Vostochny / AFP Russia launched the first rocket from its new Vostochny cosmodrome on Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin hailing the event after dressing down officials over a delay caused by a technical glitch. The launch is a major milestone for Russia’s beleaguered space sector, with the new spaceport in the far east of the country touted to mark …

  New Delhi / AFP Chinese dissident Lu Jinghua said Thursday New Delhi cancelled her visa to travel to India to meet the Dalai Lama, just days after another Chinese activist was blocked after protest from Beijing. Lu, who fled China following the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, said she had been granted a tourist visa to travel from her …

  Forecasters are far from bullish, but analysts suggest the worst may be over for emerging markets following a rally in commodities and currencies. In its latest ‘World Economic Outlook’ report, the International Monetary Fund revised down its forecasts for global growth to just 3.2 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2017, citing only a modest pickup in advanced …