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Iran, which gave contracts to publishers in China to print copies of the Quran, has said the books are full of spelling mistakes, the Mehr news agency reported. Several Iranian publishers had asked for copies of the Quran to be published in China. However, the copies came back littered with spelling mistakes, said Ahmad Haji-Sharif, director of the department of evaluation on publication of the Holy Quran. The copies were cheaply made in China but are being sold in Iran for much more than they are really worth, he said. He said that if a customer finds out that the...

In the middle of February, Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish Frenchman, was lured into the hands of kidnappers by a pretty female decoy. Assuming that he was rich because he was Jewish, Ilan was held for an initial ransom of over $500,000 -- an amount later lowered to $6,000 when it became clear to the kidnappers that Ilan's family was not as well off as their racist assumptions imagined. (See story at Killing in France Seen as 'Wake-Up Call' - Washington Post) But, this isn't just a prosaic kidnapping for ransom story, unfortunately. For this gang that took Ilan is...

WASHINGTON - A NASA safety engineer warned days before Columbia broke apart that he feared the shuttle was at risk for a devastating breach near its left wheel, and he suggested people in the U.S. space agency weren't adequately considering the threat. "We can't imagine why getting information is being treated like the plague," the engineer wrote in one of a number of e-mails released Friday that describe greater concerns about Columbia's safety in the days before its breakup. Other documents NASA released show that Columbia may have been struck by as many as three large chunks of foam that...

February 12th, 2003 Col. Ilan Ramon Laid to Rest Col. Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, was buried yesterday in Nahalal Cemetery in northern Israel with full military honors. Family members, high-ranking IDF and Israel Air Force personnel and dozens of his friends accompanied Col. Ramon's coffin on its last journey. The ceremony was modest as per the family's request and Heads of State, members of the public and the media were asked to stay away. The IDF Chief of the General Staff, the Commander of the Israel Air Force and the former President of Israel, Eizer Weizman, were present at...

In space, John Lennon's song "Imagine" was one of the astronaut wake-up calls. Tuesday, it was the tune by which Israel's first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, was finally laid to rest. Ramon, one of seven who died aboard the the shuttle Columbia when it broke apart on February 1, was memorialized on Monday after his coffin landed in Israel at a national ceremony broadcast around the world. He was laid to rest Tuesday at a private, low-key military ceremony at Moshav Nahalal's cemetery, where some of the giants in Israeli history, including war hero Moshe Dayan, are buried. The media...

The Israeli Air Force saluted their fallen fighter pilot and astronaut Col. Ilan Ramon today with a flyover of four F-16s above his burial site just as his funeral came to an end. As the planes flew in formation toward the Nahalal cemetery in northern Israel, one of them veered off to the right as it passed the burial ground. Moments beforehand three rounds of gunfire reverberated though the Galilee hills, signifying the end of the hourlong funeral. A policeman at a roadblock set up to keep the public away from the site, in keeping with the family's wishes, bowed...

February 11th, 2003 Tribute to Israel's Space Pioneer Col. Ilan Ramon's remains were identified by NASA on Febuary 5, 2003 and yesterday, Febuary 10, his flag draped coffin was flown home to Israel. A morose ceremony was held in Lod Air Force Base, with Ilan's family, Israeli politicians, Army leadership, NASA representatives and schoolchildren present. Eight of Col. Ramon's fellow air force colonels carried his coffin into the hanger, as Col. Ramon's son, Assaf, wearing his father's bright blue NASA flight jacket, wrapped his arms around his younger brother, whilst wiping tears from his eyes. Rona Ramon, Ilan's wife, held...

Israeli leaders eulogized the country's first astronaut Monday evening in a memorial ceremony that took place shortly after Ilan Ramon's remains were flown home from the United States in a coffin. "We could not have had a better and more fitting representative" than Ramon, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said at the ceremony, which took place at the Lod Air Force base. “His image, projected from above, was the reflection of Israel at its best – Israel as we would have liked to see it – the Israel we love.” The items that Ramon brought into the shuttle instilled pride in...

February 7th, 2003 Col. Ilan Ramon's Last Article Over the past three years Col. Ilan Ramon sent 19 articles to the Israeli Air Force's newspaper in which he described his experiences and training in preparation for his mission aboard the space shuttle Columbia. His articles were published under the heading: "From the Diary of an Astronaut". The following is a translation of Col. Ramon's last article, published in December 2002. "Hello everybody. This past week the space shuttle "Endeavor" blasted off into space, and now here we are again, 'Prime Crew', that is to say, we are the crew that...

It has taken me several days to understand what I want to say about Ilan Ramon. Beyond the traditional role of Western hero - the adventuring astronaut who embodies the Western world´s idea of courage, someone who dares to pioneer the limits of human understanding and human capability - there was something more. It is that "more" that has been so hard to define. But finally, I think I do understand. The Jewish people sent Ilan Ramon as its representative, to join hands with the world in exploring a new frontier for the betterment and enlightenment of mankind. Despite the...

Israel's military attach to the United States, Colonel Moshe Ivri-Sukenik, on Wednesday said Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the explosion of NASA space shuttle Columbia, will be laid to rest in Israel on Tuesday. Ramon is to be honored with a full military burial, Ivri-Sukenik said. Also Wednesday, the Israeli memorial center for the Nazi Holocaust opened an exhibit to show the original of a drawing copy Ramon carried into space. The drawing was made by a 14-year-old boy who was later killed in a Nazi camp. Ramon's remains will be flown to Israel next week. NASA...

A charred piece of an Israeli Air Force flag that Israeli Astronaut Ilan Ramon took with him into space has been found in the Texas countryside, according to reports today. NASA officials said they were aware that Ramon had taken IAF paraphernalia along with him on the voyage, particularly symbols such as the flag.

Remains of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon have been recovered in one of the debris fields in the southwestern US and a funeral is expected to be held in Israel next week, media reports said. An IDF attache in the US has informed the Ramon family of the find, which NASA has confirmed. The reports follow news that a charred piece of an Israeli Air Force flag, which Ramon took with him aboard the Columbia shuttle, has been found in Texas.