Russian cosmonauts set for launch to International Space Station

Three Russian cosmonauts were due for launch on Friday to the International Space Station (ISS), continuing a two-decade-plus shared Russian-US presence aboard the orbiting outpost despite heightened terrestrial tensions between Moscow and Washington.

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying the new cosmonaut team was set for lift-off at 1555 GMT (11:55 a.m. Eastern time) from Russia’s Baikonur…