Austrian police search for answers

Austrian authorities were searching on Wednesday for clues to why a 21-year-old gunman shot dead 10 people in a rampage at his former high school before killing himself, in one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the country's modern history. Police said the man had acted alone, armed with a shotgun and a pistol. They are scouring his home and the Internet to find out why he opened fire at the school in Austria's second city of Graz on Tuesday, before shooting himself in a bathroom. Austria came to a standstill at 10 am on Wednesday to commemorate the dead with one minute's silence. Churches rang funeral bells, including St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where around 900 public transport vehicles halted for a minute. Public broadcaster ORF paused all radio and TV programmes for one minute, with TV showing images of candles and a message to say the country was mourning the victims. — Reuters