Videogamer shoots 2 dead, kills self at tournament

Agencies
August 27, 2018

Miami, Aug 27: Two people were killed and 11 others wounded Sunday when a video game tournament competitor went on a shooting rampage before turning the gun on himself in the northern Florida city of Jacksonville, local police said.

Sheriff Mike Williams named the suspect of the shooting at a Madden 19 American football eSports tournament as 24-year-old David Katz from Baltimore, Maryland.

"There were three deceased individuals at the scene, one of those being the suspect, who took his own life," Williams told reporters.

He said local fire and rescue transported nine victims -- seven of whom had gunshot wounds -- to local hospitals, while another two people who were shot took their own transportation to hospital.

Williams said Katz was a competitor in the eSports tournament and used "at least one handgun" to carry out the shooting.

Madden is a hugely popular multi-player video game based on the National Football League, which in a statement said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy."

The tournament at The Landing entertainment and shopping complex -- a regional qualifier for finals in Las Vegas with a $25,000 prize -- took place at the GLHF Game Bar.

Sheriff Williams said the shooting occurred inside the Chicago Pizza restaurant in the complex around 1:30 pm (1730 GMT).

Earlier on Twitter, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office had urged people hiding in locked areas of The Landing to stay in place and call 911 to make their location known.

In disturbing footage apparently captured as part of a livestream video gaming website Twitch, several gunshots could be heard in the background, before the stream disconnected.

Twitch removed the video, but it remained available on social media. Police said they were in possession of footage capturing the incident.

"This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved," Madden's creator, EA Sports, said in a statement.

CompLexity Gaming, one of the gaming teams, said its player Drini Gjoka was grazed on the hand.

"We're obviously shocked and saddened by this afternoon's events. Our player, Drini, was hit in the thumb but is going to be fine. He managed to escape and run down the street to a nearby gym," director Jason Lake told AFP.

Gjoka tweeted: "I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second."

Another player, "DubDotDUBBY," said a bullet had grazed his head.

"I feel fine, just a scratch on my head. Traumatized and devastated," he tweeted.

Germany-based SK Gaming also confirmed their player known by the handle "JoelCP_" was safe.

"Our thoughts are with everyone that had to be part of such a horrendous event," it said.

The professional gamer known as "oLARRY2K," of Bucks Gaming, was said to have been shot in the chest, according to several social media users, including one describing herself as his mother.

Survivors of February's high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, expressed sorrow at news of another mass shooting in the state.

"Once again, my heart hurts and all of me is so angry. We cannot accept this as our reality," said Delaney Tarr, one of the organizers of the student-led March for Our Lives movement.

Florida has suffered multiple shootings in recent years: 49 were killed in a June 2016 attack on a gay nightclub, while 17 were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School earlier this year.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were investigating Sunday's shooting.

Florida Governor Rick Scott said he had offered state support in the aftermath, and that President Donald Trump had offered "any federal resources needed."

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News Network
January 17,2020

New Delhi, Jan 17: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia does not have any car on his name, according to information shared in the poll affidavit filed by him for Delhi elections.

In the affidavit, it is also shown that while his self-acquired immovable property remained roughly the same as in 2015. His wife's self-acquired immovable property is worth roughly about Rs 65 lakh, as per his latest affidavit.

In the papers submitted during the nomination for 2015 Delhi polls, the senior AAP leader had declared that he owned a Maruti Swift car of make 2013.

However, in his 2020 affidavit, he has mentioned "nil" in the column for motor vehicles and other means of transport.

In the affidavit submitted on Thursday, his moveable assets were declared worth Rs 4,74,888 for 2018-19, as against Rs 4,92,624 for 2013-14.

In 2015, Sisodia had informed in his affidavit that he had bought a property in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, worth Rs 5.07 lakh in April 2001. The approximate current market value of self-acquired property in 2015 was Rs 12 lakh.

In his current affidavit, the AAP leader has mentioned the same property. However, the approximate current market value of self-acquired property in 2020 has increased to Rs 21 lakh.

In his affidavit for the 2015 polls, Sisodia had also said that his wife had purchased a property in March 2008 costing Rs 8.70 lakh. At that time, the approximate value of her self-acquired property was Rs 20 lakh.

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Agencies
January 12,2020

Washington, Jan 12: The US State Department has described the recent visit of envoys of 15 countries to Jammu and Kashmir as an "important step" but expressed concern over the continued detention of political leaders and restrictions on internet in the region.

Alice Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, tweeted on Saturday that she was "closely following" the visit of the envoys to Kashmir, describing it an "important step".

Wells, who will be visiting India this week, added: "We remain concerned by detention of political leaders and residents and Internet restrictions. We look forward to a return to normalcy."

The group of diplomats made a two-day visit to the Union Territory on Thursday and Friday to see the conditions thereafter Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status was removed last August.

While some US politicians and media have criticised the action by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, the US has officially appeared to support the abrogation of the Constitution's Article 370 on the special status.

Last October, Wells told the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific that the State Department supported the objectives behind it, while not directly mentioning the abrogation.

"The Indian government has argued that its decision on Article 370 was driven by a desire to increase economic development, reduce corruption, and uniformly apply all national laws in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in regard to women and minorities.

"While we support these objectives, the Department remains concerned about the situation in the Kashmir Valley, where daily life for the nearly eight million residents has been severely impacted since August 5," she had said.

Washington has banked on India's democratic institutions - the judiciary and public debates - being able to steer the country.

Bearing this out, the Supreme Court last week ordered the government to review its decision to shut down the internet in Kashmir, which it declared was a fundamental right, thus taking a step to address Wells's concern.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Geneva, Mar 12: For the global economy, virus repercussions were profound, with increasing concerns of wealth- and job-wrecking recessions. U.S. stocks wiped out more than all the gains from a huge rally a day earlier as Wall Street continued to reel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,464 points, bringing it 20% below its record set last month and putting it in what Wall Street calls a “bear market.” The broader S&P 500 is just 1 percentage point away from falling into bear territory and bringing to an end one of the greatest runs in Wall Street’s history.

WHO officials said they thought long and hard about labeling the crisis a pandemic — defined as sustained outbreaks in multiple regions of the world.

The risk of employing the term, Ryan said, is “if people use it as an excuse to give up.” But the benefit is “potentially of galvanizing the world to fight.”

Underscoring the mounting challenge: soaring numbers in the U.S. and Europe’s status as the new epicenter of the pandemic. While Italy exceeds 12,000 cases and the United States has topped 1,300, China reported a record low of just 15 new cases Thursday and three-fourths of its infected patients have recovered.

China’s totals of 80,793 cases and 3,169 deaths are a shrinking portion of the world’s more than 126,000 infections and 4,600 deaths.

“If you want to be blunt, Europe is the new China,” said Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 12,462 cases and 827 deaths, Italy said all shops and businesses except pharmacies and grocery stores would be closed beginning Thursday and designated billions in financial relief to cushion economic shocks in its latest efforts to adjust to the fast-evolving crisis that silenced the usually bustling heart of the Catholic faith, St. Peter’s Square.

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