## Man who killed Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman sentenced to life as family describes trauma, loss

Authored by apnews.com

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Friends and family of Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman said the man sentenced Thursday to two life terms plus 40 years after pleading guilty to her murder failed to eliminate her legacy but caused enduring fear and fury as he changed their lives forever.

In court Thursday, Sen. Hoffman said he and his family are constantly reminded of the extraordinary violence of that night, even in the mundane details of day-to-day life.

Mark Hortman’s parents and siblings spoke of their anger Thursday, both at the man who killed him and the justice system.

He shot Mark Hortman multiple times before pushing into the house and shooting the lawmaker as she fled upstairs.

Court documents said Boelter also went to Bahner’s house that night as well as the home of another lawmaker.

“My thoughts are with Melissa and Mark’s family, as well as John, Yvette, and Hope, as the state prosecution moves forward.”. »

### AOC: Mitch McConnell should resign if he can't provide health update

Authored by washingtonexaminer.com

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Wednesday that if Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who was hospitalized last month, is unable to provide the public with an update on his health, he should resign.

“If he can’t give us an update, he should resign,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.

McConnell, 84, has not been seen in public after he was admitted to a Washington, D.C., hospital on June 14. »

### ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Turned Down Million-Dollar Offer to Perform in Saudi Arabia: ‘I Don’t Need to Take Any Money if It Makes Me Feel Icky’

Authored by variety.com

“I wish people would offer me things that I didn’t feel bad about accepting,” Yankovic told the Pennsylvania publication TribLive.

“I’m not dissing anybody that took the money because I’m sure everybody that went there got a lot of money,” Yankovic added.

But I’m doing enough that I don’t need to take any amount of money if it makes me feel icky, and that kind of did.”. »

### Trump’s Maga-fication of Europe has stepped up a gear – using US taxpayer cash

Authored by inews.co.uk

On 13 July, the US State Department called for proposals from European civil society groups that develop “civilisational self-confidence in Europe” through research, conferences and cultural engagements.

It also condemned what it claimed was “censorship of free speech” in Europe, after the UK and the EU moved to regulate US tech companies.

The funding programme is being led by Sarah Rogers, the US under-secretary of state for public diplomacy. »

### Trump ties Saudi civilian nuclear deal to normalization with Israel

Authored by ynetnews.com

President Donald Trump said Thursday that a planned civilian nuclear agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia will move forward only if Riyadh joins the Abraham Accords and normalizes relations with Israel.

Trump said the agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia concerns only peaceful nuclear use and will not include uranium enrichment.

Trump’s latest statement appeared to rule out such a possibility by explicitly stating that the agreement would not permit enrichment. »

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