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As lawmakers from both parties rushed to condemn the mass shooting that left 50 dead in Orlando, Republicans appeared to shy away from noting the LGBT connection, while Democrats explicitly brought it up. Officials say the shooting, the deadliest such attack in U.S. history, occurred at a gay-themed nightclub and is being investigated as a possible act of domestic terrorism. The alleged shooter, who was killed by police, was a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, leading to fears of an Islamist extremist connection, though his motive has not yet been established. The attack saw a collision of a number of...

The suspected Orlando nightclub gunman had been licensed as a private security officer in Florida. State records show suspected shooter Omar Mateen held the firearms license since at least 2011. It was set to expire in September 2017. It wasn't immediately clear where, if anywhere, Mateen had worked as a security officer. An armed guard license in Florida requires 28 hours of classroom training by a licensed instructor....

‘Given that it is becoming clear that the motive is Islamist-jihadist,’ says Michael Oren, ‘this will greatly strengthen’ GOP candidate The mass killing at a gay nightclub in Florida by Omar Mateen, 30, a US citizen born to Afghan parents, will benefit GOP candidate Donald Trump in the run-up to the presidential elections, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States said. “If the motive for this mass killing had been hatred for the LGBT community, this would have played to Hillary Clinton’s benefit,” said Michael Oren, who is now a member of Knesset from the center-right Kulanu party....

The German parliament has passed a symbolic resolution recognizing the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as a "genocide." The resolution was passed with a "striking majority" said President of the German Bundestag Norbert Lammert, with only one politician voting against it and one abstaining. Between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians, and other minorities, are estimated to have been killed by what was then-Ottoman Turkey during World War One. ... Germany's resolution is likely to place a strain on relations between Berlin and Ankara, and follows a recent migrant deal between Turkey and the European Union, in which Germany...

German lawmakers' planned vote to recognize the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, will test the "friendship" between Berlin and Ankara, Turkey said Thursday, according to AFP. The resolution "will amount to a real test of the friendship" between the two nations, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. "Some nations that we consider friends, when they are experiencing trouble in domestic policy attempt to divert attention from it," he said at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP). "This resolution is an example of that." He stopped short of threatening Germany with political and economic retaliation,...

Complete Headline: Relatives' fury as black church plans to KEEP over half the donations received after race hate massacre last year - doling out just $1.5million to victims' families More than $3.3million was sent to Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church from around the world after massacre last year Officials have now handed $1.5million to victims' families and survivors $1.8million has been kept for 'building maintenance' and scholarships Church has previously been accused of lack of transparency over money Attorney said donors only specified $280,000 be sent to the victims Relatives of those killed in the Charleston church massacre have hit...

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – A lawsuit can go forward against the maker of the rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, a judge ruled Thursday. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis said that a 2005 federal law protecting gun-makers from lawsuits does not prevent lawyers for the victims' families from arguing that the semi-automatic rifle is a military weapon and should not have been sold to civilians.

The sole survivor of an Islamic State (Isis) massacre of nuns by gunmen in an retirement home in Yemen has provided a first-hand account of the killings. Four Catholic nuns and 12 other people were killed on 4 March when gunmen stormed the retirement home run by a charity established by Mother Teresa. The report began: "Isis dressed in blue came in, killed guard and driver. Five young Ethiopian men (Christian) began running to tell the Sisters Isis was here to kill them. They were killed one by one. They tied them to trees, shot them in the head and...

ISIS militants massacred 175 workers who were captured at a cement factory Northeast of Damascus, a Syrian military source said on Friday. No further details were provided on the nature of the killings.

There is considerable alarm in Minnesota over a list of 36 law enforcement officers, including private addresses and other confidential information, that was posted on an encrypted message app used by ISIS in the past. Labor Jany of the Star-Tribune writes: An alleged ISIL "kill list" containing the personal information of dozens of Minnesota law enforcement officers is the focus of an investigation by state and federal agencies. The list, purportedly created by a group of hackers affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, includes the names, addresses and telephone numbers of officers from across Minnesota....

The practitioners of the Religion of Peace have been at it again.From FNC: Gunmen execute 16 people, including 4 nuns, in Yemen retirement homeA team of gunmen unleashed a massacre at a retirement home run by Catholic nuns in Yemen Friday, killing 16 people including four nuns, Yemeni security officials and witnesses said.The gunmen then moved from room to room, handcuffing the victims before shooting each of them in the head. A nun who survived said that she hid inside a fridge in a storeroom after hearing a Yemeni guard shouting “run, run.”Missionaries of Charity, an organization established by Mother...

“Without an honest confrontation, there is no healing.” That’s from Birth Of A Nation director-producer-star Nate Parker today onstage at the Sundance Film Festival. In what I have to say was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve had at a movie theater, Parker world premiered what he called his seven-year “passion project.” His telling of the early 19th century slave revolt led by Nat Turner had audience members crying in their seats and jumping to their feet in a prolonged standing ovation at the film’s conclusion.

Sydney (dpa) - Relatives of eight children slain in their beds one year ago gathered Sunday to plant eight blossoming frangipani trees in their memory. The stabbings of three sisters, ages 2, 11 and 12, their four brothers, ages 5, 6, 8 and 9, and their 14-year-old cousin still shocks the community of Manoora, a suburb of Cairns in tropical far north Australia. The mother of the children, Raina Thaiday, 38, was found by her 20-year-old son in the garden of 34 Murray Street that the morning covered in blood and suffering self-inflicted wounds. Within days she was charged with...

Enrique Marquez, who bought the assault rifles used in a deadly Dec. 2 attack here, has been arrested, a county official said Thursday. [Snip] Authorities have said Marquez purchased two assault rifles in 2011 and 2012 that were used in the shooting that killed 14 people. The charges against him could include knowingly making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm, a crime that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to senior law enforcement officials.

White House Holds Meeting With Muslims And Sikhs by KRISTIN DONNELLY, CHRIS JANSING and CORKY SIEMASZKO President Obama's top advisers held a series of meetings Monday with Muslim and Sikh religious leaders to discuss the fallout their communities are facing in the wake of the deadly San Bernardino shootings. Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, Domestic Policy Council director Cecilia Munoz, and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes took part in the White House sit-downs — a dozen days after a radicalized Muslim couple fatally shot 14 people and wounded 21 more in California. The Chicago-born Syed Farood and his wife Tashfeen...

<p>Pakistan Wednesday hanged four men linked to the Taliban's massacre of more than 130 schoolchildren, with parents of victims saying they deserved "no forgiveness" as the attack anniversary approached.</p> <p>The executions, which officials said were carried out Wednesday morning at a prison in the northwestern city of Kohat, were the first in connection with the December 16 attack on an army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The army has put the final toll at 151 killed, 134 of them children.</p>

EXCLUSIVE - A $28,500 deposit was made to Syed Farook’s bank account from WebBank.com on Nov.18, some two weeks before he and his wife Tashfeen Malik carried out the San Bernardino massacre, a source close to the investigation told Fox News Monday. Investigators are exploring whether the transaction was a loan taken out by Farook, who with his wife killed 14 and wounded 21 when they opened fire at a holiday lunch. He earned $53,000 a year with the county as an environmental health inspector. On its website, the Utah-headquartered WebBank.com describes itself as “a leading provider of national consumer...

Lawyers for the Farook family accused the media of racially profiling his client A lawyer for the family of one of the suspects in the San Bernandino shooting said that the media has been unfairly smearing his client because he is Muslim."Until there is absolute clear evidence, every headline doesnt have to say 'Muslim massacre' or 'Muslim shooters,'" said David Chesley, a lawyer for the family of Syed Farook, part of the husband-wife team allegedly behind the attack. "Because its going to cause intolerance and what we need is forgiveness."Chesley said in a press conference that the media was unfairly...

A man who reportedly worked near the apartment of one of the San Bernardino mass shooting suspects said he grew suspicious when he noticed half a dozen Middle Eastern men hanging around the area.

American voters are not very excited about Hillary Clinton, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Democrats still view her favorably, and she’s still leading a pathetic field by a wide margin, but on questions of character and personality, the American public gives her some pretty horrendous reviews. Likability (33% positive)Honesty (27% positive)