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From today's featured article
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Moonraker is the third novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature the Secret Service agent James Bond. It was published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955 with a cover design conceived by Fleming. The only Bond novel set entirely in Britain, it features Drax, an ex-Nazi working for the Russians, who plans to build a rocket, arm it with a nuclear warhead, and fire it at London. Moonraker, like Fleming's previous novels, was well received by critics. It plays on fears common in the 1950s, including rocket attacks (following the V-2 strikes of the Second World War), Soviet communism, the re-emergence of Nazism and the "threat from within" posed by both ideologies. Fleming examines Englishness, and the novel shows the virtues and strength of England. Adaptations include a broadcast on South African radio in 1956 starring Bob Holness and a 1958 Daily Express comic strip. The novel's title was used in 1979 for the eleventh official film in the Eon Productions Bond series and the fourth to star Roger Moore as Bond; the plot was significantly changed from the novel to include excursions into space. ( Full article...)
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Did you know...
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![Hoverfly](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Hoverfly_October_2007-8.jpg/120px-Hoverfly_October_2007-8.jpg) Hoverfly
- ... that insects that pollinate plants include butterflies, moths, beetles, flies (example pictured), wasps, and ants?
- ... that the political scientist Siobhan O'Sullivan argues that animal activists should focus on the inconsistent treatment of animals relative to other animals, not relative to humans?
- ... that the 12-gun brig HMS Constant captured at least seven French and Dutch vessels while at sea between 1806 and 1813?
- ... that the first original novel in the Gujarati language, Karan Ghelo, was published in 1866 by Nandshankar Mehta?
- ... that Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl played their first performance together since the death of Kurt Cobain at 1994's Yoyo A Go Go punk rock festival?
- ... that Wu Qing won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 2001, the first Chinese woman to receive the honour?
- ... that upon its 1641 premiere in Venice, the opera La finta pazza was performed twelve times in seventeen days?
- ... that the ancient Maya lightning god Yopaat helped with the rebirth of the maize god by breaking the shell of a turtle with his thunderbolt?
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In the news
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![EgyptAir Airbus A320-200 involved in hijack](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/EgyptAir_A320_SU-GCB_%284509539248%29.jpg/120px-EgyptAir_A320_SU-GCB_%284509539248%29.jpg) EgyptAir Airbus A320-200 involved in hijack
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On this day...
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Today's featured picture
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A view of the Wadi Bani Khalid from above. This wadi, located some 203 kilometres (126 mi) from Muscat, Oman, is the best-known of the Sharqiyah region. Its stream maintains a constant flow of water throughout the year, and large pools of water and boulders are scattered along the course of the wadi.
Photograph: Richard Bartz
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