Small radio station forced to go silent after unbelievable' theft of giant tower, which would cost over $100,000 to replaceAn Alabama radio station has been forced to temporarily shut down after thieves stole a 200ft radio tower.WJLX, a station in Jasper, Alabama, was ordered to go off air by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after thieves took the station's AM tower last week, the Guardian first learned. Continue reading...
Led by Native people, an Oklahoma program provides life-saving supplies and addiction care to remote tribal areasTwice a week, Coleman Cox drives a white sprinter van full of life-saving supplies along winding rural Oklahoma roads from Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, to Vinita, a town of 5,000 about 70 miles (113km) north. It's a hot spot for drug use in the northern part of the reservation.Cox, who's 38, is the director of the Cherokee Nation harm reduction program, an evidence-based public health strategy designed to mitigate the adverse effects of drug use, such as infectious diseases, overdose and death. The mobile unit was launched in September 2023 to bring harm-reduction supplies to remote areas of the reservation. Vinita is its first distribution site. Continue reading...
Former senator will star on The Residence, based on the US president's private home while in officeAl Franken, the former Minnesota Democratic senator, will play a senator on TV in a Netflix comedic drama about the White House.The show, called The Residence, is based on the residence at the White House, the president's private home while in office. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans on (#6JEGC)
New Orleans man asks White House to follow through on Biden's promise to respond if you harm an American' in mother's caseA New Orleans-area man who has reported that Israeli troops kidnapped his mother - a US citizen - from a family home on the occupied West Bank Palestinian territory is asking Joe Biden's White House to follow through on the president's recent promise to respond if you harm an American".Ibrahim Hamed said he realized that Biden's remarks on Friday - if you harm an American, we will respond" - came after the United States and Britain attacked Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three US army troops. But he said the sentiment should apply equally even in the case of a Palestinian American who has been taken by Israeli troops. Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#6JFN9)
Legal documents said to suggest former bank CEO and child sex offender used third person to communicateThe former chief executive of Barclays Jes Staley allegedly stayed in contact with Jeffrey Epstein long after joining the UK bank, according to legal documents that reportedly contradict claims he cut ties with the convicted child sex offender and disgraced financier in 2015.Documents from a now-settled lawsuit, seen by Bloomberg News, allegedly suggest that the two men used an unnamed third person, who acted as an intermediary for messages between Staley and Epstein", to stay in contact after Staley took over as chief executive of Barclays in December 2015. Continue reading...
Fans and players hope for the best at the start of any season. But there are always factors holding back even the best teamsA new season brings hope - when the game is played on paper, it always seems easier to win.It also brings doubt. What if we missed on our offseason signings? What if a European suitor snags our best player in the summer window? What if we, uh, forgot to hire a coach? Continue reading...
Letter sent to UN raises concerns about Alice Wairimu Nderitu's ability to act with effectiveness and impartiality'. Plus, have the Dutch found the answer to burnout culture?
Red Cross says only a third of households who sought emergency shelter have moved into homes, as governor's pledge rings hollowEvery afternoon Diana Tevaga rushes back from work to her hotel room to feed her pitbull, Pe'a, and tabby cat, Kenzie, bracing herself for another dispiriting evening searching online for an affordable apartment in Maui.Tevaga, 41, has been living in a hotel since losing her home - a rent-controlled apartment she'd shared with her mother and pets - in the catastrophic Lahaina wildfire on 8 August. Before the fire, she spent evenings with her nephews and nieces, who lived in the same neighborhood. Now, Tevaga watches reality TV and eats Red Cross meals with other survivors who have no place else to go. Continue reading...
Zelenskiy aide says foreign policy has become a hostage of internal politics' after Republicans torpedo aid billThe repeated failure of the Biden administration to get a funding package for Ukraine approved by the Senate will have real consequences in terms of lives on the battlefield and Kyiv's ability to hold off Russian forces on the frontline, say Ukrainian officials.The latest move by Senate Republicans to torpedo a bipartisan bill that would have combined $60bn (48bn) in aid for Ukraine with aid to Israel and increased border security measures is a bitter blow for Kyiv. It could signal a very grim year ahead as the US political agenda settles into an election year with Donald Trump all but certain to be the Republican candidate. Continue reading...
The bill would require transgender people to be identified on birth certificates, a measure some compare to pink triangles'On Tuesday afternoon, the Iowa house education committee met to debate House Study Bill 649, a bill proposed by the Republican governor, Kim Reynolds. The bill, as drafted, would end legal recognition for transgender people anywhere male" and female" appear in Iowa code and would require special gender markers for transgender people on birth certificates, measures that were compared to pink triangles" once used to identify LGBTQ+ people by Nazis in the 1940s. Perhaps the most ambitious attempt to discriminate against transgender people in the proposed legislation, however, is through redefining the word equal" in the bill.The bill states that when it comes to transgender people, The term equal' does not mean same' or identical'," which raises the question: what does equal" even mean? The bill does not define the word, only declares that equal" no longer means same" or identical" within the state of Iowa for transgender people. When the sponsor was asked directly what the word equal" means in this bill, the representative Heather Hora answered: Equal would mean ... um ... I would assume that equal would mean ... I don't know exactly in this context." Continue reading...
The Palestinian nationalist, jailed for violence in the Second Intifada, may be the key to negotiating a two-state solutionThe Israeli public's desire to bring home all of the hostages from Gaza is forcing hard choices for Israel's rightwing government, which has tried to resist Hamas's demands that Israeli hostages be exchanged for specific Palestinians held prisoner by Israel, including some who took part in the 7 October attacks on Israeli civilians. The situation has put a spotlight on one man in particular - the Palestinian nationalist Marwan Barghouti, who may be the most important prisoner of all.Hamas, an Islamist group that has traditionally been bitter rivals with Barghouti's secular Fatah faction, is now demanding Barghouti's release from Israeli prison if Israel wants the hostages returned. Even if Israel refuses this demand, Hamas wins support from Barghouti's supporters. Continue reading...
by Carter Sherman, Tom Silverstone and Temujin Doran on (#6JFG2)
Since the US supreme court's overturning of Roe v Wade, 16 states have enacted stringent bans on nearly all abortions. But that is not enough for a new generation of organised and passionate activists intent on pushing even stricter laws across the country. Carter Sherman spends time with students and organisers at the annual March for Life in Washington DC and meets the influential woman spearheading the national movement Continue reading...
Trying them out, I felt like a cyber hero but my kids doubled up with laughter. It's a $4,000 way to shred your dignityThe first thought I had, as I put on the Apple Vision Pro headset, was that I was somehow going to fail at virtual reality. For 20 minutes I'd watched as people with appointments ahead of me at the Apple store pinched the air, interacting with invisible stimuli. They looked ridiculous in the manner of mature adults trying to adopt new technology - all right, Grandma - which triggered my second, even more geriatric thought: what if there was a fire while you were in one of these things and you didn't notice and burned to death?In fact, the most startling thing about the release of Apple's new virtual reality headset in the US last week was the nationwide scramble to book appointments for a demo, and with it, the opportunity to spend almost $4,000. The Vision Pro won't be available in the rest of the world for some time and, while Apple hasn't released sales figures, pre-orders were said to be somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 during the first pre-order weekend.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The San Francisco quarterback is one of the lowest paid at his position in the NFL. That has allowed his team to surround him with talentAfter leading the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC Championship Game as a rookie last season and following that up by taking them all the way to this Sunday's Super Bowl, quarterback Brock Purdy has made a mockery of the Mr Irrelevant" label he was slapped with as the 262nd - and last - overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.This past regular season the 24-year-old ranked fifth in total passing yards (4,280) - one spot higher than his upcoming Super Bowl opponent Patrick Mahomes (4,183) - third in passing touchdowns (31 - again beating out Mahomes, who had 27) and first in passer rating (113.0). Continue reading...
Against the backdrop of the King's illness, Britons remain divided: should our royal family be subject to evolution, reform or abolition?On this, at least, everybody can identify with King Charles. His cancer diagnosis this week is a traumatic moment, and not just for him but for his family. It has also triggered instinctive public sympathy, not least for the monarch's refreshing relative openness about his condition. All this has fired up a powerful media story, made more irresistible by the Prince Harry subplot, that will be part of our national life for months.But do this week's events actually have institutional implications for the monarchy? The instant reflex of many will be to say no. The British monarchy's recent history of adaptiveness, under Queen Elizabeth II and now Charles, points that way too. After all, the firm" is hardwired for continuity. Seamless adaptation is what the monarchy does. It has been doing it again this week, albeit wrapped in the privileged language in which going back to work becomes the resumption of duties". Few politicians have any interest in questioning any aspect of this.Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
by Mariam Lau, Andreas Busch, Cas Mudde, Fatma Aydemi on (#6JFE8)
After revelations of a secret meeting with neo-Nazis, huge anti-AfD protests have erupted across the country. But what would it mean to ban a party riding high in the polls?The idea of banning the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party seems to me a lot like magical thinking. Outlaw them - poof, they're gone! But the case that the entire party (rather than individual statements) represents a clear and present danger to our democracy is far from watertight. Imagine losing! And in some regions of Germany the AfD represents a third of the electorate. Excluding all of them from participating? Not a good idea.Mariam Lau is a political journalist for Die Zeit Continue reading...
There are things ministers must do but also actions we can take to help fellow citizens. Both are now essentialEven if the government issued newspaper editors with D-notices banning any public mention of the word poverty", it could hardly do more to create a wall of silence around Britain's biggest social crisis. By eliminating any ministerial admission of our deepening poverty epidemic from public discourse, it has left Britain with a hidden emergency whose forgotten and voiceless victims are the hundreds of thousands of children behind closed doors, in bedrooms without beds, homes without heating and kitchen tables without food, and whose suffering is worsening by the day.Since the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, people across Britain have been asking why it took so long for the government to exonerate innocent post office operators who faced such appalling treatment. In years to come, I believe, people will be asking how it was that government walked by on the other side when thousands of children were suffering abject deprivation, and failed to support them in their hours of need. Continue reading...
The self-help author made the announcement after securing 3% of the vote in Nevada's primary electionSelf-help author and wellness guru Marianne Williamson has announced the end of her long-shot Democratic challenge to President Joe Biden.I hope future candidates will take what works for them, drinking from the well of information we prepared," Williamson wrote in a statement announcing the end of her bid. My team and I brought to the table some great ideas, and I will take pleasure when I see them live on in campaigns and candidates yet to be created." Continue reading...
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa claimed to Fox News' Sean Hannity that man had been shoplifting, but NYPD has no evidenceAs Sean Hannity was interviewing the founder of the Guardian Angels, a New York City-based vigilante group known for targeting immigrants, an off-screen disturbance took place and the camera panned to show group members confronting an unidentified man, pushing him to the sidewalk and placing him in a headlock.The bizarre incident played out Tuesday night during the primetime segment on Fox News meant to highlight alleged disorder and crime Hannity claimed was caused by asylum seekers arriving in New York City. Continue reading...
by George Chidi in Montgomery, Alabama on (#6JF8J)
Helping those who can't read or write or who have disabilities to obtain, fill out or return a ballot is on par with serious feloniesA bill to criminalize some kinds of absentee ballot voter assistance - creating a felony on par with statutory rape or involuntary manslaughter - sped out of an Alabama state senate committee Wednesday.The proposed legislation on senate bill 1 initially prohibited people other than close family members or co-habitants from helping any voter request an absentee ballot, filling out that application or ballot or returning that ballot to elections offices. The bill carves out exceptions for people with disabilities and those who cannot read or write. Receiving or giving money for these activities could be prosecuted as Class B or Class C felonies, respectively, under the proposed law. Continue reading...
The chamber then attempted to advance a foreign aid package which included only funding for US allies outlined in the bipartisan billThe Senate blocked a bipartisan border and national security bill from advancing on Wednesday, as Democrats accused Republicans of bending to the political wishes of Donald Trump at the expense of their constituents.The vote was 49 to 50, with 45 Democrats and four Republicans supporting the bill's advancement. Sixty votes were needed to begin debate on the bill. Continue reading...
Crowds gathered around the wreckage left by a US drone strike on a car in Iraq.The strike, on a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighbourhood in eastern Baghdad, killed three members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, officials have said.Days earlier, the US military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan in late January
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who ruled from the bench, reportedly said allowing for a mistrial would have been entirely pointless'Donald Trump's motions for a mistrial in the defamation case brought against him by the writer E Jean Carroll have been rejected by a federal judge, who added that the former president's issues with the verdict had no merit".In an order filed on Wednesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan said the motion for a mistrial made no sense" and that approving it would have been entirely pointless". Trump's lawyers had previously called for a mistrial in the middle of their cross-examination of Carroll, which the judge denied at the time, instructing the jury to disregard the counsel's remarks. He reiterated his decision and sharply criticized the efforts of Trump's attorney in the written order this week. Continue reading...
Police tried to defuse the situation at a Bank of America branch, but the suspect took two hostages and held a knife at one's throatA robber at a Florida bank took hostages after law enforcement arrived and was killed by a sheriff's sniper as he held a woman in a headlock with a knife to her throat, authorities said.Negotiators tried to defuse the situation on Tuesday at a Bank of America branch in Fort Myers, but the suspect instead took two hostages in the building, Carmine Marceno, the Lee county sheriff, said. Continue reading...
Gallup survey shows big drop in only three years among Black and Hispanic voters, a concern for Biden's re-election campaignBlack and Hispanic voters are deserting the Democratic party in numbers that will present a concern for Joe Biden's re-election effort, a poll has found.Among Black Americans expressing a party preference, the Democratic lead over Republicans has dropped by almost 20% in only three years, according to the Gallup survey. Continue reading...
Diversity-focused groups outline concerns in letter to Fortune 500 companies amid conservative attacks on inclusivity initiativesA coalition of business leaders sent letters to the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies on Wednesday urging them to maintain a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as they come under conservative attack.Business decisions intended to capture the value from diversity initiatives have been politicized by a vocal minority of ideologically motivated voices who ignore both facts and the law," the letter from groups including US Black Chambers and the Global Black Economic Forum read. We believe it is imperative that CEOs and other company leaders are able to make strategic decisions for their companies without threats of frivolous lawsuits and political pressure." Continue reading...
Aircraft located near Pine Valley but snowy conditions hamper rescue teams trying to access itA Marine Corps helicopter that had been missing with five troops onboard as an historic storm drenched California was found on Wednesday morning in a mountainous area outside San Diego.The aircraft was located just after 9am local time by civil authorities near the mountain community of Pine Valley, about a 45-mile (72km) drive from San Diego but rescue crews said snowy conditions were making access challenging on the ground. Continue reading...
by Lauren Gambino, Andrew Witherspoon, Marcus Peabody on (#6JEY7)
What is behind the surge of people trying to cross the border and what dangers do they face? A visual explainerRecord levels of migration are straining an immigration system left nearly broken by decades of congressional inaction.Republicans have spent years amplifying scenes of turmoil and tragedy at the southern border, but Democratic leaders are also worried now, particularly big-city mayors and blue state governors who are demanding more federal resources to shelter and feed an influx of migrants. Continue reading...
USWNT co-captain criticized supporters' knowledge of the game. But her words ignored the role the women's team has played in building a soccer cultureLast Thursday, The Athletic dropped an interview with Lindsey Horan that probably didn't have fans flocking to buy her replica shirt.Apparently, the co-captain of the trailblazing US women's national team thinks that American soccer fans, most of them aren't smart ... They don't know the game. They don't understand." She did, admittedly, throw them a bone, adding: [But] it's getting better and better." Continue reading...
They lied to us ... We just want justice for our son,' says father of Treveon Taylor Jr, who died at hospital south of Atlanta last yearThe death of a baby who was decapitated during delivery was ruled a homicide by a Georgia medical examiner's office.The baby died last July after a physician allegedly applied so much force attempting to free the child from a woman's birth canal that the child's spine was completely severed. The finding by the authorities appears to confirm allegations made by the family's attorneys in a lawsuit filed last August against the hospital. Continue reading...
Alessandro DiNello, new executive chairman of regional US lender, acknowledges serious situation' as stock at lowest level in decadesShares in New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) continued to fall on Wednesday, heightening unease about the US's regional banking sector.The bank's stock has fallen by more than 60% to its lowest level in decades in recent days despite a scramble by the mid-sized lender to reassure investors of its financial strength. Continue reading...
The 2022 US Trans Survey of 92,000 transgender adults, finds continued discrimination, harassment and even violence at workThe largest survey of transgender Americans ever conducted has found trans people continue to suffer discrimination, harassment and even violence at work, in medicine and at school - but that people who transition have much higher satisfaction in life, and many have supportive families.This is the first report to document transgender experiences en masse in eight years, and comes amid sustained political attacks on trans rights from conservatives. Continue reading...
The Senate will vote on the bill after months of discussing aid to allies and changes to border policy - here's what to knowSenate negotiators presented their long-awaited national security bill on Sunday, after months of talks over funding for US allies abroad and changes to border policy. By Tuesday, it was clear it was not likely to pass either chamber of Congress.The Senate is still expected to vote on the bill on Wednesday. But members of both parties have already voiced criticism of the bill, and the House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has declared the proposal would be dead on arrival" in the lower chamber. Continue reading...
When I started out in journalism, my bosses expected me to get the kettle out whenever they were thirsty. Thirty years on, the very idea makes me queasyThe queue for my morning coffee was short but slow-moving. I was next but one up, but the woman in pole position seemed to have ordered an awful lot of takeaway coffees, each one subtly different. They weren't being made so much as constructed. Cappuccino, latte, oat, skinny, hot, wet, permutations thereof, etc, etc. You know the kind of thing. The queue lengthened behind me. I noted a Just Eat bloke standing there and was vaguely cheered that he was being paid enough to afford a Caffe Nero coffee. But then the woman in front of me was served her drink and it dawned on me that the eight takeaway coffees weren't for her - they were all for Mr Just Eat. Not for him to enjoy, of course, but to deliver unto others.Many questions came to me in my woozy pre-caffeinated state, not least WHO IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY BLOODY WELL GETS COFFEE DELIVERED? Second question: how could there be anything left in the cups by the time he got to whichever weirdos had ordered them? I'd have done a great deal of spilling even if I'd only had to walk them next door. What kind of Cirque du Soleil standard of act must this guy have been to keep them upright on his bike? Perhaps he had some kind of gimbal mechanism in his bag to keep them level, designed by the same people who make snooker tables for superyachts.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Netanyahu knows he's barely clinging to power, Biden is playing a bigger game, and Hamas's leadership cares little for the vast suffering since 7 OctoberThe people of Gaza cry out for a ceasefire. Each day brings more bloodshed, more devastation, hunger, disease and tears. Spell it out: nearly twenty-eight thousand Palestinian dead. In total, about 100,000 killed, injured or missing. Among the survivors, huge numbers of children, maimed, orphaned, traumatised for life.Around the world, millions of protesters demand a ceasefire. They appeal to politicians to do more, do anything, to stop the carnage now. In mosques, churches, synagogues, people of all faiths pray the slaughter will end. To Israel's 1,200 October dead are daily added the lost lives of soldiers sent to avenge them and the hostages cruelly seized by Hamas.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Group demands school divest from companies including Boeing and RTX, who they say profit from Israel's military attacks in GazaA group of 19 students at Brown University have gone on hunger strike, calling for the school to divest from companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine".The move follows months of protests and sit-ins at universities around the country, which have seen students arrested as they protest against Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Continue reading...
If the current tragedy offers any hope, it's a growing clarity on how Palestinians and Israelis could forge a brighter future for their childrenIn 1948, my father was severely wounded in the final days of the Arab-Israeli war, referred to by Israelis as the War of Independence, and by Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe" in Arabic. The left side of his body was blown away, including his left arm. When I was a little boy, he often told me about his friends who had died in battle, and said that he dreamed of the day when there would be peace between Israelis and Palestinians, so that my generation would no longer have to fight these wars. In 1990, during the first intifada, I served in an Israel Defense Forces combat unit in Gaza. And here we are, all these decades later. So much for my father's dreams.We are being inundated with commentary about the culpability for this conflict, with biased dissections of history, culture and religion, and with predictable posturing through the use of selective sources of information and disinformation. Despite maximalist demands from the Israeli and Palestinian camps, defended by religious endorsement and amplified at a time of war, neither side is going to self-deport and create another homeland elsewhere. What is missing, tragically, is a serious discussion of a vision and solution that might actually be acceptable to all sides. Before everyone dismisses this idea as naive, let's take a moment to revisit the prevailing choices.Daniel Levin is a member of the board of the Liechtenstein Foundation for State Governance, which is engaged in track 3 mediation initiatives in the Middle East, including hostage negotiationsDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
When is kickoff time? When do Reba and Usher perform? What about that Taylor Swift-Kelce-Biden conspiracy? Who will win? We (mostly) have the answersThe Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, and if you're anything like millions of people around the world then you're probably wondering: when can I watch it, and how?But is that all you really need to know? What about those absurd rightwing conspiracy theories going around social media, and will Taylor Swift be able to make it all the way from Tokyo? How much would it cost you to place a small ad during the game? Read on for all the answers ... Continue reading...
The press is covering the 2024 campaign as if climate isn't on the ballot, but 56% of US voters are concerned' or alarmed' about the crisisFact one: more voters face national elections in 2024 than ever before in recorded history - about 4 billion people, nearly half the human population.Fact two: last year was the hottest in recorded history - and scientists warn that oil, gas and coal burning must be rapidly phased out if we are to preserve a livable planet.Mark Hertsgaard is executive director and co-founder of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration committed to more and better coverage of the climate story, and the Nation magazine's environment correspondentKyle Pope is executive director of strategic initiatives and co-founder of Covering Climate Now, and a former editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism ReviewThis article is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now Continue reading...
High-stakes case on whether 14th amendment prohibits Trump from holding office because of his actions on January 6 2021The US supreme court will hear oral argument on Thursday in one of the most high-stakes cases in American politics this century, thrusting a beleaguered court to the center of the 2024 election.The court is considering whether Donald Trump is eligible to run for president. The novel legal question at the heart of the case, Donald J Trump v Norma Anderson et al, is whether the 14th amendment to the constitution prohibits Trump from holding office because of his conduct on 6 January 2021. Section 3 of the amendment says that any member of Congress or officer of the United States who takes an oath to protect the constitution and then subsequently engages in insurrection cannot hold office. That ban, the amendment says, can only be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress. Continue reading...
Americans will stake $23bn on Sunday's game as the NFL strengthens its ties with the gambling industry. Many are worried about the human costsFor the first time, this year's Super Bowl will take place in Las Vegas. And NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is aware that a gambling mecca and pro sports teams could be a dangerous mixture: he issued a memo in the run-up to Sunday's game, reminding team personnel they should not even walk into a sportsbook, let alone place a bet on the game.For the general public it's a very different story. The clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers is expected to be the biggest single-game betting event in US history. The American Gaming Association (AGA) expects 26% of US adults will bet on the game for a combined total of $23bn. That's no surprise given the magnitude of the occasion and the explosive growth of the sector since a 2018 US supreme court ruling cleared the path for regulated sports gambling beyond Nevada. Continue reading...
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