After 6 months on Mars, NASA's tiny copter is still flying highNASA's Ingenuity helicopter, photographed on the surface of Mars by the Perseverance rover on June 15, 2021. And yet NASA's helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, has completed 12 flights and it isn't ready to retire. The tiny helicopter has become the regular travel companion of the rover Perseverance, whose core mission is to seek signs of ancient life on Mars. By way of comparison, flying a helicopter on Mars would be like flying one in the thin air nearly 30km above Earth. Since then, Ingenuity has flown as high as 12 metres, and its last flight lasted two minutes and 49 seconds.

Djokovic moves on at US Open as top-ranked Barty oustedSerbia's Novak Djokovic, chasing the first men's singles calendar-year Grand Slam in 52 years, advanced to the US Open fourth round on Saturday by defeating Japan's Kei NishikoriNEW YORK - Novak Djokovic moved within four matches of completing the first men's singles calendar-year Grand Slam in 52 years on Saturday while top-ranked Ashleigh Barty was ousted by a stunning fightback from American Shelby Rogers. World number one Djokovic defeated Kei Nishikori 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, taking his 17th consecutive victory over the Japanese star and improving to 18-2 in their overall rivalry. With a victory, Sock would be the lowest-ranked man into the US Open fourth round since 187th-ranked Ken Flach in 1987. The Swiss 11th seed will next face Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek, last year's French Open champion, who beat Estonian Anett Kontveit 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova, this year's Wimbledon runner-up and a 2016 US Open finalist, beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2.

California winemakers take wildfire-fighting into their own handsRandy Dunn checks the hose on a fire truck he has purchased to protect his vinyard from California wildfiresNAPA (UNITED STATES) - Water tanks, fire trucks and helicopters: California's Napa Valley winemakers are buying their own equipment to protect their property and their pricey vintages from wildfires. That includes the world-renowned vineyards that dot central California, producing billions of dollars in wine every year. Dunn already owned a vintage 1946 fire truck -- old, but still functional -- and has just bought a newer one. Winemakers like Dunn know that they have to work hard to protect their land. "We've done a lot of work maintaining the forest undergrowth, I think that's really, really important, more so than owning fire trucks."

'Silver bullet' Hug completes golden Paralympics sweep in marathon"Silver bullet" Marcel Hug crosses the finish line to win the men's marathon T54TOKYO - "Silver bullet" Marcel Hug cemented his place among the all-time great Paralympic athletes when he defended his T54 marathon title on Sunday for his fourth gold at Tokyo 2020. Empty," said an exhausted Hug who captured the sixth Paralympics gold of his career on the final day of the Games. Hug completed a golden sweep in all four T54 events he entered in Tokyo -- 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and the marathon. By contrast, Madison de Rozario had just a second to spare as she clung on to win the women's T54 marathon in a thrilling finish. The Australian wheelchair racer entered the stadium with a slender lead over Swiss great Manuela Schaer, who took silver, with Nikita den Boer of the Netherlands in third.

From rescues to romance: Top moments at Tokyo's ParalympicsTokyo's Paralympic mascot Someity was plastered across the city during the Games, which end SundayTOKYO - A secret evacuation from Kabul, a new British record and a post-race proposal -- there was no shortage of memorable moments at Tokyo's Paralympics, held after a year-long pandemic postponement. - Fencing's 'Bebe' defends title -Fencing icon Beatrice "Bebe" Vio, one of the world's best-known Paralympians, defended her Rio gold in scintillating form. "Not in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be coming away with a Paralympic gold medal," said Britain's Stuart Robinson. After her women's C4-5 road race victory in treacherous cool, wet and foggy conditions, Storey said she felt "a bit overwhelmed". "Now I have an additional motivation to carry on after the Games, always with him by my side."

(Photo: Apichit Jinakul)Thailand logged 15,452 new Covid-19 cases and 224 more fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Sunday morning. The number of active cases in Thailand has fallen every day for the past three weeks. Since April 1, when the third wave of Covid-19 began, Thailand has treated 1,251,671 Covid-19 patients, 1,088,148 of whom have recovered to date. The kingdom’s all-time 24-hour high of Covid-19 fatalities was 312 recorded on Aug 18. Global Covid-19 cases rose by 477,575 in 24 hours to some 221 million.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner deliveries not likely to resume until late OctoberDreamliner deliveries were suspended for much of the past year, after Boeing uncovered manufacturing defects. NEW YORK - Deliveries of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, suspended since May, likely won't resume until the end of October amid disagreements with US safety regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Dreamliner deliveries were suspended for much of the past year, including between last November and March, after Boeing uncovered manufacturing defects. According to the Wall Street Journal, Boeing held a meeting in August with Federal Aviation Administration officials, but the two sides could not agree on the method of quality-assurance for the Dreamliner. Boeing vowed to continue efforts to resume deliveries.

Anonymous Myanmar photographer wins major photojournalism awardA worker hangs photos for the exhibition 'Anonymous photographer in Myanmar' ahead of the 'Visa pour l'Image' international photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France. PERPIGNAN, France: A Myanmar photographer won the top award Saturday at photojournalism's biggest annual festival for his coverage of the troubled nation's pro-democracy protests and bloody military crackdown. Mikko Takkunen, the Asia photo editor for The New York Times, collected the prize on behalf of the photographer. Takkunen said the photographer dedicated the prize to his peers in his country who are working under extremely difficult conditions. The anonymous photographer said in a message that he was "on the streets every day since February 1.

Cantlay leads Rahm by two at Tour ChampionshipAmerican Patrick Cantlay has a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the US PGA Tour Championship. WASHINGTON: Patrick Cantlay drained a 23-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to stretch his lead to two strokes over top-ranked Jon Rahm Saturday at the US PGA Tour Championship. Rahm, who started the event four strokes behind Cantlay, had three birdies and a bogey in a two-under 68 that put him at 18-under par. Cantlay said his closing birdie was "big for momentum" as he chases the title and $15 million jackpot for the winner of the playoffs. Rahm said he was looking forward to a last-group duel with Cantlay -- but he wasn't discounting Thomas.

He confronted Phra Nu, as he was known before he left the monkhood, in the hours after the incident, and punched him. A photograph taken by the husband shows Phra Nu trying to cover his face. CCTV footage shows Phra Nu, who was wearing shorts and white T-shirt, fleeing the motel room across the motel compound. The former abbot's mother, Sawai, aged 70, who lives in Ban Phaeo district, denied her son had taken shelter there. He denied Phra Nu had left the monkhood at his own temple as his mother claimed.

Europe rally to dominate US in Solheim CupWorld number one Nelly Korda lines up a putt for the United States on the opening day of the Solheim Cup competition against Europe. NEW YORK: Europe edged into a three-point lead over the United States at the Solheim Cup on Saturday as a controversial ruling helped world number one Nelly Korda and Ally Ewing grab a crucial victory. That handed Europe captain Catriona Matthew's team a commanding 3 1/2 point to 1/2 point lead before the afternoon fourballs were squared at two wins apiece. It means Europe will take a 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 lead into Sunday's second day of foursomes and fourballs. Then on the par-five 13th, Korda saw her curling putt for an eagle to win the hole finish on the lip of the cup.

When great debate went into extra timeNo-confidence debates like that taking place during the past week have become something of a tradition in Thailand, but it is rare for them to be successful. The government was wobbling and a no-confidence debate had been called. Reacting swiftly to the situation a leading opposition spokesman suddenly announced a postponement of the debate. Back in 1997 while fielding in an exhibition game in Toronto, Pakistan cricketer Inzaman-ul-Haq was visibly upset after repeatedly being called a "fat potato" by a loud spectator. No one ever called him a "fat potato" again.

Time for tourism policy rethinkLast Wednesday, residents of dark-red zone provinces made a dash to restaurants and shopping malls after lockdown restrictions were eased. While learning to live with the virus is important, equally as important is the need to resume tourism in some format. If Thailand is serious about living with Covid-19, it needs to overhaul its international tourism strategy to reflect that change. Mexico is a good example of a country that has seen tourism numbers surge over the summer. A centralised policy needs to be established with attractive entry options for the entire country rather than half-baked measures for "safe" tourism zones.

(Reuters file photo)The Chinese embassy in Thailand says critics of the Chinese-made Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine are undermining Beijing's good intentions of helping Thailand fight the outbreak. The developer of the Sinovac vaccine is studying new variants of the coronavirus and testing the vaccine on these mutated strains. "The Chinese embassy urges them to stop this serious wrongdoing (devaluing the Sinovac vaccine and misguiding the public about it)," the embassy said. "Some of the information presented by the opposition about the quality of the Sinovac vaccine contained errors," he added. The quality of the Sinovac vaccine was criticised when the opposition accused Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of mismanaging vaccine procurements.

Cops nab drug gangster tied to Chon Buri bustPolice have arrested an alleged member of a drug transnational network that was behind the heroin smuggling at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri on July 5. Ms Tukta was quoted telling police that Mr Aek ordered her to rent a warehouse in Pathum Thani, and Mr Anont gave her the money. After the raid, she was told to relocate the rest of the heroin to Phitsanulok and Nong Khai provinces. A joint team of ONCB, Phitsanulok drug suppression and Sai Yoi police raided a house in Noen Maprang district and seized paint buckets. Mr Anont was arrested on Thursday and faced charges of attempting to send Type 1 narcotics from the kingdom and possessing drugs with intent to distribute, Mr Wichai said.