US-Russian crew returns to Earth from ISS

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts touched down safely on the Kazakhstan steppe on Thursday, completing a 196-day mission that began with the first launch under lockdown conditions.

Nasa astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner landed around 150 kilometres southeast of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan at 0254 GMT, footage broadcast by the Russian space agency Roscosmos showed.

The three-man crew had blasted off minus the unusual fanfare in April with around half the world’s population living under national lockdowns.