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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.

 
The Latest: New York Times’ front page...
The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. TOP OF THE HOUR: — Sunday’s New York Times devotes entire front page to list of COVID-19 victims. — Protesters gather outside California’s state Capitol to rally against stay-at-home orders. — New York state records 24-hour death total under 100. ___ NEW YORK...

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AP PHOTOS: Lockdown journey through a silenced...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen was fond of saying, “One day if I go to heaven … I’ll and look around and say, ‘It ain’t bad, but it ain’t San Francisco.‘” I’ve thought about these words often as I’ve wandered through the city recently, its vibrancy now silenced by the coronavirus pandemic. Normally, the months leading into summer bring bustling crowds to the city’s famous landmarks. This year, they sit empty and...

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Virus spread feared where water is scarce...
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Violet Manuel hastily abandoned her uncle’s funeral and grabbed two empty containers when she heard a boy running down the dirt road shouting, “Water, water, water!” The 72-year-old joined dozens of people seeking their daily ration in Zimbabwe’s densely populated town of Chitungwiza. “Social distancing here?” Manuel asked tartly. She sighed with relief after getting her allotment of 40 liters (10.5 gallons) but worried about the coronavirus. “I got the water, but chances are that...

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San Francisco sanctions once-shunned homeless encampments
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is joining other U.S. cities in authorizing homeless tent encampments in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a move officials have long resisted but are now reluctantly embracing to safeguard homeless people. About 80 tents are now neatly spaced out on a wide street near San Francisco City Hall as part of a “safe sleeping village” opened last week. The area between the city’s central library and its Asian Art Museum is fenced off...

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Venezuelan high court orders DirecTV property seized
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s high court ordered the immediate seizure of all DirecTV property Friday, days after the U.S. company abandoned its services in the South American nation, citing U.S. sanctions. The Supreme Court ruling told the nation’s telecommunications agency to seize satellite dishes and office space at transmission centers. It also said DirecTV programming should immediately return to the airwaves, in an order that was not likely to be heeded. Dallas-based AT&T on Tuesday cut off pay...

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Even where virus accelerates, lockdowns are cracking...
NEW DELHI (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic accelerated across Latin America, Russia and the Indian subcontinent on Friday even as infection curves flattened and reopening was underway in much of Europe, Asia and the United States. Many governments — even those where the virus is still on the rise — say they must shift their focus to saving jobs that are vanishing as quickly as the disease can spread. In the United States and China, the world’s two largest...

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Cities find green ways to reduce storm...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — For more than a century, New Orleans has depended on canals and pumps to get rid of stormwater in a city where about half the land is below sea level. Now the bustling Mississippi River port that expanded by filling in wetlands is spending $270 million to create spaces for rainwater, such as the water garden planned on a 25-acre site provided by nuns who lived there before Hurricane Katrina. The city is also installing...

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The Latest: Miami, Notre Dame optimistic for...
The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: ___ The presidents of the University of Miami and Notre Dame say in separate interviews that they expect the football season to be played, though both raised the very real possibility of crowds being much smaller than usual or eliminated entirely. Appearing on CNN, Miami’s Dr. Julio Frenk says he hopes the Hurricanes can play this fall and that safety would be the top priority....

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The Latest: Trump again mulls barring flights...
The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. TOP OF THE HOUR: — Trump again says he is considering barring flights from hard-hit Brazil —WHO members OK evaluation of virus response. —Russian prime minister returns to work after bout with coronavirus. — As United States, Europe reopen more, big nations see...

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Japan launches new unit to step up...
TOKYO (AP) — Japan launched its new space defense unit Monday to monitor and counter threats to the country’s satellites. The Space Operations Squadron, part of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force, starts with 20 members and is expected to grow to about 100 members once the unit is fully operational in 2023. The role of the unit is mainly to monitor and protect Japanese satellites from enemy attacks or space debris. It will also conduct satellite-based navigation and communications for...

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NASCAR fans outside Darlington: ‘Time to hear...
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Tammy Gandy grew up around Darlington Raceway, she remembers a time when the greats like Richard Petty would show up each year at her aunt’s house for some homemade biscuits. “He used to say there were none better,” Gandy said. And the sun-baked crowds, none bigger in these parts. So after of seeing the hubbub and hullabaloo that always led up to raceday, she laughed when asked to compare that to this year’s scene. “It’s...

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US, European leaders weigh reopening risks without...
NEW YORK (AP) — On a weekend when many pandemic-weary people emerged from weeks of lockdown, leaders in the U.S. and Europe weighed the risks and rewards of lifting COVID-19 restrictions knowing that a vaccine could take years to develop. In separate stark warnings, two major European leaders bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by a vaccine. “We are confronting this risk, and we...

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Preschoolers and the pandemic: Practical ways to...
Three weeks into our extended coronavirus spring break at home, my husband wanted to discuss what we should be teaching our 4-year-old son. “Maybe we should be working on his math skills,” suggested his dad, who usually works outside the home. My eyes grew wide as I envisioned myself sitting down with a math workbook attempting to teach my super-energetic child. I appreciate my husband’s confidence in me, but let’s be real. There was no way that was happening....

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Michael McCaskey, who succeeded Halas as Bears’...
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Michael McCaskey, who led the Chicago Bears for nearly three decades following the death of his grandfather George Halas, died Saturday after a lengthy battle with cancer, the team said. He was 76. A Yale graduate and the oldest of Ed and team matriarch Virginia McCaskey’s 11 children, Michael joined the family business in 1983 as president and CEO following the death of Halas, a founding father of the NFL and the franchise. He...

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Italy seeks to boost tourism by opening...
VENICE, Italy (AP) — The Italian government announced Saturday that it will throw open its borders next month, effectively ending Europe’s longest and strictest coronavirus lockdown just as the summer tourism season gets under way. Both regional and international borders will open June 3, with the government eliminating a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving from abroad. Many hope the move will revive a decimated tourist industry, which is worth 13% of Italy’s gross domestic product. Such an opening is...

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