ITALIAN EMBASSY UNVEILS CARRA EXHIBITION
RUSSIAN CUTS CUSTOMS POINTS FROM 15 TO 4
THE LEONIDS THROUGH THE AGES
HAZAR COULD INVEST US $78 MN INTO ODESA
ODESA. A delegation from Hazar construction company of Turkey is due to visit Odesa to hold talks on implementing a US $78mn investment project in the city. The news was revealed by the head of the city council's foreign economic development unit Konstiantyn Rzhepishevskyi March 10. He noted Hazar has to build a 5-star hotel in Odesa, a fun park and a cinema on condition the city lease land for the project on a long-term basis. The receiving а В + international credit rating guaranties the success of the project.
COMET P55/TEMPEL-TUTTLE and its associated Leonids meteor storm have long been known to astronomers, but have a tendency to disappear for extensive stretches of time. The comet probably crossed Earth's orbit for the first time in 868 A.D., say astronomers. The first written account comes from Chinese astronomers in 902 A.D. Through the centuries, witnesses continued to record the appearances of the Leonids storm in awestruck terms. «Stars fell like rain,» reads one account. Observers generally failed to notice the cyclical nature of the event, however.
Following a particularly intense Leonids storm in 1833, in which 240,000 meteors per hour were estimated to have fallen over Boston during a 9-hour period, interest in the Leonids picked up. In fact, the Leonids storm is credited with sparking the formation of a religious revival movement that swept the United States in the 1830s.
In 1866, Ernst Tempel and Horace Tuttle calculated the comet's orbit to be every 33.3 years. That same year, the Leonids startled Europe with another intensive storm, proving the accuracy of Tempers and Tuttle's calculations. Then, inexplicably, the Leonids storm faded from view for the next 100 years.
MOSCOW. According to a report from Ukrainian News, the Russian government has reduced the number of customs border points at the Russian-Ukrainian border through which Ukraine can export goods like alcohol and cigarettes. The number has been cut from 15 to 4 and comes in the wake of protests from Russian domestic producers who are afraid that VAT-free goods from Ukraine will compete unfairly. VAT on goods between the two countries was scrapped Feb.
KYIV. The Italian Embassy and Ministry of Culture have teamed up to unveil an art exhibition of the works of Carlo Carra. The exhibition will run one week before heading to L'viv. This is the first event held by the Italian Embassy in accordance with the co-operation agreement it signed with Ukraine's Culture Ministry.