What We’re Following: The Tragedy in Florida
People around the world mourned the victims of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history after a gunman shot and killed 49 people and injured more than 50 at a gay nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday morning. The majority of the victims were men in their 20s and 30s. The youngest was 19, the oldest was 50. Police spent today identifying the dead and notifying their families, and interviews with relatives and friends have provided glimpses into the victims’ lives.
The Motives Behind the Massacre: The shooting has sparked debate about LGBT discrimination, gun violence, Islamic extremism, and terrorism, both on U.S. soil and abroad. The exact motives of the shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, who was shot and killed by police, remain unknown. But evidence suggests the answer is complicated: Mateen, a U.S. citizen born to Afghan immigrants, pledged his allegiance to ISIS in a phone call to 911 before the attack, but Mateen’s father said his son recently became angry when he saw two men kissing.
A Rape Case in Qatar: A Dutch woman who reported to police that she was drugged and raped in Qatar earlier this year is going home after authorities detained her for three months on suspicion of adultery and alcohol consumption. Her attacker was not convicted of rape; instead, he received 140 lashes for sexual activity outside of marriage and drinking alcohol. Qatar has faced intense criticism over its human-rights violations in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, including for incidents involving migrant workers and women.