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Venezuela moves to strip opposition leader Juan Guaido of immunity

Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido should be prosecuted for violating a ban on leaving the country and inciting violence linked to street protests, the country’s chief justice said Monday as he asked lawmakers to strip Guaido of his immunity from prosecution.

Supreme Court Justice Maikel Moreno claimed the 35-year-old lawmaker, who is the head of the opposition-held National Assembly, also received illicit funds from abroad and should face charges.

It was unclear when the pro-Maduro National Constituent Assembly will consider whether to remove Guaido's immunity, which comes because he's head of the opposition-led National Assembly.

VP MIKE PENCE TO MEET IN DC WITH FAMILIES OF 6 CITGO EXECS DETAINED IN VENEZUELA

The move comes less than a week after the state comptroller, Elvis Amoroso, a close ally to embattled President Nicolas Maduro, proposed banning Guaido from holding public office for 15 years because of inconsistencies in his financial records.

Amoroso said last week that Guaido, who declared himself interim president earlier this year, triggering a power struggle with Maduro, has taken 90 international trips without accounting for the origin of the estimated $94,000 in expenses.

Guaido defied a travel ban imposed by the government when he toured South American nations in February to drum up diplomatic support for pushing Maduro out of power.

Amoroso also accused Guaido of harming the country through his interactions with foreign governments – dozens of which support the assembly leader’s claim to be head of state.

Guaido dismissed both actions by the government because, in his view, Maduro’s government is illegitimate.

"We must unite now more than ever," said Guaido at a Caracas university earlier Monday. "We must mount the biggest demonstration so far to reject what's happening."

JOHN STOSSEL: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM IS NOT THE ROUTE TO PARADISE – JUST LOOK AT VENEZUELA

Venezuelan security forces have detained Guaido’s chief of staff, but have yet to move directly against Guaido, who has the support of about 50 countries in his claim to the head of state.

Since a massive power failure struck March 7, the nation has experienced near-daily blackouts and a breakdown in critical services such as running water and public transportation. All classes have been suspended for nearly a week.

At the same time, frustrated residents are increasingly unable to find water, make phone calls or access the internet. Millions of Venezuelans struggled to understand an announcement by Maduro that the nation's electricity is being rationed to combat daily blackouts.

Maduro said late Sunday that he was instituting a 30-day plan that would balance generation and transmission with consumption. He also called on Venezuelans to stay calm, but provided few details.

Maduro blames the blackouts on U.S.-directed sabotage, an allegation that Guaido routinely dismisses as the desperate talk of a government that has presided over the collapse of infrastructure in a country which was once among the wealthiest in Latin America.

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On Sunday, a mass of protesters took to the streets only to be threatened by contingents of alleged government supporters known as "colectivos" who appeared on motorbikes and quickly dispersed them. Videos posted on social media showed armed men opening fire to drive residents inside.

Many Venezuelans have apparently resigned themselves to a bleak reality.

"I haven't had water at home for 15 days," said Maria Rojas, a 57-year-old homemaker looking for a source to fill her jugs. "You try to find water in the street that is more or less safe to drink."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Source: InfoWars

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Philippines issues strongly worded rebuke vs China flotillas

The Philippines has protested the swarming of Chinese flotillas near islands and islets occupied by Filipinos in the disputed South China Sea and vowed to confront such actions by China's fishermen or military with "appropriate action."

The Department of Foreign Affairs issued its rare public rebuke against the Chinese presence Thursday after the Philippine military monitored more than 200 Chinese vessels in a new disputed area called Sandy Cay, which lies near a Philippine-occupied island in the contested waters. The Chinese flotillas have swarmed around the Sandy Cay sandbars since 2017.

The department calls the Chinese presence "illegal" and "a clear violation of Philippine sovereignty."

President Rodrigo Duterte adopted a non-confrontational approach toward China over the territorial disputes when he came to office in mid-2016.

Source: Fox News World

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Pence Urges Global Freeze on Venezuelan Oil – Vows Return of “Every Last Dollar” to Opposition

As expected the Lima Group summit hosted in Bogota, Colombia on Monday became a collective Venezuelan regime change strategy session following the weekend showdown over US humanitarian aid entering the country, which led to riots on bridges at border points Saturday.

Previously promising to announce at the meeting of the over 12 American states — most of which have recognized US-backed Juan Guaido as “legitimate” leader of Venezuela —”concrete steps” and “clear actions”, Vice President Mike Pence underscored that President Trump stands behind Guaido “100 percent” after a face-to-face session with the opposition leader, the first since unrest began.

Predictably Pence unveiled new sanctions targeting Caracas while calling on allies to freeze all assets of its state-owned oil company PDVSA, and further called for the United Nations Security Council to act.

Alex Jones reveals the current state on the ground in Venezuela and the impending conflict with America.

“We hope for a peaceful transition to democracy. But President Trump has made it clear: all options are on the table,” said Pence at the summit. He indicated the pressure campaign would continue ramping up, especially while calling for all Lima Group nations to immediately freeze PDVSA’s assets.

“In the days ahead… the United States will announce even stronger sanctions on the regime’s corrupt financial networks,” Pence said, according to the AFP.

“We will work with all of you to find every last dollar that they stole and work to return it to Venezuela.” The US is seeking to put all Venezuelan assets under the control of Guaido’s government-in-waiting.

“In the Lima Group the consensus is that Maduro must be removed, but there is no consensus on how to do that,” political scientist Laura Gil told AFP.

Despite the many defections, Maduro seems to have won this round in the power struggle.

After Saturday’s events it is “not very clear” that Guaido has “massive” support in Venezuela, analyst Rafael Pineros told AFP.AFP Report

In public statements Guaido, for his part, warned Lima group nations that “indulging” Maduro “would be a threat to all of America,” which echoed Colombia President Ivan Duque’s remarks calling for “more powerful and effective” pressure on the socialist leader.

(Photo by Gobierno de Venezuela / Wikimedia Commons)

Guaido’s words appeared aimed toward moderates among Latin American leaders, such as Peru, whose foreign affairs minister Hugo de Zela urged they must find “a peaceful solution,” despite Guaido’s previous call to consider “all measures” to “liberate” Venezuela’s suffering population.

Interestingly, even the AFP fully acknowledged that Monday’s meeting in Colombia was ultimately intended to “thrash out a strategy to remove Nicolas Maduro from power after the failed attempt to ship in humanitarian aid.”

Now that it’s clear the US plan is to attempt to steer all oil assets to Guaido’s government-in-waiting through aggressive sanctions and an international freeze on purchasing (easier said than done), the question remains, where is the bulk of Venezuela’s oil now going?

According to numbers summarized by the BBC:

Currently sitting off the Venezuelan coast are tankers holding in the region of 10 million barrels of oil, according to Kpler, which tracks commodities.

They were originally destined for the United States, but are stranded as a result of the sanctions.

Venezuela’s government has been looking for new buyers for its oil and says it wants to double shipments to India.

But although there has been a recent increase in exports to India, it is not a substantial one, says Samah Ahmed, a crude oil analyst at Kpler.

Exports to China are also not encouraging and have in fact been dropping in line with a general decline in Venezuela’s total production.

But we imagine this trend in dramatically dropping production will quickly reverse should Washington be able to successfully install Guaido in power.

Alex Jones breaks down how war hawk lawmakers continue to drive a permanent war agenda.

Source: InfoWars

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Watchdog: FEMA wrongly released personal data of victims

A government watchdog has found the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the California wildfires in 2017.

Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General found the breach occurred when FEMA was working with a contractor that helps provide temporary housing to those affected by disasters.

Some information, like names, last four digits of a Social Security number are required to confirm eligibility. But FEMA also provided the contractor bank names, electronic funds transfer numbers and bank transit numbers.

The watchdog says the victims could be vulnerable to identity theft.

FEMA officials say they are changing how they deliver information to avoid giving too much information and it will be completed by 2020.

Source: Fox News National

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Pilots searched for checklist before Lion Air crash: Indonesian investigators

A worker assists his colleague as an turbine engine of Lion Air flight JT610 is lifted up at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta
FILE PHOTO: A worker assists his colleague as an turbine engine of Lion Air flight JT610 is lifted up at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 4, 2018. REUTERS/Beawiharta

March 21, 2019

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian investigators said on Thursday the cockpit voice recorder from a crashed Lion Air Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 jet showed pilots were searching for the right checklist in their handbooks and were experiencing airspeed and altitude issues.

The details revealed at a press conference corroborated a Reuters report on Wednesday that was based on three sources with knowledge of the cockpit voice recorder’s contents.

Investigators said they have 90 percent of the data needed to release a final report on the October crash that killed 189 people, which is expected in August.

Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at Indonesia’s national transportation committee (KNKT) said the recording showed there was “panic” in the cockpit in the last 20 seconds of the flight.

“At the end of the flight it seemed the pilot felt he could no longer recover the flight, then the panic emerged,” he said while declining to say which of the two pilots panicked.

The investigation has taken on new urgency after a second 737 MAX 8 crash at Ethiopian Airlines last week killed 157 people and led to the global grounding of the model.

French air accident investigation agency BEA said on Tuesday the flight data recorder in the Ethiopian crash showed “clear similarities” to the Lion Air disaster.

Investigators examining the Indonesian crash are considering how a computer ordered the plane to dive in response to data from a faulty sensor and whether the pilots had enough training to respond appropriately to the emergency, among other factors.

(Reporting by Cindy Silviana and Bernadette Christina Munthe; writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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Rural America has to drive long distances for emergency care

HOUSTON, Miss. - Getting emergency care for people living in rural areas is increasingly more difficult as hospitals there struggle to stay afloat.

It’s evident in small towns like Houston, Miss., where people living there must travel at least 20 miles west of town to visit the nearest emergency room. That’s has been the case for the entire county since the local hospital in Houston closed its emergency room in the fall of 2014 because it was no longer financially viable.

Jenny Little, a resident in the town of less than 4,000, knows the struggle of living in a rural town without emergency care. She recently had to make a lengthy trip to two separate hospitals to get emergency care she desperately needed for stomach ulcers.

Houston, Miss. resident, Jenny Little, walks to her vehicle after picking up her prescription at a local pharmacy. She recently had to drive to two different hospitals outside of town to get emergency care. (Fox News/ Charles Watson)

Houston, Miss. resident, Jenny Little, walks to her vehicle after picking up her prescription at a local pharmacy. She recently had to drive to two different hospitals outside of town to get emergency care. (Fox News/ Charles Watson)

“It’s very difficult,” Little said. “You got to go miles to get to an emergency room.”

HOW HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY MAKES RURAL AMERICA FEEL BETTER

When Little thought that she hadn’t been given the help she needed at her first trip to the emergency room in Calhoun City, she opted to drive to the second emergency room nearest to town, which was a 45-minute drive for her.

“I had to go to Tupelo and ended up having a diagnosis, to me, that was significant enough to need help for,” she said as she waited to retrieve her prescription from the local discount pharmacy. “That’s not good enough.”

That is the experience for many people living in rural areas across the country. According to the Pew Research Center, residents in rural areas on average have to travel more than double the length it takes people in urban areas to get to the hospital for emergency services. Data shows that people in urban areas travel an average of 4.4 miles to get to an emergency room, while people in rural areas travel 10.6 miles on average.

PROGRESS TOWARD HIV PREVENTION HAS 'STALLED,' CDC SAYS

Numbers from the University of North Carolina’s Sheps Center for Health Services Research paint a picture of why that may be the case. Since January 2010, a total of 102 rural hospitals around the country have either modified their services or closed their doors altogether. The latter has been the case for about two-thirds of those hospitals.

According to the Pew Research Center, people in rural areas on average have to travel more than twice the distance than people in urban areas to get emergency care. (Fox News)

According to the Pew Research Center, people in rural areas on average have to travel more than twice the distance than people in urban areas to get emergency care. (Fox News)

Dr. George Pink, Deputy Director of Rural Health Research Program at UNC, said a combination of a lack probability, a decline in volume and older, sicker patients are among the key factors that are causing rural hospitals to close their doors.

Those communities also tend to have higher rates of uninsured, Medicaid and Medicare patients, which leads to more cases of under compensation or no compensation at all for medical providers.

“These hospitals have been losing money year after year until finally they just have spent down their reserves, they’ve sold off their assets, they’ve exhausted their bank loans,” Pink said. “They just cannot find a way to continue financially.”

According to a recent report, 21 percent of about 1,700 rural hospitals across 43 states are currently at risk of closing if their financial situations don’t improve. Out of the 43 states, about 34 of them have five or more rural hospitals that are at high financial risk. Majority of those hospitals are in southern and Midwest states. Mississippi, Kansas, and Georgia lead the pack with more than two dozen hospitals, respectively, at financial risk of closure. However, it’s not clear how much time these rural hospitals have before they are forced to close their doors.

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According to Pink, it may not be realistic to think most rural hospitals can offer a full range of medical services if they are going to be sustainable for the long term. Whatever the case, he believes the status quo is longer going to cut it, especially in emergency situations.

“Access to emergency care, if you don’t have that in a timely way if you’re having a stroke or a heart attack, or if you’re giving birth it’s probably only a matter of time before a serious event occurs,” he explained. “We need to step up the pace of innovation. We need to try some of these things out in rural communities, see if they work, find out where they work and why they work.”

Otherwise, Little believes options are few and far between for people living in rural America.

"A lot of people," she said, "will just suffer.”

Source: Fox News National

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Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s foreign minister and a Venezuelan judge, according to a statement on the department’s website.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla, were targeted over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said, the latest in a list of officials blacklisted by U.S. authorities for their role in President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attends the funeral service for murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland April 24, 2019. Brian Lawless/Pool via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday he had turned down an invitation to a state dinner which will be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in June.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honor a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

He said maintaining the relationship with the United States did not require “the pomp and ceremony of a state visit” and he said he would welcome a meeting with Trump “to discuss all matters of interest.”

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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A bedridden 67-year-old woman and more than a dozen animals were rescued Thursday after a welfare check found that they were living in a home filled with trash, urine, and feces, Florida police said.

Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies said when they arrived at the home in Dunedin around 7:20 p.m. Thursday, they could smell the odor of rotting trash and animal feces as they walked up to the driveway.

“Inside the residence, the odor of feces and urine was so overwhelming that deputies had to don masks,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

FLORIDA SHERIFF ON BORDER CRISIS AFTER MAJOR DRUG BUST: ‘IT MAKES ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Walking throughout the residence, the deputies found 10 emaciated dogs and puppies living in bins filled with their own feces, five large Macaw birds flying freely, rats, bugs and overall squalor.

Puppies discovered living in their own feces inside a Florida home that was filled with trash, urine, and feces.

Puppies discovered living in their own feces inside a Florida home that was filled with trash, urine, and feces. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

Deputies said due to the large amounts of trash in the home, they had to clear a path to reach the victim’s bedroom.

“None of the home’s toilets were working and all were found to be overflowing with feces,” deputies said. “The only working sink was located on the opposite end of the house from the victim’s bedroom.”

They said there was no food or water for the victim or the animals.

FLORIDA MAN IN EASTER BUNNY COSTUME CAUGHT IN VIRAL BRAWL IS WANTED IN NEW JERSEY, HAS HISTORY OF ARRESTS

The victim was transported to a local hospital for injuries that were non-life threatening, while the animals were transported to shelters.

The woman’s caretaker, Richard Lawrence Goodwin, 65, was arrested and charged with abuse and neglect of an elderly person, disabled person, and cruelty to animals.

Richard Goodwin, 69, was arrested for abuse and neglect of an elderly and disabled person after deputies found she was living in deplorable conditions.

Richard Goodwin, 69, was arrested for abuse and neglect of an elderly and disabled person after deputies found she was living in deplorable conditions. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

The sheriff’s department said this was Goodwin’s second arrest for abuse and neglect of the same victim. He was previously arrested in May 2018.

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Neighbor Victoria Muenzerbeer told FOX 13 that Goodwin and the victim were hoarders and the conditions inside the home were horrible years ago when she visited once.

“I went in and it was absolutely, a human being couldn’t live there,” she said. “The kitchen wasn’t usable and part of the wall was falling in.”

Source: Fox News National

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Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli
Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli, Libya April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s U.N.-recognized government has budgeted up to 2 billion dinars ($1.43 billion) to cover costs of a three-week-old war for control of the capital, such as treatment for the wounded, to be funded without new borrowing, the economy minister said.

Ali Abdulaziz Issawi suggested the government hoped for business to continue more or less as usual despite the assault on Tripoli, in the country’s northwest, by forces tied to a parallel administration based in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Once Africa’s third largest producer of oil, Libya has been riven by factional conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country now broadly split between eastern-based forces under Khalifa Haftar and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, in the west, under Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Still, with Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces unable so far to pierce defenses in Tripoli’s southern suburbs, normal life and business activities continue in much of the capital and western coastal towns.

Issawi, in an interview with Reuters in his Tripoli office, also said Libya’s commercial ports and wheat imports were still functioning normally, although some roads have been blocked.

He said the Serraj government estimates it will spend up to 2 billion dinars extra on medical treatment for wounded, aid for displaced people and other “emergency” war costs.

He said this was not military spending but analysts believe that the sum will also cover expenditures such as pay for allied armed groups or food for fighters.

“We could actually spend less,” he added, in comments that gave the first insight into the economic impact of the fighting.

Issawi said the Tripoli government, which controls little territory beyond the greater capital region, would not incur new debt to fund the war costs, sticking to a plan to post a 2019 budget without a deficit.

Tripoli derives revenue largely from oil and natural gas production, interest-free loans from local banks to the central bank, and a 183 percent surcharge on foreign exchange transactions conducted at official rates.

But with centralized tax collection greatly diminished, public debt has piled up – to 68 billion dinars in the west, including unpaid state obligations such as social insurance.

Some analysts expect Serraj’s government will be forced to raise new debt if the war for control of Tripoli drags on.

With much of Libya dominated by armed factions that also act as security forces, the public wage bill for both the western and eastern administrations has soared as fighters have been made public employees in efforts to buy their loyalty.

The east has sold bonds worth 35 billion dinars outside the official financial system as the Tripoli central bank does not fund the parallel government apart from some wages.

Despite its limited reach, the Tripoli government still runs an annual budget of around 46.8 billion dinars, mainly for public salaries and fuel subsidies.

“This year we cannot finance via debt…we will not borrow (by agreement with the central bank),” Issawi said.

According to International Monetary Fund data, Libya’s central government debt-to-GDP ratio is 143 percent, making it one of the most heavily indebted in the world on that measure.

Issawi declined to say what parts of the budget would be trimmed to support the extra outlay for war costs.

However, with some 70 percent of the budget allocated to public wages, fuel subsidies and other welfare benefits, a portion devoted to infrastructure is most likely to be axed.

Widespread lawlessness has meant there have been no major infrastructural projects since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi, leaving schools, hospitals and roads in acute need of restoration.

FOREX SURCHARGE

Issawi said the government planned to raise as much as 30 billion dinars by the end of 2019 from hard currency deals after imposing in September a 183 percent surcharge on commercial and private transactions done on the official rate of 1.4 to the U.S. dollar. That fee has effectively devalued the official rate to 3.9, much closer to the black market equivalent.

Some 17 billion dinars have been raised since then, with hard currency allocated for import credit letters now issued without delays, Issawi said. The forex fee has helped the government forecast a budget in the black for 2019.

Despite the narrowing spread between the two rates, the black market continues to thrive. Dozens of traders remained at their favorite spot behind the central bank headquarters in Tripoli when Reuters reporters visited it last week.

But traders said it could take time for the Serraj government to register the extra forex receipts as official banking channels were taking up to six months to approve import financing, keeping the black market in play for dealers.

Issawi said authorities planned to lower the forex fee from 183 percent, without saying when. The black market rate has dropped from 6 to around 4.1 since September but it has hardly moved of late as demand for black market cash remains high.

The Tripoli government has stopped subsidizing food and bread, which used to be cheaper than drinking water in Libya. Wheat imports are now being arranged by private traders and there are surplus stocks of flour at the moment, Issawi said.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing in Tripoli with additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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