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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.

 
South Korea launches its first spy satellite...
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — South Korea launched its first military spy satellite into space Friday, a little over a week after North Korea claimed to put its own spy satellite into orbit for the first time as tensions rise between the rivals. Launched from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, it was the first of five spy satellites South Korea plans to send into space by 2025 under a contract with SpaceX....

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A look back at 50 years of...
NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, four young New Yorkers dragged their guitars, amps and drums to a loft on 23rd Street in New York, dreaming of becoming the biggest band in the world. This weekend, Kiss, the band started by those four — albeit with two different members currently in the fold — will say its goodbyes about 10 blocks north of that loft. Kiss will play Madison Square Garden, having become if not THE biggest band...

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Today in Sports – Wayne Gretzky is...
Dec. 1 1936 — End Larry Kelley of Yale is named the Heisman Trophy winner. 1951 — Arnold “Showboat” Boykin of Mississippi scores seven touchdowns in a 49-7 rout of Mississippi State. 1956 — The United States beats the Soviet Union 89-55 to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Melbourne Olympics. Bob Jeangerard (16), K.C. Jones (15), Jim Walsh (14) and Bill Russell (13) each score double-digits. 1959 — Louisiana State halfback Billy Cannon is named...

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Today in Sports – Week Ahead, December...
Dec. 1 1936 — End Larry Kelley of Yale is named the Heisman Trophy winner. 1951 — Arnold “Showboat” Boykin of Mississippi scores seven touchdowns in a 49-7 rout of Mississippi State. 1956 — The United States beats the Soviet Union 89-55 to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Melbourne Olympics. Bob Jeangerard (16), K.C. Jones (15), Jim Walsh (14) and Bill Russell (13) each score double-digits. 1959 — Louisiana State halfback Billy Cannon is named...

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Today in Sports – Week Ahead, December...
Dec. 5 1924 — Red Green of the Hamilton Tigers scores five goals in a 10-5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. 1971 — Willie Ellison of the Los Angeles Rams sets an NFL record with 247 yards rushing in a 45-28 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Teammate Travis Williams also returns a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown. 1972 — Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska wins the Heisman Trophy beating out Oklahoma’s Gregg Pruitt and teammate Rich Glover....

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R&B singer Kiana Ledé is taking back...
NEW YORK (AP) — Kiana Ledé is one of R&B’s brightest rising stars but that doesn’t mean she always embraces the compliment. “I kind of have mixed feelings about it because it gets me in my head about me needing to do more or me being more invested in my craft, or I just don’t have the right (industry) politics surrounding me,” said Ledé, who’s launching the international leg of her “Grudges” tour Tuesday starting in Auckland, New Zealand....

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Diplomas for sale: $465, no classes required....
SPRINGFIELD, La. (AP) — Arliya Martin accepted her high school diploma with relief and gratitude. It was her ticket to better-paying work, she felt, after getting kicked out of high school and toiling for eight years at factory jobs to support her children. “This is a new path for me to get on with my life,” she said. But Martin didn’t take any classes or pass any tests to receive her degree. She got it in July from a...

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Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were not only...
PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — In spring 1955, Rosalynn Carter was doing what she had sworn to avoid when she married an ambitious Naval officer: keeping house and raising children in the same tiny town where they grew up. Then Jimmy Carter called for help from his family’s peanut farming warehouse. The future U.S. president couldn’t manage on his own, and they had no money to hire employees. So his wife gathered their sons and went to answer the company...

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AP Week in Pictures: North America
People paid respects to former first lady Rosalynn Carter, SpaceX launched a massive rocket, and President Biden pardoned two turkeys, Liberty and Bell. In the world of sports, college football and basketball were in full swing and Formula One raced through the streets of Las Vegas. This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images in North America published in the past week by The Associated Press. The selection was curated by AP photo editor Aaron Jackson in New...

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Williamson, Ingram lead the Pelicans past the...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson scored 25 points, Brandon Ingram added 21, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-112 on Wednesday night. Both New Orleans stars made pivotal plays late to put the Pelicans in front for good en route to their second straight victory and fourth in five games. After Williamson powered through multiple defenders in the paint to spin in a layup off the glass, Ingram stole De’Aaron Fox’s pass, broke the other...

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Kawhi Leonard leads Clippers past Spurs amid...
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points while hearing boos that prompted San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to admonish the crowd, Paul George added 24 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs 109-102 on Wednesday night. Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall draft pick, had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, whose fans were more focused on jeering one of their former stars. Fans booed as Leonard — who played for San...

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What does Sam Altman’s firing — and...
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been quite a week for ChatGPT-maker OpenAI — and co-founder Sam Altman. Altman, who helped start OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab back in 2015, was removed as CEO Friday in a sudden and mostly unexplained exit that stunned the industry. And while his chief executive title was swiftly reinstated just days later, a lot of questions are still up in the air. If you’re just catching up on the OpenAI saga and what’s...

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What does Sam Altman’s firing — and...
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been quite a week for ChatGPT-maker OpenAI — and co-founder Sam Altman. Altman, who helped start OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab back in 2015, was removed as CEO Friday in a sudden and mostly unexplained exit that stunned the industry. And while his chief executive title was swiftly reinstated just days later, a lot of questions are still up in the air. If you’re just catching up on the OpenAI saga and what’s...

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Green scores 34 to help Rockets snap...
HOUSTON (AP) — Jalen Green scored 26 of his season-high 34 points in the second half to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-91 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The victory snaps a three-game skid overall for Houston and a five-game losing streak in the series against Memphis. The Rockets were up by six points to start the fourth, and used a 10-2 run, with the last seven points from Green, to make it 84-70 with...

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How grief, creating characters and wigs helped...
When Heather McMahan recently debuted her first Netflix comedy special, “Son I Never Had,” the fan reaction was as though their best girlfriend had achieved a major win. “The coolest thing about this job is a lot of people have been on this journey with me from the beginning,” said McMahan recently over Zoom. “They found me on social media years ago and they’ve been rooting for me. It kind of feels like I’ve been in this giant life...

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