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Deadly shooting reported at YouTube Headquarters

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A woman opened fire with a handgun at YouTube’s headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, wounding three people before shooting herself dead as employees of the Silicon Valley tech company fled into the surrounding streets, authorities said.

Police did not identify the suspect or say what might have motivated the shooting rampage at YouTube, a video-sharing service owned by Alphabet’s Google.

But MSNBC reported that investigators believe a woman in her 30s approached an outdoor patio and dining courtyard on the campus around lunchtime and began to fire before entering the building.

Senior law enforcement officials believe the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute, MSNBC and other media reported.

A U.S. government security official told Reuters there was no known connection to terrorism.

A YouTube product manager, Todd Sherman, described on Twitter hearing people running, first thinking it was an earthquake before he was told that a person had a gun.

“At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves,” Sherman said in a tweet. “I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front,” Sherman said.

The shooting was the latest in a string of mass killings carried out in the United States in recent years. Most recently, the massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school has led to calls for tighter restrictions on gun ownership.

In a recording of a 911 call posted online by the Los Angeles Times, a dispatcher can be heard saying: Shooter.

Another party said they spotted someone with a gun. “Suspect came from the back patio … Again we have a report of a subject with a gun. They heard seven or eight shots being fired.”

Dozens of emergency vehicles quickly converged on the YouTube campus, and police could be seen on televised aerial video systematically frisking several employees leaving the area with their hands raised.

One of the victims, a 36-year-old man, was listed in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital. A 32-year-old woman was listed in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition. Authorities did not release names of the victims.

The three patients taken to San Francisco General Hospital were all awake, Dr. Andre Campbell, a trauma surgeon at the hospital, said at a news conference. All three people were victims of gunshot wounds, Campbell said, but none of them had undergone surgery. A fourth person was taken to a local hospital with an ankle injury from fleeing the scene.

YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki declined to comment to reporters as she left the building.

“It’s with great sadness that I tell you – based on the latest information – four people were injured in this horrific act of violence,” Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said in letter to employees that was posted on Twitter.

“I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy,” he added.

In a separate tweet, Pichai said he and Wojcicki were “focused on supporting our employees & the @YouTube community through this difficult time together.”

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had been briefed on the shooting.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved,” Trump tweeted. “Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.”

In response, Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey tweeted: “We can’t keep being reactive to this, thinking and praying it won’t happen again at our schools, jobs, or our community spots. It’s beyond time to evolve our policies.”

Last month, YouTube announced it would ban content promoting the sale of guns and gun accessories as well as videos that teach how to make guns.

Female mass shooters are rare. A recent Washington Post analysis shows only three out of 150 U.S. shootings with more than four victims since 1966 were done by women. In 2015, a husband and wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. (Reuters)

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FG Declares May 1st Public Holiday To Mark Workers’ Day

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The Federal Government had declared Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, as a public holiday to mark this year’s Workers’ Day.

Nigeria’s Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo made the declaration, according to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Aishetu Ndayako.

“The Federal Government has declared Wednesday, 1st May 2024 as a Public Holiday to commemorate this year’s Workers’ Day Celebration,” Aishetu said in a statement on Tuesday, April 30.

“In alignment with this year’s theme, which focuses on ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate, I wish to state that the Federal Government remains steadfast in its resolve to prioritise the safety and well-being of all citizens,” the minister said.

“Let me reaffirm Mr. President’s commitment to providing a conducive environment for work, where every worker can thrive and contribute meaningfully to national development”.

The minister, who acknowledged the contribution of workers, called for more measures to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change through synergy.

“The Minister also urged Nigerians to remain committed to the present administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda as he wishes workers a happy celebration,” the statement read.

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“There Would Be total Blackout For Three Months If Electricity Tariff Hike Is Not Implemented ” – Minister Of Power Warns

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The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has warned that there would be a total blackout in the country in the next three months if the proposed electricity tariff hike is not implemented.

The minister gave the warning in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Power at an investigative hearing over the recent electricity tariff hike by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)on Monday, April 29.

In his words

“The entire sector will be grounded if we don’t increase the tariff. With what we have now in the next three months, the entire country will be in darkness if we don’t increase tariffs. The increment will catapult us to the next level. We are also Nigerians, we are also feeling the impact.”

He said the sum of $10 billion is needed yearly for the next ten years to revive the nation’s power sector and nip in the bud the challenges bedevilling it.

“For this sector to be revived, the government needs to spend nothing less than 10 billion dollars annually in the next 10 years.

“This is because of the infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector. But the government cannot afford that. And so we must make this sector attractive to investors and to lenders. So, for us to attract investors and investment, we must make the sector attractive, and the only way it can be made attractive is that there must be commercial pricing.

“If the value is still at N66 and the government is not paying subsidy, the investors will not come. But now that we have increased the tariff for A Band, there are interests being shown by investors,” he said.

Adelabu said the inability of the government to pay outstanding N2.9 trillion subsidy was due to limited resources, hence the need to evolve measures to sustain the sector.

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Fuel Price Skyrockets To ₦1000 Per Litre In Some States As Scarcity Sets In

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News reaching us is that fuel Prices have gone up ranging up to ₦800 to ₦1000 and above per litre in different states.

The price increase is also as a result of fuel scarcity which has set in. It is believed that some fuel stations are currently hoarding fuel.

Motorists are queuing up in large numbers at filling stations across Kano State struggling to buy petrol that is now selling at over N1,000 per litre.

One Mr Ibrahim said filling stations in the metropolis were charging as high as N1,000 as of Monday morning, adding that he bought the product over the weekend at prices ranging between N950 and N920 before the price skyrocketed on Monday.

The fuel scarcity has also touched Abuja and even Lagos.

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