An essential question. A grim discovery. A shocking removal. It’s Thursday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Orlando mass shooting
What did Noor Salman know and should she have reported it? That seems to be the central question as authorities continue to investigate the wife of the Orlando shooter. She’s given conflicting statements: first, she said she didn’t know Omar Mateen was plotting anything. Then she said, Yeah I thought he might be up to something. Meanwhile, The President and the Vice President visit Orlando today to meet with the grieving families of the 49 victims.
2. Disney alligator attack
Two-year-old Lane Graves’ body was found intact yesterday, not far from where he was grabbed by a gator at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort. After the Pulse nightclub attack and the shooting death of singer Christina Grimmie, this was the third horrific incident in Orlando this week. But the circumstances of the gator attack was something of a perfect storm.
3. Senate Democrats filibuster
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy says he lives “every single day” with the memory of those who died in the Sandy Hook shooting. He used that memory to power a nearly 15-hour Senate filibuster calling for gun control that ended early this morning. It seems to have done the trick. The Senate is set to eventually vote on a bill to implement universal background checks and bar suspected terrorists from purchasing guns.
4. EgyptAir crash
Egypt says the wreckage of Flight 804 has been found. It didn’t specify though where in the Mediterranean the plane parts were located. The Airbus A320, which had 66 people aboard, crashed on May 19 on a flight from Paris to Cairo.
5. Stanford rape case
The judge at the center of the Brock Turner sentencing controversy — you know, the guy who gave the Stanford swimmer just six months in county jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman — has been booted off a new sex assault case. The local DA moved to keep Judge Aaron Persky from presiding over the new case because he lacks confidence that Perskey could be fair.
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Quote of the day:
“TVs were playing in the background; strobe lights were blinking; drinks had just been poured; food half-eaten; checks about to be paid. It was truly like time stood still.”
— Orlando’s chief medical examiner Dr. Joshua Stephany, on what he saw inside the Pulse nightclub.
Let it cool
Love nothing better than sipping on a piping hot drink? Got bad news for you: that’s probably increasing your risk for cancer.
Help wanted
Need a job? Willing to relocate? NASA may have a job for you — on Mars. NASA released some rad recruitment posters for potential jobs there.
Probably shouldn’t eat it
A man digging around an Irish bog found a 2,000-year-old, 22-pound chunk of butter. Yes, bogs’ low temps make great refrigerators, but this is pushing it.
Temporary masterpiece
A Turkish artist recreates a Vincent van Gogh masterpiece — “The Starry Night” — on water, before simply swirling it away.
X-rated help
Visually impaired? You still can follow the action in porn, thanks to a company that uses narration to describe what’s happening in its videos. Yes, really!
Number of the day
10.2 million
Number of people who’d be barred from the U.S. under Donald Trump’s plan to suspend immigration from places with “a proven history of terrorism.”
AND FINALLY …
Water vs. gravity
All that spinning around makes this fighter jet pilot really thirsty. What happens when he pours himself a drink? Not what you think. (Click to view)
