Russian Soyuz blasts off for International Space Station

A Russian rocket carrying a three-man crew has blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS).

The Soyuz spaceship set off from Kazakhstan at 02:40 GMT on Sunday with Russian, Japanese and American astronauts on board.

They are set to dock with the ISS, a $100bn research complex orbiting around 385km (240m) above Earth, early on Tuesday.

Janey Mitchell reports.