Russian actions in Ukraine threaten Europe: NATO chief

Russia’s military actions in Ukraine pose a threat to Europe, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Sunday ahead of special talks by the alliance’s ambassadors on the crisis.

“What Russia is doing now in Ukraine violates the principles of the United Nations charter. It threatens peace and security in Europe.

Russia must stop its military activities and these threats (against Ukraine),” he told journalists in Brussels.

“Ukraine is our neighbour and Ukraine is a valued partner for NATO,” he added. “We support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. We support the right of the people of Ukraine to determine their own future without outside interference.” The ambassadors are holding consultations at the request of Poland and Lithuania, which have invoked Article 4 of the NATO charter. It allows for consultations if a member state feels threatened.

Russian troops surround Crimea

Earlier, a convoy of hundreds of Russian troops headed towards the regional capital of Ukraine’s Crimea region on Sunday, a day after Russia’s forces took over the strategic Black Sea peninsula without firing a shot.

The new government in Kiev has been powerless to react. Ukraine’s Parliament was meeting Sunday in a closed session.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has defied calls from the West to pull back his troops, insisting that Russia has a right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine.

There has been no sign of ethnic Russians facing attacks in Crimea, where they make up about 60 percent of the population, or elsewhere in Ukraine. Russia maintains an important naval base on Crimea.

President Barack Obama spoke with Putin by telephone for 90 minutes on Saturday and expressed his “deep concern” about “Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the White House said. But the U.S. and other Western governments had few options to counter Russia’s military moves.

NATO’s North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s political decision-making body, and the NATO-Ukraine Commission were to meet on Sunday. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the allies will “coordinate closely” on the situation in Ukraine, which he termed “grave.”

Ukraine is not a NATO member, meaning the U.S. and Europe are not obligated to come to its defense. But Ukraine has taken part in some alliance military exercises and contributed troops to its response force.

On the road from Sevastopol, the Crimean port where Russia has its naval base, to Simferopol on Sunday morning, Associated Press journalists saw 12 military trucks carrying troops, a Tiger vehicle armed with a machine gun and also two ambulances.

Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, announced late Saturday that he had ordered Ukraine’s armed forces to be at full readiness because of the threat of “potential aggression.” He also said he had ordered stepped-up security at nuclear power plants, airports and other strategic infrastructure.

On Crimea, however, Ukrainian troops have offered no resistance.

The new government came to power last week following months of pro-democracy protests against the now-fugitive president, Viktor Yanukovych, and his decision to turn Ukraine toward Russia, its longtime patron, instead of the European Union.

Ukraine’s population of 46 million is divided in loyalties between Russia and Europe, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the EU, while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support. Crimea, a semi-autonomous region that Russia gave to Ukraine in the 1950s, is mainly Russian-speaking.

Egypt’s new Premier urges end to protests

Egypt’s new Prime Minister on Sunday urged a halt to protests and strikes to give the nation a breather to rebuild after more than three years of deadly turmoil, a call made by his predecessors to no avail.

Ibrahim Mehlib made his appeal in an address televised live on his first full day on the job after he and members of his Cabinet were sworn in on the previous day by Interim President Adly Mansour.

Mr. Mehlib was named prime minister last week following the surprise resignation of his predecessor, Hazem el-Beblawi, after seven tumultuous months in office. Egypt experienced bloodshed and mass detentions as authorities staged a massive crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsy and, in recent weeks, an increasing number of strikes.

“Stop all kinds of sit-ins, protests and strikes. Let us start building the nation,” Mr. Mehlib said.

“No voice must be louder than the voice of construction and development,” said Mr. Mehlib. “Your demands will be taken very seriously, but I also know how much you love your country and your desire to build and elevate it,” he said.

The turmoil sweeping Egypt since the 2011 ouster of Hosni Mubarak has devastated the economy, particularly the vital tourism sector.

Egypt’s system gives most powers to the president, but the prime minister handles day-to-day economic affairs. Mr. Mehlib’s appeal echoed others made by his post-2011 predecessors that failed to check the seemingly endless wave of protests and strikes since. One prime minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri, famously broke down in tears as he discussed Egypt’s economic plight.

Protesters have usually brushed off the charge that they are destroying the economy. They blame government mismanagement for hardships that include unemployment, inflation and a surge in crime

In addition to its economic woes, Egypt is battling an insurgency in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula as well as a wave of bomb attacks in mainland cities, particularly Cairo.

Mr. Mehlib declared security to be his top priority. “The battle that Egypt is waging against the forces of evil and terror is not just in defence of Egypt’s interests and safety, but rather it is a battle we are fighting on behalf of the entire region and we will win it, God willing,” he said.

In recent weeks Egyptians have been complaining of frequent power outages, something which does not bode well for the summer since the consumption of electricity is normally much lower in winter than in the months of Egypt’s searing heat. Media reports are saying fuel shortages are beginning to impact on areas outside Cairo. Power outages last year fed discontent against Mr. Morsy.

The new Cabinet was sworn in as the nation waited for the country’s military chief and defense minister, Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, to make his widely anticipated announcement that he would run in presidential elections slated for April. El-Sissi, who ousted Mr. Morsy last July, is likely to be waiting for a new election law currently being vetted by senior judges to be passed and for the election commission to formally invite hopefuls to register.

El-Sissi, 59, is expected to win a landslide, with his only serious competition coming from leftist politician Hamdeen el-Sabahi, who finished a surprise third in presidential election in 2012.

NASA announces 715 newly discovered planets

The Earth’s galaxy is looking far more crowded. NASA has confirmed 715 newly discovered planets outside the solar system.

Douglas Hudgins, NASA’s exoplanet exploration program scientist, called Wednesday’s announcement a major step toward the planet-hunting Kepler telescope’s ultimate goal — “finding Earth 2.0.”

It’s also a big step in “the possibility of life elsewhere,” said Lisa Kaltenegger, a Harvard and Max Planck Institute astronomer who wasn’t part of the discovery team.

Scientists using the Kepler telescope pushed the number of planets discovered in the galaxy to about 1,700. Twenty years ago, astronomers had not found any planets circling stars other than the ones revolving around the sun.

“We almost doubled just today the number of planets known to humanity,” NASA planetary scientist Jack Lissauer said in a teleconference.

Astronomers used a new confirmation technique to come up with the largest single announcement of a batch of exoplanets what planets outside our solar system are called.

Wednesday’s announcements also were about implications for life behind those big numbers.

All the new planets are in systems like ours where multiple planets circle a star. The 715 planets came from looking at just 305 stars. They were nearly all in size closer to Earth than gigantic Jupiter.

And four of those new exoplanets orbit their stars in “habitable zones” where it is not too hot or not too cold for liquid water which is crucial for life to exist.

The four new habitable zone planets are all at least twice as big as Earth so that makes them more likely to be gas planets instead of rocky ones like Earth and less likely to harbour life.

So far Kepler has found nine exoplanets in the habitable zone, NASA said. Astronomers expect to find more when they look at all four years of data collected by the now-crippled Kepler; so far they have looked at two years.

Planets in the habitable zone are likely to be farther out from their stars because it is hot close in. And planets farther out take more time orbiting, so Kepler has to wait longer to see it again.

Another of Kepler’s latest discoveries indicates that “small planets are extremely common in our galaxy,” said MIT astronomer Sara Seagar, who wasn’t part of the discovery team. “Nature wants to make small planets.”

And, in general, smaller planets are more likely to be able to harbour life than big ones, Ms. Kaltenegger said.

INDIA Growing with game

Aditya Sharma’s book “Champs of Devgarh” narrates the story of school students growing up with complete devotion to cricket

Cricket has been rightly termed religion in India. And when it features in a book, everyone becomes curious to know about it. At the recently concluded New Delhi World Book Fair which focussed mainly on children’s literature, Penguin Books India launched “Champs of Devgarh” which deals with the game and children. The book written by Aditya Sharma, editor, Reader’s Digest in Mumbai was unveiled by Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner who represented India from 2000 to 2007.

The launch was attended by a number of cricket fans who came to see their favourite player and to get some cricket tips. Aditya said that it was his pleasure to get the book released by a cricketer of such a great stature. Aditya who grew up in Sonepat, aspired to be a cricketer but when his childhood dream went for a toss, he pursued law and practised couple of years in his hometown until he discovered he wanted to be a writer. Starting his career by freelancing for many national newspapers and magazines and he moved on to his current job.

Releasing the book Kartik said, “The book has been written by a person who wanted to be a good cricketer, so it is worth reading especially for those who have interest in cricket.” Elaborating the role of a coach in cricket, Kartrik stated, “It is the coach only who gives you all round development. Not only the professional training but he also makes you emotionally strong too”. Asked about the new talent from small towns and villages who did not get an appropriate platform, he said now there was no demarcation between those who hail from the metros and those from small towns. “Today many players in our cricket team come from small towns. So one should play with dedication and try honestly.”

The book, set in a fictional town Devgarh, is about players of the Star Eleven cricket team studying in Holy Mission School. Captained by Ajay but led by Aakash, the team, both individually and together, get into one scrap after another with only one goal in sight — being the best cricketing side in Devgarh. In the process of following their dream, they go through a whole gamut of experiences, like learning the value of money and honesty, victory, defeat, first love, all of which transforms them into champs of Devgarh. Asked about Ruskin Bond’s comment that the book took him “back to R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends’,” Aditya said, “I have imbibed from R. K. Narayan”.

IPL Chairman:Matches will be transparent

The BCCI on Friday said it has begun taking steps to make the IPL corruption-free, including education of players and franchises on how to avoid mixing up with certain people during matches in the seventh edition of the cash-rich T20 event.

“Both the players and franchises are being educated on how to avoid match-fixing,” IPL Chairman Ranjib Biswal told reporters after the BCCI’s Working Committee meeting in Bhubaneshwar.

“We have already identified some persons who need to be avoided in order to make IPL matches transparent,” Biswal said.

Stating that all efforts were being made to keep the IPL matches corruption free, the IPL chairman said anti-corruption teams will accompany the players and visit the match venues.

Claiming the BCCI has already implemented about 70 per cent of the report of the Mudgal Committee which probed into the IPL VI spot-fixing scandal, he said, “The committee report is also being worked out in some other areas.”

Replying to a similar question, BCCI President N. Srinivasan said, “BCCI will do everything possible to make the IPL events transparent.”

Warner’s loose talk fills build-up to 3rd test

Both captains claimed they weren’t going to talk about David Warner on Friday; both went on to dedicate a fair bit of time to talking about him.

“He’s becoming a little bit of a rent-a-quote,” South Africa’s Graeme Smith offered.

“He’s a tough bugger, there’s no doubt about it, and he’ll love the challenge he faces when he walks out onto that ground,” was Michael Clarke’s assessment of his Australia teammate.

Warner grabbed the headlines in the lead-up to the third and decisive test at Newlands starting on Saturday when he accused South Africa of underhand ball-management tactics during its 231-run win in the second test.

He was fined 15 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council, after telling a Sydney radio station: “We were actually questioning whether or not A.B. de Villiers would get the ball in his hand and with his glove wipe the rough side every ball.”

Clarke said he wanted to focus on the forthcoming test, but admitted he had shared his mind with the left-hander.

“The ICC have dealt with it. We’ve dealt with it in-house,” Clarke said. “I’ve also made very clear to David how disappointed I was, and am, with his comments, and at the appropriate time I will catch up with Graeme and make it clear to him how I feel about it.”

Smith backed up South Africa coach Russell Domingo’s sentiment that Warner’s slur would only spur the Proteas as they attempt to beat Australia in a series at home for the first time since readmission.

“We’ve lost one series in eight years or something like that which is a pretty successful run, and I think that needs to be embraced and enjoyed,” Smith noted.

“If we go on to win this test match it’s another big steppingstone in what this team has been able to create. It would be a big feather in our hat.”

A resurgent Australia side, meanwhile, knows that how it bounces back from its first defeat in six tests could define just how rosy its future becomes.

“Even to sit in the position we are right now is a really satisfying feeling for this group, knowing that we’re one-all going into the third test against the No. 1 team in the world in their own backyard,” Clarke said.

“I think that’s a fantastic achievement from this group.

But we didn’t come here to lose, that’s for sure.”

ASIA CUP :Sri Lanka beat India by 2 wickets

Sri Lanka defeated India by two wickets to record their second win in the Asia Cup in Fatullah on Friday.

Sent into bat, India posted 264/9 in the stipulated 50 overs, and then saw Sri Lanka chase down the 265-run target with four balls to spare at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.

Earlier, Opener Shikhar Dhawan missed out on a century by six runs as spinner Ajantha Mendis returned to haunt India by restricting them to 264 for nine against Sri Lanka.

Sent into bat, Dhawan (94) and captain Virat Kohli (48) led India’s recovery in a 97-run second-wicket partnership, before Mendis, more than three years after his mystery was decoded by the Indian batsmen, came back to trouble them with figures of 4/60 at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.

Mendis castled Kohli and Dhawan with his carrom ball while offspinner Sachitra Senanayake scalped 3/41 as India’s new-look middle order sorely missed Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Thanks to the duo’s exploits, India slipped after being comfortably placed at 175 for two in the 36th over.

Ajinkya Rahane (22), Ambati Rayudu (18) and Dinesh Karthik (4) looked good but could not covert their starts, while Stuart Binny did not trouble the scorers after being out for a zero.

Having come into the limelight with his career-best 6/13 against India in Karachi in 2008, Mendis got a reality check after the currently out-of-favour Vireder Sehwag unleashed his fury on him the next year.

But that was then and on this day Mendis, who was included in place of medium pacer Suranga Kamal, did not let the Lankans down.

The pitch behaved differently with the ball staying low right from the very first over. It was the perfect condition to test the openers who were in the middle of a prolonged lean patch.

Sharma, particularly, struggled against the odd ball as Sri Lanka, who were playing with three specialist spinners, brought on offie Senanayake in the sixth over.

Lanka seemed in perfect control, conceding only 37 runs in the first power play which also yielded Sharma’s wicket.

After all his struggle, Sharma’a anxious stay finally came to an end when he got to out to a dubious decision.

Umpire Nigel Llong ruled the batsman out despite being long way down the track.

The breakthrough incidentally turned around India’s fortunes with last match centurion Kohli starting off with a boundary.

At the other end, Dhawan looked to have got his fluency back and Kohli’s reassuring presence further calmed the left-hander’s nerves.

Brief scores:

India: 264/9 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 94, Virat Kohli 48; Ajantha Mendis 4/60, Sachitra Senanayake 3/41)

Sri Lanka: 265/8 in 49.2 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 103, Kusal Perera 64; Ravindra Jadeja 3/30)