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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.

 
US Pentagon chief speaks for 1st time...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday spoke with his Chinese counterpart for the first time since becoming Pentagon chief more than a year ago, breaking a communications impasse that American officials saw as increasingly dangerous amid concern that Beijing might provide military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Austin, who calls China the U.S. military’s leading long-term challenge but has been forced to focus heavily on Russia this year, requested the telephone conversation with Gen. Wei...

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Review: ‘The Northman’ an ambitious, but lean...
The first sign that not everyone in Robert Eggers’ 10th-century Viking revenge tale “The Northman” has their priorities entirely straight comes early in the film, when the Viking king Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) returns home to the North Atlantic kingdom of Hrafnsey after a year of fighting overseas. After trudging up on horseback to the snowy cliffside village, Aurvandil’s queen, Gudrún (Nicole Kidman), greets him warmly and, after a hug for their son, Amleth (Oscar Novak), urges him to bed...

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Division II star emerges among NFL’s small-school...
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Fayetteville State cornerback Joshua Williams recites the Kyle Dugger story as if he wrote the book. He talks about how the late-blooming safety chose to play Division II football in small town North Carolina after receiving just three scholarship offers. And how Dugger went from being an overlooked prep recruit to a second-round draft pick in just a few years. So as Williams watched Dugger’s journey from less than 200 miles away in Fayetteville, North Carolina,...

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Runner’s Diary: Ukrainian runs Boston to help...
BOSTON (AP) — Igor Krytsak, a 33-year-old Ukrainian, is a sporting event organizer who planned to run the Boston Marathon after qualifying in London last year with a personal best 2 hours, 57 minutes, 33 seconds. When Russia invaded his homeland, he sent his wife and two daughters to safety in Spain, but he could not leave the country without a special permit. Krytsak received permission to run in Boston for humanitarian purposes and arrived in the United States...

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Feeling blue in today’s world? Head for...
HALLE, Belgium (AP) — Nature’s beauty is rapturous again this springtime — flaunting its purple haze of bluebells in the woods south of Brussels. This time though, any and all can enjoy the spectacle following two years of pandemic measures that had kept visitors to a trickle. And what’s more: flowers, and blossoms — be it in Japan, the Netherlands or Belgium — can provide a balm for the soul in these days of anxiety over COVID-19 and war....

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Latest apps promise fast service but can...
NEW YORK (AP) — When Mahlet Berhanemeskel gets back to her New York City home from her 90-minute commute, she doesn’t feel like cooking. So instead she orders food like BLTs, Cheez-Its and cookies from an app called Gorillas. It’s affordable and takes 10 minutes. “It’s instant gratification,” she said. Gorillas is one of several companies that venture capitalists have poured billions into in the latest pandemic delivery craze: companies that promise to get you a bottle of Tylenol,...

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Embid scores 31 to carry 76ers to...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid took a stiff arm moments after tipoff and the 7-footer pushed back. Trying to keep his composure, Embiid absorbed a few more deliberate blows from a Raptors defense clearly trying to bully the big guy. Coach Doc Rivers gave Embiid a quick message: “No, Jo, you be the dominant guy.” The NBA MVP finalist quit deferring and started dominating. Embiid took his lumps and powered his way to 31 points and 11 rebounds, Tyrese...

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Twitter says poison pill makes ‘coercive’ takeover...
DETROIT (AP) — Twitter’s board of directors says it adopted a so-called “poison pill” defense in order to protect the social media platform from “coercive or otherwise unfair” takeover tactics. The company announced the move Friday and provided more details in a regulatory filing early Monday. On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk disclosed an offer to buy the company for $43 billion, or $54.20 per share. He now owns about 9% of Twitter shares. In a filing Monday with...

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National Landing poised to pass Capital Riverfront...
National Landing, the name coined in 2018 by economic development officials in Arlington County and Alexandria, Virginia, as part of branding efforts for winning Amazon’s decision to choose the area for its second headquarters, has released a study citing data that shows it is one of the nation’s leading innovation districts. The National Landing Business Improvement District, which crosses two jurisdictions and includes Crystal City, Pentagon City and Pentagon Row, cites major employers in tech and education, diverse housing,...

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Beanie Feldstein, Jane Lynch bond backstage at...
NEW YORK (AP) — For her third birthday party, Beanie Feldstein was asked what she wanted for its theme. The answer was obvious to her and anyone who knew her: “Funny Girl.” Even at that tender age, Feldstein was a super fan of the musical, blasting the cast album and watching the Barbra Streisand-led film about Ziegfeld Follies comedian Fanny Brice on repeat. “I thought you could just go to Party City and buy a Barbra Streisand-as-Fanny Brice balloon,...

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Inside the Latter-day Saints’ DC temple
Watch Video: Inside the Latter-day Saints’ Washington D.C. Temple Its spires leap nearly 300 feet into the sky, and at their pinnacle, a two-ton, gold-covered angel issues a clarion call to the heavens. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Washington, D.C. Temple is clad in white Alabama marble, matching other monuments around the nation’s capital. But for decades it has posed something of a mystery to the millions who stream by on D.C.’s Beltway, with some even...

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PHOTOS: Holy days converging in April spark...
It’s a convergence that happens only rarely. Coinciding with Judaism’s Passover, Christianity’s Easter and Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, Buddhists, Baha’is, Sikhs, Jains and Hindus also are celebrating their holy days in April. The springtime collision of religious holidays is inspiring a range of interfaith events. In Chicago, there’s the Interfaith Trolley Tour coming up on April 24, in which a trolley will make stops at different faiths’ houses of worship. In cities across the country, Muslims are inviting...

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For many, Easter Sunday marks a return...
BOSTON (AP) — For many U.S. Christians, this weekend marks the first time since 2019 that they will gather in person on Easter Sunday, a welcome chance to celebrate one of the year’s holiest days side by side with fellow congregants. The pandemic erupted in the country in March 2020, just ahead of Easter, forcing many churches to resort to online or televised worship. Many continued to hold virtual services last spring after a deadly winter wave of the...

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Longtime NBC Washington anchor Wendy Rieger dies...
NBC Washington anchor Wendy Rieger. (Courtesy NBC Washington) Wendy Rieger, known for her quick wit and the connection she forged with viewers for some 25 years as anchor of NBC Washington’s afternoon news, died on Saturday. She was 65. Described as the “fun, engaging friend to check in with every evening,” Rieger once compared her dating life to the weak start of a hurricane (“Starts looking like nothing much,” she quipped). Former colleague Jim Handly reported Friday, April 15,...

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Ebobisse, Mukhtar 2 goals each, San Jose...
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Jeremy Ebobisse scored tying goals on a free kick in the 52nd minute and off a scramble following a corner kick in the 72nd to give the San Jose Earthquakes a 2-2 draw against Nashville on Saturday. The 25-year-old forward beat Joe Willis to the goalkeeper’s right from 22 yards, then scored from in front after Jan Gregus redirected Cristian Espinoza’s corner kick. It was the second straight two-goal game for Ebobisse, who also...

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