Breivik charged with terror attacks

Anders Behring Breivik, who confessed to killing 77 people and injuring 151 in Norway, has been formally charged with committing acts of terror. 

Defence lawyers went to his prison near the capital, Oslo, to present their client with the charges.

Prosecutors have indicated they consider Breivik mentally ill and will seek to have him committed to psychiatric care rather than jailed.

Breivik is expected to go on trial on 16 April.

He has been charged under a paragraph in Norway's anti-terror law that refers to violent acts intended to disrupt key government functions or spread fears in the population.

"The defendant has committed highly serious crimes of a dimension we have no previous experience with in our society in modern times," prosecutor Svein Holden told reporters in Oslo. 

'Delusional universe'

 

If convicted, Breivik faces a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison.

The prosecution said last week it was prepared to accept Breivik was criminally insane and therefore not responsible for his acts, and as such it might not call for a prison sentence.

However, it reserved the right to alter that view if new elements emerged about his mental health by the end of the trial.

"The way the case appears at the time the charges are being brought, there is no basis to request a regular prison penalty," state prosecutor Tor-Aksel Busch wrote in instructions to prosecutors handling the case.

"But it must be clear in the charge sheet that the prosecution reserves the right, during the trial, to request a prison punishment or containment lasting 21 years, based on the complete evidence shown to the court."

Medical experts have been divided over Breivik's state of mind. 

An analysis by court-appointed psychiatrists last year found that he was insane, on the basis of 13 interviews with the prisoner.

Their report said Breivik lived in his "own delusional universe where all his thoughts and acts are guided by his delusions". 

However, four psychiatrists who subsequently assessed Breivik disagreed with several of their court-appointed colleagues' conclusions. 

In findings revealed in January, they argued that Breivik was neither psychotic nor schizophrenic and said they did not think he needed drugs.

Twin attacks 

 

The attacks on 22 July last year were the worst act of violence Norway has seen since World War II, and have had a profound impact there.

Breivik disguised himself as a police officer to plant a car bomb that exploded close to government offices in Oslo, killing eight people.

Still in uniform, he then drove to the island of Utoeya, where a summer youth camp of Norway's governing Labour Party was being held.

In a shooting spree that lasted more than an hour, he killed 69 people - mostly teenagers.

Breivik has said his attacks were atrocious but necessary for his campaign to defend Europe against a Muslim invasion.

Source :

March 7 speech comes alive again!

The historic March 7 is here again to remind the countrymen of the day when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the decisive battle against the repressive Pakistani occupation forces.

On this day in 1971, Sheikh Mujib, in a fiery and inspiring speech delivered at one of the biggest rallies in the country's history at Dhaka's Race Course Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan), had given the final call for the liberation movement.

At the historic gathering, Bangabandhu's words — "Ebarer sangram amader muktir sangram, ebarer sangram swadhinatar sangram (this time, the struggle is for our freedom, for our independence)" — touched the very hearts of 70 million Bengalees.

Declaring a war against the Pakistani forces, he said: "Since we have sacrificed blood, we will sacrifice more. We will definitely liberate the country, Insha-Allah… Turn every house into a fort and counter (the enemy) with whatever you have."

His March 7 speech inspired people from all walks of life to prepare for the 'final assault'.

Eighteen days after his remarkable speech to the nation, the Pakistani army launched 'Operation Searchlight' over the unarmed Bengalees.

Responding to his call, people of the then East Pakistan took up arms to fight the Pakistani army through a nine-month bloody war that finally heralded the birth of Bangladesh as an independent nation.

AWAMI LEAGUE SET TO OBSERVE THE DAY

The ruling Awami League is all set to observe the historical day in a different manner, as the party's another main agenda, alongside observing the day, would be to showcase its organising strength only days ahead of the opposition BNP's much-hyped Mar 12 grand rally.

The party is set to stage a 'mass rally', led by Awami League president and Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina, in the capital on the day. This is first time that Hasina will be joining any procession since she took the office of the prime minister this time round.

The rally is scheduled to begin from Suhrawardy Udyan at 3pm Wednesday. Hasina will address a pre-procession gathering there before inaugurating the rally.

Awami League has already completed all its preparations to make the rally a success.

Party joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif told bdnews24.com that all pro-liberation forces have already been asked to join the rally.

He said, "Besides Awami League's central leaders, party MPs, Dhaka metropolitan unit, district units of Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Gazipur, Narsinghdi and other affiliated organisations are working hand-in-hand to ensure a great success for the rally."

                                        'HOPE OF MILLIONS TO JOIN THE RALLY'

A joint meeting, presided over by party chief Sheikh Hasina, took place on Saturday to take stock of the preparations ahead of the rally.

Party's central executive council members, MPs of the Dhaka constituencies, leaders of affiliated organisations and leaders of Dhaka metropolitan unit and district units of Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Gazipur and Narsinghdi had also attended the meeting.

Hasina told the meeting that colourful processions from every ward of the metropolis should join the rally.

Another similar meeting had taken last Wednesday at the party headquarters.

Metropolitan unit organising secretary Shah Alam Murad told bdnews24.com that their goal is to gather people from all the wards as well as unions of the capital.

A hopeful Murad said, "Not only of the city unit, leaders and activists of our affiliated organisations and district units will also join the rally."

Meanwhile, leaders and activists of Juba League, student front of the ruling party, have also been told to be present at the party headquarters at Bangabandhu Avenue within 12pm. They are supposed to be positioned at Suhrawardy Udyan and the surrounding area within 2pm.

They would be in red, green and yellow T-shirts in the mass rally.

However, Shwechchasebak League general secretary Pankaj Debnath told bdnews24.com they would be taking out processions from all thana areas to converge at Suhrawardy Udyan before noon.

MESSAGES

President Mohammad Zillur Rahman and prime minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages underlining the historic significance of the day.

The president in his message on Tuesday said the 'Golden Bengal', the long-cherished dream of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu, is yet to come true, as "the nation is continuously fighting against hunger, poverty, superstitions and the adverse effects of global climate change..."

The prime minister's message read, "That historic speech of March 7 is one of the best political speeches. The magical speech of March 7 had united the entire nation. We should promise now that we will also reach our desired goal by uniting ourselves in the same way."

Apart from the party's mass rally, the ruling party has also made elaborate arrangements to observe the historic day.

The party would begin the day with hoisting national and party flags at 6.30am at the Bangabandhu Avenue-located party's central office and Bangabandhu Museum. Paying of respect at Sheikh Mujib's mural at Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi-32 will start at 7am.

Bangladesh Betar (government radio), Bangladesh Television and several other private television channels have also announced special programmes highlighting the significance of the day. 

Source :

Human origins traced to a worm

The origins of humans and other vertebrates have been traced to a worm that swam in the oceans half a billion years ago.

A new analysis of fossils unearthed in the Canadian Rockies determined that the extinct Pikaia gracilens is the most primitive known member of the chordate family, which today includes fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals.

The research, published in the British scientific journal Biological Reviews this week, identified a notochord (or rod) that would become part of the backbone in vertebrates, and skeletal muscle tissue called myomeres in 114 fossil specimens of the creature. They also found a vascular system.

"The discovery of myomeres is the smoking gun that we have long been seeking," said the study's lead author, Simon Conway Morris of the Cambridge University in England. "Now with myomeres, a nerve chord, a notochord and a vascular system all identified, this study clearly places Pikaia as the planet's most primitive chordate. So, next time we put the family photograph on the mantle-piece, there in the background will be Pikaia."

Humans' humbling origin

The first specimens of Pikaia were collected by early explorers of the Burgess Shale in 1911. But the animals were overlooked as an ancestor of earthworms or eels.

It was not until the 1970s that Morris suggested the 5-cm-long, sideways-flattened, somewhat eel-like animal that likely swam by moving its body in a series of side-to-side curves could be the earliest known member of the chordate family.

"In particular, it was our use of an electron microscope that allowed us to see very fine details of its anatomy," said co-author Jean-Bernard Caron, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto in Canada. "It's very humbling to know that swans, snakes, bears, zebras and, incredibly, humans all share a deep history with this tiny creature no longer than my thumb."

Source :

 

UN moved for faster Sagar-Runi probe

Journalists and Bangladeshi expatriates in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday sought the United Nations' intervention for a faster investigation into the killing of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

In a memorandum submitted to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, they requested UN assistance towards transparency in the enquiry and arrest of the killers without further delay.

Earlier in the morning, dozens of expatriate Bangladeshis along with citizens from other countries joined hands to form a human chain on the UN campus here in the former West Germany capital that currently hosts 17 United Nations institutions.

Journalists from Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) Radio also participated in the human chain. Sagar had worked with the Bangla service from June 2008 to May 2011 as a radio host and reporter.

Sagar stayed there with his wife Runi, senior reporter of Bangla TV channel ATN Bangla, and their only son Mahir Sarowar Megh. On his return, Sagar joined Masranga Television as a news editor in Dhaka and has been working there until he and his wife were murdered on Feb 11 in their West Razabazar residence in Dhaka.

About a month into the killing police have failed to find out the motive behind killing, let alone identify and arrest the killers.

The memorandum submitted to the UN chief mentioned that different statements given by police relating to the killing have already caused frustration and confusion among people in Bangladesh.

Organisers of the human chain told bdnews24.com that they had to turn to UN secretary-seneral since they had not heard any heartening remark from the Bangladesh government high-ups except hollow promises.

"We want to know who the killer is. We demand justice," said Marina Jwarder, Sagar's former colleague from the DW Radio.

She was critical of the recent High Court order on the media to not publish any news regarding the murders unless authenticity of the information was confirmed beyond doubt. "Freedom of press and right to information has been infringed by the direction of the Bangladesh High Court," she said.

Another Deutsche Welle journalist, Supriyo Banerjee, urged Bangladeshi journalists to rally behind their demand of justice.

"I wonder if they (the government) are trying to hide anything regarding the killing," said DW journalist Nikhil Ranjan.

One of Sagar's former German colleagues, Christianne Rabbe, attending the programme t hoped that justice will be served.

Deutsche Welle's Asia Department editor Sarah Berning urged the Bangladesh government to ensure security of journalists.

Bonn university researcher Dr Majharul Islam said, "Our appeal is that the United Nations helps Bangladesh government find out the killers through fair investigation. Through the United Nations we want the world to learn about the brutal killing." 

Source :

Pentagon's robot cheetah 'sets speed record'

A headless robot dubbed "Cheetah" has set a new world speed record, according to its owners.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said the four-legged machine achieved 18mph (29km/h) on a laboratory treadmill.

The agency said the previous land speed record by a legged robot was 13.1mph.

Darpa said that the project was part of efforts to develop robots designed to "more effectively assist war fighters across a greater range of missions".

Darpa - which is run by the Pentagon - funded the Massachusetts robotics company Boston Dynamics to build the machine.

"We plan to get off the treadmill and into the field as soon as possible," said the firm's chief robotics scientist, Alfred Rizzi, in a statement.

"We really want to understand what is possible for fast-moving robots."

Animal designs

 

The robot's movements have been modelled on those of fast-running animals in the wild. The machine is designed to flex and un-flex its back to increase the length of its stride. 

The current version is dependent on an off-board hydraulic pump, requiring one of the researchers to hold the tubing out of its way. However, the researchers said a free-running prototype was planned for later this year.

The four-year project, which was commissioned in February 2011, ultimately aims to deliver a robot which can "zigzag to chase and evade", and be able to come to an abrupt halt.

It builds on other models based on animals created by Boston Dynamics including its BigDog rough-terrain robot, designed to recycle energy from one step to the next, and its lizard-like Rise, which can climb walls, trees and fences by using micro-claws on its six feet and a tail for balance.

Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield said the latest achievement was very impressive.

"With faster than human speed, this is a step in the development of a high speed killer that could negotiate a battlefield quickly to hunt and kill," he said.

"The biggest concern about this is that no artificial intelligence system can distinguish between civilians and enemy combatants, and so if this was operating on its own it would fall foul of the laws of war."

Source :