Columbia brings a clearer vision of mankind’s hopes and aspirations

Two years ago on a very cold Russian winter day I had the most exhilarating experience that made we forget about sub-freezing temperatures. I was fortunate enough to visit the Russian Space Training Center and had an opportunity to see where people
The crew of STS-107 mission of Space Shuttle Columbia. Front, left to right: Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool. Rear, left to right: David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon. Photo: NASAas brave as those who died on the space shuttle Columbia, are trained. We examined the spacecraft used for training. It was an amazing experience – the confined space in which highly trained people had to execute specialized tasks. Even more daunting was to imagine the craft’s size versus that of outer space and the Planet Earth. One left with the feeling of sheer exhilaration and amazement with the ingenuity of man to have accomplished this.
Mankind has always sought to conquer the ultimate frontiers, and after it did it on earth, it looked at outer space. Between the mankind’s first heroic manned space flight April 12, 1961, and now, space travel has almost become a regular and routine occurrence, overshadowed by the events on Planet Earth. At a time of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia the highlight news was the imminent war (or not) on Iraq. While the debate on Iraq has effectively divided the nations of the world, the loss of the space shuttle Columbia had the opposite effect. Most countries expressed sadness and grief at the loss. Messages from across the globe reflect many people’s feelings. Adversaries and enemies were united in expressing condolences. One example is Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s letter of condolences to the US President George W. Bush and the families of the seven victims of the Columbia Space Shuttle, reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Similar messages came from Russia, Germany, France, to name but a few, united in their expression of sorrow while still seemingly divided on the Iraqi issue.
The crew members of Columbia came from the USA, Israel, and one was an Indian-born US citizen. All seven astronauts were highly trained and specialists in their field. Only Rick Husband and Kalpana Chawla had flown in space before. It was the first flight for William McCool and Michael Anderson, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon. Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman in space. She achieved a lifelong ambition to become astronaut. She studied at the Punjab Engineering College in India before immigrating to the United States. She was born in Karnal, of a northern Indian State of Haryana. Flowers and celebrations in preparation for her return from the mission turned into remembrance for someone brave enough to pursue her dreams beyond the earth’s limit.
Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, was and will always be a hero in his own country. He was the son of Holocaust survivors. He was also the youngest pilot to take part in the successful 1981 Israeli attack that destroyed an Iraqi nuclear plant. Ramon honoured those who endured the Holocaust by taking a small pencil drawing titled "Moon Landscape" by Peter Ginz, a 14-year-old Jewish boy killed at Auschwitz, with him into space. He also took a credit-card sized microfiche of the Bible given to him by Israeli President Moshe Katsav, and some mezuzas, or small cases that are hung on door-frames of Jewish homes and contain excerpts from the Bible. Ramon's father gave him family photos to take into space, and a brother had a letter stowed away in the shuttle that Ramon read in orbit.
The Space Shuttle Columbia was commissioned in 1988 and was on its 28th mission. It was designed to fly 100 missions. The Columbia crew was divided into two teams. They worked around the clock for 16 days to complete more than 80 experiments on the effects of weightlessness on human physiology, in growth of crystals and proteins, and in combustion. The experiments were drawn from proposals made by research centers, universities and private businesses, as well as suggestions sent by students from schools in Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein and the United States. Columbia disintegrated almost 17 years to the day of the explosion that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger January 28, 1986, killing the six astronauts and one American schoolteacher on board. The Apollo spacecraft fire killed three astronauts January 27, 1967.
Despite the danger of space travel mankind will continue to live their dreams. All seven astronauts together with those that have died in previous missions are true symbols of hope and dreams of mankind, whether they live on an example of tenacity of a girl from an Indian village or in the drawing of space by a boy doomed to die prematurely.

Moldova, a young country with common problems

The siege of a Moscow theatre by Chechnya rebels has brought the issue of separatism and division in former USSR
Map courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps. Used with permissionstates to the fore. Tucked in between Romania and the Ukraine is the little known republic of Moldova whose current condition can be called “crisis”, similar to many of the other former Soviet Union republics. It has a struggling economy and is battling with separatism.
Moldova is part of the area known as Bessarabia that is strategically located at the crossroads between Central, Southeast and Eastern Europe. The Republic of Moldova is one of the newly independent European states and is also the smallest in terms of territory after Armenia. The Republic of Moldova occupies a territory of 13,000 square miles (33,700 square km) and stretches 217 miles (350 km) from north to south and 93 miles (150 km) from east to west.
Throughout its history Moldova suffered from frequent invasions and changes. Throughout the ages it had been ruled by various powers, however it present crisis originated when Russia annexed its eastern part in 1812. Most of this area remained under Russian control until 1918 when the whole of Bessarabia became part of Romania. At the close of World War II it became part of the Soviet Union. During the disintegration of the Soviet Union Moldova declared its independence on August 27, 1991. Soon thereafter the republic set up customs service. The government then requested that the Soviet Army leave the republic and took control of the Moldavian KGB. Moldavian national army was also created. Moldova's independence was soon recognized by countries of the world, and since then it joined a number of multilateral organizations such as the UN, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the IMF.
In 1993 it signed the Paris Charter of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), later renamed Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In March 1994 Moldova joined NATO's Partnership for Peace Program. On November 28, 1994 the EU and the Government of Moldova signed a Partnership and Co-operation Agreement. On July 13, 1995 Moldova was admitted to the European Council (it was the first member-state coming from the Commonwealth of Independent States, a quasi-state entity set up on the ruins of the USSR).
Many newly independent states that came from the former USSR have developed socials conflicts, including Central Asian states that have been under foreign rule during long periods of their history. Social divisions took place in Moldova too. Society was overcome with euphoria of getting independence during 1989-1991, and did not pay much heed to other problems. Then the reality set in. Independence failed to solve many of the republic’s economic problems. Currently the Moldovans are discontent with very low living standards (which are among the three lowest in Europe), and with inadequate number of new laws that are supposed to restructure economic activity in the country. On top of that Moldova has to deal with two breakaway regions, and its border dispute with Ukraine has not been resolved.
The single most important political challenge facing Moldova since its independence has been resistance to Moldavian rule and independence by two ethnic minorities. Ethnic Russians and Ukrainians who populate the east bank of the Nistru River, the so-called Transnistria region, proclaimed an independent breakaway republic that the Moldavian authorities refused to recognize. Violence erupted on the border of Transnistria and mainland Moldova in November 1990. The hostilities went on until summer of 1992. Cease-fire was declared in July 1992 and Russian troops were brought to Moldova to act as peacekeepers, though units of the Russian 14th Army, which was historically stationed in the region, allegedly supplied the Transnistrians with arms and were also alleged to support them during the hostilities. Even though the Russian troops were supposed to withdraw in 2002, the withdrawal was not completed as the troops are still enforcing peace. Moldova has been trying to use NATO to press Russia to complete the withdrawal, so far unsuccessfully.
The second breakaway region of Moldova is populated by a nation of 150,000 Gagauz, a Christian Turk nationality. Gagauz live around Komrat City in the south of the country. After independence these two minority groups became increasingly alarmed about their future and ability to keep their national and ethnic identity. Fears that Moldova would unite with Romania, as well as the adoption in 1989 of the Law on the Official Language of Moldova, which proclaimed Romanian the official language of Moldova, exacerbated feelings of marginalization of these minorities.
Some ethnic and religious groups are known to be excluded from government and social life in a number of former USSR member-republics, especially in Central Asia. Fears of marginalization and exclusion have contributed to political instability in the region rife with terrorism and crime. Moldova has seen some of that too. In particular, acts of terror were committed by extreme separatists of Transnistria. Extremists consider assassinations a legitimate means to turn this dispute into a secessionist war.
This conflict between the Moldovan government and Transnistria self-proclaimed state has led to wide-spread allegations of human rights violations on both sides. However, organized crime and drug problems in Moldova are not as striking as in other parts of the Soviet Union, especially the Central Asian region. This happens because the separatist conflict is does not spill into Moldavia’s heartland, which is relatively stabile.
The most urgent issues in Moldova are similar to those in many other states in this region and include political immaturity, social disparity, and economic problems. The problems add up and destabilize political and security situation in the country. Such situation is rightly considered the underlying cause of crime and terrorism that should be addressed by the international community.

You Can Leave Your Heart Behind In Egypt

Visiting Egypt is an experience one will never forget. Some people might even leave their hearts behind.
When one visits Egypt one focuses on the most famous landmarks, and many of them are located in Cairo. Other cities worth visiting are Ismailyia on the Suez Canal, and Alexandria with its library and seafood restaurants that have a so-called "Shirley Valentine" setting in the ocean. In Cairo, irrespective of where you stay, most of the landmarks are easily reached on bus tours
Nina Voges, author of the article, at a mosque in Cairo, Egypt.from most of the larger hotels. Local guides that are on the whole very knowledgeable, lead these tours. Most of the guides talk English, French and German, and know their country and its history quite well. Try and stick to the bus tours, especially on your first visit, as traffic in Egypt is not for the faint-hearted!
The first site on anyone's list is the pyramids. Every time one visits them they just suddenly loom out from nowhere while one is still taking in the early morning traffic and people through the fog. Apart from climbing in and "up" the pyramids themselves, seeing them stuck between the desert and an overwhelming city is very impressive. Spend some time there after the usual camel ride and attending a hawk fight and enjoy the full impact of the scenery, the desert and Egypt's amazing history. If your next stop is a visit to the museum, ignore the crowds, use all time at your disposal and absorb this ancient civilization in all its wonder. Apart from the famous exhibits like mummies and artifacts from the tombs, the rest of the displays is all well worth a long stay. If after the museum you have any energy left, take an evening cruise on one of the ship-restaurants on the Nile. While enjoying the belly dancers and music just take a look at the city lights while floating down the Nile and you will certainly admire the view.
A visit to the Citadel provides one with an insight into Egypt's more recent history. Here the mosques themselves as well as the military museum - all tell the story of Egypt's past up to yesterday.
A visitor to Egypt cannot ignore the Khan-el-Khalili, or market area. Here a wide array of goods is available ranging from copper, carpets, glass, mother-of-pearl inlays on boxes, leather goods to spices and dates. As bargaining is part of the deal and prices are changed on the go, enjoy, don't be shy to strike a conversation and get to know the people while shopping. More shops are situated in the center of town and even though they are more expensive than the flea market, the quality of goods is higher and the prices by European and US standards are still reasonable - especially for the shoes!
The author at a sphinx. Pyramids visible in the background.The traditional Egyptian food in all its colors and flavors is absolutely divine. Most hotels and restaurants sell a wide variety of pastries that are one of the Egyptian specialties and usually very good. Most international cuisines are also available, and if you feel homesick you can get a pizza or Mexican food. Do not miss out on eating Egyptian traditional food though. Fruit juices can definitely be recommended. Try mango, strawberry, and especially lemon juice.
Cairo is also known for its wonderful architecture. Ancient Islamic buildings coexist and at the same time contrast its modern Western and Islamic creations. Hotels on the Nile and beautiful opera complex are two samples of the city architecture that are worth seeing. There are many art exhibitions that run in Cairo at any given time, and some of them showcase unique Egyptian art.
Here are some practical tips for the first time travelers about money, clothes and weather. Most goods and services in Egypt are relatively cheap. In regard to when it is best to come, summers are usually hot and not recommended for visits, and the best time for travel to the country is October-November.
Clothes should fit the season. Even though Egypt is a modern and open country visitors should remember they are guests and observe at least some of the Muslim dress code for men and women. For example, women should refrain from shorts and short dresses. On a visit to the Citadel one is also required to wear something with a sleeve. Comfortable walking shoes are essential, as is good sun block and plenty of moisturizers.
The best-kept secret about Egypt is their wonderful people with magic in their souls. You feel that magic every morning as the people and their country show up from the fog clearing over the Nile, and this magic makes you want to return here again and again.