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From today's featured article

The cherry-throated tanager (Nemosia rourei) is a critically endangered bird native to the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Since its description in 1870, there had been no confirmed sightings for more than 100 years, and it was feared that the species was extinct. It was rediscovered in 1998 in the state of Espírito Santo. By the end of 2023, 20 individuals were known and the total population was estimated to be less than 50 birds. The main threat to its survival is the large-scale destruction of the old-growth rainforest that it requires, and in 2018 it was estimated that the species was restricted to a total area of just 31 km² (12 sq mi). It has a striking gray, black and white plumage, with a distinctive red throat patch. The yellow or dark amber eyes contrast with a black face mask. Its call is clear and far-carrying. A social species, it lives in flocks of up to eight birds. The birds breed once a year, building a cup nest of beard lichen and spider web; nests contain two or three eggs. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Zoe Smith

... that British weightlifter Zoe Smith (pictured) broke 98 national records in 2008?
... that a Bangladeshi diplomatic mission in India was attacked by Hindu extremists protesting the arrest of a Hindu monk?
... that a portrait of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec cooking captures him in an unusual moment of sobriety?
... that the Lisdoonvarna Music Festival was described as Ireland's version of the Woodstock music festival?
... that Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama converted to Islam in 1971?
... that in 1968, ADR's Autoflow flowchart software became the first program to receive a software patent in the United States?
... that the tomb of the 15th-century Okinawan king Shō Hashi was destroyed during World War II?
... that the Wilson Warbirds were nearly named the "Wilson Whirligigs" after the folk artist Vollis Simpson's whirligig sculptures in the town?
... that Archbishop John Roach received a standing ovation for admitting his alcoholism?

In the news

Joseph Aoun

Joseph Aoun (pictured) is elected president of Lebanon after a two-year vacancy, and Nawaf Salam is nominated as prime minister.
An attack on the presidential palace in N'Djamena, Chad, results in 19 deaths.
A series of wildfires in Southern California, United States, leaves at least 25 people dead and destroys more than 12,000 structures.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Tingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China, leaving at least 126 people dead.

On this day

January 15: John Chilembwe Day in Malawi

US Airways Flight 1549 crash and rescue

1857 – In British Hong Kong, hundreds of Europeans were non-lethally poisoned by arsenic in bread from a locally owned bakery, leading to geopolitical tension.
1934 – At least 10,700 people died when a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck Nepal and the Indian state of Bihar.
1974 – American serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as the "BTK killer", murdered his first four victims.
1991 – The Victoria Cross for Australia was instituted, making Australia the first Commonwealth realm with a separate Victoria Cross award in its honours system.
2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of Canada geese during its climb out from New York City and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River (featured).

Theophylact (d. 849)
Martin Luther King Jr. (b. 1929)
Regina Margareten (d. 1959)
Millie Knight (b. 1999)

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Today's featured picture

Rhinanthus angustifolius, the narrow-leaved rattle or greater yellow-rattle, is a species of plant of the genus Rhinanthus, in the broomrape family, Orobanchaceae. It is an annual wildflower, native to temperate grasslands in much of Europe, and north and central Western Asia. The yellow flowers are mostly visited by bumblebees. This R. angustifolius inflorescence was photographed in Kulna, Estonia. The photograph was focus-stacked from 80 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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