Briefly

RUSSIA

Putin, Macron discuss migrant crisis, Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, in which the leaders discussed issues including the EU-Belarus migrant crisis and the situation in Ukraine. While discussing the situation on the border between Belarus and the European Union, Putin spoke in favor of direct dialogue between representatives from EU member states and Minsk, the Kremlin said. The two leaders further exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. Putin "provided specific examples of violations by Kiev of the Minsk agreements, which is the only viable path toward overcoming the internal Ukraine crisis", the Kremlin said.

UNITED STATES

NASA craft 'touches' sun for first time

A NASA spacecraft has officially "touched" the sun, plunging through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona. Scientists announced the news on Tuesday during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The Parker Solar Probe actually flew through the corona in April during the spacecraft's eighth close approach to the sun. Scientists said it took a few months to get the data back and then several more months to confirm. "Fascinatingly exciting," said project scientist Nour Raouafi of Johns Hopkins University. Launched in 2018, Parker was 13 million kilometers from the center of the sun when it first crossed the jagged, uneven boundary between the solar atmosphere and outgoing solar wind. The spacecraft dipped in and out of the corona at least three times, each a smooth transition.

Zebras caught after months on the run

Two zebras that had been on the run for months in the countryside outside Washington have finally been caught, an official said on Tuesday. The pair had escaped from an exotic animal farm in Maryland at the end of August and eluded numerous attempts to capture them, their escapade enthralling local residents and media. Prince George's County, where the pair had been running free, announced several weeks ago that it planned to use "food and other zebras" to try to lure the striped fugitives back to the exotic animal farm.

Agencies - Xinhua