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Swiss to vote on animal testing as foes put a ban on ballot

The Swiss will get their say on whether to allow animal and human testing of products sold in the rich Alpine country, amid howls of concern from those who insist it's inhumane.

The federal government says petitioners have successfully collected the minimum 100,000 signatures required to put their push for a "ban on human and animal experimentation" on the ballot.

The measure, if passed, would limit use of such testing to the "overwhelming interest" of the specific animal or human subject, bar import or export of products developed through animal testing, and provide for public financing of alternative testing.

No date has been set for the balloting, which is part of Switzerland's system of regular referendums giving voters a direct say in policymaking. It is likely to take many months.

Source: Fox News World

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The Latest: Pediatrician's victims speak out at sentencing

The Latest on pediatrician's sentencing for sexually assaulting 31 children (all times local):

12:05 p.m.

Victims of a former Pennsylvania pediatrician have given statements before his sentencing in the sexual assault of 31 children, describing how he destroyed their lives, caused them to feel hopelessness and made them fear doctors.

Dr. Johnnie Barto of Johnstown will be sentenced on dozens of counts, including aggravated indecent assault and child endangerment. Prosecutors say he spent decades abusing children in the exam room at his pediatric practice and at local hospitals.

On Monday, he was deemed a sexually violent predator before the sentencing hearing began.

Nineteen people then gave victim impact statements both in person and through a prosecutor.

His wife, Linda Barto, was among them. She says he "spent his whole sinister life lying and sneaking around so he could carry on his abuse uninterrupted."

The attorney general's office is asking for 31 to 62 years in prison.

Barto declined to make a statement.

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1 a.m.

A former Pennsylvania pediatrician is scheduled for sentencing Monday in the sexual assault of 31 children, most of them patients.

Dr. Johnnie Barto of Johnstown will be sentenced on dozens of counts, including aggravated indecent assault and child endangerment. Prosecutors say he spent decades abusing children in the exam room at his pediatric practice and at local hospitals.

Barto appeared before the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine nearly two decades ago on administrative charges that he molested two young girls. But regulators threw out the case and allowed him to keep practicing medicine. Prosecutors say the 71-year-old doctor went on to molest at least a dozen more young patients before his arrest in January 2018.

Barto has pleaded guilty to some counts and no contest to others. He's been jailed pending sentencing.

Source: Fox News National

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Developing capital markets can save emerging markets $13 billion: study

FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building is seen ahead of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington
FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building is seen ahead of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

April 11, 2019

By Rodrigo Campos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pursuing so-called ‘euroclearability’ can help some emerging market economies lower borrowing costs by over $13 billion over 10 years while increasing their investor base, a report showed on Thursday.

Euroclearability is seen as one of the last stages of capital market development, and would only benefit countries with relatively larger economies and local bond markets, Nick Forrest, who headed the report as director of financial services at PCW UK, told a conference on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The process of becoming ‘euroclearable’ – establishing a clearing and settlement link with Belgium-based Euroclear – involves high levels of transparency as well as specifics on size and structure of the debt to be issued, among other aspects.

India, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Philippines and Colombia could see their borrowing costs fall by an average of 28 basis points, in a range of 14-to-42 basis points, saving them over $13 billion over the next 10 years, according to the study by PWC for Euroclear.

The drop in borrowing costs, the report said, is comparable to a one-notch upgrade from a credit ratings agency.

“This is extremely important to developing local markets” and a key benchmark for countries to reach, said Thordur Jonasson, who advises governments and agencies on domestic debt market development and risk management as deputy division chief at the IMF.

But achieving the ‘euroclearability’ tag is not necessarily an objective of these emerging economies, but an added benefit of focusing on improving fundamentals.

Cesar Arias, director of public credit and national treasury at Colombia’s finance ministry, told Reuters the tag would be a bonus but his country’s improved fundamentals have been the main reason behind a sharp lowering of borrowing costs.

He said Colombia increased its foreign investors in local bonds from 4% to over 25% while lowering costs by nearly 300 basis points over the last four years.

“That was without euroclearability,” he said.

The study said corporate borrowing costs would also be reduced, though by a smaller amount, as there is typically a correlation between corporate debt and the sovereign’s interest rates.

The impact to corporate debt would be of 10-to-18 basis points, the report said.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

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South Africa’s Shoprite cuts chairman Wiese’s voting influence

FILE PHOTO: Shoppers leave the Shoprite store in Daveyton
FILE PHOTO: Shoppers leave the Shoprite store in Daveyton, South Africa May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

April 18, 2019

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African grocer Shoprite is to buy back deferred shares held by its chairman Christo Wiese to simplify its voting structure but substantially curbing Wiese’s influence in the company he helped turn into an African powerhouse.

Besides ordinary shares, Shoprite’s capital structure includes deferred shares which carry about 32.3 percent of the voting rights at Shoprite. The deferred shares are held by Weise’s investment vehicle, Thibault Square Financial Services Proprietary Ltd.

Under the deal, Titan – another one of Wiese’s entities – will receive 20 million new ordinary shares from Shoprite, in exchange for deferred shares which Shoprite will buy for 265,000 rand ($18,836.41) and cancel, the retailer said in a statement.

The proposed deal will see Wiese’s voting interest reduced to 17.8 percent from 42.3 percent, while his direct shareholding will increase to 17.8 percent from 14.8 percent, Shoprite said.

Following the issuance of the new shares, the total voting interest of minority shareholders will increase from nearly 60 percent to more than 80 percent, while their shareholding will be diluted by 3.5 percent, it added.

Wiese has been instrumental in Shoprite’s transformation from just six outlets in South Africa in the 1970s to 2,800 shops across Africa, dwarfing rivals including Walmart Inc’s South African unit Massmart.

Shoprite, which also sells furniture and medicine, said the deal is expected to result in a potential once-off reduction in earnings and headline earnings of 3.3 billion rand, based on a 30-day-volume-weighted-average price of 165.35 rand per share as at April 17.

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Source: OANN

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Chick-Fil-A Responds to San Antonio Ban from Airport Over “Anti-LGBTQ Behavior”

Chick-fil-A responded to the San Antonio City Council Friday after the company was blocked from entering into a retail contract at the city’s international airport over what one councilman called “a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”

In a statement obtained by KTSA, a restaurant spokesman disputed the council’s “misperceptions” of the company’s values, and invited the council to visit any of its 32 San Antonio area restaurants.

“The press release issued by [councilman Roberto Trevino] was the first we heard of his motion and its approval by the San Antonio city council. We wish we had the opportunity to clarify misperceptions about our company prior to the vote. We agree with the council member that everyone should feel welcome at Chick-fil-A. In fact, we have welcomed everyone in San Antonio into our 32 local stores for more than 40 years. Our local restaurants consistently give back to the San Antonio community and have awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships to Chick-fil-A restaurant team members in San Antonio.

“We would welcome the opportunity to have a thoughtful dialogue with the city council and we invite all of them into our local stores to interact with the more than 2,000 team members who are serving the people of San Antonio. We hope they will experience for themselves that Chick-fil-A embraces all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. We are proud of the positive impact we are making in communities across America, and specifically in San Antonio, and have been transparent about our giving on our website. On a related note, Chick-fil-A was named “Best Franchise Brand” in 2018 by Airport Revenue News.”

On Thursday, District 1 City Councilman Roberto Trevino made a successful motion approving a retail contract at the San Antonio International Airport with an added amendment which would exclude a proposed Chick-fil-A restaurant.

Trevino later applauded the passage of the amendment for “[reaffirming] the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion.”

“San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior,” Treviño stated. “Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport. I look forward to the announcement of a suitable replacement by Paradies.”

Following the council’s decision, faith based non-profit Texas Values issued a statement urging the Texas legislature to act to reaffirm religious freedom.

“Local governments targeting and banning private Christian businesses like Chick-Fil-A is a hostility to religion that Texans will not stand for,” a statement from Texas Values said. “I thought Texas was ‘open for business.’ I guess that applies everywhere in Texas except for San Antonio, where the government demands that you renounce your religious beliefs.”

Ahead of the council’s decision reports circulated earlier in the week claiming Chick-fil-A donated $1.8 million to pro-family groups, which leftists characterized as “anti-LGBTQ.”


Source: InfoWars

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Spain vows to boost cybersecurity, fight disinformation

Spain's prime minister says whoever wins the upcoming general election in the country should launch a national cybersecurity plan to combat attempts to undermine democracy and citizens' trust in the political system.

The country's April 28 general election is seen as a testing ground for new measures that the European Union is adopting to shield elections to the European Parliament a month later.

"We need to protect Europe in order for Europe to be able to protect its citizens," Pedro Sánchez said Tuesday during a visit to the national institute for cybersecurity, or INCIBE, in the northern province of León.

Last month, Spain established a special high-level unit to coordinate the fight against cyberattacks and misinformation, which Sánchez says equates to attacks on "the quality of democracy."

Source: Fox News World

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Ugandan singer and presidential hopeful says he is under house arrest

Ugandan musician turned politician, Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine addresses a news conference at his home in Kampala
Ugandan musician turned politician, Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine addresses a news conference at his home in Kampala, Uganda September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Newton Nambwaya

April 23, 2019

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) – A Ugandan pop singer and lawmaker seeking to challenge veteran President Yoweri Museveni at the next election said on Tuesday he had been placed under house arrest, as the U.S. government criticized what it called authorities’ “heavy-handed” use of force against citizens.

Police and military personnel used teargas and water cannon on Monday to disperse a large group of Bobi Wine’s supporters as they gathered for a concert at a lakeside beach resort, footage from local NTV showed.

Before the concert, Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was removed by police from a vehicle near the beach, the footage showed. Wine said he was taken to his home in a northern suburb of the capital, Kampala.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday the singer said he was blocked from leaving his home by security personnel, who had told him he was under house arrest.

“Police and the military have been deployed at my residence since yesterday, after the violent arrest … They have surrounded my fence and installed barricades on all roads leading to my home,” Wine tweeted.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga did not immediately respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment about the alleged house arrest.

Museveni has ruled the East African country since 1986 and is expected to stand again in 2021 after a court last week cleared the way for him to seek re-election.

The supreme court ruling threw out a legal challenge to 2017 constitutional amendments that removed a 75-year age limit clause, which would have made Museveni, 74, ineligible to stand again.

Wine, 37, has built support since becoming a member of parliament two years ago and has said he intends to run for president. Many young Ugandans have been drawn to him by his criticism of Museveni, often delivered in his lyrics.

In recent months authorities have repeatedly canceled his music shows, citing a range of reasons including alleged failure to comply with public order management laws.

Wine and his supporters accuse security personnel of cancelling his shows as retaliation for his political ambitions.

The U.S. embassy in Kampala criticized the blocking of Wine’s music shows and of access to radio talk shows by other opposition politicians.

“We join the many Ugandans asking why their government has recently blocked musical concerts and radio talk shows, disrupted peaceful demonstrations and rallies, and deployed heavy-handed security forces against peaceful citizens,” the embassy said in a statement on Tuesday.

The government has previously accused opposition politicians of using talk radio shows to encourage people to commit violence.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Cambodian authorities have ordered a one-hour reduction in the length of school days because of concerns that students and teachers may fall ill from a prolonged heat wave.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in an announcement seen Friday that the shortened hours will remain in effect until the rainy season starts, which usually occurs in May. The current heat wave, in which temperatures are regularly reaching as high as 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), is one of the longest in memory.

Most schools in Cambodia lack air conditioning, prompting concern that temperatures inside classrooms could rise to unhealthy levels.

School authorities were instructed to watch for symptoms of heat stroke and urge pupils to drink more water.

The new hours cut 30 minutes off the beginning of the school day and 30 minutes off the end.

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

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Explosions have rocked Britain’s largest steel plant, injuring two people and shaking nearby homes.

South Wales Police say the incident at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Friday (22:35 EDT Thursday). The explosions touched off small fires, which are under control. Two workers suffered minor injuries and all staff members have been accounted for.

Police say early indications are that the explosions were caused by a train used to carry molten metal into the plant. Tata Steel says its personnel are working with emergency services at the scene.

Local lawmaker Stephen Kinnock says the incident raises concerns about safety.

He tweeted: “It could have been a lot worse … @TataSteelEurope must conduct a full review, to improve safety.”

Source: Fox News World

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The Wider Image: China's start-ups go small in age of 'shoebox' satellites
LinkSpace’s reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is carried to a vacant plot of land for a test launch in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case.

But when the Beijing-based company’s prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed.

The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 meters above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers – one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight.

LinkSpace, one of China’s 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices.

Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China’s rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country.

“For suborbital clients, their focus will be on scientific research and some commercial uses. After entering orbit, the near-term focus (of clients) will certainly be on satellites,” Hu said.

In the near term, China envisions massive constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Universities conducting experiments and companies looking to offer remote-sensing and communication services are among the potential domestic customers for nanosatellites.

A handful of U.S. small-rocket companies are also developing launchers ahead of the expected boom. One of the biggest, Rocket Lab, has already put 25 satellites in orbit.

No private company in China has done that yet. Since October, two – LandSpace and OneSpace – have tried but failed, illustrating the difficulties facing space start-ups everywhere.

The Chinese companies are approaching inexpensive launches in different ways. Some, like OneSpace, are designing cheap, disposable boosters. LinkSpace’s Hu aspires to build reusable rockets that return to Earth after delivering their payload, much like the Falcon 9 rockets of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“If you’re a small company and you can only build a very, very small rocket because that’s all you have money for, then your profit margins are going to be narrower,” said Macro Caceres, analyst at U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

“But if you can take that small rocket and make it reusable, and you can launch it once a week, four times a month, 50 times a year, then with more volume, your profit increases,” Caceres added.

Eventually LinkSpace hopes to charge no more than 30 million yuan ($4.48 million) per launch, Hu told Reuters.

That is a fraction of the $25 million to $30 million needed for a launch on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus, a commonly used small rocket. The Pegasus is launched from a high-flying aircraft and is not reusable.

(Click https://reut.rs/2UVBjKs to see a picture package of China’s rocket start-ups. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2GIy9Bc for an interactive look at the nascent industry.)

NEED FOR CASH

LinkSpace plans to conduct suborbital launch tests using a bigger recoverable rocket in the first half of 2020, reaching altitudes of at least 100 kilometers, then an orbital launch in 2021, Hu told Reuters.

The company is in its third round of fundraising and wants to raise up to 100 million yuan, Hu said. It had secured tens of millions of yuan in previous rounds.

After a surge in fresh funding in 2018, firms like LinkSpace are pushing out prototypes, planning more tests and even proposing operational launches this year.

Last year, equity investment in China’s space start-ups reached 3.57 billion yuan ($533 million), a report by Beijing-based investor FutureAerospace shows, with a burst of financing in late 2018.

That accounted for about 18 percent of global space start-up investments in 2018, a historic high, according to Reuters calculations based on a global estimate by Space Angels. The New York-based venture capital firm said global space start-up investments totaled $2.97 billion last year.

“Costs for rocket companies are relatively high, but as to how much funding they need, be it in the hundreds of millions, or tens of millions, or even just a few million yuan, depends on the company’s stage of development,” said Niu Min, founder of FutureAerospace.

FutureAerospace has invested tens of millions of yuan in LandSpace, based in Beijing.

Like space-launch startups elsewhere in the world, the immediate challenge for Chinese entrepreneurs is developing a safe and reliable rocket.

Proven talent to develop such hardware can be found in China’s state research institutes or the military; the government directly supports private firms by allowing them to launch from military-controlled facilities.

But it’s still a high-risk business, and one unsuccessful launch might kill a company.

“The biggest problem facing all commercial space companies, especially early-stage entrepreneurs, is failure” of an attempted flight, Liang Jianjun, chief executive of rocket company Space Trek, told Reuters. That can affect financing, research, manufacturing and the team’s morale, he added.

Space Trek is planning its first suborbital launch by the end of June and an orbital launch next year, said Liang, who founded the company in late 2017 with three other former military technical officers.

Despite LandSpace’s failed Zhuque-1 orbital launch in October, the Beijing-based firm secured 300 million yuan in additional funding for the development of its Zhuque-2 rocket a month later.

In December, the company started operating China’s first private rocket production facility in Zhejiang province, in anticipation of large-scale manufacturing of its Zhuque-2, which it expects to unveil next year.

STATE COMPETITION

China’s state defense contractors are also trying to get into the low-cost market.

In December, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) successfully launched a low-orbit communication satellite, the first of 156 that CASIC aims to deploy by 2022 to provide more stable broadband connectivity to rural China and eventually developing countries.

The satellite, Hongyun-1, was launched on a rocket supplied by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation’s main space contractor.

In early April, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT), a subsidiary of CASC, completed engine tests for its Dragon, China’s first rocket meant solely for commercial use, clearing the path for a maiden flight before July.

The Dragon, much bigger than the rockets being developed by private firms, is designed to carry multiple commercial satellites.

At least 35 private Chinese companies are working to produce more satellites.

Spacety, a satellite maker based in southern Hunan province, plans to put 20 satellites in orbit this year, including its first for a foreign client, chief executive Yang Feng told Reuters.

The company has only launched 12 on state-produced rockets since the company started operating in early 2016.

“When it comes to rocket launches, what we care about would be cost, reliability and time,” Yang said.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

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At least one person is reported dead and homes have been destroyed by a powerful cyclone that struck northern Mozambique and continues to dump rain on the region, with the United Nations warning of “massive flooding.”

Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai tore into central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people and displacing scores of thousands. The U.N. says this is the first time in known history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters say the new cyclone made landfall Thursday night in a part of Mozambique that has not seen such a storm in at least 60 years.

Mozambique’s local emergency operations center says a woman in the city of Pemba was killed by a falling tree.

Source: Fox News World

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German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer holds annual general meeting
Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG, attends the annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

BONN (Reuters) – Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s $63 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.

Several large investors said they will not support aspirin investor Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its annual general meeting.

Bayer’s management, led by chief executive Werner Baumann, could see an embarrassing plunge in approval ratings, down from 97 percent at last year’s AGM, which was held shortly before the Monsanto takeover closed in June.

A vote to ratify the board’s actions features prominently at every German AGM. Although it has no bearing on management’s liability, it is seen as a key gauge of shareholder sentiment.

“Due to the continued negative development at Bayer, high legal risks and a massive share price slump, we refuse to ratify the management board and supervisory board’s actions during the business year,” Janne Werning, representing Germany’s Union Investment, a top-20 shareholder, said in prepared remarks.

About 30 billion euros ($34 billion) have been wiped off Bayer’s market value since August, when a U.S. jury found the pesticide and drugs group liable because Monsanto had not warned of alleged cancer risks linked to its weedkiller Roundup.

Bayer suffered a similar defeat last month and more than 13,000 plaintiffs are claiming damages.

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

Deutsche Bank’s asset managing arm DWS said shareholders should have been consulted before the takeover, which was agreed in 2016 and closed in June last year.

“You are pointing out that the lawsuits have not been lost yet. We and our customers, however, have already lost something – money and trust,” Nicolas Huber, head of corporate governance at DWS, said in prepared remarks for the AGM.

He said DWS would abstain from the shareholder vote of confidence in the executive and non-executive boards.

Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week that Bayer’s largest shareholder, BlackRock, plans to either abstain from or vote against ratifying the management board’s actions.

Asset management firm Deka, among Bayer’s largest German investors, has also said it would cast a no vote.

Baumann said Bayer’s true value was not reflected in the current share price.

“There’s no way to make this look good. The lawsuits and the first verdicts weigh heavily on our company and it’s a concern for many people,” he said, adding it was the right decision to buy Monsanto and that Bayer was vigorously defending itself.

This month, shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recommended investors not to give the executive board their seal of approval.

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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