Briefly

RUSSIA

Putin assures Vucic of sufficient gas supplies

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic discussed the delivery of Russian natural gas to Serbia during a phone conversation on Saturday. Both countries have organized work to ensure stable supplies of heat and energy to Serbian households and industries, they said, according to the Kremlin. The promise of sufficient gas supplies was made amid a natural gas shortage and rising energy prices in Europe, it said. During the phone call, Putin and Vucic agreed to maintain contacts and continue working together at different levels.

FRENCH GUIANA

Telescope begins trek seeking universe's roots

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on Saturday, in a mission to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore the solar system. It launched onboard Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket, will travel to an orbit about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth and undergo six months of commissioning, unfolding its mirrors, sun shield and other smaller systems, cooling down, aligning and calibrating. Ground teams began receiving telemetry data from Webb about five minutes after launch. The rocket performed as expected, separating from the observatory 27 minutes into the flight.

Xinhua - Agencies