Rail Travel news.

Yesterday's explosion in Moscow has been followed by another terrorist attack today: a school has been seized in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. Children and their parents, approximately 120 people who were in the school to mark the beginning of the new school year, have been taken hostage. This attack came after the recent explosion near Moscow's Kashirskoye metro station and the August 24 explosions on two planes, which, when taken together, paint a gloomy picture. "In essence, a war has been declared on us, with an invisible enemy and no front line," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has stated.

In such circumstances, people easily find guilty parties. Everyone is talking about law enforcers, Islam and the Chechens. However, this is only partially accurate, at the very least because the problem of modern terrorism is encountered worldwide. The Brigade Islambuli, which is not based in Russia, has claimed responsibility for yesterday's terrorist attack near Rizhskaya metro station. This brigade has already claimed it was behind the loss of the two Russian airliners. President Putin has stated that extremists linked to al-Qaeda might also have been involved in the air crashes.

Therefore, the latest explosion in Moscow and the attack on the school in North Ossetia are unfortunately mere episodes in the protracted war between modern civilisation and a new challenge - international terrorism. Russia was not alone in being unprepared to face this challenge. The majority of the industrialised countries are not ready to counteract terrorism effectively, though they are investing great efforts in this cause. Even huge sums of money and advanced technologies are not enough to solve this problem.

Suicide bombers have become one of the most hideous weapons of international terrorism. Even the most experienced counter-terrorist experts, the Israelis, do not yet know how to combat this evil. As Moscow reverberated to the sounds of yesterday's explosion, suicide bombers targeted buses in Israel.

Nor is classical Islam prepared for an effective struggle against terrorism. Armed people in a mosque, and explosives at Muslim cemeteries (this has happened more than once in Chechnya and now in Iraq) show how far Islamic radicals have departed from the Koran.

The so-called Chechen trace more often than not leads to other countries rather than Grozny, and not only because the Brigade Islambuli has claimed responsibility for the latest terrorist attacks. Suicide bombers come from Chechnya, but are not trained there, as encouraging a woman to kill is not typical for the Chechen people. Making women into zombie-like suicide bombers, financing their training and organising terrorist attacks all began abroad, where suicide bombers are usually trained.

Russia is only part of the vast territory where the war on terrorism is being waged. This is obviously a protracted but, unfortunately, not a very successful war. Modern civilisation is only forging an effective weapon against the new evil. Moreover, the efforts of the anti-terrorist coalition remain uncoordinated and split by differences. Those on the front line suffer the most. The countries of Europe that have not yet come under any terrorist attacks one day criticise Israel, then next the Russians for Chechnya (though the situation has long drastically changed there), and then turn their ire on the Americans. The latter condemn Spain for "deserting Iraq", and then grant political asylum to Ilyas Akhmadov, a former foreign minister of the so-called Ichkerian republic. London has also given asylum to Akhmed Zakayev, a leader of the Chechen separatists and terrorists, in a clear demonstration of double standards. So the front line lies between the anti-terrorist coalition members. The war on terrorism cannot be won this way.

Russia is not going to surrender and will fight the enemy both by using force and with political methods. The political process in Chechnya will undoubtedly be continued. According to President Putin, "We are ready for a dialogue with all the forces, except for terrorists and separatists."

The recent presidential elections in Chechnya, where 80% of the voters came to the polls, clearly indicated that the republic supports the federal centre, which is already a serious force in the war on terror.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has provided a USD 120 million loan to the State Railway Transport Administration or Ukrzaliznytsia.

The loan agreement was signed on Tuesday by EBRD transport department director Riccardo Puliti and Ukrzaliznytsia deputy director general Serhii Horylei.

The loan is given for 15 years at the LIBOR+1% interest rate.

Ukrzaliznytsia will spend in the following way: USD 40 million on reconstruction of the Beskidskyi Tunnel, Zakarpattia region; USD 29 million on purchase of equipment that would help it to keep track facilities in good condition; USD 51 million on purchase of passenger cars for fast speed trains plying at 160 KPH.

This money is the second EBRD's loan to Ukrzaliznytsia.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the EBRD board of directors decided on June 23 to grant a loan of USD 120 million to Ukrzaliznytsia.

In 1999, the EBRD credited Ukrzaliznytsia with USD 51.9 million under the USD 110.9 million worth of project for improving the state of railways.

As the 28th Olympic Games in Athens ended, the Ukrainian national team medal haul totaled 23 medals - 9 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze. According to the report of the organizational committee of the Olympics Ukraine ranks the 12th in the general team record.
The gold medals were won by Yana Klochkova (two medals - 200m and 400m Individual Medley swimming), Yuriy Bilonoh (athletics, shot put), Valeriy Honcharov (gymnastics, parallel bars), Yuriy Nikitin (trampoline), Olena Kostevych (shooting), Natalia Skakun (weightlifting), Irini Merlini (wrestling), and Elbrus Tedeev (wrestling).
The silver medals were won by Roman Hontyuk (judo), Anna Kalinina, Svetlana Mateusheva, Ruslana Taran (sailing), Olena Krasovska (athletics), Ihor Razorenov (weightlifting), Rodion Luka and Heorhiy Leonchuk (sailing).
The bronze medals went to Vladislav Tretyak (fencing), Andriy Serdinov (swimming), Dmytro Hrachov, Viktor Ruban, Oleksandr Serdyuk (arching), Serhiy Hrin, Serhiy Bilyuschenko, Oleh Lukov, Leonid Shaposhnikov (rowing), Inna Osipenko, Tetyana Semikina, Anna Balabanova, Olena Cherevatova (rowing), Tetyana Tereschuk-Antipova (athletics), Viktoria Stepina (athletics) and also women handball team.

There have been four postal stamps recently released in Ukraine, which are not of an ordinary kind. Their theme is Rest & Tourism and each one bears a picture of a historical or cultural landmark. The stamps of this theme are released annually under the aegis of the international organization Post Europe. The member states have the right to join the campaign held by this organization, and aimed at developing friendly relations among nations, and at developing postal business and philately. Within the framework of this campaign, the member states release stamps devoted to the general theme and then the best stamp is determined through an international contest.

It was the first time Ukraine joined such a contest. The four stamps count, in fact, as one, and they

have been released in two formats — as a block of stamps and as a souvenir booklet. A special envelope has also been released to go with the new stamps. Also, a special postage stamp will be used to stamp the envelopes with.

The four-stamp composition is united by a wreath of flowers into which pictures representing the well-known places of Ukraine are artfully fitted — The Swallow’s Nest Castle in Crimea; a Carpathian mountainscape; The Khotyn Fortress in Podillya, and The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery. Special measures were taken to prevent forgeries — the paint that reacts to the ultraviolet radiation; microtext with the names of the artists — Mariya Heyko, designer, and Yury Buslenko, photographer; incidentally, Yury Buslenko’s photographs often grace the pages of Mizhnarodny Turyzm and Welcome to Ukraine magazines.

The new Ukrainian postal stamps with the logo Europa will surely become the collectors’ items all around the world. Hopefully, it will encourage tourism to Ukraine.

 
The pictures in the stamps (from left to right) show:
Swallow’s Nest Castle in Crimea; Khotyn Fortress;
a river in the Carpathians; Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery.

Ukraine said Thursday it was strengthening security measures at its airports after the crashes Tuesday night of two Russian civilian flights and suggestions that terrorism might have been a cause.

A total of 89 people died in the crashes which took place almost simultaneously.

Measures include closer scrutiny of luggage, passengers and vehicles parked at airports, the country's aviation department told the Interfax news agency.

Other measures are being kept confidential.