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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.

 
S. Korea military sorry for failing to...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president on Tuesday called for stronger air defenses and high-tech stealth drones while the military apologized for failing to shoot down North Korean drones that crossed the border for the first time in five years. South Korea’s military scrambled warplanes and attack helicopters on Monday, but they failed to bring down any of the North Korean drones that flew back home or disappeared from South Korean radars. It raised serious questions about...

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Former Md. lawmaker among those living through...
Two former Maryland residents are among those now sharing their stories of living through a deadly blizzard in Buffalo, New York. A father tells his story of surviving the storm with his two children and dog after being trapped for hours inside their car. And a former state representative shares about how his community came together during the blizzard. More Weather News More Local News More Maryland News Former Md. lawmaker, Bill Bronrott toggle audio on and off change...

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Cloud-like meringues offer simple path to French...
Light, crisp, cloud-like meringue cookies have long been associated with French royalty, a decadent treat that required skill and dedication to pull off. Perhaps once, but then the whisk attachment was invented. For those with a stand mixer, they’re surprisingly easy — and adaptable to whatever extra bits of chocolate, nuts or other flavorings may be left over after a holiday baking marathon. In this recipe from our book “Cook What You Have,” which draws on pantry staples to...

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Founding president, general manager of DC United...
D.C. United’s founding president and general manager Kevin Payne died Christmas Day. He was 69. The Washington Post, who first broke the news, reported Payne’s cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. D.C. United confirmed his death on Twitter, with the team offering condolences to Payne’s family. “He will always be remembered as a dedicated champion of our club, MLS, our community and soccer in the U.S,” the statement read. We are saddened to share the news that our...

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El Congreso pone fin al mandato de...
Las fuerzas militares de EEUU en todo el mundo ya no estarán obligadas a recibir la vacuna COVID-19, después de que se levantó el mandato en virtud de un proyecto de ley de gastos de defensa de $858 mil millones aprobado por el Congreso y promulgado el viernes por el presidente Joe Biden. El departamento tiene 30 días para trabajar en los detalles para rescindir el mandato. El Pentágono dijo el viernes que, mientras tanto, los servicios militares detendrían...

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Stuck at the border, migrants find a...
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — After fleeing violence in their Guatemalan town, but with their way to relatives in California blocked by continuing U.S. asylum restrictions, a family of 15 joined an Advent candlelight ceremony organized by their shelter just south of the border. The evening service in the Buen Samaritano shelter’s small Methodist church, which doubles as cafeteria, didn’t quite compare with the weekslong Christmas celebrations they had loved in Nueva Concepcion. Those included fireworks, tamales made with...

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Arctic chill may bring record low temperatures...
The D.C. region is still enduring a deep freeze Saturday after a flash freeze started the holiday weekend Friday evening, possibly bringing in record-low temperatures for Christmas Eve. Here’s what you need to know. After Friday’s heavy rain and blustery winds arrived, temperatures dipped into the upper teens overnight, with morning lows Saturday expected to drop to 10 degrees above zero, setting up a frigid next few days. “With this massive Arctic air mass now fully entrenched across much...

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Packed ICUs, crowded crematoriums: COVID roils Chinese...
BAZHOU, China (AP) — Yao Ruyan paced frantically outside the fever clinic of a county hospital in China’s industrial Hebei province, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Beijing. Her mother-in-law had COVID-19 and needed urgent medical care, but all hospitals nearby were full. “They say there’s no beds here,” she barked into her phone. As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are...

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Packed ICUs, crowded crematoriums: COVID roils Chinese...
BAZHOU, China (AP) — Yao Ruyan paced frantically outside the fever clinic of a county hospital in China’s industrial Hebei province, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Beijing. Her mother-in-law had COVID-19 and needed urgent medical care, but all hospitals nearby were full. “They say there’s no beds here,” she barked into her phone. As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are...

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Jamie Lee Curtis says the ‘nepo baby’...
Jamie Lee Curtis is opening up about her experiences in Hollywood as the child of movie stars, prompted by the current conversation around ‘nepo babies‘ — the term for children of notable figures whose familial ties are thought to have helped them find exposure and fame themselves. The actress, who is the daughter of “Psycho” star Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis of “Some Like It Hot” fame, posted to Instagram on Friday and immediately identified herself as an “OG...

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Weather Updates | Travel chaos, bitter cold,...
PORTLAND, Ore. — Emergency weather shelters in Portland, Oregon, called for volunteers amid high demand and staffing issues as a winter storm bringing snow, freezing rain, ice and frigid temperatures descended upon the area. An unprecedented number of people are seeking shelter in a region where thousands live outside, and many staff members have been unable to make it to their shifts because of dangerous road conditions or illness, officials said. Nearly 800 people slept at the city’s five...

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New this week: ‘White Noise,’ 21 Savage...
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. MOVIES — Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel “White Noise” has long been said to be “unfilmable.” But Noah Baumbach’s energetic movie, streaming Friday, Dec. 30, on Netflix, makes a spirited argument for its adaptation. In Baumbach’s “White Noise,” Adam Driver stars as Jack Gladney, a college professor with a teeming suburban family (Greta Gerwig co-stars as his wife,...

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Winter weather live updates | Travel chaos,...
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Extreme cold, powerful wind and blowing snow are wreaking havoc on holiday travelers. The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center calls it a “historic winter storm.” If you’re in the U.S., there’s a good chance winter weather of some sort is in your forecast. The weather service says its map “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever.” By the numbers: — 181 million people are under wind chill warnings...

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Radical dialogue and open roads in ‘Women...
NEW YORK (AP) — When Sarah Polley has flown from her home in Toronto to the U.S. this year for the release of her film “Women Talking,” she’s had conversations with customs officials that usually go something like this: “What are you here for?” “I’m screening a film.” “What’s the name of the film?” “Women Talking.” “Then I get either the biggest eyeroll you’ve ever seen or I get something openly confrontational like, ‘I’ve had enough of that in...

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Review: Clumsy Whitney Houston biopic mars its...
Whitney Houston’s voice was one of a kind and the creative team behind a new big-budget biopic of the singer had no choice but to agree. Naomi Ackie, who plays Houston in “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” turns in a fierce performance but is asked to lip-sync throughout to Houston biggest hits. The effect is, at best, an expensive karaoke session. The dilemma that Houston’s own prodigious gift put everyone in is understandable: The chances of finding someone who...

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