Bangladesh LGBT editor hacked to death

Bangladesh police say a top gay rights activist and editor at the country's only LGBT magazine is one of two people who have been hacked to death.

The US ambassador to Bangladesh condemned the killing of Xulhaz Mannan, who also worked at the US embassy.

Another person was also injured when the attackers entered a Dhaka flat.

Since February last year suspected militants have killed several secular or atheist writers and members of religious minority groups.

The two men were murdered two days after a university teacher was hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants.

So-called Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility - but the Bangladeshi government insists there is no IS presence in the country.

Lurching from secularism to sectarian terror?

Who is behind the Bangladesh killings?

"I am devastated by the brutal murder of Xulhaz Mannan and another young Bangladeshi," said US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat.

"We abhor this senseless act of violence and urge the government of Bangladesh in the strongest terms to apprehend the criminals behind these murders," she added.

BC Bengali Service editor Sabir Mustafa said staff at Roopbaan, which had not been condemned by the government and received some support from foreign embassies, had been careful to protect their identities but had not believed their lives were at risk.

Suspected extremists in Bangladesh are gaining a sense of security that they can carry out killings with impunity, he says.

A British photographer who knew Mr Mannan and the other victim, known as "Tonoy" and named in Bangladeshi media as Tanay Mojumdar, said they and other friends had set up Roopbaan with the aim of spreading tolerance.

Homosexuality is technically illegal in Bangladesh and remains a highly sensitive issue in society.

Both men were openly gay and believed that if more gay Bangladeshis came out then the country would have to accept them, the photographer said.

They were also were behind the annual "Rainbow Rally", held on Bengali New Year, 14 April, since 2014. This year's rally was banned by police as part of widespread security measures.

"Both were extremely gentle, non-violent and aware that being openly gay and active in their work was a personal danger," the photographer said.

Their killings were likely to spread fear among Bangladesh's gay community, he said.

"Until a year ago the only threat to coming out was shame of the family and having to start a new life elsewhere in Bangladesh. Now it's one of danger," he said.

Long line of killings

Meanwhile Bangladesh's best known blogger said he had received a death threat on Sunday.

Imran Sarker, who led major protests by secular activists in 2013 against Islamist leaders, said he had received a phone call warning that he would be killed "very soon".

Image copyrightAFP/Getty

Image captionStudents have protested against the previous killing, which saw a university professor hacked to death on Saturday

Earlier this month, a Bangladeshi law student who had expressed secular views online died when he was hacked with machetes and then shot in Dhaka.

Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were also killed with machetes.

The four bloggers had all appeared on a list of 84 "atheist bloggers" drawn up by Islamic groups in 2013 and widely circulated.

There have also been attacks on members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus.

Two foreigners - an Italian aid worker and a Japanese farmer - have also been killed.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is officially secular but critics say the government has failed to properly address the attacks.

Can IoT help stop the utility death spiral?

Electrical utilities who dive deep into the Internet of Things (IoT) can potentially leverage the emerging technology to build new, stronger relationships with their customer base. Notably, IoT will allow utilities to develop trusted advisory relationships with customers previously beyond the scope of traditional power delivery.

A new report from Navigant Research on the U.S. IoT market examined customer adoption trends, changing technology, the vendor landscape and utility rollouts out to 2025.

It concluded that IoT has the potential to open new avenues for utilities, particularly as the industry looks beyond its traditional strategies driven by demand-side management (DSM). Through IoT, utilities can develop “deeper and ongoing relationships with residential and commercial customers through devices, software, and services.”

“IoT can help utilities transition into new ongoing advisory and managed services relationships to gain better insight into customer loads and improve customer satisfaction,” said Navigant’s principal research analyst Casey Talon. “This new approach to customer engagement will direct behavior modification, load control, and conservation in concert to maximize reliability and resiliency of the grid.”

Utilities caught between a rock and a hard place

Utilities are currently caught between the twin pressures of new forms of energy being pushed by policy and client demand – like renewables that drive down energy prices while utility fixed costs remain higher – and lowering energy demand caused by increased energy efficiency efforts and the technologies enabling them.

German utility RWE’s CEO Peter Terium called this “the worst structural crisis in the history of energy supply.” Industry analysts call it the utility “death spiral” with grid maintenance costs going up and the cost of generating renewable energy going down, more customers will leave the grid to employ efficient technology and generate their own on-site energy.

But IoT deployments could slow this utility defection. By 2020, Navigant predicts 70,000 customers across the U.S. will be in pilot-scale utility IoT engagements, a market estimated at $500 million. The report predicts the drivers of IoT adoption among utility customers will be improved DSM program synergies, cost containment and the desire for consumer choice.