Briefly

UNITED STATES

SpaceX sends four astronauts to ISS

After a series of delays, Elon Musk's private company SpaceX sent four astronauts, including the 600th person to reach space in 60 years, to the International Space Station on Wednesday night on the Crew-3 mission. The orbital outpost is currently operating with just one NASA astronaut in the US segment to welcome the incoming crew, after the astronauts of the earlier Crew-2 mission splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday night. Crew-3's Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn of the United States and Matthias Maurer of Germany blasted off aboard a Crew Dragon capsule fixed to a Falcon 9 rocket at 9:03 pm local time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

IRAN

Teheran says lifting curbs key for talks

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said on Wednesday that the upcoming Vienna talks must focus on the lifting of sanctions against Iran. "Just let me insist on this: We are not holding nuclear talks, since the nuclear issue was fully agreed in 2015, in the form of the agreement between Iran and the P5+1," Bagheri Kani told Iran's IRIB state TV after his meeting with Philippe Errera, a French official, in Paris. The main issue to be discussed is the consequences of the US abandonment of the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said Bagheri Kani.

SOUTH ASIA

Heavy rains expected to ease after 25 killed

Heavy rains that killed at least 25 people in southern India and Sri Lanka are likely to ease in the next few days, weather forecasters said on Thursday. The Indian Meteorological Department forecast light to moderate rain in most affected areas, with occasional flooding of roads and low-lying areas in some places. "The worst is over and occasional rains will happen," said Pradeep John, an amateur forecaster. The rain, brought by a low pressure, killed 20 people in the neighboring island nation of Sri Lanka, officials said on Wednesday. Five people were killed in Tamil Nadu.

Agencies - Xinhua