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Today's featured article

Taylor Swift on the Red Tour in 2013

Red is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift (pictured). It was released in October 2012 by Big Machine Records. Swift designated Red as a breakup album and her last to be promoted as country music. The album incorporates styles of pop, rock, folk and country, and is composed of acoustic instruments, electronic synths and drum machines. Initial reviews mostly praised Swift's songwriting for its emotional exploration and engagement, but critics deemed the production inconsistent and questioned her identity as a country artist. Swift supported Red with the Red Tour (2013–2014). Red topped the charts and received multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In the United States it spent seven weeks atop the Billboard 200. Red was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2013 Country Music Association Awards, and Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards. (Full article...)

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In the news

Muhammadu Buhari

Former president of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari (pictured) dies at the age of 82.
Clashes between Druze militias and the Syrian Armed Forces result in hundreds of deaths.
The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani over their alleged persecution of women in Afghanistan.
Flooding in Central Texas, United States, leaves at least 140 people dead.

Today's featured picture

The southern scrub robin (Drymodes brunneopygia) is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins. It is endemic to Australia, where it occurs in mallee and heathland in the semi-arid southern parts of the continent. Its range includes several disjoint regions from central New South Wales through western Victoria and southern South Australia, through to the southwestern area of Western Australia. It is a relatively dull and large robin, with adults around 19 to 20 centimetres (7.5 to 7.9 in) in length, of which around a third are the tail feathers. Most of the plumage is grey. It breeds between July and December and has a nest on the ground, built of twigs and lined with twigs, grass and bark. Unusually for a passerine, it lays only a single egg. This southern scrub robin was photographed in the Nombinnie Nature Reserve in New South Wales.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

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Did you know...

Trichogenes claviger

... that Trichogenes claviger (examples pictured) can climb nets using outgrowths from its head?
... that Philippe Housiaux took a law examination instead of competing in the 1972 Summer Olympics?
... that helical strakes can be used to reduce structural fatigue on structures such as chimneys and pipelines?
... that "Whistle" was composed because of a miscommunication between a film director and the songwriters?
... that Fletcher Ransom wrote and illustrated a book of satirical cartoons about Theodore Roosevelt titled My Policies in Jungleland?
... that art students designed the stained-glass windows of the Chapel at George Fox University?
... that Don Summers signed with an NFL team despite having gone more than 400 days without catching a football?
... that AHOF, a K-pop group formed on a reality show, includes two members who were not on the winning team?
... that Worrall Reed Carter wrote about beans, bullets and black oil?

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