‘Horrified’ former House Speaker Paul Ryan wept during Jan. 6 attack on Capitol, book says
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan reportedly broke down in tears as he watched the mob of right-wing extremists storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A new book says the former Republican lawmaker from Wisconsin “found himself sobbing” as he watched the attempted insurrection unfold on television, journalist Mark Leibovich writes in his forthcoming book.
“I spent my whole adult life in that building,” said Ryan. “It really disturbed me, foundationally.”
Ryan said “something snapped in him” as he watched thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump overwhelm security and maraud unchecked through the building as Congress prepared to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
“I was absolutely horrified,” Ryan said of the Capitol attack.
—New York Daily News
R. Kelly reportedly got engaged to one of his alleged victims before his sentencing
R. Kelly was convicted of multiple sex-trafficking crimes in September and was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison last month. But before he was sentenced, one of his alleged victims claimed the two are actually engaged, and that he's anything but an abuser.
Joycelyn Savage was one of the R&B artist's girlfriends who have stuck by him throughout his legal proceedings. In a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly on June 13, Savage pleaded for leniency toward Kelly, while also revealing that the two were set to be married.
"My name is Joycelyn Savage, and I'm Robert Kelly's fiancé(e)," she wrote to Judge Ann Donnelly in court documents viewed by the Los Angeles Times. "I'm writing this letter in support of Robert in advance of his sentencing, so I can explain to the court that I'm not the victim that the government has portrayed me to be."
Savage didn't say when the two had gotten engaged and didn't share any other details.
—Los Angeles Times
Citing Supreme Court ruling, appeals court reinstates Missouri’s Down syndrome abortion ban
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Roe v. Wade, a panel of federal judges on Friday ruled in favor of an appeal that allows Missouri to prohibit abortions that are based solely on whether a baby was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
While the ruling gives the state power to proceed with enforcing its ban on Down syndrome-related abortions, the policy was already in effect after Missouri enacted a statewide trigger ban of the procedure last month following the Supreme Court ruling.
The provision banning abortions after a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis was tucked into the state’s 2019 law that banned the procedure after eight weeks. Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, which operates Missouri’s sole abortion clinic, filed suit against the law in 2019.
Under the law, any doctor or person who helps perform an abortion related to a Down syndrome diagnosis is subject to civil penalties, including the loss of professional licenses.
—The Kansas City Star
Sri Lanka's parliament to elect new president on July 20
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s parliament has decided to hold a vote on July 20 to choose one of its members to replace President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has promised to resign by Wednesday, a cabinet minister said Monday.
The decision has been made to convene parliament on Friday, Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said, calling for nominations among members of the 225-seat parliament.
He said the nominations should be submitted on July 19 and that a vote would be held the following day, in keeping with a decision taken at a meeting of political leaders led by parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.
Rajapaksa is expected to resign on Wednesday following protests in the capital and across the country over the weekend.
Sri Lanka’s leader of the opposition Sajith Premadasa said his party was prepared to provide a leader for the new government.
—dpa
