250t-class torpedo boat

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 1, 2018 is 250t-class torpedo boat.
Eight 250t-class torpedo boats were built by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1913 and 1916 for service in World War I. They were among 27 high-seas torpedo boats that undertook anti-submarine operations in the Adriatic Sea, shore bombardment missions along its Italian coastline, and convoy, and escort and minesweeping tasks. Under the terms of the post-war Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the boats were surrendered to Romania, Portugal, Greece, and the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). By 1940, 13 torpedo boats had been lost or scrapped. During World War II, the five remaining Greek boats were sunk by Axis aircraft during the German-led invasion of Greece in April 1941. The two Romanian boats that survived the war performed escort tasks in the Black Sea before being taken over by the Soviet Navy for service in the Black Sea Fleet. The six surviving Yugoslav boats were captured by the Italians during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, and were operated by the Italian navy in coastal and second-line escort roles. The last of the Yugoslav boats was withdrawn from service in 1962.

ASMRtist: Word of the day for February 1, 2018

ASMRtist , n :
(informal, neologism) A person who creates audiovisual material designed to induce an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR; a claimed biological phenomenon involving a pleasurable tingling in response to a stimulus).

Colombia suspends talks with rebels after bombings aimed at police

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos suspended peace talks on Monday with a leftist militant group after two bomb attacks on police over the weekend.

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Read CNN's Fast Facts about the life of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

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This former guerrilla leader wants to be Colombia's next president

Former guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño led thousands of Marxist rebel troops to surrender their weapons last year, ending years of armed struggle in Colombia.

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At least 5 police officers killed in Colombia blast

At least five Colombian police officers were killed and 42 others injured Saturday morning after a bomb was hurled at a station house in the northern coastal city of Barranquilla, police said.

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Gunmen kill at least 14 people at party in Brazil

Gunmen opened fire early Saturday at a party in the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza, killing at least 14 people, including eight women, public security officials said.

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Billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife died in a double homicide

Barry Sherman, a Canadian billionaire and philanthropist, and his wife, Honey Sherman, died in a double homicide, Toronto Police Detective Sgt. Susan Gomes said Friday at a news conference.

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Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Fast Facts

Read CNN's Fast Facts on the life of Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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Brazil court upholds Lula da Silva conviction

A Brazilian appeals court unanimously upheld the corruption and money laundering conviction of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday, casting doubt on his plans to run again in an upcoming presidential election.

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Raila Odinga swears himself in at mock inauguration ceremony

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who boycotted the country's disputed election last year, swore himself in as the "people's president" at a mock inauguration ceremony Tuesday in protest against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

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Social media steps in to ease Cape Town water crisis

As Cape Town braces for "Day Zero" -- the day when it will run out of water -- a grassroots campaign to donate water to the South African city's residents, originated on WhatsApp, has become a social media phenomenon in less than a week.

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China denies spying on AU's headquarters in Ethiopia

China and the leadership of the African Union have denied a report by French daily Le Monde that the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa was bugged by China

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Weah cuts salary as 'sacrifice in broken economy'

In one of his first acts as President of Liberia, George Weah announced he will cut his salary by 25% as part of an effort to confront his country's "broken economy."

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Kenya blaze: Fire trucks 'run out of water'

A fire in the Lang'ata neighborhood of Nairobi on Sunday night killed four people and left an estimated 6,000 people homeless, according to the National Disaster Management Unit.

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Writer's epic clapback when asked if Nigeria has bookshops

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie was asked during an interview in France if there were any bookshops in her country -- and her clapback was epic.

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Trump dodges questions about 'shithole' remark

US President Donald Trump hailed his country's "great relationships" with Rwanda after meeting Friday with its leader, Paul Kagame, but did not say whether they had discussed Trump's reportedly vulgar remark about African nations earlier this month.

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Bus-sized dinosaur is found in Egypt

Mansourasaurus shahinae will help paleontologists understand the course of dinosaur evolution in Africa.

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LadySmith Black Mambazo wins fifth Grammy

South Africa's LadySmith Black Mambazo won a fifth Grammy award at Sunday's award ceremony.

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Cape Town is about to run out of water

In Cape Town, South Africa, they're calling it "Day Zero" -- the day when the taps run dry.

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The luxury SUV made in Africa

Africa's roads are notorious. More than half of them are unpaved.

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Kenya's footballing minnows beat Barcelona

European football academies have long been considered a global conveyor belt for talented young footballers aspiring to break into the lucrative world of professional football.

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Migrants whipped and tortured on film

Disturbing video clips shared on social media by their desperate families have revealed the ordeal of Sudanese migrants kidnapped and tortured for ransom in Libya.

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The luxury lure of medical tourism in Mauritius

Mauritius, an island-nation nestled off the southeast coast of the African mainland, is known for its beautiful beaches and wildlife. Every year one million tourists travel to the island but not all are visiting for the scenery.

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Hugh Masekela: The man behind the music

South African music legend Hugh Masekela has passed away after a long battle with cancer. We take a look at the life of influential jazz musician.

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Cape sparrow

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 31, 2018 is Cape sparrow.
The Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus) is a southern African bird. A medium-sized sparrow at 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in), it has distinctive grey, brown, and chestnut plumage, with large pale head stripes in both sexes. The male has some bold black and white markings on its head and neck. The species inhabits semi-arid savannah, cultivated areas, and towns, from the central coast of Angola to eastern South Africa and Swaziland. Cape sparrows primarily eat seeds, along with soft plant parts and insects. They typically breed in colonies, and search for food in large nomadic flocks. The nest can be constructed in a tree, bush, cavity, or disused nest of another species. A typical clutch contains three or four eggs, and both parents are involved, from nest building to feeding the young. The species is common in most of its range and coexists successfully in urban habitats with two of its relatives, the native southern grey-headed sparrow and the house sparrow, an introduced species. The Cape sparrow's population has not decreased significantly, and is not seriously threatened by human activities.

deep state: Word of the day for January 31, 2018

deep state , n :
(politics, conspiracy theories) A large group of people, typically members of government agencies and the military, believed to have long-lasting political influence that is difficult for an administration voted into power to counter.

Raila Odinga swears himself in at mock inauguration ceremony

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who boycotted the country's disputed election last year, swore himself in as the "people's president" at a mock inauguration ceremony Tuesday in protest against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

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Social media steps in to ease Cape Town water crisis

As Cape Town braces for "Day Zero" -- the day when it will run out of water -- a grassroots campaign to donate water to the South African city's residents, originated on WhatsApp, has become a social media phenomenon in less than a week.

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China denies spying on AU's headquarters in Ethiopia

China and the leadership of the African Union have denied a report by French daily Le Monde that the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa was bugged by China

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Liberian President George Weah cuts salary as 'sacrifice'

In one of his first acts as President of Liberia, George Weah announced he will cut his salary by 25% as part of an effort to confront his country's "broken economy."

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Bus-sized dinosaur is found in Egypt

Mansourasaurus shahinae will help paleontologists understand the course of dinosaur evolution in Africa.

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Hugh Masekela: The man behind the music

South African music legend Hugh Masekela has passed away after a long battle with cancer. We take a look at the life of influential jazz musician.

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Four dead in Kenya blaze as fire trucks 'run out of water'

A fire in the Lang'ata neighborhood of Nairobi on Sunday night killed four people and left an estimated 6,000 people homeless, according to the National Disaster Management Unit.

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LadySmith Black Mambazo wins fifth Grammy award

South Africa's LadySmith Black Mambazo won a fifth Grammy award at Sunday's award ceremony.

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The luxury lure of medical tourism in Mauritius

Mauritius, an island-nation nestled off the southeast coast of the African mainland, is known for its beautiful beaches and wildlife. Every year one million tourists travel to the island but not all are visiting for the scenery.

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Oviri

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 30, 2018 is Oviri.
Oviri is an 1894 ceramic sculpture by the French artist Paul Gauguin. It depicts a Tahitian goddess of mourning, with long pale hair, large breasts, and wild eyes. She smothers a wolf with her feet, while clutching a cub in her arms. Art historians have suggested multiple complex interpretations; its alternative title, "Savage", may refer to Gauguin's own view of himself. The work's form and tone was inspired by a number of ancient sources, including Majapahit mummies and an Assyrian relief of a master of animals. Other possible influences include preserved skulls from the Marquesas Islands, figures found at Borobudur, and a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in central Java. Gauguin made three casts, each in partially glazed stoneware. The original is housed at the Musée d'Orsay, in France. It was exhibited at the 1906 Salon d'Automne where it was seen by Pablo Picasso, who used it as the basis for one of the figures in his Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

soft-spoken: Word of the day for January 30, 2018

soft-spoken , adj :
Having a pleasant, gentle, mild manner of speech; speaking gently or quietly.

The luxury SUV made for Africans

Africa's roads are notorious. More than half of them are unpaved.

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careworn: Word of the day for January 29, 2018

careworn , adj :
Showing the signs of long-term stress; tired and haggard due to prolonged worry.

Baltimore railroad strike of 1877

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 29, 2018 is Baltimore railroad strike of 1877.
In the Baltimore railroad strike of 1877, at least ten people were killed and more than 150 were injured. The unrest in Baltimore, Maryland, was part of a national railroad strike, following the global depression and economic downturns of the mid-1870s. On July 16, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) scheduled 10 percent wage reductions, strikes broke out. Violence erupted in Baltimore on July 20, and police and soldiers of the Maryland National Guard clashed with crowds of thousands gathered throughout the city. In response, President Rutherford B. Hayes ordered federal troops to Baltimore, local officials recruited as many as 500 additional police, and two new national guard regiments were formed. Peace was restored two days later. Negotiations between strikers and the B&O were unsuccessful, and most strikers quit rather than return to work at reduced wages. The company easily found workers to replace the strikers, and rail traffic resumed on July 29 under the protection of the military and police.

Read CNN's Fast Facts about the life of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

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Colombian police targeted with second bombing in two days

A bombing targeted a police outpost in northern Colombia on Sunday for the second day in a row, a police official said.

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This former guerrilla leader wants to be Colombia's next president

Former guerilla leader Rodrigo Londoño led thousands of Marxist rebel troops to surrender their weapons last year, ending years of armed struggle in Colombia.

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if anything: Word of the day for January 28, 2018

if anything , adv :
(idiomatic) Used after a negative statement to suggest the opposite is true. (idiomatic) Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied). (idiomatic) Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer.

Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 28, 2018 is Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi.
Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi is a fourth-century Latin poem arranged by Faltonia Betitia Proba after her conversion to Christianity. A cento rearranges verses written by other poets; this one repurposes Virgil to tell stories from the Old and New Testament of the Christian Bible. Much of the work focuses on the story of Jesus Christ. The poem was widely circulated, eventually being used in schools to teach the tenets of Christianity, often alongside Augustine of Hippo's De Doctrina Christiana. Although the poem was popular, critical reception was mixed. A pseudonymous work purportedly by Pope Gelasius I disparaged the poem, deeming it apocryphal, and St. Jerome may have written negatively of it, and of Proba. Other thinkers like Isidore of Seville, Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio wrote highly of her, and many praised her ingenuity. During the 19th and 20th centuries the poem was considered a work of poor quality, but recent scholars have held it in higher regard.

Gunmen kill at least 14 people at party in Brazil

Gunmen opened fire early Saturday at a party in the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza, killing at least 14 people, including eight women, public security officials said.

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At least 4 police officers killed in Colombia blast

At least four Colombian police officers were killed and 42 others injured Saturday morning after a bomb was hurled at a station house in the northern coastal city of Barranquilla, police said.

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community: Word of the day for January 27, 2018

community , n :
(countable) A group sharing a common understanding, and often the same language, law, manners, and/or tradition. (countable) A residential or religious collective; a commune. (countable, ecology) A group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other. (countable, Internet) A group of people interacting by electronic means for educational, professional, social, or other purposes; a virtual community. (uncountable) The condition of having certain attitudes and interests in common.

Finnish Civil War

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 27, 2018 is Finnish Civil War.
The Finnish Civil War (27 January – 15 May 1918) marked the transition from the Grand Duchy of Finland, part of the Russian Empire, to an independent state. Arising during World War I, it was fought between the Reds, led by the Social Democratic Party, and the Whites, led by the conservative Senate. In February 1918, the Reds carried out an unsuccessful offensive, supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia. A counteroffensive by the Whites began in March, reinforced by the German Empire's military detachments in April. The decisive engagements were the battles of Tampere and Vyborg, won by the Whites, and the battles of Helsinki and Lahti, won by German troops, leading to overall victory for the Whites and the German forces. The 39,000 casualties included political terror deaths. Although the Senate and Parliament were initially pressured into accepting the brother-in-law of German Emperor William II as the King of Finland, the country emerged within a few months as an independent, democratic republic. The war would divide the nation for decades.

Billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife died in a double homicide

Barry Sherman, a Canadian billionaire and philanthropist, and his wife, Honey Sherman, died in a double homicide, Toronto Police Detective Sgt. Susan Gomes said Friday at a news conference.

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Writer's epic clapback when asked if Nigeria has bookshops

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie was asked during an interview in France if there were any bookshops in her country -- and her clapback was epic.

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Trump dodges questions about 'shithole' remark

US President Donald Trump hailed his country's "great relationships" with Rwanda after meeting Friday with its leader, Paul Kagame, but did not say whether they had discussed Trump's reportedly vulgar remark about African nations earlier this month.

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The Kenyan ballers that beat Barcelona

Meet the Kenyan youth football team that has taken on the best...and won

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Captives are whipped and filmed begging their families to pay a ransom

Disturbing video clips shared on social media by their desperate families have revealed the ordeal of Sudanese migrants kidnapped and tortured for ransom in Libya.

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Shocking video shows migrants tortured in Libya

Footage has emerged showing the torture of Sudanese migrants for ransom. Libya's UN-backed government say they arrested four men.

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Kenya's footballing minnows beat Barcelona

European football academies have long been considered a global conveyor belt for talented young footballers aspiring to break into the lucrative world of professional football.

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Peace Hyde: Science teacher to TV star

Peace Hyde is one of Africa's most prominent journalists. She tells CNN about her journey from classroom to correspondent.

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Australian Defence Force

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 26, 2018 is Australian Defence Force.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) comprises all of the country's armed forces, including the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, and Royal Australian Air Force. With a strength of just under 80,000 full-time personnel and active reservists, it is supported by the Department of Defence and other civilian agencies. During the first decades of the 20th century, the Australian Government established the armed services as separate organisations, each with an independent chain of command. In 1976, the government made a strategic change and established the ADF to place the three services under a single headquarters. The degree of integration has increased over time, and tri-service headquarters, logistics and training institutions have supplanted many single-service establishments. Technologically sophisticated, the ADF is the largest military in Oceania, with approximately 58,000 full-time active-duty personnel and 22,000 active reservists. It is smaller than many Asian militaries, but is supported by a significant budget by worldwide standards and can deploy forces in multiple locations outside Australia.

drop bear: Word of the day for January 26, 2018

drop bear , n :
(cryptozoology) A fictional Australian marsupial in the form of a large, carnivorous koala said to fall upon its prey from treetops. Happy Australia Day from all of us at the Wiktionary!

Uganda's Museveni says Trump 'speaks truth to Africa'

President Donald Trump has a big fan in Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni.

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President Mnangagwa: 'Zimbabwe is open for business'

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country was "open for business" after almost four decades of oppressive rule by former leader Robert Mugabe.

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Cape Town is about to run out of water

In Cape Town, South Africa, they're calling it "Day Zero" -- the day when the taps run dry.

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Egypt arrests presidential candidate

Egypt's former military chief of staff and current presidential candidate, Lieutenant General Sami Anan, was arrested Tuesday, according to campaign aides.

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