Russia’s Medvedev fires space agency chief

   MOSCOW, Oct 12:  – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the country’s space agency (Roskosmos) chief Vladimir Popovkin on Thursday, three months after the latest botched satellite launch. ‘I hope that a number of problems that we have unfortunately seen in Roskosmos’ activity will be overcome with your appointment,’ Medvedev told Popovkin’s successor to the post, former deputy defence minister Oleg Ostapenko. (agencies)