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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.

 
Fireworks light up the skies across the...
Millions of people in the U.S. celebrated and suffered under heat warnings Thursday as they flocked to beaches and traveled in droves to toast their nation’s birth with July Fourth parades, cookouts and the always anticipated fiery splashes of color in the evening sky. In Washington, neon bursts of light illuminated the night above the National Mall. The Boston Pops performed a musical fireworks spectacular at that city’s Hatch Memorial Shell. And at parades all across the country, from...

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Marcus Willis, Wimbledon’s Everyman of yesteryear who...
LONDON (AP) — Marcus Willis, the Everyman’s everyman who faced Roger Federer at Centre Court while ranked 772nd in 2016, was back at Wimbledon on Thursday, competing in men’s doubles and hoping he might get to have a bit of a reunion with the now-retired eight-time champion at the All England Club. Willis had not competed at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament since a run to the third round of doubles in 2017 alongside Jay Clarke. They renewed their...

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California city cancels July Fourth fireworks as...
OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Officials in a Northern California community cancelled an annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration as an estimated 26,000 residents remained displaced by a growing wildfire, while hundreds of firefighters toiled under extreme heat to keep flames from reaching more homes. The Thompson Fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, near the city of Oroville in Butte County. It sent up a huge plume of smoke that could be...

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Italian Premier Meloni rebukes the youth wing...
MILAN (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Melon i has admonished the youth wing of her far-right Brothers of Italy party after an Italian news outlet published videos showing some of its members glorifying fascism. “I have said and repeated dozens of times, but perhaps I need to repeat it: There is no space in Brothers of Italy for racist or antisemitic positions, just as there is no space for nostalgics of totalitarianism of the 1900s, or for any other...

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Even the biggest stars of tennis feel...
LONDON (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz already owns three Grand Slam titles, including from Wimbledon a year ago, and yet he spoke after his opening victory at this year’s edition of the tournament about feeling nervous before setting foot on Centre Court, despite going up against a player who never before had played at any major tournament. Coco Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion and a French Open runner-up two years ago, said after her win in the same stadium...

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Things to know about the Karen Read...
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors deadlocked in the case of Karen Read, a woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. A jury foreperson told the judge Friday that they hadn’t reached a unanimous verdict despite an “exhaustive review of the evidence.” They were told to continue deliberating. They did but came back Monday afternoon and said it would...

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Israel releases head of Gaza hospital it...
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel released the director of Gaza’s main hospital on Monday after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command center. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured. The decision to release Mohammed Abu Selmia raised questions over Israel’s claims surrounding Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces have raided twice since the start of the nearly nine-month...

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76ers make a splash with $400 million...
FILE – Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George, right, and Jerry West attend a groundbreaking ceremony of the Intuit Dome, Sept. 17, 2021, in Inglewood, Calif. The two-day NBA draft was tinged with sadness for the Clippers, who were without West in their war room. West spent the last seven years as a consultant for the team, helping recruit Kawhi Leonard and George. The Hall of Famer died June 12 at age 86. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)(AP/Ringo H.W....

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Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer pay tribute to...
Not long after taking home the trophy for best male R&B/pop artist, Usher was honored with the lifetime achievement award at the 2024 BET Awards. Childish Gambino kicked off an all-star tribute to the R&B pop performer with “U Don’t Have to Call,” joined by Keke Palmer, who took the lead on “You Make Me Wanna…” Coco Jones appeared in the audience for a sultry rendition of “There Goes My Baby,” serenading Usher and his wife Jenn Goicoechea. Summer...

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Nine years after Obergefell, number of same-sex...
Same-sex couples could already get married in Maryland before the U.S. Supreme Court extended the right nationwide nine years ago, but the numbers have risen sharply since the ruling was handed down in Obergefell v. Hodges. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there were about 4,400 same-sex married couples in Maryland in 2012, the year before the state made it legal. That number grew to 10,388 by 2015, when the Supreme Court called marriage “a fundamental right inherent in...

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A San Francisco store is shipping LGBTQ+...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In an increasingly divisive political sphere, Becka Robbins focuses on what she knows best — books. Operating out of a tiny room in Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the United States, Robbins uses donations from customers to ship boxes of books across the country to groups that want them. In an effort she calls “Books Not Bans,” she sends titles about queer history, sexuality, romance and...

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Supreme Court allows cities to enforce bans...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court decided on Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors, even in West Coast areas where shelter space is lacking. The case is the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. are without a permanent place to live. In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the high court reversed a ruling by a...

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Is she a murderer or was she...
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Jurors in the Karen Read trial were scheduled to meet for a fourth day Friday to decide whose story they believe: that of prosecutors who say she drunkenly and angrily slammed into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her Lexus SUV and left him to die, or defense attorneys who claim one or more colleagues killed John O’Keefe and framed Read to cover it up. The Massachusetts jury of six men and six women is...

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Phillies stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The ninth inning was painful for the Philadelphia Phillies. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber were both injured Thursday night late in a 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins, leaving their availability in question for the team with the best record in the majors. Elected to his eighth All-Star Game hours earlier, Harper felt his left hamstring tighten as he was running to first base on the final play of the game. The slugger clutched at the...

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US sanctions Boeing for sharing information about...
FILE – The logo for Boeing appears on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, July 13, 2021. Federal officials said on Thursday, June 13, 2024, they are investigating an unusual rolling motion on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max that might have been caused by a damaged backup power-control unit. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)(AP/Richard Drew) FILE – The logo for Boeing appears on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,...

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