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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.

 
Jrue Holiday helps short-handed Bucks beat Pacers,...
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Playing without stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the Milwaukee Bucks leaned on Jrue Holiday and had a 21-0 fourth-quarter run to beat the Indiana Pacers 114-99 on Wednesday night. Holiday had 26 points and 14 assists. Tied at 87 after three quarters, Milwaukee surged ahead early in the fourth quarter with the big run. The Bucks raced to a 112-92 lead with just over three minutes left, with Pat Connaughton and Jordan Nwora each scoring...

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Japan rugby’s new League One thinks big,...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Japan’s new-look professional rugby competition will launch next month with bold ambitions to win not only a domestic but a global audience, to attract the world’s best players and to expand the sport’s foothold in Asia. Lotte Corporation president Genichi Tamatsuka, a former college rugby player who is now one of Japan’s most influential business leaders, has been appointed to run Japan League One, which kicks off Jan. 7 with competition among 24 teams...

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More Orthodox Jewish women are ordained; change...
At the South Philadelphia Shtiebel, a 5-foot-tall partition, called a “mechitza,” separates the men from the women in accordance with ancient tradition. But when it comes time for the sermon, Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter, the Modern Orthodox congregation’s leader, steps up to the podium, a juxtaposition that confuses many looking in from the outside. “People walk into the space saying, ‘What? I don’t get it,’” said Fruchter. “It’s hard to get. Everything feels in between.” Fruchter is one of half...

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The AP Interview: Japanese tourist says space...
MOSCOW (AP) — A Japanese space tourist on Monday rejected criticism from those who questioned his decision to pay a fortune for a trip to the International Space Station, saying the “amazing” experience was worth it. Speaking to The Associated Press in a live interview from the orbiting space outpost, billionaire fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa said even though he had imagined what his mission would be like before the flight, he was struck by the reality of space travel....

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In Hinduism, women creating spaces for their...
When Sushma Dwivedi started seriously thinking about performing wedding rites and other Hindu religious blessings in New York City and elsewhere, she knew who she needed to talk to – her grandmother. Together, they went through the mantras that are recited by pandits, the priests who perform Hindu religious rituals, to find the ones that resonated with what Dwivedi was trying to do — offer Hindu blessings and services that were welcoming of all, irrespective of gender identity, sexual...

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Will new bacon law begin? California grocers...
ELLIOTT, Iowa (AP) — A coalition of California restaurants and grocery stores has filed a lawsuit to block implementation of a new farm animal welfare law, adding to uncertainty about whether bacon and other fresh pork products will be much more expensive or in short supply in the state when the new rules take effect on New Year’s Day. The lawsuit is the latest step in a tumultuous three-year process of enacting rules overwhelmingly approved by voters but that...

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Rescue teams search rubble after severe storms...
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Officials say search and rescue teams in western Kentucky are still going through rubble after tornadoes and severe weather hit the area but don’t have a number for how many have died. “We just can’t confirm a number right now because we are still out there working, and we have so many agencies involved in helping us,” Kentucky State Police Trooper Sarah Burgess said. She said rescue crews are using heavy equipment to move rubble...

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NFL, TV’s Strahan flies in space with...
Football star and TV celebrity Michael Strahan caught a ride to space with Jeff Bezos’ rocket-launching company Saturday, sharing the trip with the daughter of America’s first astronaut. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket blasted off from West Texas, sending the capsule on a 10-minute flight with the two VIP guests and four paying customers. Their capsule soared to an altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers), providing a few minutes of weightlessness before parachuting into the desert. The booster...

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Finland picks Lockheed Martin F-35A in $11bln...
HELSINKI (AP) — Finland has agreed to buy 64 Lockheed Martin fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of combat planes in a 10 billion-euro ($11.3 billion) deal that represents the Finnish military’s largest ever purchase, the government said Friday. The Nordic country picked the U.S. company’s F-35A fighters from among five contenders, which also included the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, France’s Dassault Rafale, Britain’s Eurofighter Typhoon and Sweden’s Saab Gripen. The Finnish air force has a fleet of...

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Two stars of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’...
NEW YORK (AP) — It was just another job for child actor Karolyn Grimes. She was 6 and had already done four movies by the summer of 1946 when filming began on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The only thing she recalls about the biggest movie of her career was being delighted to play in snow on the set. That single job would become very memorable to a lot of other people. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which marks its 75th...

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Neil Young rebuilds a Rockies barn and...
A horse needs a barn. Neil Young didn’t rebuild a log barn from the 1850s that was falling into the ground in the Colorado Rockies just so he could make an album in it with Crazy Horse, his frequent collaborators for more than 50 years, but that was a big part of the inspiration. “We got some people to restore it back to the original greatness, with ponderosa pines, it’s just beautiful, just a beautiful building,” Young told The...

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Review: Amanda Gorman offers the inventive ‘Lexicon...
Asserting that “our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation” in “The Hill We Climb,” inaugural poet Amanda Gorman urged the nation to account for its history to heal the future. This kinetic idealism now blooms in “Call Us What We Carry,” her new collection of poems, as she explores why. Alliterative insights and free-versed inquiry catalyze Gorman’s performative poetics on the page. Her third publication, Gorman’s scholarly sensibility illuminates her quest for social reparations...

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Shopping for stargazers in 2021
It’s nearing the end of 2021, and COVID-19 is still with us, but we can still shop for Christmas and the holiday season. Once again, it’s that time of year to shop for your favorite stargazer. More Holiday News WTOP’s annual gifts for stargazers recommendations will help Santa provide goodies for those who spend time enjoying the stars and night sky. I have checked several major outlets — sales are ongoing and supplies appear to be plentiful. Monthly magazine...

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ArtPlace America shows why culture matters to...
Sometime in the next few years, crews dispatched by the Environmental Protection Agency will roll into Ashland, Massachusetts, population 19,000, and begin a $20.5 million cleanup of groundwater contaminated by waste from a chemical dye plant. That day will mark a victory for the town, where cancer deaths have been linked to toxins from the factory, which operated from 1917 to 1978. Among those buried and mourned are teens and young adults who grew up playing in puddles and...

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