The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Shots fired as Russian troops force their way into Ukrainian base in Crimea Belbek Airbase, March 22 Russian troops forced their way into a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea with armoured vehicles, automatic fire and stun grenades on Saturday, injuring a Ukrainian serviceman and detaining the base's commander for talks. A Reuters reporter said armoured vehicles smashed through one of walls of the compound and that he heard bursts of gunfire and grenades. Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, the commander of the base, said a Ukrainian serviceman had been injured and that he himself he was being taken away by the Russians for talks at an unspecified location. Asked if he thought he would return safely, he said: "That remains to be seen. For now we are placing all our weapons in the base's storage." Belbek was one of the last military facilities in Crimea still under Ukrainian control following Russia's armed takeover and subsequent annexation of the peninsula, which has a majority ethnic Russian population and is home to one of Russia's biggest naval bases. Earlier, the deputy commander of the base, Oleg Podovalov, said the Russian forces surrounding the base had given the Ukrainians an hour to surrender. After the Russians entered, a Ukrainian officer who identified himself only as Vladislav said: "We did not provoke this, this was brute force. I do not know whether this base will be formally in Russian hands by the end of the day. "Ever since World War Two, this place has been quiet, and they came in here firing, with APCs and grenades. I am very worried now." Mamchur, the commander, told his troops he would inform the high command that they had stood their ground. The soldiers applauded, chanting "Long live Ukraine!" Many stood to take pictures of each other in front of the Ukrainian flag, which continued to fly over the base. The Russian takeover of Crimea has been largely bloodless, though one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and two others wounded in a shooting in Simferopol earlier this week. Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on Friday that Crimea's bases were still formally under Ukrainian control, but most are now occupied by Russian troops and fly Russia's tricolour flag. — Reuters
	Missing Flight MH370 The final 54-minute conversation between pilots and control tower London, March 22 The final 54 minutes of conversation between the pilots of the missing Malaysian airliner and the control tower has been revealed in a transcript reported by the Daily Telegraph. The transcript of the conversation between the co-pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Fariq Abdul Hamid, and the control tower begins at 12.15 am on March 8, the time the aircraft was taxiing on the runway. It continues till the plane’s last known position above the South China Sea at 1.19 am, with Hamid’s final message being “all right, good night”. Investigators claim the conversation began from the point the flight was already sabotaged and their reports state the conversation seemed "perfectly routine", but two odd features stood out. First, at 1.07 am, the message saying the plane was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet was repeated twice in an interval of six minutes. The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) also sent out the last message at the exact same time before being disabled after 30 minutes that might be a deliberate attempt. Investigators believe the ACARS was switched off even before Hamid's final 1.19 am message. A separate transponder was switched off at 1.21 am. The second odd feature stated by investigators is that the plane's disappearance was not an accident. After the loss of communication, the flight turned west at a point where the handover from air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur to those in Ho Chi Minh City took place. — IANS Sequence of events March 8, 12.15 am: Missing flight MH370 is taxiing on the runway; co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and the control tower are in conversation 1.19 am: The conversation continues till the plane’s last known position above the South China Sea; Hamid’s final message: “all right, good night” 1.40 am: Contact with the plane lost, along with radar signal, when it was flying over the air traffic control area of Ho Chi Minh City. The odd points Investigators claim the conversation began from the point the flight was already sabotaged. They say two odd features stood out: At 1.07 am, the message saying the plane was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet was repeated twice in an interval of six minutes The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System also sent out the last message at the exact same time before being disabled after 30 minutes
	35 killed in Pak road mishap Afzal Khan in Islamabad At least 35 persons were killed and several others injured when an oil tanker collided with two passenger coaches on the Quetta-Karachi highway on Saturday. The accident took place near Gaddani in the Hub area and the injured were taken to hospitals in Hub as well as Karachi for medical assistance. Emergency was declared at the hospitals. The dead and included women and children. The police said the driver of the tanker lost control and collided with the passenger buses. One bus was on its way to Karachi from Quetta while the other was going to Makran from Karachi. According to media reports, one coach was also carrying smuggled Iranian petrol and was being driven by the conductor when the accident occurred. The coach driver was asleep in the back at the time of collision. The situation turned all the worse as the smuggled Iranian oil, petrol and diesel kept on the rooftops of the passenger buses and the truck loaded with oil drums caught fire and most of the victims were charred to death. Hospital sources said that the bodies of those who died were completely burnt and could not be identified.
	Dewani to be extradited to South Africa soon: Report London, March 22 An Indian-origin British businessman accused of plotting the murder of his Indo-Swedish wife on their honeymoon in Cape Town, will be extradited to South Africa within days, a media reports said today. The 33-year-old was refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court earlier this month, but had been expected to take his fight to the European Court of Human Rights, which has in the past overturned decisions made by British judges. However, sources close to the case have indicated that he and his legal team have now decided against any further appeal, the Telegraph reported. Dewani, who is currently being detained under the Mental Health Act after being diagnosed with severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, is expected to be placed on a flight to Cape Town before April 6. Dewani is accused of ordering the killing of his wife, a 28-year-old Swedish national of Indian-origin. The charge dates back to November 2010 when the pair were held at gunpoint while driving through Cape Town in a taxi. Dewani was released unharmed but his wife's body was found in the car with injuries to her head and chest the following day. — PTI
	Egypt opens mass trial of Islamists Cairo, March 22 A court in Egypt adjourned the mass trial of more than 1,200 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after a brief hearing today, state media reported. The country's biggest trial since the army removed Morsi last July after a turbulent single year in office was adjourned until Monday. About 500 defendants faced charges at a court in Minya, south of Cairo, with the trial of the remainder due to begin on Tuesday, state news agency MENA reported. The legal proceedings are part of a crackdown by the military-installed authorities on Morsi's Islamist supporters who remain steadfast in demanding his reinstatement. Egypt's first elected and civilian president was ousted by the army on July 3 in a move that triggered widespread unrest across a deeply polarised nation. The defendants are accused of attacking both people and public property in southern Egypt in August, after security forces broke up two Cairo protest camps set up by Morsi supporters. They are also charged with committing acts of violence that led to the deaths of two policemen in Minya, judicial sources said. — AFP Legal proceedings The proceedings are part of a crackdown by the military-installed authorities on Morsi's Islamist supporters who remain steadfast in demanding his reinstatement Egypt's first elected and civilian president was ousted by the army on July 3 in a move that triggered widespread unrest across a deeply polarised nation. The defendants are accused of attacking both people and public property in southern Egypt in August
	Indian-origin man jailed for assault in US Washington, March 22 An Indian-American man, who hired a person to assault his niece’s husband at a gurdwara as he was reportedly upset over her marrying outside her social class, has been sentenced to three years in prison. Nirmal Sehmbey, who was sentenced in Bakersfield, California, on Thursday will have 65 days credit toward his sentence, stated a report in BakersfieldNow.com Sehmbey was convicted in February by a Kern County jury of conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, the site reported. A 23ABC report said Sehmbey paid $1,000 to Jorge Negrete to carry out the attack on Manjit Singh as Singh and his family arrived at a gurdwara on South P Street. Negrete is behind bars serving time for his involvement, it said. Another man involved in the scheme took plea deals in exchange for his cooperation in the prosecution of Sehmbey, it said. — IANS
	Lankan army admits to torture of women recruits Colombo, March 22 Sri Lanka's military today admitted that soldiers had abused and tortured female recruits, a rare admission of guilt after years of allegations over its personnel's treatment of Tamil rebels during an uprising. A military spokesperson said it accepted the authenticity of a video leaked on a dissident website that showed soldiers torturing women soldiers, adding instructors had overstepped their authority for an undisclosed act of violating "military discipline". "The investigation, which is being carried out by the Sri Lanka Army Corps of Military Police, has so far revealed that the video in question is authentic," military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said. "According to a preliminary report, the instructors (the troops) have punished the recruits for an act in violation of military discipline. The method adopted is not in accordance with standard procedures," he said. — AFP Orders action against soldiers Xinhua, a news agency, reported that the army was taking action against those guilty. Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said Army Commander Daya Ratnayake had ordered an investigation into the video and found it to be authentic