June 17, 2023

today's featured article

[Many text omitted because too much CN text]

Li Rui (1917–2019) was a politician, historian, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dissident. Joining the CCP in the 1930s, he became vice-minister of the Ministry of Water Resources by 1958. His vocal opposition to the proposed Three Gorges Dam brought him to the attention of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the CCP. Li impressed Mao, who made him his personal secretary for industrial affairs. However, Li defied Mao at the 1959 Lushan Conference, and was expelled from the party and sent to a prison camp, spending eight years in solitary confinement. After Mao's death in 1976, Li regained an influential position in the CCP, but was eventually forced to resign because he was unwilling to favor the children of powerful party members. In retirement, Li wrote extensively. He called for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and democracy within a socialist framework, but was censored. Li remained a Communist Party member, respected but isolated, until his death at age 101 in 2019. (Full article...)Recently featured:Cyathus

Margaret Abbott

Science Fiction Adventures (1956 magazine)

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Ema Zajmović

... that poker player Ema Zajmović (pictured) received a wrestling-style belt when she won a World Poker Tour event in Montreal?

... that the San Francisco nightclub City Nights was the target of bombing threats by an alleged supporter of the Islamic State?

... that a report led by academic Cathy Nutbrown concluded that qualifications for vocational courses in childcare and early education were laxer than in animal welfare?

... that the photograph Kandake of the Sudanese Revolution symbolised the determination of the Sudanese people as they called for political change?

... that some prisoners in Peru get tattoos of Sarita Colonia for alleged protection?

... that the song "Labour" started a TikTok trend of women sharing their experiences with sexism?

... that the United States Supreme Court has struck down Texas's congressional and legislative districts numerous times?

... that it was through a social media post that 2023 NFL Draft pick Tavius Robinson was able to receive several offers to play college football?

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In the news

Jonathan Marchessault

At least 78 people are killed and hundreds of others are missing after a migrant boat sinks off the coast of Pylos, Greece.

In ice hockey, the Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup Finals (Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault pictured).

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi dies at the age of 86.

In basketball, the Denver Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat to win the NBA Finals.

At least 106 people are killed after a boat sinks on the Niger River in Nigeria.

Ongoing:Russian invasion of Ukraine

Sudan conflict

Recent deaths:Jim Allen

Glenda Jackson

Jim Turner

John Fru Ndi

Robert Holmes Bell

Saskia Hamilton

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On this day

June 17: King's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom (2023)

Mumtaz Mahal

653 – Pope Martin I was arrested in the Lateran Palace, Rome, and taken to Constantinople.

1631 – Mumtaz Mahal (pictured), wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, died in childbirth; Jahan spent the next seventeen years constructing her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

1913 – In Detroit, autoworkers for car manufacturer Studebaker went on strike in the American auto industry's first major strike action.

1963 – Riots broke out in Saigon one day after the signing of the Joint Communiqué, an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam.

2017 – Wildfires erupted across central Portugal, eventually causing the deaths of 66 people.

Bolesław I the Brave (d. 1025)

J. H. Hobart Ward (b. 1823)

Carmen Casco de Lara Castro (b. 1918)

Ankita Bhakat (b. 1998)

More anniversaries:June 16

June 17

June 18

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Today's featured picture

The redhead (Aythya americana) is a medium-sized species of diving duck. The scientific name is derived from the Greek aithuia, an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin americana, 'of America'. It belongs to the genus Aythya, together with eleven other described species. The redhead and the common pochard form a sister group which together is sister to the canvasback. This redhead was photographed in Central Park, New York.

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites