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Hurricane Cindy was atropical cyclone that madelandfall in the U.S. state ofLouisiana in July 2005. The third named storm of the2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Cindy developed from atropical wave on July 3, off the east coast of Mexico'sYucatán Peninsula. Soon after, it moved over land before emerging into theGulf of Mexico. It tracked toward the northernGulf Coast and strengthened to reachmaximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), making it a Category 1 on theSaffir–Simpson scale. The hurricane struck Louisiana, on July 5 at peak intensity, but weakened by the time it made a second landfall along southernMississippi. It weakened over the southeastern US and transitioned into anextratropical cyclone on July 7. The remnants of Cindy produced an outbreak of 42 tornadoes across six states before they moved into Atlantic Canada and dissipated on July 13 over theGulf of St. Lawrence. Cindy caused six traffic deaths and its damage was significant. (Full article...)

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Riek Machar

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake leaves more than 1,000 people dead in Myanmar and Thailand.
TheSudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition unilaterally voids the2018 peace agreement after South Sudanese vice presidentRiek Machar(pictured) and interior ministerAngelina Tenyare detained.
TheSudanese Armed Forcesrecapture Khartoum from theRapid Support Forces after almost two years of fighting.

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On this day

March 29:Boganda Day in the Central African Republic (1959);Martyrs' Day in Madagascar (1947)

Mariner 10

1461 –Wars of the Roses: TheYorkists defeated theLancastrian army at theBattle of Towton, allowingEdward IV to secure the English throne.
1882 – TheKnights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternalservice organization, was founded byMichael J. McGivney inNew Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
1974 –NASA'sMariner 10(pictured) became the firstspace probe to make aflyby ofMercury.
2014 – The firstsame-sex marriages in England and Wales took place following the passage of theMarriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.

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Today's featured picture

Silene flos-cuculi, commonly known as the ragged robin, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the familyCaryophyllaceae. Native to Europe and Asia, it is found along roads and inwet meadows and pastures, and has also become naturalized in parts of North America. It forms a rosette of low growing foliage with numerous stems that are 30 to 90 centimetres (12 to 36 inches) tall. The stems rise above the foliage and branch near the top of the stem, the stems having barbed hairs which point downward and make the plant rough to the touch. The middle and upper leaves are linear-lanceolate with pointed apexes. Butterflies and long-tongued bees feed on the flowers' nectar. In addition to these pollinators, the flowers are visited by many other types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalizedpollination syndrome. ThisS. flos-cuculi flower was photographed inNiitvälja, Estonia. This picture wasfocus-stacked from 27 separate images.

Photograph credit:Ivar Leidus

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