raped her, according to the document. A sexual assault kit was completed the next day, authorities have said, but a backlog in testing meant that Alahverdian was not identified as a suspect until a decade later. Alahverdian has pleaded not guilty in that case.
2 hours ago
As Trump-Putin summit nears, family of American held in Russia hopes for another prisoner exchange
As President Donald Trump prepares to travel to Alaska on Friday to address the future of Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the family of the Texas man serving the longest prison sentence of any American currently being detained in Russia is hopeful that another prisoner exchange between the two nations will be on the agenda. "We hope for better relations between the U.S. and Russia that will hopefully lead to the release of my brother," Margaret Aaron, one of David Barnes' two sisters, told ABC News anchor Gio Benitez in an interview Wednesday. Barnes, who grew up in Alabama, has been detained in Moscow since January 2022 and is currently serving a 21.5-year sentence. "He's hanging in there," Aaron said. "He has been extremely strong through the last three and a half years. We're extremely proud of him and he has continued to be hopeful that something will happen." Unlike other Americans who have been held in Russia, Barnes is accused by Russian prosecutors of crimes in the United States, not Russia. Yet American law enforcement had no involvement in Barnes' prosecution in Moscow. Barnes was convicted by a Russian judge of abusing his two sons years earlier in Texas, but prosecutors in Montgomery County, Texas, told ABC News that law enforcement in the Lone Star State investigated the claims after they were reported by Barnes' Russian ex-wife and did not find evidence to support them. "I do know that everyone that heard and investigated the child sexual abuse allegations raised by Mrs. Barnes during the child custody proceedings did not find them to be credible," Montgomery County District Attorney's Office Trial Bureau Chief Kelly Blackburn previously told ABC News. "He's been suffering," Aaron said Wednesday. "He's innocent." Barnes' ex-wife, Svetlana Koptyaeva, has maintained that Barnes abused their sons while the children were growing up in the Texas suburbs years ago. Koptyaeva was charged with felony interference with child custody after allegedly taking the children from Texas to Russia in 2019 while a child custody dispute between her and Barnes was playing out. In 2020, a Texas family court designated Barnes as the primary guardian of his sons, but since since Koptyaeva had taken them out of the country, Barnes' family says he decided to travel to Russia after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted to try to fight for similar custody or visitation rights in Moscow's court system. Barnes was arrested weeks after arriving in Russia and has been behind bars ever since. In April, a judge in Moscow denied Barnes' appeal of his conviction. "We really, really need to have him designated as wrongfully detained," Aaron said. "Hopefully, to start that process, we need the help of Trump and Secretary [Marco] Rubio." The upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin on American soil comes four months after Russian officials released ballerina Ksenia Karelina to the U.S. through a prisoner exchange. Following Karelina's return to the U.S., she wrote a letter to Trump calling for the release of Barnes along with fellow Americans Robert Gilman and Andre Khachatoorian. Trump posted the letter on social media. "David Barnes, a Texas father of two sons, has been detained in Russia for far too long under charges already proven to be false, and it is past time for him to be released," U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas said in a statement at the time. "I urge President Trump and Secretary Rubio to prioritize efforts to bring David and all wrongfully-detained Americans throughout the world home." Other Americans who were previously held in Russia, like Paul Whelan, Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner, were transferred to penal colonies far from Moscow following their convictions -- but Barnes has been held in Russia's capital since he was taken into custody. "We have visited Mr. Barnes eight times since his arrest in January 2022," a U.S. State Department spokesperson told ABC News. "Our last visit to Mr. Barnes in detention was in May 2025." With all eyes on Anchorage ahead of this week's presidential summit, Barnes' family and friends in the U.S. will be paying close attention. "David's strength keeps us going," Aaron said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Yes, Stephen Miller Is Surrounded By Criminals
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Thank goodness the National Guard is being called in. Lawlessness in D.C. is rampant, and someone needs to take a stand! Stephen Miller was correct to point out that D.C. is awash in crime. Everywhere he looks: criminals. He can barely take three steps without running into one. From the moment he arrives at work in the morning until the second he leaves, one crime after another, piling horrendously high. Illegality everywhere, and casual disregard for the well-being of law-abiding Americans! Some people say that being around crime is just the price of living in a city, and that those intimidated by it just need to toughen up. But it's so brazen! Get off the Metro at any point in D.C., but especially near the White House, and you might encounter one of these miscreants, flaunting their impunity in broad daylight. Why isn't law enforcement doing its job? Members of the violent January 6 mob, released back on the streets! A man who three whistleblowers alleged had told Department of Justice employees to ignore a court order and say 'Fuck you' to a judge, headed to the federal bench! The people who dismantled the Department of Education, which had been established by an act of Congress, just wandering around! The Supreme Court ultimately decided the dismantling was okay, but the justices weren't guaranteed to feel that way! There is a word for when you do something that seems illegal and just hope that a judge will let you off. But that's the trouble with D.C. These judges are just giving slaps on the wrist for the most egregious offenses. And that invites more crime! Now, wherever Stephen looks, people are taking the Constitution as a mere suggestion. With judges like this, you could order SEAL Team Six to assassinate somebody, and you might get away with it. Who could feel safe in a city where that was true? Some madman recently filled the streets with weapons of war! Tanks! Actual tanks! Forget brandishing a gun in a public place—he insisted on tanks! Everywhere, there are people breaking the law, or trying to. Even the man Stephen works for turns out to be a convicted felon, who once said that 'when you're a celebrity, they let you do it.' He also urged a mob of people to descend on the Capitol 'peacefully and patriotically.' Technically, not a crime but—an impeachable offense! He accepted a plane from Qatar. He stored classified documents in a bathroom! Never mind what his company was doing in New York State, or what E. Jean Carroll's civil suit found. The things he is trying to do via executive order boggle the mind! And you should see his associates! The point is, crime is everywhere, if only you know where to look. Including in other neighborhoods of the city, but surely those crimes are best dealt with on a local level, and parachuting in federal law enforcement with an unclear mandate will only make the situation worse. Instead, the National Guard ought to focus on tackling the major terror on the streets of this city! Why, at any moment you or your neighbor could get yanked into an unmarked van by a masked man, without any regard for habeas corpus. Los Angeles all over again! How can anyone feel safe while this keeps happening? People who are trying to do everything the right way, snatched from hallways after their court hearings. Professors, detained after expressing their views. Americans who just want to work hard and support their families, petrified to go to work every day because of the shameless wrongdoers in D.C. and what they have unleashed. And whoever masterminded the abduction of so many people—seized without due process and whisked away to a foreign gulag—is still at large, and staring back at Stephen every time he looks into a mirror. Not safe, not safe! Thank goodness the National Guard is being called in. Lawlessness in D.C. is rampant, and someone needed to take a stand! Oh. Oh, I see. Never mind. Article originally published at The Atlantic Solve the daily Crossword
