Briefly

RUSSIA

20 Czech diplomats expelled in retaliation

Russia on Sunday ordered 20 Czech diplomats to leave the country within a day in response to the Czech government's expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats. Czech Ambassador Vitezslav Pivonka was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and told that the 20 diplomats must leave by the close of Monday. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Saturday the country was expelling 18 staffers from the Russian embassy in Prague for the alleged involvement of Russian special services in two ammunition depot explosions in 2014. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Czech authorities used "unfounded and far-fetched pretexts" to continue their anti-Russian tirade in recent years and to please the United States following recent sanctions against Russia.

UNITED STATES

Half of adults receive at least one shot

Half of all adults in the US have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced on Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation's largest vaccination campaign but leaving more work to do to convince skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves. Almost 130 million people 18 or older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or 50.4 percent of the total adult population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Almost 84 million adults, or about 32.5 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated.

Helicopter takes off for first flight on Mars

NASA's experimental Mars helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin air on Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. The triumph was hailed as a Wright Brothers moment. The mini 1.8-kilogram copter named Ingenuity, in fact, carried a bit of wing fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, which made similar history in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Flight controllers in California confirmed Ingenuity's brief hop after receiving data via the Perseverance rover, which stood watch more than 65 meters away.

Xinhua - Agencies