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by John Vidal on (#KA6B)
Lives of semi-nomadic tribespeople being irreversibly changed by relocation into poorly planned settlements to make way for sugar plantation, says released reportA controversial World Bank-funded scheme to dam a major Ethiopian river and import up to 500,000 people to work in what is planned to be one of the world’s largest sugar plantations has led to tens of thousands of Africa’s most remote and vulnerable people being insensitively resettled.According to reports, released this week, by two teams of British, American and EU diplomats who visited the resettlement areas in the Lower Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia last year, the lives of 20,000 Mursi, Bodi and other semi-nomadic tribespeople are being “fundamentally and irreversibly†changed by the mega-project. Continue reading...
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| Updated | 2026-05-05 10:15 |
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by Guardian Staff on (#KA5F)
Two humpback whales enjoy the warmer waters off the Gold Coast in Queensland. The vision was captured by whale-watching tourism company Whales in Paradise during a tour of the Surfers Paradise coast on Wednesday. More whales are likely to be sighted off the Gold Coast over the next few weeks as the whales migrate from Antarctica to warmer waters Continue reading...
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by James Walsh on (#KA4N)
Britain’s national cycle to work day is upon us once again. Whether leafy or urban, we want to hear all about your trip in to the officeKids are heading back to school, and workplaces are full of people with new haircuts and slightly more enthusiastic attitudes. It can only be the start of September, which means it’s the annual cycle to work day.The national event is backed by many excellent cycle advocacy groups, including British Cycling, Sustrans, the London Cycling Campaign, Cyclescheme, the Bicycle Association, and CTC. The aim is to get people to cycle to work for at least one day, and hopefully encourage people who have forgotten how brilliant cycling is to get out of their cars, buses and monorails and get back on two wheels. Their stated aim is to see a million regular bike commuters by 2021. Continue reading...
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by Australian Associated Press on (#KA48)
Organisation’s former policy director Tim Wilson – now Australia’s human rights commissioner – praised over efforts to counter ‘misinformation’ peddled by carbon tax advocatesThe Institute of Public Affairs is in the running to win an international prize for its role in repealing the carbon tax.The rightwing thinktank is a finalist for the $US100,000 (A$142,000) Templeton Freedom award, granted by American non-profit organisation the Atlas Network. Continue reading...
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by Gill Lewis on (#K9XN)
Vet turned bestselling children’s author Gill Lewis reveals how our mobile phones connect all of us to the fate of the gorilla - and how the discovery inspired her novel, Gorilla DawnFinding a voice to tell a story is probably the hardest part of writing a novel. The ideas are there, the vague outline of a plot is forming, but until that voice emerges and demands their story to be told, the research and information gathered become disconnected facts. The character must become the glue to bind them all together.
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by Australian Associated Press on (#K9T3)
Mechanical hitman has been shown YouTube videos of its prey, which it jabs with a fatal dose of bile saltsAn autonomous robot that can administer a lethal injection is set to be the latest weapon in the fight against the invasive crown-of-thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef.The starfish preys on coral and is responsible for destroying up to 40% of the reef. Continue reading...
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by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles and agencies on (#K9KA)
The US president says climate change is threatening remote Kotzebue’s way of life and vowed to help Alaska cut its fossil fuel useBarack Obama concluded his Alaska trip on Wednesday by visiting a struggling community in the Arctic circle and calling its plight a wake-up call on global warming.
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by Gay Alcorn on (#K9CT)
Abbott and Klein both know that climate change threatens what powerful people hold dear: free markets, limited regulation and unending progressEnvironmental author and activist Naomi Klein doesn’t fly much these days on principle, but she’s come to Australia for the first time in 14 years because now is a crucial moment for climate change.Related: Tony Abbott is a climate change 'villain', says Canadian author Naomi Klein Continue reading...
by Oliver Milman on (#K9CV)
Researchers say deadly tumour that has wiped out 80% of the marsupials will evolve to ensure its survival – and devils will do the sameThe deadly facial tumour disease that has killed large numbers of Tasmanian devils is evolving to increase infection rates but is unlikely to wipe out the species completely, according to new research.A study of devils in north-western Tasmania by Australian and British scientists found that the facial tumour disease has been evolving to allow the devils to live for longer, thereby increasing the spread of the infection. Continue reading...
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by Joshua Robertson on (#K95V)
Australia’s biggest proposed coal project loses 4m tonne deal with one of its two big customers as the country’s fourth-largest bank publicly distances itselfThe National Australia Bank has ruled out funding Adani’s Carmichael mine, as the country’s biggest proposed coal project also lost a key customer in Korean electronics giant LG.NAB, Australia’s fourth largest bank, had “no plans to be involved in any financing†of the controversial project, the Australian Financial Review reported. Sources said the bank would not buy in even if approached by Adani, the report said. Continue reading...
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by Australian Associated Press on (#K951)
Steve Marsh ordered to pay $804,000 in court costs after suing his neighbour over claims he lost organic certification due to contamination from GM canolaAn organic farmer from Western Australia who took on his GM canola-cultivating neighbour on contamination claims has failed in his bid to appeal against a large legal costs bill.Related: GM crop farmer told to reveal if he was backed by Monsanto in legal battle Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#K8SB)
President Barack Obama uses a selfie stick to record a video advocating the need to protect Alaska from the effects of climate change, sharing a 360-degree view of a glacier at the Kenai Fjords national park Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#K8RC)
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by Anita Chabria in Sacramento on (#K8QE)
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by Reuters in Boston on (#K8G8)
Research indicates power of Oscar-nominated film that fueled rise in online searches, social media discussion, news coverage and activism, paper saysAn Oscar-nominated HBO documentary that showed American homeowners near hydraulic fracturing sites setting fire to their tap water may have been the main trigger for a surge in public opposition to the oil and gas production technique, according to a study to be published next month.Gasland, produced by the film-maker Josh Fox in 2010, sparked a rise in online searches, social media chatter, news coverage, and environmental activism surrounding fracking that may have led to a series of local attempts to ban the industry in the years that followed, according to the paper which will be published in the American Sociology Review’s October edition. Continue reading...
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by Terry Macalister in Swansea on (#K801)
Critics have dubbed it Britain’s ‘pottiest’ renewable energy plan, but supporters of the controversial tidal lagoon project say it can revitalise the areaTyrone O’Sullivan is not an obvious evangelist for the vast Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project, lauded by its developers as world leading but dismissed by one critic as Britain’s “pottiest ever†renewable energy project. Continue reading...
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by Letters on (#K7X7)
As a vice-president of the RSPB, Chris Packham (Charities silent over animal hunting and culls, says Packham, 2 September) is not well-placed to accuse other conservation and animal welfare organisations of silence on topics that might upset some of their supporters. A while ago, I was approached by an RSPB representative inviting me to join the organisation. I told him that after receiving regular mailings from the RSPB, I had written to say I would become a supporter when they tackled the elephant – or rather the domestic cat – in the room. And their letters stopped. He covered his badges with his hands, then said: “I’d shoot them all, but there’s a large element of our membership that won’t hear anything against their nice little moggies, and we can’t afford to upset them.†So there’s a shameful silence for you, Chris!
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by Letters on (#K7R9)
As scientists with expertise in environmental issues, veterinary medicine, wildlife and livestock health and welfare, we are disappointed by the recent announcement that the government intends to allow the shooting of free-roaming badgers in Somerset and Gloucestershire to continue and to roll out its badger culling policy to Dorset (28 August, theguardian.com).Bovine tuberculosis continues to represent a serious problem for UK farmers and demands an effective response by the farming industry and government. It is essential that the strategy employed to control the disease is cost-effective and ethical and, above all, supported by the best available evidence. Continue reading...
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by Reuters on (#K7F4)
Details of pledge remain unclear for country that is likely to play a key role in Paris climate talksIndonesia will pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 29% by 2030 the environment and forestry minister said on Wednesday, but gave few details on how this would be done.
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by Suzanne Goldenberg on (#K7A4)
Huge CEO salaries at US firms incentivise expanding carbon reserves but not moves towards clean energy, says thinktankExecutive pay at fossil fuel companies rewards corporate behavior that deepens the climate crisis, and offers no incentive to shift towards renewable energy, a Washington thinktank said on Wednesday.Executives at the 30 biggest publicly held coal, oil and gas companies in the US were paid more than leaders of other major corporations, about 9% higher than the S&P 500 average, the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) found.
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by Hannah Ellis-Petersen on (#K7AH)
The four horses and their riders, created by Jason deCaires Taylor, will only be revealed twice a day at low tideAt high tide, you might barely know they’re there. But as the water level of the Thames comes and goes twice a day, with the tide, the four ghostly heads – and the horses they sit atop – slowly emerge fully into view.The sculpture, entitled The Rising Tide, have been installed near the bankside of Vauxhall bridge and are the work of Jason deCaires Taylor, 41, an artist best known for creating the world’s first underwater museum in Cancun, then again in the Bahamas. Continue reading...
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by Calla Wahlquist on (#K72K)
Voters in the West Australian seat say they would support a 50% renewable energy target, in a poll conducted for conservation groups and Solar CitizensRenewable energy is of greater concern to voters in Canning than national security and two-thirds of voters would support a 50% renewable energy target, according to a poll released on Thursday.The ReachTel poll, conducted on Monday night for a coalition of the Wilderness Society, the Conservation Council of WA, and Solar Citizens, found that 13.4% of respondents nominated renewable energy as an issue that would affect their vote, compared with 12.8% who nominated national security. Continue reading...
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by Amanda Holpuch in New York on (#K6ZK)
Fact sheet outlining initiatives, including community grants and systems to counteract effects of global warming in Arctic, did not address oil drillingOn the final day of his trip to Alaska, President Obama was set to announce a slate of initiatives to help remote Arctic communities beset by the effects of climate change.Related: Barack Obama in Alaska: global fight against climate change starts here Continue reading...
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by Steven Morris on (#K6ST)
Oceanographers claim grainy pictures showing world’s largest animal 250 miles off the coast are first since it was hunted to near-extinctionThe great creature surfaced from the murk of a deep-sea canyon, lingered just long enough for observers to grab a few pictures, and then vanished from sight into the fog and rain.Oceanographers believe these grainy photographs are probably the first to show a blue whale in English waters since the mammals were almost hunted to extinction in the north-east Atlantic. Continue reading...
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by Phil Hoad on (#K6JA)
Bestseller adaptation that is part wildlife doc, part dissection of the Cultural Revolution; at times fantastically exiting, at others bogged down in muddy metaphor
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by John Abraham on (#K6B2)
A new study finds a human fingerprint in the wettest month on record in Texas and Oklahoma
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by Guardian Staff on (#K66Y)
A polar-bear puppet the size of a double-decker bus descends on Shell’s headquarters on London’s Southbank on Tuesday. Actor Emma Thompson is among 64 activists and puppeteers who manoeuvred the bear to stand close to Shell’s front entrance. Protesters want the polar bear to remain there until Shell’s Arctic drilling window ends later this month. Six protesters are inside the bear, chained to it so it cannot be removed Continue reading...
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by Adam Vaughan on (#K65S)
Actor campaigns against the ‘selfishness and greed’ of Shell’s bid for Arctic oil as part of a week-long demonstration in LondonA bus-sized polar bear and Emma Thompson have joined a week-long protest against Arctic drilling at Shell’s headquarters in London.The British actor visited the Arctic last year and said that she had got out of bed at 4am on Wednesday to take part in the protest because of the risk of climate change to her grandchildren and the threat posed to the polar region’s fragile environment by drilling. Continue reading...
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by Oliver Milman on (#K5NW)
Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife wants to install motion-sensing cameras, a thermal camera and flashing-light fox deterrentsConservationists want to install motion-sensing cameras and fox-deterring lights at the last mainland penguin colony in New South Wales, after a fox killed 27 of the endangered birds in just 11 days.In June, a fox discovered the colony of little penguins in the Sydney suburb of Manly, resulting in carnage. There were just 60 breeding pairs in the colony before the attacks. Continue reading...
by Lenore Taylor Political editor on (#K5J8)
Abbott government signs off on the detail of Australia’s climate policy but experts say the baselines have been set too high to require any cutsThe Abbott government has signed off on detailed rules for its Direct Action climate policy, which experts say will allow big industry to actually increase greenhouse emissions.The so-called “safeguards mechanism†is supposed to ensure that increased emissions from heavy industry and electricity generators do not undo the reductions bought through the government’s $2.5bn scheme. Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#K5HA)
US President Barack Obama has visited the shrinking Exit glacier to highlight human-induced climate change while on a visit to Alaska. Obama says the glacier has shrunk rapidly over the past few decades, leading to sea level rises as well being a strong visual marker of a warming climate. On Monday he also visited an Anchorage coffee shop where he bought all of the cinnamon rolls on sale Continue reading...
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by Emma Howard on (#K5DD)
Palm oil plantations are devouring forests rapidly worldwide, with west Africa becoming the new hot spot for tree lossTrees covering an area twice the size of Portugal were lost worldwide in 2014, according to an analysis which shows west Africa is becoming a new hotspot for tree cover loss.Demand for palm oil, used in everything from margarine to shampoo, is blamed for four west African states featuring in a list of 10 countries where the rate of tree loss has accelerated fastest since the millennium. Continue reading...
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by Oliver Milman on (#K5D2)
The British singer says the plan, which the government says will save endangered native animals, ‘is taking idiocy just too far’British singer Morrissey is a seasoned animal rights advocate and, heaven knows, he’s now miserable about Australia’s plan to slaughter 2 million cats.
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by Joshua Robertson on (#K5AZ)
Parliamentary committee recommended making Cairns a ‘priority port’ but Queensland government says it is committed to keeping reef off ‘in danger’ listThe Queensland government has ruled out major development of a port in Cairns that would jeopardise Australia’s pledge to Unesco to limit industrial impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.A parliamentary committee on Tuesday recommended the government consider making Cairns a “priority portâ€, which would pave the way for capital dredging to enable shipping channels. Continue reading...
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by Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington on (#K40N)
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by Suzanne Goldenberg on (#K41A)
Billionaire philanthropist puts focus on protecting small farmers saying they are likely to suffer the most from climate changeBill Gates called for more funds to help the world’s poorest farmers deal with climate change on Tuesday, in an appeal that could help pry open the coffers of industrialised countries.The call from the tech billionaire and world’s biggest philanthropist to focus on the poor could spur more finance from industrialised countries to small-scale farmers during negotiations for a global deal to fight climate change in Paris at the end of the year. Continue reading...
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by Karl Mathiesen on (#K3S5)
BBC presenter and naturalist targets RSPB and Wildlife Trusts for keeping quiet on fox hunting, badger cull and the plight of hen harriersChris Packham has slammed the “shameful†silence of some of Britain’s major conservation charities on fox hunting, the badger cull and the plight of hen harriers.
by Guardian Staff on (#K3MW)
Wrestling komodo dragons and thirsty squirrels are among the creatures captured on camera by photographers for this year’s competition. The exhibition opens on 16 October at the Natural History Museum in London Continue reading...
by Leighann Lord on (#K3JW)
For politicians, it’s convenient to have an incorporeal bogey man for a scapegoat. And the bonus is that global warming doesn’t voteKatrina was the big bad storm for which we were totally unprepared. It’s like adulthood. You know it’s coming. You think you’re ready but you’re not. You’ve completely underestimated its force and power. Of course we can blame our buddy Brownie and company for how the emergency response was mishandled, but what actually caused the storm, again? It’s uber fashionable to blame global warming in some circles and god in another – but what do scientists have to say?Savvy politicians blame natural disasters like Katrina on global warming, but then deny global warming exists when it becomes too expensive to do anything about it or when they need campaign donations. It’s convenient to have an incorporeal bogey man to blame. And bonus: global warming doesn’t vote.
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by James Randerson on (#K3BZ)
US president’s call for action on climate change is at odds with letting Shell drill for oil in the Arctic, says Bill McKibbenBarrack Obama has fatally undermined the message of his visit to the Arctic to highlight the dangers of climate change because his administration allowed Shell to drill there, a leading US environmentalist has said.Bill McKibben, winner of the Right Livelihood prize in 2014, sometimes referred to as an alternative Nobel, and founder of 350.org, said that Obama’s actions were a “bad contradictionâ€. Continue reading...
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by Tom Levitt on (#K33W)
US food company Cargill wants to use expertise from the farmed salmon sector to help it produce more efficient and sustainable fish and chickenIt is difficult to know which is moving faster: the debate around the ethics of farmed fish, or the growth in how much of it we are eating. By 2030, aquaculture is predicted to account for 60% of fish destined for our plates and it’s already more than half.
by Guardian readers and Tom Stevens on (#K32K)
We asked you to share your August pictures of the wildlife around the world. Here’s a selection of our favourites
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by Tom Stevens on (#K32M)
The start of September sees the northern hemisphere reluctantly saying goodbye to summer while the southern hemisphere looks ahead to the spring. We’d like to see your photos of the September wildlife near you
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by Julia Schilly for Der Standard, part of the Climat on (#K30F)
The thawing of Dachstein Massif show how climate change is precipitating the melting of glaciers, reports Der StandardThe view is breathtaking. Sheer cliff faces extend beneath the gondola as it glides from the Styrian town of Ramsau to the southern part of the Dachstein Massif, home to three glaciers.Upon arrival, visitors to the mountain are greeted by a green model dinosaur. The figure is meant to amuse children, but it has taken on a symbolic role too: glaciers belong to a dying breed. All three of the Dachstein’s glaciers – the Gosau, the Hallstätter and the Schladminger – have shrunk this year.
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by David Hill on (#K2XM)
Plans for agro-industry expansion puts the livelihoods of thousands of women harvesting rare palm fruit at riskWhat, you might ask, is a “babassu breakerâ€? That’s my translation of “quebradeira de coco babaçuâ€, a term used by an estimated several hundred thousand women in Brazil who gather and break open the fruit - no easy task - from a species of palm called babassu.Many quebradeiras’ aim is to use the entire fruit: the seed kernels for oil or milk, the mesocarp - the middle layer - for flour, and the husk for charcoal. The income generated from babassu-derived products is crucial to thousands of families’ survival, while other parts of the palm find their way into roofs, fences and compost.
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by Reuters on (#K2ME)
Environment minister says Netherlands will contest court ruling ordering it to cut emissions steeper, but government will begin complying in the meantimeThe Dutch government will appeal against a district court ruling ordering it to cut emissions of greenhouse gases faster than currently planned, in a politically sensitive case that is being closely watched by policy-makers abroad.
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by Reuters on (#K2GD)
Shallow and warm waters of the Persian Gulf, where cyclones have never been recorded, might generate future storms that threaten cities such as DubaiClimate change is bringing small risks that tropical cyclones will form in the Persian Gulf for the first time, in a threat to cities such as Dubai or Doha which are unprepared for big storm surges, a US study said on Monday.
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by Patrick Barkham on (#K2JC)
Many landowners regard footpaths as an unfortunate relic from pre-enclosure days, when peasants swarmed unimpeded across the countrysideWhen the Ramblers Association recently launched its Big Pathwatch, urging walkers to upload pictures of overgrown footpaths, I considered it a bit silly. Poor hard-pressed councils tasked with footpath maintenance – can’t walkers stamp down a few stray nettles? After a stinging wade along the bridleways of Buckinghamshire, however, I’m all for app tale-telling.It wasn’t just fast-growing nettles and brambles but teasels, thistles, young oaks and hogweed as high as a horse. And this 35 miles from London, in the Tory shires, where keen trampers take to the lanes in battalions and steel swing gates have been installed in memory of members of the local U3A group. Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#K24H)
Climate change is threatening the nomadic lifestyle in Mongolia, with 90% of the landscape degrading into desert. Photographer Daesung Lee shows the nomads trapped between their fertile present and their arid future Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#K221)
The US president has urged world leaders to agree to cut carbon emissions at a UN summit in Paris later this year. Speaking in Alaska, Barack Obama said the US recognises its role in creating climate change and will ‘embrace’ attempts to solve it. ‘The fact is that climate is changing faster than our efforts to address it. That, ladies and gentlemen must, change,’ Obama said Continue reading...
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