Say WOW

Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

 
All-Star debut moment? Look to Morant, Ball...
The NBA All-Star Game seems to be tailor-made for Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball. The flashy point guards are sitting atop the leaderboard when looking to see which of the seven first-time All-Stars will deliver a memorable moment during the league’s annual showcase on Sunday. “Melo’s game is perfect for an All-Star Game,” said Miles Bridges, who has been on the receiving end of numerous highlight reel, no-look passes from his Charlotte Hornets teammate the past two seasons. “He...

Read More

Clippers’ Norman Powell out indefinitely with foot...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Newly acquired Norman Powell is out indefinitely for the Los Angeles Clippers with a broken bone in his left foot. The team said Sunday that he fractured the medial sesamoid bone in his foot in Thursday’s loss at Dallas and no surgery is planned at this time. Powell joins injured All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the sidelines. Leonard has yet to play this season while recovering from offseason surgery on a torn ACL...

Read More

Kupp’s late TD lifts Rams over Bengals...
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — In a venue built for champions, the Los Angeles Rams carried off the crown jewel: a Super Bowl trophy. It took a precise 79-yard drive capped by Cooper Kupp’s 1-yard touchdown reception with 1:25 remaining for a 23-20 victory Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals to give the Rams their first NFL title since the 1999 season — and their first representing Los Angeles since 1951. “Those guys just did a great job,” coach Sean McVay...

Read More

 
Super Bowl: 50 Cent hangs upside down,...
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — 50 CENT SURPRISES, EMINEM TAKES A KNEE AT HALFTIME 50 Cent made a surprise upside-down entrance at the Super Bowl halftime show, and Eminem dramatically took a knee. The show brought about as much hip-hop as a stadium can hold, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar spitting a fiery medley of their hits. As his rendition of “Lose Yourself” ended, Eminem took a knee and held his head in...

Read More

Golden moment: Jackson 1st Black woman speedskating...
BEIJING (AP) — Erin Jackson bolted off the line, her powerful legs attacking the ice, her destiny awaiting at the end of a frenetic dash around Beijing’s magnificent speedskating oval. She didn’t view herself as some sort of trailblazer. She didn’t think about the slip that could’ve snatched away her spot on the U.S. Olympic team. She simply wanted to go faster than everyone else. “I came here to win,” the 29-year-old said. Mission accomplished. Jackson became first Black...

Read More

Erin Jackson of US 1st Black woman...
BEIJING (AP) — Erin Jackson has become the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics. A gold one, at that. Jackson won the 500 meters Sunday with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first medal of the Beijing Games and first individual medal since 2010. But this one meant much more than national pride. The 29-year-old Jackson, a former inline skater who switched to the ice shortly before the...

Read More

 
Flights to Ukraine halted or redirected as...
MOSCOW (AP) — Some airlines have canceled or diverted flights to Ukraine amid warnings from the West that an invasion by Russia is imminent despite intensive weekend talks between Moscow and Washington. In an hourlong call Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden said an invasion of Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said. It offered...

Read More

Drake was a star among A-listers at...
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Among the stars, Drake still shined the brightest. In an all-white outfit, the multi-Grammy winner had many concertgoers jostling for position to watch him perform at the Super Bowl-week party dubbed “Homecoming Weekend” on Saturday night. He made a dramatic entrance, darting down an aisle before performing center stage under an airy tent at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. The crowd included several entertainers and athletes such as Issa Rae, a...

Read More

Czech Republic 6, ROC 5 OT
Czech Republic 6, ROC 5 OT Czech Republic 1 2 2 1 — 6 ROC 1 1 3 0 — 5 First Period_1, ROC, Vladimir Tkachyov (Nikita Gusev, Nikita Nesterov), 04:51. 2, Czech Republic, Tomas Kundratek (Roman Cervenka, Matej Stransky), 12:37 (pp). Penalties_Tomas Hyka, Czech Republic (hooking); Alexander Yelesin, ROC (interference); Damir Sharipzyanov, ROC (cross-checking); Lukas Klok, Czech Republic (slashing); Dmitri Voronkov, ROC (slashing). Second Period_3, ROC, Nikita Nesterov (Nikita Gusev, Sergei Plotnikov), 32:19 (pp). 4, Czech Republic, David...

Read More

 
US aims to counter China by opening...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. says it will open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, laying out in unusually blunt terms a plan to increase its influence in the South Pacific nation before China becomes “strongly embedded.” The reasoning was explained in a State Department notification to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press. It came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Fiji on Saturday midway through a Pacific tour that began in...

Read More

Why cage-free eggs becoming norm: It’s what...
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Without much fuss and even less public attention, the nation’s egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains. In a decade, the percentage of hens in cage-free housing has soared from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and that figure is expected to more than double to about...

Read More

Super Bowl ads look toward the future...
NEW YORK (AP) — Super Bowl advertisers this year want Americans to forget about pandemic woes and focus on the future: of electric vehicles, mind reading Alexas, robots and cryptocurrency — and also to harken back to the nostalgic past of ’90s movies like “Austin Powers” and “The Cable Guy.” The Los Angeles Rams are taking on the Cincinnati Bengals during Super Bowl 56 on Sunday at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. But for many, the big show...

Read More

 
Boston helps No. 1 South Carolina hold...
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Needing something to keep the outcome intact, Aliyah Boston made the critical play that helped South Carolina keep rolling with a hard-earned road win. Boston had 14 points and 15 rebounds, including a key free throw before making a steal late that helped the top-ranked Gamecocks get past Kentucky 59-50 on Thursday night for their 10th consecutive victory. The Gamecocks (22-1, 10-1 Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 18 points early in the fourth...

Read More

The Latest: Packers QB Aaron Rodgers wins...
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on NFL awards: Give Aaron Rodgers a fourth AP Most Valuable Player Award. The Green Bay quarterback who led the Packers to the best record in the NFL during the 2021 season, became the second player with at least four NFL MVPs; Peyton Manning won it five times. Following offseason turmoil surrounding whether Rodgers wanted to play in Green Bay, then one of his worst career performances in an opening loss to New...

Read More

Well-Read Black Girl to help launch new...
NEW YORK (AP) — The world of Well-Read Black Girl, and founder Glory Edim, keeps growing. What began in 2015 as an Instagram book club and a phrase on a T-shirt given to Edim by her boyfriend is now a newsletter, literary festival, podcast and the basis for two published anthologies. On Thursday, Liveright Publishing Corporation and Well-Read Black Girl announced a partnership for a literary series dedicated to debut fiction by women and non-binary authors, “with a focus...

Read More