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I was driving from Sarasota, Florida, to Washington in the pre-dawn hours Sunday morning when my iPhone chirped a news alert. More than 50 people dead at a nightclub shooting in Orlando. The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. And later, news that the gunman reportedly called 911 to declare his loyalty to Islamic State before committing the act, investigators said. The preceding Monday, less than a week earlier, I had returned to the United States for only my second visit in about two years. In the intervening time I had been on the front lines in Ukraine, in Iraq,...

The gunman who opened fire at a gay Florida nightclub early Sunday, shooting over 100 people, had called 911 moments before to pledge allegiance to the leader of ISIS, law enforcement sources told NBC News. But as investigators try to determine if extremism motivated Omar Mateen, 29, to attack the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, his family believes he was pushed over the edge by pure hate against the LGBT community.

During a press conference Sunday morning, FBI spokesman Danny Banks officially classified the shootings at Pulse Nightclub as an "act of terrorism." The FBI, along with numerous other agencies, was investigating the shooting and it was not clear if it was an act of domestic or foreign terrorism.

A gunman took multiple people hostage overnight inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where "multiple people" were killed and 42 were injured, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said at a morning news conference. The gunman, who has not been identified, was carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and a "device." The Orange County Sheriff;s Office hazardous device team is now searching the area. Dozens of emergency vehicles surrounded the chaotic scene at the club at 1912 S. Orange Ave. after the 2 a.m. shooting and rescue squads were transporting multiple victims to area hospitals.

Gunshots rang out at an Orlando, Fla., gay club, striking at least 20 people early Sunday, according to a WESH-TV report. A witness saw what appeared to be one assailant opening fire with a semi-automatic firearm inside the nightclub and another outside the south Orlando venue from a vehicle. “We were just leaving the club and we started hearing the shots,” clubber Anthony Torres told the Daily News. “Everyone was running and screaming.”

26 people have been killed and scores injured in a Bucharest nightclub fire • Bucharest nightclub fire kills dozens • 150 wounded in blast • Fireworks reportedly caused the fire • Foreigners thought to be among the victims

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine judge has issued an arrest warrant for Justin Bieber on Friday, saying the singer failed to respond to summons related to allegations he ordered bodyguards to attack a photographer in 2013. Judge Alberto Julio Banos ordered the "immediate detention" of Bieber and bodyguards Hugo Alcides Hesny and Terrence Reche Smalls. An email sent to a Bieber representative was not immediately returned.

For those who want the nightclub scene without the drinking and solicitations for sex, Club for Jesus in Waldorf, Md., offers a fun atmosphere where believers and nonbelievers can have a good time. "Just because you're saved doesn't mean you can't dance," Yolanda Darby told The Christian Post in an interview on Friday. Darby said she was inspired to create Club for Jesus when she discovered the need for "an alternative place to go dance or party without drinking, without being picked up." Traditional churches end up stifling people, Darby said. "Ninety-nine percent of church people are the ones who...

-excerpt- Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, overseeing rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told reporters that 159 bodies had already been identified and removed from the nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria.

SNIPPET: "Actually, two have been convicted by a jury for using their nightclubs to launder the proceeds of drug and weapons deals, one was acquitted of money laundering but has pled guilty to a drug trafficking charge, and one of those convicted of money laundering has now been charged with tax evasion. And that's not to mention the failure to pay state liquor taxes and fees, the unsolved murder of a one-time business partner, and various immigration-related issues. Money was transferred in to a relative and known Hizballah operative in Lebanon, and there are strong ties to the Lebanese expat...

Flaunting food stamps almost seems to be a trend. First, Mr. EBT released his now-infamous rap. Shortly thereafter, girls followed suit with their own version. Now, a night club in Montgomery, Ala., is hosting its very own “Food Stamp Friday” party. On April 6, the Rose Supper Club in North Montgomery will offer a discounted cover charge — and free shots — to any patron who flashes a food stamp card at the door. Not surprisingly, some Montgomery residents aren’t happy about the way the party seems to glamorize a life on government assistance.

<p>CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- Authorities say nine people were shot when a fight broke out at a Chattanooga nightclub, where some 400 teens and adults were attending a Christmas party. Police say all those shot are expected to survive.</p> <p>Chattanooga police said in a press release Sunday morning that an off-duty officer who had been working at Club Fathom fired shots at a suspect who pointed a gun at him, but the gunman got away. The officer was not wounded.</p>

Once upon a time there was a nightclub that was unlike any other nightclub that had ever existed. It was owned by the customers. The customers came to the nightclub to pursue their happiness, which was much easier there than in most other places. As you can imagine, most people were eager to cooperate under such conditions and generally enjoyed associating with one another. However, there was the occasional disruption. One customer might have a dispute with another over a piece of property or a love interest. Sometimes a fight broke out. There are always some people in every nightclub...

When is a raunchy disco party, complete with half-naked women, strippers and exotic dancers, more than just a party? When it is given in honour of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. That’s when. Officially, the prime minister’s office frowned on the “Putin party” staged on Sunday night at Rai, one of Moscow’s most decadent clubs. Unofficially, the party will have done no harm to the prime minister’s macho image – and may even assist in launching a possible presidential election campaign later this year. The scene at Rai (Paradise) on Sunday, was an assault on the senses. A squad of...

25 injured when taxi plows into crowd leaving Gaslamp club By Susan Shroder Originally published February 12, 2011 at 5:22 a.m., updated February 12, 2011 at 6:27 a.m. An injured woman on the street. An injured woman on the street. If you witnessed this incident, give our breaking news team a call at 619-293-1010. An injured woman on the street. Photos courtesy Maurice Luque, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department The taxi outside Stingaree nightclub. SAN DIEGO — Twenty-five people were injured early Saturday, six critically, when a taxi driver veered off a busy street onto a sidewalk and plowed into patrons...

WEST PALM BEACH — A woman's night on the town ended tragically with her death after she fell from the rooftop of a well-known West Palm Beach pub early Monday morning, according to police. West Palm Beach Police spokesman Chase Scott said the woman somehow climbed up on the security rail of Sky309, the name for the top deck of the Roxy's pub on Clematis Street, around 1:30 a.m. Then, according to witnesses, the woman said "something to the extent of, 'Look what I can do,' " before losing her balance and falling two stories to the pavement, Scott said.

MIAMI — A man has been charged with attempted murder and police are searching for four other suspects after a beating outside a Northwest Miami-Dade nightclub that was caught on video, WPLG-Ch. 10 reports. Police say Mackendly Alexis, 30, and four other men got into an argument with 25-year-old Getro Dolicine at Coco's in the 1400 block of Northwest 119th Street on June 11. Video released by Miami-Dade Police shows a man picking up a steel rope post and slamming it against Dolicine's neck after the victim was knocked down outside the club. Dolicine was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich defended Michael Steele on Monday, urging the GOP to turn its focus from the embattled chairman of the Republican National Committee. “It's foolish for Republicans to focus on Michael Steele as the person,” Gingrich said during an interview on NBC’s “Today" show. “We ought to focus on defeating Democrats, and we have a real chance to elect John Boehner as speaker and to elect Mitch McConnell as majority leader,” he said. Steele has had few defenders since it was revealed that the RNC spent nearly $2,000 at a bondage-themed nightclub. And Gingrich’s comments came only...

The recent arrest of six people in Indonesia over a nightclub show is raising concerns among minority groups and secularists about a new anti-pornography law. In late 2008, Indonesia's parliament passed a broad law aimed at stamping out what many politicians saw as an epidemic of pornography. Pushed by Islamic conservatives, the law outlawed anything -- from books to paintings to some bodily movements -- considered capable of raising feelings of lust. Liberals and non-Muslims opposed the law, saying it is too harsh and too broad. But there was little action -- until the arrest last month of four women...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/12/uk-jihadists-who-plotted-to-blow-up-shopping-center-had-been-granted-permission-to-work-as-security.html UK: Jihadists who plotted to blow up shopping center had been granted permission to work as security guards Why not? To disallow them would have been "Islamophobic." "Manchester terror suspects cleared to work as guards," by David Leppard for The Sunday Times, December 13: Ten members of a suspected Islamist terror cell, said by MI5 to be plotting to blow up a shopping centre and a nightclub in Manchester, had been granted permission by the Home Office to work as security guards in Britain. The Pakistani students -- who were never charged...