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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.

 
Live updates: Greece sending defense aid to...
The latest on the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: ATHENS — Authorities say Greece is sending ammunition, assault rifles and missile launchers to Ukraine in response to a request by Ukraine’s government. The military aid was decided at a meeting Sunday morning between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and senior defense officials. A C-130 plane with the equipment has arrived in Poland, and a second one will arrive later, a Defense Ministry official said. Two more planes carrying humanitarian aid such...

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Ukraine invasion spotlights the delicate state of...
The secretary-general of the United Nations opened the most recent annual meeting of Earth’s leaders with a bleak assessment of the planet’s state of affairs. Humanity, he said, faced “a moment of truth.” “Peace. Human rights. Dignity for all. Equality. Justice. Solidarity. Like never before, core values are in the crosshairs,” Antonio Guterres said. “A sense of impunity is taking hold.” Guterres’ message to the U.N. General Assembly takes on even more relevance with the Russian military’s invasion of...

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Ukraine invasion: What to know as Putin...
Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on increased alert on Sunday in an unprecedented escalation of tension with the West since the collapse of the Soviet Union over Russia’s massive conventional assault of Ukraine, which entered its fourth day with fighting in the streets of the country’s second-largest city. Here are the things to know about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the security crisis in Eastern Europe: RUSSIA PUTS NUCLEAR FORCES ON ALERT In a shocking move that...

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In major shift for Europe, Germany to...
BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany announced Sunday it was committing 100 billion euros ($113 billion) to a special armed forces fund and would keep its defense spending above 2% of GDP from now on. It was one of the most significant shifts in European security policy in decades, brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which came hours after Germany announced it would send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, underscored how...

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Char scores on bicycle kick, Timbers...
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Yimmi Chara scored on a bicycle kick goal in the 78th minute to pull the Portland Timbers into a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution in the Major League Soccer opener for both teams Saturday. Dairon Asprilla also scored for the Timbers to help deny the Revolution their first victory at Providence Park. New England got goals from Brandon Bye and newcomer Sebastian Lletget, traded to New England by the LA Galaxy in the...

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Rejection or welcome: Transgender Catholics encounter both
For transgender Catholics across the United States, retaining their faith can entail complex calculations. They face rebukes from some fellow Catholics, including many bishops, yet find full acceptance in some premises of the church. A small but growing number of parishes have formed LGBTQ support groups and welcome transgender people on their own terms. Yet within the past two years, at least six Catholic dioceses have issued guidelines targeting trans people with restrictions and refusing to recognize their gender...

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Rejection or welcome: Transgender Catholics encounter both
For transgender Catholics across the United States, retaining their faith can entail complex calculations. They face rebukes from some fellow Catholics, including many bishops, yet find full acceptance in some premises of the church. A small but growing number of parishes have formed LGBTQ ministries or support groups and warmly welcome transgender people on their own terms. Yet within the past two years, at least six Catholic dioceses have issued guidelines targeting trans people with restrictions and refusing to...

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Path to war in Ukraine was laid...
The week before Russia attacked, a Ukrainian soldier peered through a periscope from the bottom of his trench. Mud seeped into his boots, his clothes and every crack in his gear as he walked the narrow space where he had spent his days for the past 10 months. Zakhar Leshchyshyn was just 23. He had no memory of Ukraine as anything but a fully independent country. But now he was charged with helping to keep it that way, posted...

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Live updates: Zelenskyy declines US offer to...
The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis: KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer. Zelenskyy said in response: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation, who described Zelenskyy as upbeat. Invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital on Saturday, in an apparent encircling movement after a...

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Honesty, reassurance: How to talk to kids...
NEW YORK (AP) — The pandemic, mass shootings, natural disasters, terror attacks. There’s been plenty of tragedy and anxiety for parents to sort through with their kids. Add Russia’s escalating invasion of Ukraine to the list. With events rapidly unfolding on TV and across social media, child development experts urge parents to check in with children of all ages but not to worry if those conversations are brief. “For children under the age of 7, it might just be...

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Russell scores 37, leads T-wolves past Grizzlies...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — D’Angelo Russell had 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:23 left, to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Memphis Grizzlies 119-114 on Thursday night. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 11 rebounds and Malik Beasley had 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range for the Timberwolves, who grinded and hustled their way through an inspired victory over one of the NBA’s best teams. Ja Morant’s 3-pointer from...

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Russia attacks Ukraine; peace in Europe ‘shattered’
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine’s government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a “full-scale war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the world. In unleashing Moscow’s most aggressive action since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, President Vladimir Putin deflected global condemnation...

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Live updates: Ukraine says Russia trying to...
The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis: —— KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant. The plant was the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident when a nuclear reactor exploded in April 1986, spewing radioactive waste across Europe. The plant lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of the capital of Kyiv. The exploded reactor has been covered by a protective shelter to prevent radiation leak and the entire...

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Putin announces Ukraine military operation, explosions heard
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” He said the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine — a claim the U.S. had predicted he would falsely make to justify an invasion. In a televised address, Putin accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to...

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Uncertain future for islanders who survived Tongan...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The first two booms from the volcano were scary enough, but the third explosion was immense, sending everyone from the village running from their homes in a reaction that would save all but one of their lives. Even now, more than five weeks later, the children from Mango Island still often run or cower when they hear a thunderclap or loud noise. The small island in Tonga was one of the closest places to...

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