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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.

 
Golden Globe Awards carry on, without stars...
The Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood’s so-called biggest party that regularly drew 18 million television viewers, was reduced to a live-blog Sunday night for its 79th edition. The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association proceeded with its film awards Sunday night without a telecast, nominees, a red carpet, a host, press or even a livestream. Instead, members of the HFPA and some recipients of the group’s philanthropic grants gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a 90-minute private event, announcing the...

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Chock and Bates top Hubbell and Donohue...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Madison Chock and Evan Bates answered a passionate, near-flawless performance by Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue with a mesmerizing, out-of-this-world show of their own Saturday night to win their third ice dance title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. With Chock portraying an alien in haute couture, and real-life partner Bates an astronaut, the couple danced their way through a medley by French electronic duo Daft Punk to earn a career-best 227.37 points and a...

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Indy Autonomous Challenge race at CES pushes...
Automotive technology has grown so much over recent years that the CES auto event at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall has become recognized as one of the largest auto shows in the world. At a recently concluded celebration of technological innovation, attendees witnessed the  introduction of visionary new features, such as the color-changing BMW iX Flow, Cadillac’s InnerSpace automotive theater (for when self-driving cars become a reality), LG’s Omnipod “office in a car” and more. But while...

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Space telescope’s ‘golden eye’ opens, last major...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new space telescope opened its huge, gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror Saturday, the final step in the observatory’s dramatic unfurling. The last portion of the 21-foot (6.5-meter) mirror swung into place at flight controllers’ command, completing the unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope. “I’m emotional about it. What an amazing milestone. We see that beautiful pattern out there in the sky now,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s science missions chief. More powerful than the Hubble...

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Hardaway leads Mavericks to 130-106 win over...
HOUSTON (AP) — Tim Hardaway Jr. had 19 points and seven assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 130-106 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night despite missing two stars and their head coach. Dallas was without Luka Doncic, who was sidelined with a right ankle sprain, and Kristaps Porzingis, who missed his fourth straight game in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Dallas was also missing coach Jason Kidd, who entered the health and safety protocols...

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Cunane, No. 5 Wolfpack women beat No....
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Wes Moore wanted more from his fifth-ranked North Carolina State team on defense, so much so that he was downright grumpy in practices before facing an unbeaten rival. Considering the way the Wolfpack dominated the opening quarter, maybe he should stick to that approach. N.C. State overwhelmed No. 19 North Carolina 72-45 on Thursday night, with leading scorer Elissa Cunane contributing 19 points and 13 rebounds. It was an impressive win that displayed the Wolfpack’s...

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Ex-NBA stars get behind revamped East Asian...
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Baron Davis, Metta World Peace and Shane Battier have spent time in Asia helping build the profile of basketball, and their base of fans. Now they’re buying in. The East Asia Super League ambassadors are touting the revamped championship to be a “game changer” in the region. Davis, a two-time NBA All-Star, said the home-and-away format set to launch in October can be the impetus for East Asian countries to eventually be Olympic medal contenders...

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Governor to pardon Plessy, of ‘separate but...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s governor planned to posthumously pardon Homer Plessy on Wednesday, more than a century after the Black man was arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the courts to overthrow a Jim Crow law that required “whites-only” train cars. The Plessy v Ferguson case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ushered in a half-century of laws imposing “separate but equal” accommodations that kept Black people in segregated schools, housing, theaters and other venues. Gov....

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Paulo Nagamura hired as coach of MLS’s...
HOUSTON (AP) — Paulo Nagamura was hired as coach of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo on Monday. An MLS midfielder from 2005-16, the 38-year-old Brazilian replaces Tab Ramos, who was fired in November. Nagamura joined Kansas City II’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2017 and was head coach of the second-tier team for the past four seasons. His team finished 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference last year with four wins, 20 losses and eight draws. “Paulo was...

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Rangers sit atop NHL after Kreider, Strome...
NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Kreider scored his 20th goal, Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists, and the New York Rangers beat the slumping Edmonton Oilers 4-1 Monday night for their third straight win. Alexis Lafrenière and Barclay Goodrow each had a goal and an assist, and Adam Fox had two assists to help the Rangers win for the fourth time in six games (4-1-1). They moved into first place atop the Metropolitan Division and the NHL;...

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Column: Is Washington still on the right...
Ah, yes. Another lost football season in Washington. We really have gotten used to this, haven’t we? Draft, free agency and salary cap are set up to make this just about impossible https://t.co/8LOw2PhHZd — Andy Pollin (@andypollin1) January 2, 2022 Aside from the playoff futility since its last Super Bowl — Washington has only six playoff appearances in 29 seasons with just three victories, none of which came after 2006 — Washington hasn’t been any great shakes in the...

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Rockets suspend leading scorer Wood, Porter for...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Houston Rockets suspended guard Kevin Porter Jr. and forward Christian Wood for Monday’s game against Philadelphia for conduct detrimental to the team. Wood is Houston’s leading scorer at 16.8 points. He and Porter both had meltdowns in a loss Saturday to Denver and neither player played in the second half. Rockets coach Stephen Silas said Monday that Porter had a “spirited debate” and “lost his temper” at halftime, “to the point where I thought what...

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Officials: Nearly 1K structures destroyed in Colorado...
SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado official says nearly 1,000 homes and other structures were destroyed, hundreds more were damaged, and three people are missing after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the wind-whipped blaze that erupted Thursday and blackened entire neighborhoods in the area located between Denver and Boulder. Pelle...

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AP source: Hammon finalizing deal to coach...
Becky Hammon is finalizing a deal to become the next coach of the Las Vegas Aces, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because no official announcement has been made. She is expected to be the highest paid coach in the WNBA, earning three or four times more than the highest paid player in the league. Hammon has been an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs for...

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New laws take effect across US on...
Minimum wage increases, animal protections, police accountability, cutting and increasing taxes are all part of a series of new laws taking effect across the country on Saturday, the first day of 2022. Some of the laws such as abortion restrictions in New Hampshire or police reform measures passed in Illinois, Oregon and North Carolina address some of the most contentious issues of our time. Others, such as a Maine law passed in the aftermath of a September 2019 explosion...

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