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Claudette making landfall in Texas

Hurricane Claudette was the thirdtropical storm and first hurricane of the2003 Atlantic hurricane season. A fairly long-lived JulyAtlantic hurricane, Claudette began as a tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean. It moved westward past theYucatán Peninsula before moving northwestward through theGulf of Mexico. Claudette remained a tropical storm until just before making landfall inPort O'Connor, Texas, on July 15, when it quickly strengthened to a strongCategory 1 hurricane. Forecasting its path and intensity was uncertain, resulting in widespread and often unnecessary preparations. Claudette caused one death and moderate damage inTexas, mostly from strong winds, as well as extensive beach erosion. Because of the damage, PresidentGeorge W. Bush declared portions of South Texas as a Federal Disaster Area. Claudette also caused significant rainfall and minor damage in the Mexican state ofQuintana Roo, as well as minor damage onSaint Lucia.(This article is part of afeatured topic:2003 Atlantic hurricane season.)

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Mackenzie Hall, previously the Essex County Courthouse

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Abdul Hakim Haqqani

TheInternational Criminal Court issues arrest warrants forTaliban leadersHibatullah Akhundzada andAbdul Hakim Haqqani(pictured) over their allegedpersecution of women in Afghanistan.
Flooding in Central Texas, United States, leaves at least 130 people dead.
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TheVera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases thefirst light images from its new8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.

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On this day

July 17:Constitution Day in South Korea (1948);World Emoji Day

A vehicle on theManchester Metrolink

1453 – TheBattle of Castillon, the last engagement of theHundred Years' War, ended with the English losing all holdings in France except thePale of Calais.
1918 –RMS Carpathia, which had rescued survivors of the 1912Titanic sinking, was sunk by a GermanU-boat with the loss of five crew.
1948 – InOlympia, Greece, theSummer Olympics torch relay, nicknamed the "relay of peace", began.
1992 – TheManchester Metrolink(pictured), the first modern street-runninglight-rail system in the United Kingdom, was officially opened.
1996 –TWAFlight 800 exploded in mid-air and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean nearEast Moriches, New York.

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Today's featured picture

Theclouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne) is a species in theswallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, which is found in thePalearctic realm. It is a large butterfly, which inhabits meadows and deciduous woodland clearings with plenty of flowering plants, but cannot survive in denser forest. The species has white wings, on which thin black veins are found, with blackish fringes. The forewing has two black spots. Its abdomen, antenna and legs are black. The female lays whitish conical eggs with a granular surface. This clouded Apollo male was photographed at the top ofSlivnica, in the Dinaric Alps of Slovenia.

Photograph credit:Charles J. Sharp

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