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Armenian corpses by a road, 1915

Armenian genocide denial is the claim that the Ottoman Empire did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I—a crime widely documented and affirmed by the vast majority of scholars. The perpetrators denied the genocide as they carried it out; incriminating documents were later systematically destroyed. Denial has been the policy of every government of the Republic of Turkey, and rests on the assumption that the "relocation" of Armenians was a legitimate state action, not deliberate extermination. Deniers claim the death toll is exaggerated or attribute the deaths to other factors. Historian Ronald Grigor Suny summarizes their main argument as "there was no genocide, and the Armenians were to blame for it". An important reason for this denial is that the genocide enabled the establishment of a Turkish nation-state; recognition would contradict Turkey's founding myths. The Turkish state's century-long denial of the genocide sets it apart from other cases of genocide. (Full article...)

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In the news

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SpaceX Starship, the most powerful rocket to date, is launched (pictured) from Texas and destroyed almost four minutes into the flight.
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The wreckage of Montevideo Maru, a Japanese vessel sunk by the US during World War II with over 1000 captive Australian nationals onboard, is discovered in the South China Sea.

On this day

April 24: Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (1915)

Hubble Space Telescope

1837 – A fire broke out in Surat, India, which went on to destroy about three-fourths of the city.
1916 – Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse began the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state.
1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope (pictured) was launched aboard STS-31 by Space Shuttle Discovery.
1993 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, killing one person, injuring forty-four others, and causing damage that cost £350 million to repair.

Mellitus (d. 624)
Kumar Dharmasena (b. 1971)
Estée Lauder (d. 2004)

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Poster for Loetoeng Kasaroeng

One hundred and twelve films are known to have been produced in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) between 1926 and the colony's dissolution in 1949. The earliest motion pictures, imported from abroad, were shown in late 1900, and by the early 1920s imported serials and fictional films were being shown, often with localised names. The first locally produced film, Loetoeng Kasaroeng (poster pictured), was directed by L. Heuveldorp and released on 31 December 1926. Between 1926 and 1933 numerous other local productions were released. Although Dutchmen like Heuveldorp and G. Krugers continued to be active in the industry, the majority of filmmakers and producers were ethnic Chinese. The Tan brothers and The Teng Chun were major producers during this period, while the Wong brothers were among the more prominent directors. (Full list...)

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The crested honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus), also known as the Oriental honey buzzard, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Its size ranges from 57 to 60 centimetres (22 to 24 in). The name is derived from its diet, which consists mainly of the larvae of bees and wasps, extracted from honeycombs. It has several adaptations for this diet, including an elongated head for foraging on underground nests and a groove in the tongue for feeding on honey. A mass of short, dense feathers on the head and neck protect against stinging attacks by social wasps. The crested honey buzzard is a year-round resident in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Some birds migrate to Siberia and Japan during the summer for breeding. This crested honey buzzard was photographed in Mudumalai National Park, India.

Photograph credit: Timothy A. Gonsalves

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