Qatar 'Rape Victim' Convicted Of Adultery

A 22-year-old Dutch tourist, who claimed she had been raped while on holiday in Qatar, has been convicted of adultery.

The woman, who was not present for Monday's hearing in a Doha court, was handed a one-year suspended sentence and also fined 3,000 Qatari riyals (£564).

Her lawyer, Brian Lokollo, said she was on holiday with a friend and went out for drinks at a hotel bar in the Qatari capital.

Mr Lokollo said she believes someone "messed with her drink" and her memory became hazy.

He said she later awoke alone in an apartment she had never been in before and found her clothes had been torn.

It is then that she "realised to her great horror, that she had been raped".

Dutch media quoted him as saying: "She was arrested in March on suspicion of adultery, which means having sex outside marriage."

The woman maintained she was not guilty of the accusation made against her.

The male defendant, also not in court, was sentenced to receive 100 lashes for adultery and 40 lashes for consuming alcohol.

He insisted their night together had been consensual and that the woman had even asked for money.

A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the woman was released by Qatari officials after the hearing.

Tony Award Winners Honour Orlando Victims

The hip-hop musical Hamilton unsurprisingly dominated this year's Tony Awards where host James Corden paid tribute to the victims of the mass shooting in Florida.

The critically-acclaimed Broadway production, which tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's founding fathers, won 11 awards including best musical after receiving a record 16 nominations.

Briton Cynthia Erivo won best performance by a lead actress in a musical for her role as Celie Harris in The Color Purple.

Fighting back tears on stage, she said: "I promised myself I wouldn't cry because my make-up artist would be really mad at me.

"Thank you American Theatre Wing for making a London girl very, very happy."

The awards were dedicated to the victims of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando which left at least 50 people dead and another 53 in hospital.

:: Orlando Terror Attack: Killer Was Known To FBI

Hamilton star Daveed Diggs with his best actor prize

Corden opened the show with a message which said: "Our hearts go out to all of those affected by this atrocity.

"All we can say is you're not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy.

"Hate will never win. Together we have to make sure of that. Tonight's show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle."

The attack prompted the cast of Hamilton to drop their Revolutionary War muskets for their performance at the awards, a spokesman for the musical said.

Speaking before the ceremony in New York, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the star and creator of Hamilton, said the shooting was "heavy in my heart and heavy in my mind".

:: Victims Of The Orlando Gay Nightclub Massacre

Veteran American actor Frank Langella, who won best performance by a lead actor in a play for his role in The Father, urged Orlando to be "strong" in the wake of the atrocity.

"When something bad happens we have three choices," he said. "We let it define us, we let it destroy us, or we let it strengthen us.

"Today in Orlando we had a hideous dose of reality.

"I urge you Orlando to be strong because I'm standing in a room full of the most generous human beings on earth and we will be with you every step of the way."

Jessica Lange won the award for best performance by a lead actress in a play for her role as morphine-addicted Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night.

"This is a dream come true," she said. "It fills me with such happiness even on such a sad day as this."

Hamilton, which is expected to open at London's Victoria Palace Theatre in October 2017, has achieved rave reviews and sell-out performances since making its debut in February last year.

However, it failed to beat the record 12 awards won by The Producers in 2001.

Corden, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his performance in One Man, Two Guvnors, hosted the 70th Tony Awards following his successful stint as the presenter of The Late, Late Show in America.

The ceremony also featured Barbra Streisand, who took to the Tony Awards stage for the first time in 46 years to hand out the best musical award.

Prosecutors To Seek Tough Sentence For Pistorius

South African prosecutors are expected to press for the toughest sentence against Paralympian Oscar Pistorius at the conclusion of his trial this week.

In December the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the double amputee runner's manslaughter conviction and changed it to murder.

In South Africa murder carries a mandatory sentence of 15 years minimum - although there is a caveat built in "unless there are substantial and compelling circumstances".

The athlete was refused leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court, finally exhausting all legal avenues to avoid jail.

Several reports suggest his girlfriend's father, Barry Steenkamp, may give evidence in the coming days in an attempt to persuade the judge to levy a long sentence.

Mr Steenkamp did not attend most of the trial due to ill health and if he does testify it is likely to be very emotional and powerful.

It is more than three years since the athlete shot dead his law graduate girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a toilet cubicle at his home in Pretoria.

The runner has steadfastly insisted the shooting was a mistake. He said he thought an intruder had entered his home in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013 and he feared for their safety.

He fired four shots through a locked toilet door, killing his girlfriend. She was hit in the head, hip and arm.

EU Vote 'Fuelling UK Rush For Irish Passports'

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed a significant rise in the number of Irish passport applications from Britain.

The prospect of the UK voting to leave the European Union is thought to have fuelled the rush for Irish citizenship.

Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan TD said: "We've had an unprecedented level of applications. We have in excess of 200 new staff on a temporary basis in our passport office.

"I don't have any evidence that you can forge a link between an increase in passport applications and the current referendum but I do acknowledge the factual position that there is heightened interest in Irish passport application and Irish citizenship."

Figures obtained by Sky News reveal a 25% increase in the number of applications from England, Scotland and Wales.

In the first five months of 2016, there were 1,901 applications, compared to 1,518 in the first five months of 2015, an increase of 25%.

In the month of April alone, the figure shot up from 695 last year to 987 this year, a rise of 42%.

Ireland grants citizenship to applicants who have an Irish parent, grandparent or even great-grandparent.

Grandchildren need to have been recorded in the country's foreign births register for their children to be eligible too.

People living in Northern Ireland are considered a special case, with the same right to claim Irish citizenship as those living south of the border.

No one has to state their reason but it is clear some have applied to ensure they remain citizens of the EU in the event of a British exit.

Martin O'Neill, a politics professor from York, already holds both British and Irish passports. He has applied for his children to become dual citizens.

He told Sky News: "I think we always thought that eventually it might be nice for the children to have dual citizenship as well, but the fear of Brexit and the fact that the referendum was happening really concentrated our minds to try to get that all sorted out sooner rather than later."

Orlando Gunman 'Motivated By Homophobia'

The gunman who killed 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando may have been motivated by homophobia, his father has told US media.

Details are beginning to emerge about the nightclub shooter, identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen.

:: Orlando Nightclub Shooting: 50 Dead, 53 Injured

Mateen, from Port St Lucie in Florida, was shot dead after a three-hour stand-off with police.

He is understood to have been an American citizen, born in New York, of Afghan descent.

He was married, is believed to have had one child and worked as a security officer.

One senior FBI official has said Mateen may have had leanings towards Islamic extremism and Islamic State, however other officials have cautioned that a Islamist motive requires further investigation.

Speaking to NBC News, Mateen's father Mir Seddique said he believed his son's actions were motived by homophobia.

"This had nothing to do with religion," he said.

He said his son recently lashed out in his presence after witnessing a gay couple embracing in downtown Miami.

"He saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry," Mr Seddique said.

He added: "We are saying we are apologising for the whole incident.

"We are in shock like the whole country."

Judo Star 'Would Have Died' Without Donations

The parents of a British judo star, who was given a 1% chance of survival following a motorbike accident in Vietnam, have said she would be dead if it was not for the thousands of people who have made donations to support her treatment.

It comes as they prepare to fly 27-year-old Stephanie Inglis, who won a silver medal in judo at the 2012 Commonwealth Games, back to the UK - a journey that seemed impossible until she showing unexpected signs of a recovery a few days ago.

Inglis, from Inverness, had been teaching in Ha Long, Vietnam, when the accident happened last month.

She suffered severe head injuries after her dress got tangled in the mechanism of a motorbike she was travelling on, resulting in her being thrown to the road at high speed.

Her parents, Robert and Alison, travelled to the country as soon as they heard of what had happened, but were shocked that the Vietnamese hospitals were reluctant to treat their daughter due to her medical insurance company refusing to accept the cover.

A crowdfunding campaign, launched by a close family friend, that aimed to raise money for her medical costs has since raised more than £300,000.

It not only enabled the family to fly Inglis to Bangkok to receive treatment at the renowned Samitivej International Hospital, but also to organise the medevac flight that is now due to return her to the UK.

More than £300,000 has been raised by the crowdfunding campaign

Speaking to Sky News as they prepared to leave Thailand, her parents could not be more grateful to those who donated.

"They've saved somebody's life. Without them, it would be a completely different story. She wouldn't be coming home, not alive anyway. I don't know how to thank people, 'thank you' sounds so small doesn't it?" said Alison Inglis.

Robert Inglis added: "They have saved her. It's them that brought her home.

"In these countries, money talks, and if you haven't got the money, no matter if you have but it takes time to get the money, you have to pay first, if they didn't do all this, she wouldn't be here today, I know she wouldn't be here today".

Robert and Alison Inglis also described their shock and overwhelming happiness the moment their daughter woke up from a medically induced coma last week.

"We're sitting there and I'm looking and Robert goes, 'her eyes are opening' - and I mean, a tiny bit - so he runs out to get the nurses 'her eyes are opening, her eyes are opening' and they're kind of looking, so that, it's lifted us," said Alison.

Her father is in no doubt the skills and mindset that led her to sporting glory have also saved her life.

"I don't think anyone could have survived what she's been through if she wasn't fit and strong," he said.

"It's the strength and discipline, she's been training all her life, and she's very disciplined in what she does, and I just don't think any normal person could have survived it that doesn't do the sport that she does.

"Because her body, being a judo player, her body takes a lot of abuse, so she's used to the thumping and the bumping, so I know she actually worked really hard there.

"So even when we go in, in the last couple of days, she's trying to lift her leg. She's exercising. I've been telling her ... to get out of here, you just have to keep things moving. And she's listening to me, and it's so, so good to see."

The progress has been so significant Inglis has now been cleared to take the specialist medical flight back to the UK.

"The window is here to move here, and while she is stable enough we have to make that move," said Alison.

"The doctors are saying she's stable to fly so it's good and she's actually acknowledging them, and in fact the doctors were in this morning and she actually tried to smile, and that to us was great, they were amazed," Robert added.

Florida shooting: Attack on Orlando nightclub

At least one armed man has attacked a nightclub in the US state of Florida, shooting multiple people and taking hostages, according to local police.

"Shooting at Pulse Nightclub on S Orange. Multiple injuries. Stay away from area," Orlando police department said on its account on Sunday.

The violence erupted overnight Friday at the Pulse Orlando nightclub, which urged patrons in a post on its Facebook page to "get out" and "keep running."

Local media reported that a number of people, as many as 20, had been shot but there were was no confirmed fatalities.

Several patrons posted on social media that a gunman was holed up inside and was holding hostages.

Stewart Moore, a local TV reporter, said on his Twitter early on Sunday quoting a police source that more than 20 people had been shot at the nightclub.

Video posted online showed a large response by police and emergency vehicles outside the nightclub.

The shooting comes after a singer Christina Grimmie was fatally shot while she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando on Friday.