Briefly

UNITED STATES

24 Russian diplomats ordered to leave

The Russian ambassador to the United States said that Washington had asked 24 Russian diplomats to leave the country by Sept 3 due to visa expiration. "Almost all of them will leave without replacements because Washington has abruptly tightened visa issuing procedures," Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in an interview published on Sunday. The interview came two days after the US State Department said it had laid off 182 local employees and dozens of contractors at US diplomatic facilities in Russia as requested by Moscow. US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday denied that the US is using Russian diplomats' visas to retaliate.

INDIA

Worst-hit state eases curbs as cases abate

India's industrial hub of Maharashtra state eased COVID-19 restrictions in most districts on Tuesday, including in the financial capital of Mumbai, after a steady decline in new cases. Shops, malls and parks were allowed to open for longer and offices were allowed to operate at full capacity. However, cinemas, schools and places of worship will remain closed, according to a state government notice late on Monday. Maharashtra has been the worst-affected state in India's COVID-19 outbreak, accounting for more than 6 million of the 31.7 million cases. At the peak of a second wave of infections driven by the Delta variant in April and May, state authorities imposed restrictions on movements and only let essential shops open.

EUROPE

Greece and Turkey engulfed by heat wave

A heat wave baking southeast Europe has fueled deadly wildfires in Turkey and threatened the national power grid in Greece as governments scrambled on Monday to secure the resources needed to cope with the emergency. Temperatures reached 45 C in inland areas of Greece and nearby countries and are expected to remain high for most of the week. Battling deadly wildfires along its coastline for a sixth day, Turkey broadened an appeal for international assistance and was promised water-dropping planes from the European Union. The fires have been blamed for the deaths of eight people in recent days. In Greece, the Acropolis and other ancient sites were closed on Tuesday afternoon due to the heat wave.

SPAIN

Neanderthals made cave art, study finds

Neanderthals, long perceived to have been unsophisticated and brutish, really did paint stalagmites in the dome of Cueva de Ardales in Spain more than 64,800 years ago, according to a study published in the journal PNAS on Monday. The new analysis revealed the pigments were applied through splattering and blowing. What's more, their texture did not match natural samples taken from the caves, suggesting the pigments came from an external source. More detailed dating showed that the pigments were applied at different points in time, separated by more than 10,000 years.

Agencies - Xinhua