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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.

 
A volcano erupts in southwestern Iceland and...
People watch as the night sky is illuminated caused by the eruption of a volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland seen from the capital city of Reykjavik, Monday Dec. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gunnarsson)(AP/Brynjar Gunnarsson) People watch as the night sky is illuminated caused by the eruption of a volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland seen from the capital city of Reykjavik, Monday Dec. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gunnarsson)(AP/Brynjar Gunnarsson) GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A...

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Colorado releases first 5 wolves in reintroduction...
GRAND COUNTY, Colorado (AP) — Somewhere on a remote mountainside in Colorado’s Rockies, a latch flipped on a crate and a wolf bounded out, heading toward the tree line. Then it stopped short. For a moment, the young female looked back at it’s audience of roughly 45 people who stared on in reverential silence. Then she disappeared into the forest. She was one of five gray wolves Wildlife officials released in a remote part of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains on...

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Crosby moves into 13th on NHL’s all-time...
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins went a month between power-play goals, a funk that sent them plummeting toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference. They preached patience even as they searched for answers and more importantly, goals. The goals are finally starting to come. The wins, too. Pittsburgh’s star-laden power play scored twice, including Sidney Crosby’s flip from in close 6:20 into the third period to break a tie and the Penguins edged the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on...

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How to manage holiday spending when you’re...
NEW YORK (AP) — For Nicole Plauché and her family, Christmas is the time of the year where they can use their preferred love language: gift giving. This year, however, Plauché is worried about how much she can afford to spend on gifts. Her main struggle? Student loan payments. “It just doesn’t leave much room for anything outside of just basic necessities,” said Plauché, a 23-year old tech sales manager from Dallas, Texas. Marisa Johnson, 26, has approximately $145,000...

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Flooding drives millions to move as climate...
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Flooding is driving millions of people to move out of their homes, limiting growth in some prospering communities and accelerating the decline of others, according to a new study that details how climate change and flooding are transforming where Americans live. In the first two decades of the 21st century, the threat of flooding convinced more than 7 million people to avoid risky areas or abandon places that were risky, according to a paper Monday...

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Behind the ‘Maestro’ biopic are a raft...
NEW YORK (AP) — Leonard Bernstein was a towering figure on Broadway. So it seems only fitting that the new biopic of him leans on the Great White Way to get the story right. Bradley Cooper’s movie “Maestro” is studded with theater stars — 29 of the 38 principal cast members have a background in the theater, including Gideon Glick, Michael Urie, Greg Hildreth, Nick Blaemire, Ryan Steele, Zachary Booth and Gaby Diaz. Look closely and you’ll find actor-turned-director...

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The jungle between Colombia and Panama becomes...
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Once nearly impenetrable for migrants heading north from Latin America, the jungle between Colombia and Panama this year became a speedy but still treacherous highway for hundreds of thousands of people from around the world. Driven by economic crises, government repression and violence, migrants from China to Haiti decided to risk three days of deep mud, rushing rivers and bandits. Enterprising locals offered guides and porters, set up campsites and sold supplies to migrants, using...

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Dodgers, Ohtani got creative with $700 million...
PHOENIX (AP) — Once the initial shock wore off on the price tag of Shohei Ohtani’s record-shattering $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, details about the contract emerged that were nearly as stunning. A total of $680 million — 97% of the money — was deferred until 2034-43 with no interest. Had the Dodgers invented some kind of contract voodoo new to Major League Baseball? Not really. But it appears to be a team-friendly deal that...

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Electric vehicles owners and solar rooftops find...
When Jim Selgo moved to his home in Goodyear, Arizona in 2019, he quickly had rooftop solar installed, having had a positive experience with solar at his previous home. Less than a year later, motivated to take more action to address climate change, he said, Selgo bought his first electric vehicle, a Nissan Leaf. He hasn’t paid for electricity or gasoline since. With solar, “You take advantage of what you’re producing at your own house,” he said. “Adding an...

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The nation’s largest credit union rejected more...
(CNN) — The largest credit union in the US has the widest disparity in mortgage approval rates between White and Black borrowers of any major lender, a trend that reached new heights last year, a CNN analysis found. Navy Federal Credit Union, which lends to military servicemembers and veterans, approved more than 75% of the White borrowers who applied for a new conventional home purchase mortgage in 2022, according to the most recent data available from the Consumer Financial...

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Biggest solar flare in years temporarily disrupts...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA telescope has captured the biggest solar flare in years, which temporarily knocked out radio communication on Earth. The sun spit out the huge flare on Thursday, resulting in two hours of radio interference in parts of the U.S. and other sunlit parts of the world. Scientists said it was the biggest flare since 2017. Multiple pilots reported communication disruptions, with the impact felt across the country, said the government’s Space Weather Prediction...

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Ex-Tokyo Olympics official pleads not guilty to...
TOKYO (AP) — Haruyuki Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, appeared in district court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to taking bribes tied to the Games. Takahashi was arrested more than a year ago and it is unclear when his trial will end. The defense will present its case early next year. A former executive with the powerful Japanese advertising company Dentsu, Takahashi is charged with accepting around 198 million yen ($1.4 million) in...

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Ohtani can opt out of Dodgers deal...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani can opt out of his $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers if either of two key executives is no longer in place, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Ohtani, who will be formally introduced by the Dodgers at a news conference Thursday, would be allowed to terminate his deal if Mark Walter no longer is controlling owner or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman...

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The last residents of a coastal Mexican...
EL BOSQUE, Mexico (AP) — People moved to El Bosque in the 1980s to fish. Setting out into the Gulf of Mexico in threes and fours, fishermen returned with buckets of tarpon and long, streaked snook. There was more than enough to feed them, and build a community — three schools, a small church and a basketball court on the sand. Then climate change set the sea against the town. Flooding driven by some of the world’s fastest sea-level...

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Fort Washington business owner builds ‘stitcher’ community...
Knitting and crochet products are sold at the Fort Washington store in Prince George’s County, Maryland, called “Gathering Yarns.”(WTOP/Nick Iannelli) Knitting and crochet products are sold at the Fort Washington store in Prince George’s County, Maryland, called “Gathering Yarns.”(WTOP/Nick Iannelli) The idea of opening a yarn store first came to Terri Haynes during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. She, like so many others in the D.C. region, found herself with extra time on her hands, and she decided...

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