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Exit B of City Hall station (top) and Exit A of Raffles Place station

The City Hall and Raffles Place MRT stations are paired cross-platform interchanges on the North–South line (NSL) and East–West line (EWL) of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. Both are situated in the Downtown Core district: City Hall station is near landmarks such as the former City Hall, St Andrew's Cathedral and the Padang, while Raffles Place station serves Merlion Park, The Fullerton Hotel and the Asian Civilisations Museum. The stations were first announced in 1982. Constructing the tunnels between the City Hall and Raffles Place stations required the draining of the Singapore River. The stations opened on 12 December 1987 as part of the MRT extension to Outram Park station. Cross-platform transfers between the NSL and EWL began on 28 October 1989, ahead of the split of the MRT network into two lines. Both stations are designated Civil Defence shelters. City Hall station features a mural by Simon Wong which depicts government buildings in the area, while two murals at Raffles Place station by Lim Sew Yong and Thang Kiang How depict scenes of Singapore's history. (See City Hall MRT station and Raffles Place MRT station.)

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Did you know ...

Postville on Kaipokok Bay

... that the only populated place on Kaipokok Bay in Labrador, Canada, is Postville (pictured)?
... that unlike other armories in New York City, the 69th Regiment Armory was designed in the Beaux-Arts style because its architect did not want it to look like a "mediaeval castle"?
... that Tsvetana Jermanova survived imprisonment in two forced labour camps in communist Bulgaria?
... that in the 2009 documentary concert special Roots to Riches, Regine Velasquez reunited and performed with her former talent show rival Eva Castillo?
... that Hannah Davis authored highly cited articles on long COVID while battling the disease herself?
... that police were stationed on the new Kansas Avenue Bridge to prevent streetcar rails from being laid down?
... that Jerónimo Saavedra was the first openly gay politician to serve in several high public offices in Spain?
... that New Zealand's Lemon & Te Aroha was created 19 years before the similarly named and more famous Lemon & Paeroa?

In the news

Swen Vincke

Baldur's Gate 3 (director Swen Vincke pictured) wins game of the year at The Game Awards.
At least 17 people are killed as Cyclone Michaung makes landfall in India.
Former president of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is sentenced to prison on charges of corruption.
Amidst a diplomatic crisis with Guyana, Venezuela holds a referendum to advance its claim to the disputed Guayana Esequiba region.
A bombing at Mindanao State University in Marawi, Philippines, kills four people.

On this day

December 12: Beginning of the Yule Lads' arrival in Iceland

George W. Bush

627 – A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrow II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh, near present-day Mosul, Iraq.
1936 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China was kidnapped by Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang, a former warlord of Manchuria.
1988 – Three trains collided near Clapham Junction railway station in London, killing 35 people and injuring 484 others.
2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bush v. Gore that the recount of ballots cast in Florida for the presidential election be stopped, effectively making George W. Bush (pictured) the winner.
2021 – At the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton in the final lap to become the World Drivers' Champion.

Geoffrey (d. 1212)
Edvard Munch (b. 1863)
Ikuhiko Hata (b. 1932)
Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi (d. 2021)

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Today's featured picture

The pink cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri) is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semi-arid inland areas across Australia, with the exception of the north east. The bird has a soft-textured white and salmon-pink plumage and large, bright red and yellow crest. The sexes are quite similar, although males are usually bigger while the female has a broader yellow stripe on the crest and develops a red eye when mature. The pink cockatoo is usually found in pairs or small groups, and feeds both on the ground and in trees. It is listed as an endangered species by the Australian government. Formerly known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo, after the explorer Thomas Mitchell, the species was officially renamed the pink cockatoo in 2023 by BirdLife Australia in light of Mitchell's involvement in the massacre of Aboriginal people at Mount Dispersion, as well as a general trend to make Australian species names more culturally inclusive. This pink cockatoo with a raised crest was photographed near Mount Grenfell in New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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