Free-speech battle is for MPs to decide, Speaker rules

Speaker Andrew Scheer left the door open for Conservative backbenchers to continue pressing for greater freedom to speak their minds in the House of Commons.

Scheer told MPs he is following the rules they have set for him when it comes to taking direction from party whips, but he reminded them that he, as Speaker, can recognize an MP's desire to address the House at any time.

Scheer was ruling Tuesday on a complaint by B.C. Conservative Mark Warawa that party whips are muzzling MPs by dictating who gets to speak during the 15-minute members statements before question period each day.

Scheer found that Warawa's parliamentary privilege was not violated when he was prevented from reading a statement in support of his motion condemning sex-selective abortion, pointing out that Warawa had many opportunities to be heard in the Commons and had in fact taken advantage of those opportunities in the past.

However, Scheer said statistics suggest some MPs do not perhaps get the same opportunity to speak as others, and so, he said, Warawa might have a point in making his complaint.

Warawa reacted to the ruling on the social media site Twitter.

"I'm pleased with Speaker Scheer's ruling that MPs have the right to seek the floor at any time," read the tweet from @MPmarkwarawa.

Party control

Warawa's formal appeal to Scheer, called a "question of privilege" in the language of the House of Commons, stems from being told by his party whip last month he was not allowed to deliver a statement in support of his now-abandoned motion condemning sex-selective abortion.

MPs often use members statements to pay tribute to the passing of noteable Canadians, highlight significant anniversaries or make the Commons aware of recent achievements by their constituents.

But sometimes, parties ask MPs to use their statements to deliver partisan messages.

At issue in Warawa's appeal was the intervention by parties to stop one of their MPs from delivering a members statement the party deems contrary to its own communications strategy.

On Monday, Scheer heard from the Liberals, who recently tabled their own motion on statements by members, proposing an alphabetical list be used to determine who speaks when on the topic of his or her choice.

The Liberals had asked Scheer to defer his ruling until after their motion could be debated and vote upon.

"I would urge you, and I believe it would be prudent for you, to wait a few more days, in the hope that this House is able to pronounce itself through a vote ... which we believe would — in a common sense and very democratic way — resolve this issue," said Liberal House leader Dominic LeBlanc.

The Liberals saw their motion postponed until later this week when the Conservatives suddenly moved up debate on S-7, the anti-terror bill that until recently had languished dormant on the House agenda.

Warawa told the CBC's Julie Van Dusen on Tuesday morning he was leaning towards supporting the Liberal motion.

11 Tories among those supporting Warawa

Independent MP Bruce Hyer also jumped into the fray Monday. Hyer lost the opportunity to deliver one of those statements in the Commons a year ago when the NDP realized he was about to announce he was leaving their caucus.

"We must all recognize that we have developed a problem in Parliament of excessive party control and we must move to fix the problem before it erodes our democracy any further," Hyer said.

The NDP weighed in, but only to say they feel it is more of an internal issue for the Conservatives. Green party Leader Elizabeth May has made comments supportive of Warawa.

At the same time, Scheer was receiving emails from Conservatives with a viewpoint on the issue, and has so far heard from 11 Tories in the Commons, with some making detailed and passionate statements to support Warawa's cause.

The Conservative backbenchers have not challenged or criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper at any point. The frustrations seem to be directed at the attitude taken by party whip Gordon O'Connor, who told Scheer that it wasn't the job of the Speaker to decide who speaks, but rather to act only as a "referee."

"While each party manages the process from a different perspective, the bottom line is that each party makes these decisions," O'Connor said last month.

"The practice for many years in the House is for the Speaker to follow the guidance provided by the parties on which members to call on any given day."

with files from The Canadian Press

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Boston Marathon bombing suspects likely acted alone

New details emerged Tuesday from U.S. officials and family members about how the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects may have been swayed by a radical, anti-American strain of Islam. A U.S. senator said they had been radicalized by sources on the web, not through direct contact with terror groups.

The condition of the younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was upgraded from serious to fair as investigators continued building their case against the 19-year-old university student. He could face the death penalty after being charged Monday with joining forces with his brother, now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people.

More than 260 people were injured by the bomb blasts last week. About 50 were still hospitalized.

In Washington, Republican Sen. Richard Burr said after the Senate Intelligence Committee was briefed by federal law enforcement officials that there is "no question" that older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev was "the dominant force" behind the attacks, and that the brothers had apparently been radicalized by material on the internet rather than by contact with militant groups overseas.

Authorities believe neither brother, both Russian-born ethnic Chechens, had links to terror groups. However, two U.S. officials said Tuesday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 — who died last week in a gunbattle — frequently looked at extremist websites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate. The magazine has endorsed lone-wolf terror attacks.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

Family members reached in the U.S. and abroad by The Associated Press said Tamerlan was steered toward a strict strain of Islam under the influence of a Muslim convert known to the Tsarnaev family only as Misha.

After befriending Misha, Tamerlan gave up boxing, stopped studying music and began opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to family members, who said he turned to websites and literature claiming that the CIA was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Somehow, he just took his brain," said Tamerlan's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Maryland, who recalled conversations with Tamerlan's worried father about Misha's influence.

"You could always hear his younger brother and sisters say, `Tamerlan said this,' and `Tamerlan said that.' Dzhokhar loved him. He would do whatever Tamerlan would say," recalled Elmirza Khozhugov, the ex-husband of Tamerlan's sister. He spoke by telephone from his home in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The brothers, who came to the U.S. from Russia a decade ago, were raised in a home that followed Sunni Islam, the religion's largest sect, but were not regulars at the mosque and rarely discussed religion, Khozhugov said.

Then, in 2008 or 2009, Tamerlan met Misha, a heavyset bald man with a reddish beard. Khozhugov didn't know where they met but believed they attended a Boston-area mosque together.

U.S. investigators travel to Russia

Hoping to learn more about the motives, U.S. investigators traveled to southern Russia on Tuesday to speak to the parents of the two suspects, a U.S. Embassy official said.

Katherine Tsarnaeva, widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, leaves the law office of DeLuca and Weizenbaum on Tuesday in Providence, R.I. Her lawyers say she is assisting authorities in the case. (Stew Milne/Associated Press)

The parents live in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim province in Russia's Caucasus, where Islamic militants have waged an insurgency against Russian security forces for years.

A lawyer for the family, Zaurbek Sadakhanov, said the parents had just seen pictures of the mutilated body of their elder son and were not up to speaking with anyone.

In Washington, members of the Senate intelligence committee were briefed by the FBI and other law enforcement officials at a closed-door session Tuesday evening.

Afterward, Republican Senator Marco Rubio described the two brothers as "a couple of individuals who become radicalized using internet sources."

"So we need to be prepared for Boston-type attacks, not just 9/11-style attacks," Rubio said, referring to lone-wolf terrorists as opposed to well-organized teams from established terror networks.

Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said law enforcement officials have gotten "minimal" information from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and are still looking into whether the brothers had training or coaching from a foreign group.

Funerals held for Martin Richard, Sean Collier

The Boston area continued mourning the victims of the attack Tuesday. A funeral was held for Martin Richard, an eight-year-old schoolboy from Boston's Dorchester neighbourhood who was the youngest of those killed in the April 15 blasts at the marathon finish line.

Martin Richard, 8, was the youngest of three people killed last week in the bombings at the Boston Marathon. His family had a private funeral Tuesday. (Bill Richard/Associated Press)

"The outpouring of love and support over the last week has been tremendous," the family said in a statement. "This has been the most difficult week of our lives."

A funeral was also held for Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, 26, who authorities said was shot to death by the Tsarnaev brothers on April 18. A memorial service for Collier was scheduled for Wednesday at MIT, with Vice-President Joe Biden expected to attend.

Also Tuesday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives turned aside a bid by several lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty in certain cases, including the murder of police officers. In a 119-38 vote, the House sent the proposal to a study committee rather than advance it to an up-or-down vote.

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Rehtaeh Parsons's family has 'heartfelt' talk with Harper

Leah Parsons and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter arrive on Parliament Hill. (CBC)

Two weeks after their daughter died following months of alleged online harassment, the family of Rehtaeh Parsons sat down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and urged him to ban the distribution of intimate images online under the Criminal Code of Canada.

The prime minister invited them to Ottawa to discuss cyberbullying. The family was accompanied by Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, who met separately with Harper.

According to the Leah Parsons, four boys sexually assaulted her daughter when she was 15. Rehtaeh was then said to have been mocked by classmates, enduring relentless harassment and humiliation after a photo of the attack was circulated at her Cole Harbour, N.S., school and on social media.

On April 7, Rehtaeh was taken off life support after attempting to take her own life a few days earlier. She was 17.

Appearing on camera for the first time since Rehtaeh's death, her father Glen Canning said Ottawa must do "something" about cyberbullying.

He said the 45-minute discussion was a "heartfelt" meeting between parents.

The death of Rehtaeh Parsons after she was bullied has been reported on around the globe. (Stephen Puddicombe/CBC)

"It's frustrating for us to go through something like this and feel so defenceless to do anything at all to help our daughter. So we conveyed that message, we conveyed it very clearly. It's sad it had to happen like this but it was just good to see there is something the government can do," he said.

"For the way the laws are set up in Canada right now there was absolutely nothing we could do to help our daughter but stand there and watch her die."

'Twisted logic of freedom on the internet'

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson also sat in on the meeting and said when he meets with Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry on Wednesday he will try to expedite the process.

The federal government is promising to enact a Victim's Bill of Rights.

"Our hearts go out to the family as they cope with the loss of their teenage daughter," Nicholson said.

"Last October, following another unfortunate suicide, federal, provincial and territorial ministers of justice and public safety directed senior officials to identify potential gaps in the Criminal Code with regard to cyberbullying and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images."

"When I meet with my justice counterparts tomorrow, I will recommend that we expedite the review of our laws, move forward and act to ensure that our children are safe from online exploitation."

Dexter said his meeting with Harper was "positive," but wouldn't delve into specifics.

"I have to leave it to the prime minister to talk about his own legislation. Obviously it's not something that would be appropriate for me to comment on, but what I can say is in our conversation he very much understood the concerns that I had about the particular aspects of the gaps that exist in the current Criminal Code," Dexter said.

"He indicated to me he understood this issue and that they intended to move forward with legislation that would address the kinds of concerns that we had," said the premier.

"The fact of the matter is, the activities that gave rise to this particular tragedy are criminal activities and they need to be seen that way. People who transmit intimate images without consent do so maliciously. They do so with the intent to injure."

He said he'll leave it up to the justice ministers to establish punishments.

"The things that are being done in the name in some kind of twisted logic of freedom on the internet, you know , we don't need to accept that. We shouldn't accept that, that somehow this kind of freedom allows you to destroy somebody else's life. We have to be able to find a way to harness it, to create like I say social disapproval."

The public outcry over the case prompted the Nova Scotia government to announce a plan for an independent review into both the police investigation and the Crown attorney's office that advised police not to lay charges in Rehtaeh's case.

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Via terror plot suspect tracked by RCMP for a year

The RCMP had been following one of the two suspects accused of trying to carry out an al-Qaeda supported plot to derail a Via passenger train for almost a year, CBC News has learned.

Sources told CBC's Power & Politics host Evan Solomon that the RCMP had tracked Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, since May 2012. At that time, two undercover surveillance officers watched him on an Air Canada flight to Cancun where he was to attend a biomedical conference.

Esseghaier's behaviour on the plane was "bizarre," and he had an altercation with a female flight attendant after he went to the washroom, sources say.

As well, sources told CBC News that the arrests of Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, were made because the behaviour of one of the suspects had become increasingly unpredictable. However, it is not known which suspect.

Esseghaier and Jaser are facing a number of charges including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit of a terrorist group, authorities announced on Monday. They made separate court appearances in different provinces today, with early indications that both will likely plead not guilty to the charges.

CBC News has also learned that a member of al-Qaeda living in Iran, on the border with Afghanistan, was guiding and motivating the alleged suspects.

Meanwhile, police and intelligence agencies have been monitoring a broader network of terrorism suspects beyond the two men accused of plotting to derail a Via Rail passenger train, CBC News has learned.

Canadian and U.S. law enforcement have been co-operating on surveillance of suspects on both sides of the border for some time.

Jaser made a court appearance Tuesday in Toronto, while prosecutors in Montreal requested that jurisdiction in Esseghaier's case be moved to Toronto.

Prosecutors allege that the offences took place between April 2012 and February of this year.

Broader network under surveillance

CBC News has also learned this broader network has been under surveillance for many months — authorities also monitored their travel within North America — and Canadian authorities became more concerned after they received a tip about some men who were examining railway tracks in Ontario.

In Toronto on Tuesday, a judge granted a publication ban on the proceedings in a brief court appearance where Jaser was remanded in custody until his next appearance May 23.

"He's in a state of shock and disbelief," lawyer John Norris said of his client, 35-year-old Raed Jaser, speaking to crowds of reporters outside the Toronto courthouse.

"He's anxious to see the evidence that the Crown says it has against him."

Esseghaier declines lawyer for hearing

In another packed courtroom in Montreal, a bearded Esseghaier, who RCMP say has no fixed address, declined to be represented by a court-appointed lawyer at the hearing over jurisdiction.

The two men arrested are accused of plotting to attack a passenger train in the Toronto area. (iStock)

He made a brief statement in French in which he called the allegations against him unfair.

Neither man is a Canadian citizen, but each was in the country legally. RCMP did not say where either man was from or how they came to live in Canada, but The Canadian Press said Esseghaier is believed to be Tunisian.

Jennifer Strachan, chief superintendent of RCMP criminal operations in the province of Ontario, said Monday the two suspects watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto Area.

"We are alleging that these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack," she told reporters.

There was a specific route targeted, not necessarily a specific train, Strachan said, although she declined to reveal the route. Police said the attack was not imminent.

According to a Reuters report, U.S. law enforcement and national security sources said the alleged plot targeted a rail line between Toronto and New York City. Via Rail and Amtrak jointly run routes between Canada and the U.S. Both companies say they're working with authorities.

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Trawler strikes navy ship sending 6 to B.C. hospital

Six people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after a Royal Canadian Navy frigate was struck by a U.S. fishing trawler near Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt on Vancouver Island.

CFB Esquimalt harbour area

Navy officials said the incident involving HMCS Winnipeg happened around 8 a.m. PT Tuesday at the jetty that CFB Esquimalt uses for mooring.

According to an eyewitness, at about 8:20 a.m. the American Dynasty trawler was leaving a big ship repair dock attached to the base.

The ship was being led out by two tugs when something went wrong.

Eyewitness Larry Edwards, who has an office that overlooks the scene, said it appeared the fishing vessel went forward when it should have gone backwards.

"They were backing it out in the harbour and as they were sort of swivelling the bow around, this thing sort of shot forward and slammed into the bow of the Canadian navy vessel," Edwards said.

"It hit hard. The wall of water that came up, it went over the bow of the navy vessel," he said.

On Tuesday, navy officials refused to comment on what might have occurred, saying only that the investigation is ongoing.

65 people working on HMCS Winnipeg at the time of the crash.

With files from the CBC's Lisa Cordasco and Duncan McCue

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Samsung Galaxy S4: Where the smartphone excels, what needs work

Making a hit phone isn't too different from making a hit movie or video game — as long as you don't mess up the basics and do add in a few new improvements each time out, you should continue to find success. And so it goes for the Galaxy S4, the fourth iteration of Samsung's highly successful smartphone series.

By delivering the same popular features from previous models with a few additional bonuses, the S4 is the equivalent of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire or Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: It's a successful franchise on cruise control.

I've had a few days to play with Samsung's new flagship smartphone, which is being released through just about every Canadian carrier on April 27. Here's how it compares to previous models and other devices on the market.

The looks

Esthetically, the S4 looks and feels similar to the S3. It's slightly bigger than its predecessor, but also a tad lighter at 130 grams, and feels good in the hand.

With a five-inch screen, it's bigger than the comparatively diminutive iPhone 5, but also a good deal smaller than the gigantic Samsung Note 2.

The super AMOLED screen is sharper than the S3's thanks to a bump-up in resolution. The S4 now boasts full high-definition 1,920-by-1,080 pixels, or 441 pixels per inch. In real terms, everything on the screen — movies, photos and text — looks very crisp.

If there's a complaint to be made about the feel, it's that the phone is "plasticky." Competing phones such as the iPhone 5 and HTC One feel more high-end because of their use of lightweight metal casings.

The guts

Samsung had initially teased people with the possibility of an octa-core processor — that's eight to the non-Latin — but the S4 model being released in Canada will only have four cores (or quad, for the Latin inclined). Octa-cores are reportedly being reserved for Asian and African markets that lack fourth-generation LTE wireless coverage.

The Samsung S4 can shoot using the back-facing 13-megapixel camera, and simultaneously add a small inset of you into the photo or video with the front-facing two-megapixel camera. (Peter Nowak/CBC)

Four is plenty of processing power for much of what the average person wants to do. A good showcase for that power is the new picture-in-picture feature, which uses both of the phone's cameras to create a single image or video. You can shoot using the back-facing 13-megapixel camera, but also simultaneously add a small inset of yourself into the photo or video with the front-facing two-megapixel camera.

It's a little gimmicky and difficult to use — it is, after all, tough enough to line up and frame just one photo, never mind two at the same time on different sides of the handset — but I'm impressed with the fact that the phone has the horsepower to pull it off without a hitch.

The main camera itself is pretty good and packs in a number of nifty software features, like the ability to create animated GIFs or record up to nine seconds of sound to accompany a still photo.

However, the S4's camera does prove that megapixels are not the only factor to be considered when it comes to taking high-quality photos. When compared against the two phones with the best cameras on the market — the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920, both of which have only eight megapixels – the S4 still isn't quite as good. Its photos are not quite as sharp or detailed as those snapped by its rivals.

A comparison of photos taken by the iPhone 5 (left), Lumia 920 (centre) and Galaxy S4. (Peter Nowak/CBC)

Otherwise, the S4 has pretty much all the other hardware that's expected of a high-end Android smartphone these days. It has LTE connectivity, near-field communications (NFC) for one-touch media sharing and — hopefully some day — mobile financial transactions, and expandable memory. The various models come in 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes, with a microSD slot for accommodating up to 64 GB more.

Battery-wise, the S4 is about par for the course with most smartphones, meaning that with notifications, various connections and push email turned on, it'll be tough to make it through the day on a single charge. The phone itself has a relatively large battery, but power users are likely going to need some sort of external charging source. Either that, or they'll have to remember to carry a charging cable around.

The controls

If you've used an Android smartphone — or any smartphone, really — the controls and layout of Samsung's newest phone are undoubtedly familiar. The S4 runs Android Jellybean 4.2.2, which really isn't all that different from other recent versions —same grid of apps, same horizontal swiping to get to additional screens.

Samsung has added an "easy mode" home screen, which greatly simplifies the whole interface into just a few big icons. Veteran smartphone users wouldn't be caught dead using it, but it's a nice feature for people who are upgrading to a smart device for the first time.

Samsung pushed the S3's gesture and motion controls as one of its major selling points, and those are back in spades here. The list of possible controls is pretty long. You can set your phone to answer calls when you wave your hand in front of it, take screen captures when you swipe your palm across the screen, pause videos if you look away, and so on.

These settings are entirely subjective — each user is bound to find some they like and others that are useless. I actually quite liked the ability to take a screen grab with a simple swipe, but I couldn't imagine wanting to wave the phone around to answer a call.

The S4 also dabbles in eye tracking. With this feature turned on, you can read up and down a web page simply by looking up and down it — the phone follows your gaze and scrolls along.

It requires you to be a little obvious — you sometimes have to actually move your head to get the screen to scroll — but it's a feature that can come in handy in situations where you've only got one hand free, such as when you're carrying a package or riding a bus and holding on to something for balance.

Otherwise, I can't say I've ever enjoyed typing on a Samsung device and the same is true here. I generally find the keys to be too close together or not big enough.

The S4 compounds the problem by being almost all screen, with a very small bezel around it. I found myself frequently hitting the back and menu buttons by accident as a result. It's a frustration that power typists won't like.

The frills

Every Android phone maker has had to add in their own proprietary bonuses in an effort to distinguish their devices. Some of the ones Samsung has come up with are better than others.

The Galaxy S4's home screen. (Peter Nowak/CBC)

I liked the WatchOn feature, which is an app that turns the phone into a remote control for your television and PVR. Not only does it work with competing brands — my television is an LG plasma — I was also amazed at how quickly and easily it made the connection. All you have to do is select your make and, in the case of the PVR, your TV service provider, and bam, it's ready to go.

I was also fond of Story Album, which is a nice way to look at your photos. The app lets you select pictures, then displays them in a sort of digital album where it randomly places them into frames and grids. You can, of course, look at the full photo by tapping on it.

I had high hopes for the S Health app, which uses the phone's built-in pedometer and weather sensors to track your fitness and comfort levels. But I didn't find the temperature readings to be very accurate, and the pedometer was way off. It somehow counted me as taking more than 100 steps while I was in bed sleeping. On the plus side, I should be losing weight in no time with that kind of tracking.

The S4 also has a Group Play app, where you can stream photos, music and documents and play games with a number of other people. I saw this in action at a demo and it was impressive, but in reality it'll be something of a rarity since you'll have to find a bunch of other S4 owners to really take advantage of it.

Similarly, I wasn't able to test Samsung's recently unveiled Knox feature, which effectively creates two profiles on the phone — one for personal use and another for work that can be controlled by your employer. It's similar to BlackBerry's Balance feature, in that employers can field their own apps and remotely wipe their own data, but it's still rare to see in action given its newness.

The verdict

Industry analysts have joked that the S4 could actually be called the S3S, a play on Apple's naming conventions where incrementally improved phones get the "S" suffix while the real big next steps get an actual new number.

'The S4 is very much an incremental step over the S3 – it's evolutionary, not revolutionary.'

The assessment isn't entirely off. The S4 is very much an incremental step over the S3 — it's evolutionary, not revolutionary.

That said, it's still a good phone that is likely to do well, just like another Harry Potter movie or Call of Duty game. It's a solid choice for people with older phones who are looking to upgrade.

Samsung's Galaxy S series has so far proven to be Apple's main competition, with other smartphone makers struggling to catch up to the two behemoths. The S4 will continue that rivalry, with the ball now firmly in Apple's court.

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Boston bombing suspects likely acted alone

The two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon appear to have been motivated by a radical brand of Islam, but do not seem connected to any Muslim militant groups, U.S. officials said after interrogating and charging Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with crimes that could bring the death penalty.

Tsarnaev, 19, was charged in his hospital room on Monday, where he was in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway. His older brother, Tamerlan, 26, died Friday after a fierce gun battle with police.

The teen, a Massachusetts university student, was charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. He was accused of joining with his brother in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people and wounded more than 200 a week ago.

A man kneels down to place a message on a makeshift memorial after observing a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday, marking a week to the day of the bombings at a memorial on Boylston Street. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)

The brothers, ethnic Chechens from Russia who had been living in the U.S. for about a decade, practised Islam.

Two U.S. officials said preliminary evidence from the younger man's interrogation suggests the brothers were motivated by religious extremism, but were apparently not involved with Islamic terrorist organizations.

Dzhokhar communicated with his interrogators in writing, precluding the type of back-and-forth exchanges often crucial to establishing key facts, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

They cautioned that they were still trying to verify what they were told by Tsarnaev, and were looking at such things as his telephone and online communications, and his associations with others.

In the criminal complaint outlining the allegations, investigators said Tsarnaev and his brother each placed a knapsack containing a bomb in the crowd near the finish line of the world's most prestigious marathon.

The FBI said surveillance-camera footage showed Dzhokhar manipulating his mobile phone and lifting it to his ear just instants before the two blasts.

After the first blast, a block away from Dzhokhar, "virtually every head turns to the east ... and stares in that direction in apparent bewilderment and alarm," the complaint says. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, "virtually alone of the individuals in front of the restaurant, appears calm."

He then quickly walked away, leaving a knapsack on the ground; about 10 seconds later, a bomb blew up at the spot where he had been standing, the FBI said.

The FBI did not say whether he was using his cellphone to detonate one or both of the bombs, or whether he was talking to someone.

The criminal complaint shed no light on the motive for the attack.

Trial in federal system

The Obama administration said it had no choice but to prosecute Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the federal court system. Some politicians had suggested he be tried as an enemy combatant in front of a military tribunal, where defendants are denied some of the usual constitutional protections.

But Tsarnaev is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and under U.S. law, citizens of the country cannot be tried by military tribunals, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Carney said that since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the federal court system has been used to convict and imprison hundreds of terrorists.

Also on Monday, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying two foreign nationals arrested Saturday in the Boston area on immigration violations are from Kazakhstan and may have known the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

The Foreign Ministry said U.S. authorities came across them while searching for "possible links and contacts" to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Their names have not been released.

Shortly after the charges were unveiled, Boston-area residents and many of their well-wishers — including U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House — observed a moment of silence at 2:49 p.m. ET — the moment a week earlier when the bombs exploded.

Across Massachusetts, the silence was broken by the tolling of church bells.

"God bless the people of Massachusetts," said Gov. Deval Patrick at a ceremony outside the Statehouse. "Boston Strong."

Victims mourned

Also Monday, the governor and Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean O'Malley were among the mourners at St. Joseph Church at the first funeral for one of the victims, Krystle Campbell. The 29-year-old restaurant manager had gone to watch a friend finish the race.

Patrick also attended a memorial service for a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China who was also killed. Lu Lingzi was described as a sweet-hearted woman passionate about piano and her studies.

Lu, from Shenyang, China, studied statistics at the school. Friends and faculty called her an exceptional student with a warm personality.

Her father, Lu Jun, thanked everyone for helping the family over the recent dark days before offering a eulogy "to comfort the heavenly soul of my beloved daughter" who he said brought "everyone in the family ceaseless laughter.

"She's gone but our memories of her are very much alive," said her father, who spoke in his native tongue followed by an interpreter. "An ancient Chinese saying says every child is actually a little Buddha that helps their parents mature and grow up."

Bombing survivors stable

Amid a swirl of emotions in Boston, there was cause for some celebration: Doctors announced that everyone injured in the blasts who made it to a hospital alive now seems likely to survive.

That includes several people who arrived with legs attached by just a little skin, a three-year-old boy with a head wound and bleeding on the brain, and a little girl riddled with nails.

"All I feel is joy," said Dr. George Velmahos, chief of trauma surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, referring to his hospital's 31 blast patients. "Whoever came in alive stayed alive."

As of Monday, 51 people remained hospitalized, three of them in critical condition. At least 14 people lost all or part of a limb; three of them lost more than one.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs and hands when he was captured hiding out in a boat in a backyard in the Boston suburb of Watertown, authorities said.

A probable cause hearing — at which prosecutors will spell out the basics of their case — was set for May 30. According to a clerk's notes of Monday's proceedings in the hospital, U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler indicated she was satisfied that Tsarnaev was "alert and able to respond to the charges."

Tsarnaev did not speak during the proceeding, except to answer "no" when he was asked if he could afford his own lawyer, according to the notes. He nodded when asked if he was able to answer some questions and whether he understood his rights as explained to him by the judge.

Federal Public Defender Miriam Conrad, whose office has been assigned to represent Tsarnaev, declined to comment.

Tsarnaev could also face state charges in the slaying of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, who was shot in his cruiser Thursday night on the MIT campus in Cambridge.

The FBI said it searched Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Sunday and found BBs as well as a white hat and dark jacket that look like those worn by one of the suspected bombers in the surveillance photos the agency released a few days after the attack, according to the affidavit.

The document included a chilling detail of the suspects' flight from Cambridge: one of the brothers — it wasn't clear which one — told a carjacking victim during their getaway attempt, "Did you hear about the Boston explosion? I did that."

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Iran likely unaware of al-Qaeda's Canadian plot, security expert says

The RCMP says that the two men charged Monday in connection with an alleged plot to attack a Via Rail passenger train received "direction and guidance" from al-Qaeda in Iran.

If that should be confirmed, it will likely be the first time that the Iran branch of the Islamist group has supported an attack or attempted attack in the West, according to Seth Jones, a security expert with the RAND Corp. think-tank's International Security and Defence Policy Centre in Washington and the author of the 2012 book, Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al-Qaeda since 9/11.

At Monday's media conference, the RCMP said it did not have evidence that the Iranian government was involved, and Jones told CBC News that he would be surprised if Tehran was part of such a plot.

He also said he doubts the Iranian government was even aware of al-Qaeda in Iran's support for the accused plotters, identified by the RCMP as Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto.

The two men are charged with "conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack against a Via passenger train."

Iran and al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda members arrived in Iran when the 2001 war forced them from their Taliban-sponsored base in Afghanistan. While some al-Qaeda leaders went east to Pakistan, others went west to Iran, including some of the group's most senior leaders, according to Jones, who, until 2011, served with the U.S. Special Operations Command, including in Afghanistan.

Canadian police announced April 22 that they had arrested and charged two men in a plot supported by al-Qaeda in Iran to derail a Via passenger train. (Aaron Harris/Reuters)

He says that while the Iranian government at first facilitated al-Qaeda leaders fleeing to Iran, by early 2002 Iran had detained them under a form of house arrest.

Around the same time, Osama bin Laden had ordered al-Qaeda in Iran's so-called management council to provide "strategic support to the organization's leaders in Pakistan," Jones writes in a 2012 article for the journal Foreign Affairs. About the same time, Iranian and U.S. officials met, and the Americans demanded, unsuccessfully, that the al-Qaeda members be deported to their countries of origin.

Jones says there has been co-operation between Iran and al-Qaeda, but "the organization is no Iranian puppet."

However, the details of that relationship since 2003 remain hazy, he adds. Some al-Qaeda members and their families have been released from Iranian custody, but the management council remains under limited house arrest. Its members, however, have been allowed to raise funds and communicate with other al-Qaeda affiliates.

Moving money, fighters and weapons

"The vast majority of their work over the past several years appears to have been a transit of weapons, fighters and money and other kinds of material, but not actually operations, so this would be a marked departure from al-Qaeda operations in Iran," if the RCMP-FBI probe is correct, Jones said in an interview on Monday.

There is evidence the group has been somewhat involved in operations next door in Iraq, Jones says. But "they have gotten very clear messages from the Iranian regime not to conduct operational planning from Iranian territory because it would put pressure on the Iranian government."

Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, served as an al-Qaeda spokesman after the 9/11 attacks and spent time in Iran. (Reuters)

The RCMP said its investigation, code-named Operation Smooth, began in August 2012.

Al-Qaeda members who have been in Iran include Osama bin Laden's son, who apparently left in 2009 and was killed soon after in Pakistan, as well as bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith.

In a New York court room in March, Abu Gaith pleaded not guilty to plotting against Americans in his role as al-Qaeda's top spokesman since 2001.

Believed still in Iran are Yasin al-Suri, an al-Qaeda facilitator who has moved recruits and money from the Middle East to al-Qaeda in Pakistan, according to Jones, and Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian who once headed al-Qaeda's security committee.

Al-Adel also has a Canadian connection. In her book, Guantanamo's Child, Toronto Star reporter Michelle Shephard mentions that in 1998 al-Adel looked after Canadian teenager Abdurahman Khadr, Omar Khadr's brother, while their father was away.

Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian militant, is a leader of al-Qaeda in Iran, according to American security expert Seth Jones. (FBI/Reuters )

Jones argues that "Iran is likely holding al-Qaeda leaders on its territory first as an act of defence. So long as Tehran has several leaders under its control, the group will likely refrain from attacking Iran," which is a Shia Muslim country, while al-Qaeda is Sunni Islamist group which has often targeted Shias.

On the other hand, should the U.S. or Israel attack Iran, "Tehran could employ al-Qaeda in a response," Jones has said.

If the Iranian government should be convinced that al-Qaeda in Iran was secretly involved in supporting a plot in Canada, Jones expects Tehran will detain or expel some of the individuals responsible.

"I cannot imagine the Iranian government would be happy with al-Qaeda plotting from its soil," he told CBC News.

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Winnipeg woman's assisted suicide plan OK'd by Swiss doctor

A Winnipeg woman is one step closer to dying today, thanks to a Swiss physician who has confirmed that she is ready for the end.

It was one of the significant but no less painful last hurdles that 72-year-old Susan Griffiths has had to clear in advance of her scheduled assisted suicide in Zurich this week.

"Even the doctor that we met today and other people in the medical profession have said the same thing," said Griffiths. "If they had my disease that I have they would do what I am doing. Interesting."

Griffiths has multiple system atrophy, a rare disease that is already robbing her of the ability to perform the most basic bodily functions.

There is no cure or even hope for remission, just a virtual guarantee of an progressing debility.

So Griffiths has decided to commit suicide, but she needs help to do that, and assisted suicide is against the law in Canada.

Assisted suicide is legal, however, in Switzerland. On Thursday, Griffiths has an appointment with Dignitas, a non-profit organization that administers assisted suicides to both locals and foreigners.

Must meet with physician twice

First, however, the law requires that Griffiths be seen by a local physician twice in the space of three days to confirm both her mindset and her resolve.

Griffiths had a brief first meeting with the physician, who within minutes assessed her medical case and made arrangements for the followup meeting.

Once the followup is done, the physician will prescribe a fatal dose of drugs to go directly to Dignitas in time for her appointment on Thursday.

It is an emotional week that is taking its toll on Griffiths.

Already, she is in a wheelchair more often than she is out of it. She has trouble eating, she said, because the muscles in her mouth are weakening. She salivates and can't control it.

Griffiths' voice is weak and the pain in her legs is relentless.

"It hurts to wear my clothes," she said. "Against my skin — wherever it touches me, it hurts."

Family members gather

A brother from England, her sons from Germany and Switzerland, and her daughter and grandchildren from Winnipeg are spending a final few days together with Griffiths.

"Every now and then my granddaughter Emma gets upset," Griffiths said. "We'll be laughing about something and then she'll start to cry."

The days and evenings have been filled with memories and laughter, but moments like those remind them all what they're about to lose.

It also, however, strengthens Griffiths' resolve. These gatherings are physically hard on her, a biting reminder that she can't do it anymore, and that's when she gets angry at her disease.

"It's just a shame that I'm going to bring an end to all of that. Because I couldn't keep it up anyway — because I don't feel well, and I just want to get it over with," she said.

"I just want the old me back and there won't be one, so I might as well just finish up as soon as possible. It's hard to believe the time has come."

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Via terror plot suspect remanded in Toronto till May 23

As journalists stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a Toronto courtroom today, a judge granted a publication ban on proceedings for one of two men accused of trying to carry out an al-Qaeda-supported plot to derail a Via passenger train.

Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on May 23.

Jaser, along with Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, has been charged with conspiracy to carry out a terrorist attack and "conspiring to murder persons unknown for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group."

Esseghaier was expected to appear in a Montreal court later today.

Neither man is a Canadian citizen, but each was in the country legally. RCMP did not say where either men was from or how they came to live in Canada, but The Canadian Press said Esseghaier is believed to be Tunisian and Jaser is from the United Arab Emirates.

Jennifer Strachan, chief superintendent of RCMP criminal operations in the province of Ontario, said Monday the two suspects watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto Area.

"We are alleging that these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack," she told reporters.

There was a specific route targeted, not necessarily a specific train, Strachan said, although she declined to reveal the route. Police said the attack was not imminent.

According to a Reuters report, U.S. law enforcement and national security sources said the alleged plot targeted a rail line between Toronto and New York City. Via Rail and Amtrak jointly run routes between Canada and the U.S. Both companies say they're working with authorities.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said the two accused were getting "direction and guidance" from al-Qaeda elements in Iran. There was no information to suggest the attacks were state-sponsored, he said.

Iran's foreign minister rejected as "ridiculous" Canada's claim that the two arrested were backed by al-Qaeda in Iran.

"If the news that you are announcing is true, this is the most hilarious thing I've heard in my 64 years," the ISNA news agency reported Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi saying today. "We hope Canadian officials show a little wisdom and pay attention to the world's public opinion and intelligence."

Search warrants

Search warrants were executed at a number of homes in both Toronto and Montreal.

Half of a duplex was cordoned off by police tape in the Markham, Ont., area northeast of Toronto last night as officers questioned neighbours.

A neighbour, Sanjay Chaudhery, said Jaser lives with his wife in a basement apartment. He told CBC News that the couple had lived in Toronto for at least a year and kept to themselves.

"Even if I was working in my backyard, they used to cover their windows and doors," Chaudhery said.

"It's strange, surprising, shocking," he said of the arrests. "I'm worried — what's happening to my neighbourhood?"

Esseghaier was born in Tunisia and had studied at the University of Sherbrooke. More recently, he has been doing doctoral research at the Institute National de la Recherche Scientifique in Varennes, Que.

"His thesis was on nanosensors and he was in one of our research centres," Julie Martineau said in an interview with The Canadian Press about the PhD student, who's enrolled in the faculty of energy materials and telecommunications.

Montreal suspect

Esseghaier's LinkedIn profile reveals that he took part in writing a number of biology research papers, including those that focused on HIV and cancer detection.

He also attended scientific conferences that included the World Congress on Biosensors in Cancun in 2012 and the Photonics North Conference in Montreal in 2012 and the TechConnect World Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., in 2012.

Chiheb Esseghaier studied at the University of Sherbrooke before moving to Institute National de la Recherche Scientifique in Varennes, Que. (Via Biosensor BioMEMS Bionanotechnology Lab web page)

His profile also said he speaks Arabic, French and English.

Some students who knew him said he had extreme views on religion.

Faouzi Bellili, a doctoral student at INRS, said that a few months ago Esseghaier had told him he shouldn't help Canadians because they are non-believers.

"I actually told my wife, keep an eye on this guy, he's dangerous," he said. However, Bellili added that he didn't believe Esseghaier could harm anyone.

RCMP credits Muslim community

RCMP credited the Muslim community with a crucial role in the case, saying it was a tip to police that helped them uncover the alleged plot.

"What we're hoping is that the Canadian community realizes that the lead for this that tipped off the RCMP came from the Muslim community," said Hussein Hamdani, an Ontario lawyer and a member of Public Safety Canada's Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security.

"The Canadian Muslim community is a partner in making Canada more safe and secure."

Imam Yusuf Badat, director of religious affairs at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto, said the Muslim community was thanked before Monday's news conference. A "prominent community leader" came forward with the tip, but he didn't know who it was, he said.

Asked about a backlash, he said: "I'm confident that Canadians are great people, and they won't put the blame on the general Canadian public for the actions of a few."

Badat said radicalization can be prevented by getting people involved in civic engagement.

"Learn Islam from the right sources, rather than being radicalized through these internet videos," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press

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