Orlando nightclub shooting: How the attack unfolded

It was after 2.30am in Orlando, at least half an hour after the shooting began, when someone managed to post on the Facebook page of the Pulse nightclub, a haven for the vibrant LGBT community of central Florida.

Live Florida nightclub shooting: 50 killed and 53 injured in 'act of terror' – rolling updates

Casualty count rises after shooting attack on Pulse nightclub as police recount raid that killed suspect named by media as Omar Mateen

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Barely a day earlier, police chief John Mina had held a press conference about another shooting, in which a gunman murdered pop singer Christina Grimmie and then killed himself.

“We’ve never had an issue here that I’m aware of, especially anything of this magnitude,” Mina said on Saturday.

On Sunday his department was confronted with the deadliest mass shooting in American history: at least 50 dead, 53 wounded, many in grievous condition.

In New York, mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered all US flags at half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims, and City Hall will be lit in rainbow colors “to represent LGBT pride at sunset”. Police have set up around the historic Stonewall Inn, considered one of the birthplaces of the gay rights movement.

In Los Angeles, police have arrested a man with an assault rifle, other weapons and possible explosives – he said he was headed to the city’s pride parade, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The chief of Tampa Bay’s police has also offered support to Orlando, and asked for help from the public: “Our message is that one that we have repeated many times: if you see something, say something, and we will do something.”

Philadelphia police official Joe Sullivan has tweeted from the city’s gay pride parade, offering condolences and support.

EU Referendum campaign recap: David Cameron warns of 'risks' of Brexit

David Cameron has said the government might not be able to protect spending on pensions, the NHS and defence in the long term if the UK leaves the EU.

The prime minister said Brexit could cause a "black hole" in the public finances and threaten the "triple lock" guaranteeing state pension increases.

He told Andrew Marr "our economy would be smaller" if the UK left the single market leading to "difficult choices".

Vote Leave said it was "a frantic attempt to rescue a failing campaign".

With less than a fortnight to go before the referendum on the UK's EU membership on 23 June, other developments. 

The comments come after Mr Banks had told The Telegraph before the announcement that he would consider a legal challenge. 

Asked if he would seek now judicial review, Mr Banks told The Telegraph: “Definitely. We are going to see lawyers now. We think they haven’t applied the criteria they should have.”

When asked if the move was just “sour grapes” for failing to get the nomination, he responded: “It is not right. We have over a million supporters, [Vote Leave] have nobody but a few Tory politicians. ... This is a political stitch-up.”

On the impact of the decision on the EU referendum campaign, Mr Banks said: “It becomes an internal squabble in the Conservative Party, doesn’t it? Do we really think Gove and Boris are going to go at it with the Conservative Party? They are one and the same, it is a stitch-up. 

“The bottom line is we’re going to judicially review it and we will go at it 100 per cent. The net effect is that it will probably delay the referendum. 

“The process has been despicable. They have been saying they stitched it up with the Electoral Commission. We got nearly a million supporters.

Connie Britton

Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film The Brothers McMullen (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996–2000). She later starred in the short-lived sitcoms The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001) and Lost at Home (2003), and appeared in several films, most notably the sports drama film Friday Night Lights (2004) and the thriller film The Last Winter (2006).

Britton received positive reviews from critics for her performance as Tami Taylor on the NBC/DirecTV drama series Friday Night Lights (2006–2011). For this role she was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In 2011, she starred as Vivien Harmon in the first season of FX horror-drama series American Horror Story, for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.

Britton plays the leading role of country singer Rayna Jaymes in the ABC musical drama series Nashville (2012–present), for which she was nominated for a Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2012. In 2014, Britton was named UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. Britton next starred in the comedy-drama film This Is Where I Leave You (2014), the drama film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) and the action comedy American Ultra (2015).

Britton uses her married name as her stage name. She met investment banker John Britton at Alpha Delta House at Dartmouth College. They moved to Manhattan together in 1989, married in 1991 and divorced in 1995.

In 1993, Britton joined the New York Junior League and was a member of the 1993 provisional class of volunteers where she listed her occupation as "Actress".

In November 2011, Britton adopted a son, Eyob "Yoby" Britton, from Ethiopia.

Britton studied Chinese in college. In a 2012 interview on NPR she said of the experience: "I always wanted to be an actor. But when I went to college, I had to fulfill a language requirement and so I thought it would be really cool to do it speaking Chinese. My Chinese these days is real, real shaky. Let's put it this way: These days, my singing is better than my Chinese."

Britton moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2012 when she signed to star in the ABC musical drama Nashville.

On April 2, 2014, Britton became the 10th Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Programme, the anti-poverty agency of the UN. She joins celebrities such as Antonio Banderas, Maria Sharapova, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo in this role. She will focus her advocacy efforts on eradicating extreme poverty, fighting exclusion and empowering women.

Connie Britton Confirms 'Nashville' Season 5 Return

Ever since CMT announced that the network had officially picked up Nashville for Season 5, fans have been speculating about which of the original cast members would be making the move with the show to the new network.

The network has yet to officially confirm which of the drama’s original cast members will be returning, though Connie Britton is now dropping serious hints that Rayna James will, in fact, be back for Season 5.

When asked by Entertainment Tonight if she has big plans to reprise her role in the upcoming season of Nashville, Britton replied, “Of course, of course!” suggesting that Connie will be signing on the dotted line to continue on with the show.

But while the Nashville actress appeared to hint at a return, she admitted in the new interview that the show’s producers are yet to confirm who will be returning and what out favourite country stars will be getting up to in the new season.

“I don’t know anything! Literally, I found out today like everybody else,” Britton confessed, “I have no information to tell you!”

Connie’s big Nashville confession follow recent claims by Lionsgate’s head of TV, Kevin Beggs, who admitted in a recent interview with Variety that Lionsgate actually have “long-term deals with the cast,” hinting that Connie and co-star Hayden Panettiere will more than likely be following the drama to CMT.

Entertainment Weekly also reported Nashville’s big return this week, claiming that the 5th season will be made up of 22 episodes but added that “the cast deals have not yet been struck.”

According to the reports, fans banded together and launched a social media campaign to revive "Nashville." Lionsgate began pitching for other networks and found a welcoming and warm embrace from CMT.

Although "Nashville" Season 5 is confirmed, there's a drawback. Sources told Rolling Stone that Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere may not join the rest of the "Nashville" cast in their move to CMT. However, some remain hopeful that one or both can still make it in the new home network.

"Nashville" Season 5 has new showrunners. Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, who are popular in their iconic series "thirtysomething" and "My So Called Life" just signed for the series before the last season ended.

"Nashville" Season 5 is expected to return this fall.

Are you happy that "Nashville" has found a new home? What do you expect from "Nashville" Season 5?

Muhammad Ali, My Father and Me,Photographic reminder of Muhammad Ali’s kindness to my father

My father, Jack Achilles, was the head chef at Isow’s restaurant in Brewer Street, Soho, when Jack Solomons, a regular customer, promoted the fight in 1963 between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay. Ali stayed in Piccadilly and frequently went to eat at Isow’s.

Knowing as much about food as Ali knew about boxing, my father got on well with his most appreciative diner. Ali trusted that he would feed him whenever he was in London, and especially before his fights. From then on a telegram from Ali would arrive to let my father know when to get the Aberdeen Angus steaks ready.

He would go to choose the meat and supervise the butchering, to make sure it was fit for a king. In turn, he was singled out by Ali in the press conferences and generously included in many of the photocalls that were routinely held at Isow’s. One afternoon, in 1963, our entire family went, at Ali’s invitation, to the East End to watch him sparring before the fight with Cooper. My father was also given tickets to the fights. In simply acknowledging the important part my father played in feeding him so well, Ali was a giant among men.

“When we decided to put Ali on this month’s cover, we wanted to show him in safari costume carrying an elephant gun, perhaps the only foolproof weapon against George Foreman. Ali turned down the gun on religious grounds — as a Muslim minister, he says, he is forbidden to carry arms — but was happy to pose as a great white hunter.

“Once he climbed into the safari outfit — provided for Sport by Abercrombie & Fitch — Ali assumed the role completely. ‘Look out, George,’ he hollered, ‘I’m coming to get you, and I’m the baddest hunter in the whole world.’

“After he finished posing for Carl Fischer’s cover portrait, Ali calmed down for a family portrait with his three daughters and 2-year-old Muhammad Ali Jr.

“Then Ali playfully landed a few punches on the jaw of my 3-year-old daughter . Each time Ali hit her, she laughed.

“He’ll have to hit harder against George Foreman.”

I certainly was too young to grasp, at the time, the subversive brilliance of staging Ali in the costume of one of the most famous archetypes of white privilege and power, given his unapologetic identity as “a race man,” his potent pride in his blackness. I wish I could remember more about that day, but after more than 40 years, the memories have inevitably faded. I recall it now in a softly spectral way: I somehow knew, even if I wouldn’t have said it this way at the time, that I was in the presence of a great human, who was also very funny, and who took the time to play with children and seemed to enjoy it. I remember his physical presence, so vast compared with my toddler smallness. My mother once explained to me that the reason my legs are bare is that I’d been horsing around with Ali’s kids before the shoot, and tore up my nice woolen tights so badly she had to remove them.

Dating sites

Online dating or Internet dating is a personal introductory system where individuals can find and contact each other over the Internet to arrange a date, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship. Online dating services usually provide unmoderated matchmaking over the Internet, through the use of personal computers or cell phones. Users of an online dating service would usually provide personal information, to enable them to search the service provider's database for other individuals. Members use criteria other members set, such as age range, gender and location.

Online dating sites use market metaphors to match people. Match metaphors are conceptual frameworks that allow individuals to make sense of new concepts by drawing upon familiar experiences and frame-works. This metaphor of the marketplace – a place where people go to “shop” for potential romantic partners and to “sell” themselves in hopes of creating a successful romantic relationship – is highlighted by the layout and functionality of online dating websites. The marketplace metaphor may also resonate with participants’ conceptual orientation towards the process of finding a romantic partner. Most sites allow members to upload photos or videos of themselves and browse the photos and videos of others. Sites may offer additional services, such as webcasts, online chat, telephone chat (VOIP), and message boards. Some sites provide free registration, but may offer services which require a monthly fee. Other sites depend on advertising for their revenue. Some sites such as OkCupid.com, POF.com and Badoo.com are free and offer additional paid services in a freemium revenue model.

Some sites are broad-based, with members coming from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired. A 2005 study of data collected by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that individuals are more likely to use an online dating service if they use the internet for a greater amount of tasks and less likely to use such a service if they are trusting of others.

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the East division of the National League (NL) in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadium; since 2008 their home stadium has been Nationals Park on South Capitol Street in Southeast D.C., near the Anacostia River.

As the Major League Baseball team in the U.S. capital, the Nationals are the successors to the Washington Senators, whose nickname was the Nationals (or the Nats for short). There were actually three Washington Senators teams — one from 1891 to 1899 that was in the National League, one from 1901 to 1960 that became the Minnesota Twins, and one from 1961 to 1971 that became the Texas Rangers.

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in 1969 as the Montreal Expos, the first major league team in Canada. They were based in Montreal, Quebec, and played their home games at Jarry Park Stadium and later in Olympic Stadium. During the strike-shortened 1981 season, the Expos won a division championship and made their only post-season appearance as a Montreal franchise, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3–2, in the National League Division Series, but losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3–2, in the National League Championship Series.

The club had its highest winning percentage in the strike-shortened season of 1994, when the team had the best record in baseball. The team's subsequent shedding of players caused fan interest to drop off, and after the 2001 season, MLB considered revoking the team's franchise, along with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After being purchased by MLB in 2002, the team was moved before the 2005 season to Washington, D.C. and renamed the Nationals, the first relocation since the third Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, and became the Texas Rangers in 1972.

The Nationals are one of two franchises, and the only one in the National League, that has never played in a World Series. (The American League's Seattle Mariners are the other).

Tissot Watches

Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile Tissot in the Swiss city of Le Locle, in the Neuchâtel area of th

e Jura Mountains.

Tissot introduced the first mass-produced pocket watch as well as the first pocket watch with two time zones in 1853 and the first anti-magnetic watch in 1929–30. Charles-Emile Tissot left for Russia in 1858 and succeeded in selling their savonnette pocket watches across the Russian Empire. The Tissot company was also the first to make watches out of plastic (IDEA 2001 in 1971), stone (the Alpine granite RockWatch in 1985), mother of pearl (the Pearl watch in 1987), and wood (the Wood watch in 1988).Tissot merged with the Omega watch making family in 1930 and Tissot-Omega watches from this era are sought after by collectors.

Tissot has been a member of The Swatch Group Ltd. since 1983, the largest watch producer and distributor in the world.  Still based in Le Locle, Switzerland and marketed in 160 countries around the world. Tissot watches are currently classified by Swatch Group as "mid-range market" products.

Tissot is an official timekeeper for the world championships in cycling, motorcycling, fencing and ice hockey, and was used for the Davis Cup in 1957 and Downhill Skiing in Switzerland in 1938. Tissot was also a key Sponsor for the Formula one teams Lotus, Renault and Sauber. Tissot's first engagement as an official timekeeper was in 1938 where they timed a series of Ski races in Villar, near the company's home town in the Jura mountains.

For early events, handheld stop watches were sufficient to provide official timings. Today Tissot works with various sporting bodies to develop systems to produce ever more accurate timings for specific events. In competitive cycling for instance, sensors are placed on the bikes and track which are then linked by computers to provide track timings and performance data.

Tissot introduced its first tactile watch, with "T-Touch," technology in 1999; watches containing this technology have a touch-sensitive sapphire crystals to control various functions like compasses, barometer, altimeter and thermometer. The latest models in the T-Touch series. The T-Touch Expert Solar and T-Touch Lady Solar holds 25 functions 

Tissot watches have been worn by Sarah Bernhardt, singer Carmen Miranda, Elvis Presley, Grace Kelly, Banassim Kassim and Nelson Mandela. James Stewart wore a Tissot watch in Rear Window. Indian actor Kamal Hassan wore a Tissot watch in the Tamil Movie "Dasavatharam". Deepika Padukone is brand ambassador in India since 2007. T-Touch watches have been worn by Angelina Jolie in the movies Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.