Chinese astronauts stranded after debris hit craft return to earth
beijing: Three Chinese astronauts, who aborted their departure home after their spacecraft was hit by debris, returned to earth safely on Friday. The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said. They were scheduled to return on November 5, but their journey was postponed at the last minute after “small” space debris hit the station, according to CMSA. Official media earlier reported that the crew was unable to return on their own spacecraft after tiny cracks were found in the porthole of the Shenzhou-20’s return capsule – damage that was likely caused by the debris impact.
Clashes resume in syria’s Sweida city
damascus: A new round of clashes between Druze armed groups and government forces in the province of Sweida in southern Syrian had subsided Friday but left fears of another escalation. Clashes on Thursday led to both sides blaming each other for violating a ceasefire that ended several days of violent fighting in July. There were reports of people wounded on both sides, but no deaths reported. The National Guard, the de facto military in Sweida, accused government forces of launching an attack on the town of al-Majdal Thursday, “employing heavy and medium weapons and attack drones, in an aggressive attempt to breach our defence lines and target vital locations.” “Our forces bravely and with high combat efficiency repelled this attack, inflicting heavy losses on the attacking forces in terms of equipment and personnel,” it said in a statement.