Two gunmen opened fire Sunday on tourists near one of India’s largest mosques, injuring two Taiwanese before making their escape on a motorcycle, raising security concerns two weeks before India hosts a major international sporting event.

The tourists were shot about 11:10 a.m. as they were boarding a bus parked near the Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi’s crowded, labyrinthian old city, police said, sparking a major manhunt and a security alert in the Indian capital and Mumbai.

A few hours after the attack, the BBC’s Hindi-language service said it received an e-mail purportedly sent by the Indian Mujahedin, an Islamic militant group, which threatened to attack the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

“We know preparations for the games are at their peak,” the e-mail reportedly said. “Beware, we too are preparing in full swing for a great surprise.”

Police said it was not clear whether the e-mail was related to the attack and downplayed the likelihood it was the work of an organized terror group, saying it could have been done by disgruntled youths or a gang of local criminals.

There were also reports that a car caught fire two hours later in the same area under suspicious circumstances.

Indian officials, who have sought to reassure tourists, athletes and foreign governments for months that the capital is safe, were quick to point to the extensive precautions and high level of security in place.

Over 5,000 athletes are set to arrive within days for the Oct. 3-14 Games, which will feature teams from 71 countries.

“Please do not panic,” said Sheila Dikshit, New Delhi’s top elected official. “An incident like this is something worrying, but nothing to panic about.”

But analysts said the incident likely would raise concerns among national sports delegations and individuals planning to attend the Games, which have already seen weak ticket sales after media reports of infrastructure problems, alleged corruption and a dengue fever epidemic.

Shortly after Sunday’s shooting, the U.S. Embassy issued a security advisory warning Americans to “maintain a heightened situational awareness.”

Palaniappan Chidambaram, India’s home minister, visited the two injured Taiwanese men in the hospital after one underwent an operation for a stomach wound.

Analysts said the apparent random targeting of tourists and the mosque location suggested that any of several groups could be involved.

“It’s a bit surprising those hit were Taiwanese,” said Rahul Bronsle, a retired brigadier general and head of Security-Risks.com, an analysis group. “If it was a Commonwealth person injured, one could think they were going after the games. But a stray attack on any tourist raises a number of other speculations.”

While the attack may be directed at the Games, it also could be linked to divided Kashmir — where nearly 100 people have died since June in clashes with Indian security forces — or to a legal decision expected on Friday over a disputed religious site in Ayodhya that has sparked tension and past deadly riots between Muslims and Hindus.

Sunday was also the second anniversary of an incident in which two alleged Indian Mujahedin militants were killed by police.

The Indian Mujahedin, which reportedly has ties with the banned Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was outlawed in June amid suspicion that it played a part in an attack on a bakery in the western Indian city of Pune in which 10 people died and was behind blasts in several cities.

mark.magnier@latimes.com

Anshul Rana in the Times’ New Delhi bureau contributed to this report.
Gunfire in India raises security concerns ahead of Commonwealth Games

Geesink died Friday, according to the Dutch state broadcaster NOS. He had spent several weeks in a hospital in his hometown of Utrecht, Netherlands. No other details were released.

The 6-foot-6 Geesink stunned Japan by becoming the first Westerner to win the World Judo Championship in 1961 in Paris, then won his Olympic gold three years later in Tokyo, the first time the Olympics included judo. He won another world title in Rio de Janeiro in 1965, along with a record 21 European championships.

At the 1964 Games, Japan dominated the judo competition, but its champion, Akio Kaminaga, was no match for Geesink in the open division, where there were no weight classifications. According to United Press International’s account of the match, Geesink “crushed Kaminaga to the mat and held him there for the required 30 seconds.”

Jim Bregman, a member of the U.S. judo team in 1964, told The Times in 1984: “The entire Japanese team returned to the locker room and wept, but this was no humiliation really.

“Anton was more than just a big guy, as many thought. What he was was a 6-foot-6, 300-pound technical genius, a very powerful, very fast judo player of consummate skill in a very large frame. Anton Geesink was quite the package.”

Antonius Johannes Geesink was born April 6, 1934, in Utrecht in the Netherlands. He first participated at the European championships in 1951, finishing second.

The International Olympic Committee praised Geesink as a “great athlete” who “dedicated his entire career to the promotion of sport and its values.” Geesink had been a member of the Olympic committee since 1987.

In 1999, Geesink received a warning from the committee in connection with a bribery scandal in the selection of Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics. A foundation bearing his name received a $5,000 check from Tom Welch, the former Salt Lake City organizing committee chief. Geesink maintained that he did nothing wrong and that the money was not paid to him.

Geesink is survived by his wife, Jans, and their three children.

news.obits@latimes.com
Anton Geesink dies at 76; Olympic gold medalist popularized judo

Bioshock 2’s system requirements have been published today, and guess what? Our little friend SecuROM is hidden away, cackling to itself in a way only the most evil beings know how. Alright, there’s no limit on installations this time, but honestly I won’t be happy until SecuROM goes away for good.

By the way, you can pre-order Bioshock 2 on Steam here. It’s 10% off, and comes with a free version of Bioshock (which you can gift to a friend if you already have).

Hit the jump for the (pretty reasonable) System requirements.

Minimum:

* Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ 2.4Ghz or better, Intel Pentium 4 530 3.0Ghz Processor or better
* Memory: 2GB
* Graphics: NVIDIA 7800GT 256MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon X1900 256MB graphics card or better
* Hard Drive: 11GB
* Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0C compliant sound card or onboard sound
* OS: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
* DirectX: DirectX 9.0c

Recommended:

* Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Dual Core 2.60Ghz, Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Dual Core 2.13Ghz
* Memory: 3GB
* Graphics: NVIDIA 8800GT 512MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon HD4830 512MB graphics card or better

Other Requirements:

* Initial installation requires one-time internet connection.
* Ability to save game, earn achievements, receive title updates and online play requires log-in to Games for Windows LIVE.
* Software installations required including Microsoft Visual C++2008 Runtime Libraries, Games for Windows LIVE client, Games for Windows LIVE Client Patch, Sony DADC SecuROM, Microsoft DirectX.

2K Games has officially released the minimum and recommended PC system requirements for BioShock 2 via Steam, which unfortunately includes the infamous SecuROM DRM activation process.

The listing has revealed that there is a “5 machine activation limit” on each copy of the game. Here are the full list of system requirements:

Minimum:

• OS: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ 2.4Ghz or better, Intel Pentium 4 530 3.0Ghz Processor or better
• Memory: 2GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA 7800GT 256MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon X1900 256MB graphics card or better
• DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 11GB
• Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0C compliant sound card or onboard sound

Recommended:

• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Dual Core 2.60Ghz, Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Dual Core 2.13Ghz
• Memory: 3GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA 8800GT 512MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon HD4830 512MB graphics card or better

Other Requirements & DRM:

• Initial installation requires one-time internet connection; Ability to save game, earn achievements, receive title updates and online play requires log-in to Games for Windows LIVE; software installations required including Microsoft Visual C++2008 Runtime Libraries, Games for Windows LIVE client, Games for Windows LIVE Client Patch, Sony DADC SecuROM, Microsoft DirectX.

(Via Steam)

Bioshock 2 DRM: SecuROM, activation limits, and bears

Bioshock 2 will come both as a boxed retail product and a for-pay digital download if that's more to your taste. Looking at the game's page on Steam reveals something disappointing for those of us against invasive DRM: the game will utilize SecuROM and comes with a five-machine activation limit.

2K Games dealt with this decision head-on via its official forum. “BioShock 2 is using a standard Games for Windows Live activation system, much like other games you have played in the past,” a 2K Community Manager writes. “That doesn't mean you always have to be online to play or save the game—you can create an offline profile for the Single Player portion of the game (you just won't earn achievements and you can't play Multiplayer, of course.)” Of course.

“We are using SecuROM only as a disc check method for the retail copy of BioShock 2. That is it's only use.”

Well, there is also that pesky five-machine limit, which many of our readers find intolerable. Will this lead to lower sales? Who knows. It's important to know what you're buying for your money, however. A quick note: Shacknews lists the activation limit at 15 machines, but as of this writing the listing claims five. We've included a shot of the screen so you can see for yourself. It's very possible that could change before launch.

Comparisons

The question on everyone’s mind seems to be, “Will it be better than COD4?” No one can really tell until the game hits the streets but, based on early reviews, it’s potentially on the same level. What seems certain though is that it’s going to be better than the much-maligned and excessively-rushed COD3, also developed by Treyarch.

While COD4 brought the series well into modern times, World At War will bring it back to its World War II roots. Since it will use the same engine as the former title, it should be safe to expect immersive graphics and rich environments. Hopefully, the gameplay will prove just as intense. The updated COD4 engine has been fitted with a new physics system, which should render flying bodies and similar effects more life-like and authentic.

Gameplay

World At War, like the rest of the games in the series, will be a first-person military-based shooter. Like its predecessors, it will have a single player and a multiplayer mode.

World At War’s single player campaign adopts the same narrative format successfully implemented in COD4. Like in the award-winning title, the player gets to jump between different characters and roles with a squad of AI-controlled soldiers supporting him.

New effects have been implemented to mimic real-life situations even closer. During fires, for instance, smoke will affect the gameplay drastically, leaving your team unable to see clearly and short of breath. In order to survive past the smoke, you will need to crouch and crawl your way to safety.

The same carefully-designed weapons in COD2 should appear in the game, hopefully with some brand new additions. A number of lethal fire-based weapons will be available (including flame throwers), along with flammable environments, making way for additional combat possibilities with plenty of explosions. According to recent interviews with the developers, the flame thrower is particularly important during the course of the game. Bullets can now be used to cut holes into thin walls, allowing enough of a gap to climb through and potentially surprise your enemies.

Possibly one of the most interesting additions to the whole game will be the advent of the Japanese Imperial Army. They are, essentially, a new enemy in the game and come fitted with a fresh slew of combat tactics and strategy. While they initially fitted the Japanese soldiers with regular Call Of Duty AI, it made for an awkward enemy, forcing Treyarch to perform in-depth research and development to bring genuine Japanese guerrila-style warfare tactics into the game. Soldiers who lived by the Bushido code, after all, should behave differently than their Western counterparts. Banzai charge and kamikaze attacks, anyone?

Since it’s not yet out, no hacks are currently available for World At War. It’s assumed, though, that much of the same functions will be fitted to its cheats as what were made available in COD4. The Aimbots (both vector and hitbox) were especially useful. Same with the various hacks to display enemy positions (Full 3D Map, Minimap Hack), those that allowed you to snipe opponents from afar or behind walls (Increased View Distance, Autowall) and those that gave you access to weapons beyond your class level. So yes, one can be sure that Call of Duty 5 hacks are due very soon.

Multiplayer

As of this writing, six multiplayer modes (including Team Deathmatch and Capture The Flag) have been announced with the likelihood of many more, considering that COD4 had 13 variants.

The biggest news so far is an exciting new mode, multiplayer coop, which allows up to four players to simultaneously play World At War for one objective. It can be played on a single console via split screen or online. The coop is definitely a fascinating addition, extending the series’ playability over the long haul.

An additional cooperative mode featuring Nazi zombies can be unlocked once the single player campaign is finished. In the special game, up to four players will be set in conflict against undead Nazi soldiers. Players can earn points by facilitating kills and successful hits which can then be used to purchase additional weapons and accessories.

With the possibility of multiple players on cooperative modes, objectives will be more open-ended with numerous ways to complete missions. Multiple, simultaneous tasks are also present on different levels which can end up branching the flow of action to more than the typical linear path. While that is the official word, most fans simply assume it will be a minor change, leaving the game to its linear and sequential roots.

The perks system is retained for the online multiplayer mode, allowing individual characters to be fitted with unique abilities and skillsets.

Story

World At War features two campaigns in story mode. The first one depicts the United States Marine Corps’ battle with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific while the second one follows the Soviet Red Army’s advance on Berlin. As such, it will be set in the Pacific theater and Eastern fronts of the second World War.

Big Shoes To Fill

With COD4’s critical and commercial success, World At War finds itself with big shoes to fill. The developers are stepping up – going so far as to hire popular actors like Kiefer Sutherland (24 fame) and Gary Oldman to voice the characters. Hopefully, it won’t disappoint the same way Treyarch’s ill-fated COD3 did. By all indications during initial reviews and first-looks, though, World At War doesn’t look like it will.