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Dick Wolf

Swift Justice is an American detective drama television series created by Dick Wolf (pictured) and Richard Albarino that aired for one season on UPN from March 13 to July 17, 1996. It follows former Navy SEAL Mac Swift (James McCaffrey), a private investigator who was fired from the New York City Police Department. He receives support from his former partner Detective Randall Patterson (Gary Dourdan) and his father Al Swift (Len Cariou). Episodes were filmed on location in New York. Critics noted its emphasis on violence, specifically in the pilot episode's opening sequence, comparing it to the crime drama The Equalizer (1985–1989) and the 1988 film Die Hard. UPN canceled the program after receiving complaints from viewers, advertisers, and critics of its violent scenes. Wolf considered the cancellation a mistake due to the show's good ratings. The series was praised for its visuals and McCaffrey's performance, but criticized as being either too violent or formulaic. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Li Zhenxiu

... that Li Zhenxiu (pictured) was sworn into Taiwan's Legislative Yuan while still holding Chinese citizenship?
... that a high-school fish-hatchery program was disrupted when more than 100,000 US gallons (380,000 L; 83,000 imp gal) of chlorinated water leaked into Chimacum Creek?
... that Rat Watson, a 141-pound (64 kg) quarterback, led "the greatest football team ever assembled in Texas", outscoring opponents 432 to 6?
... that The Dream of Belinda combines imagery from The Rape of the Lock with the Queen Mab of Romeo and Juliet?
... that, according to legend, the poet Charles Baudelaire tried to organize a mob to kill his stepfather during the French Revolution of 1848?
... that "A Media Luz" ("With Dimmed Lights") is one of the most successful tango compositions of all time?
... that Princess Thonbanhla is honored annually on the eve of the full moon with a ceremony funded by local villagers?
... that more than a quarter of Pennsylvania voters opposed a 2021 constitutional amendment to prohibit racial and ethnic discrimination?
... that Bernard Chen, the general manager of Fraser and Neave's soft‑drinks division, was allergic to alcohol?

In the news

Jasprit Bumrah

In cricket, the Men's T20 World Cup concludes with India defeating New Zealand in the final (player of the match Jasprit Bumrah pictured).
Mojtaba Khamenei is elected Supreme Leader of Iran following the assassination of his father, Ali Khamenei.
Flooding in Kenya leaves at least 43 people dead.
The Winter Paralympics open in northern Italy.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party and its prime ministerial candidate Balen Shah win a landslide victory in the Nepalese general election, called after the Gen Z protests.

On this day

March 13

Battle of Lissa

1811 – Napoleonic Wars: A British frigate squadron defeated a much larger squadron of French and Italian frigates and smaller vessels in the Battle of Lissa (depicted) in the Adriatic Sea.
1888 – The eruption of Ritter Island triggered tsunamis that killed up to 3,000 people on nearby islands.
1986 – Claiming the right of innocent passage, the American warships Yorktown and Caron entered Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea.
2013 – Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis, making him the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.

Shah Rukh (d. 1447)
Abigail Fillmore (b. 1798)
Alexej von Jawlensky (b. 1864)
Iris Calderhead (d. 1966)

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From today's featured list

Crested porcupine

There are eleven extant species of hystricids, members of Hystricidae, a family of herbivorous mammals in the order Rodentia commonly referred to as Old World porcupines. The Old World porcupines range in size from the long-tailed porcupine, which measures 48 cm (19 in) plus a 23 cm (9 in) tail, to the crested porcupine (example pictured), at 93 cm (37 in) plus a 17 cm (7 in) tail. Found in Southern Europe, the Levant, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, Old World porcupines generally inhabit shrublands, grasslands, forests, and savannas. The eleven species of hystricids are divided into three genera: Atherurus, which contains two species, the African and Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine; Hystrix, which contains eight species in three subgenera; and Trichys, which contains only the long-tailed porcupine. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Scoliidae, or the scoliid wasps, is a family of around 300 described species of wasps found worldwide. They are solitary parasitoids whose larvae develop on the larvae of other insects, most commonly the scarab beetle. Females search for hosts in soil or rotting wood, sometimes following tunnels created by the beetle larvae. After locating a host, the female stings and paralyses it and may move it into a chamber before laying a single egg on the immobilised grub. Because many scarab beetles are agricultural pests, scoliid wasps can act as important biological control agents. Adult wasps often visit flowers and may function as minor pollinators. In some species, orchid flowers mimic female wasps and attract males, which attempt to mate with the flowers and thereby pollinate them. This male scoliid wasp of the species Megascolia bidens was photographed near Soliman on Cape Bon, a peninsula in northeastern Tunisia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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