ISIS CLAIMS ORLANDO GAY NIGHTCLUB MASSACRE: ISIS terrorist group's official media wing released an announcement on Monday 13 June 2016, claiming credit for the deadly shooting attack at an Orlando, Florida gay nightclub the previous day. A statement published in the al-Amaq agency - which functions as ISIS's propaganda and media wing - claimed that "the attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead or wounded was carried out by an ISIS fighter." 50 people were murdered in the worst shooting spree in American history, and a further 53 were wounded, many of them seriously. The assault was carried out by a Muslim American, Omar Mateen, who swore allegiance to ISIS shortly before carrying out the attack. According to reports, he used an AR-15 assault rifle as well as a handgun to shoot his victims. ISIS has been encouraging its followers to carry out terrorist attacks throughout the Western world in "honor" of Ramadan, which began last week. Previous gun rampages carried out on behalf of ISIS - including the 2015 San Bernardino attack - were committed by cells acting independently, with ISIS formally claiming responsibility shortly afterwards. Even prior to the statement by ISIS's media wing, jihadists took to social media to celebrate and gloat over the attack. (INN) 

ORLANDO SHOOTER’S EX-WIFE: ‘HE BEAT ME. HE WAS VIOLENT AND UNSTABLE’: The ex-wife of 29-year-old Omar Mateen, the shooter in Sunday's largest mass shooting in the history of the USA, revealed that he was "violent and mentally unstable" according to media sources. His ex-wife, who decided to remain anonymous, said that Mateen repeatedly beat her if she had not finished the laundry, among other things. She said that upon discovering that Mateen had been regularly assaulting her, his ex-wife's family flew to their Fort Pierce, Florida home and extracted her, leaving behind all of her belongings. "They literally saved my life," she commented of her parents' decision to remove her from the abusive situation. Speaking of family connections - Mateen’s father is an Afghan immigrant who hosted an anti-American TV show and once called the Taliban “our warrior brothers.” Seddique Mateen appears in scores of online videos, including one he posted to Facebook right around the time of his son’s rampage. In it, he wears combat fatigues and salutes the camera. (J.Post)