Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Venezuela publishes photos of Chavez with Fidel
Fri,2 Mar 2012 07:51 PM PST
Reuters - CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela published photographs on Friday of President Hugo Chavez chatting with Cuba's Fidel Castro and walking in a hospital as he recovers from cancer surgery on the Communist-led island. Stung by criticism it has shrouded the 57-year-old Chavez's condition in secrecy and put out misleading information in the past, Venezuela's government insists he is recovering quickly and will be ready to contest a presidential election on October 7. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. chief speaks of "grisly reports" from Syria
Fri,2 Mar 2012 04:15 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had received "grisly reports" that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs after rebel fighters had fled. Ban's comments came as a wounded British photographer, who escaped Homs earlier this week, said he had witnessed Syrian troops carrying out a massacre in the city's Baba Amro district, which had become a symbol of a year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. ...
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Iran parliament vote seen bolstering Supreme Leader
Fri,2 Mar 2012 04:05 PM PST
Reuters -  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranians wrapped up a parliamentary election likely to reinforce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power over rival hardliners led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian leaders were looking for a high turnout at Friday's poll to ease a crisis of legitimacy caused by Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009, when widespread accusations of fraud plunged the Islamic Republic into the worst unrest of its 33-year history. ...
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Libya's Muslim Brotherhood sets up political party
Fri,2 Mar 2012 03:13 PM PST
Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's Muslim Brotherhood teamed up with other Islamists on Friday to establish a new political party that is set to be a leading player in the country's first elections since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising. Islamist and secular parties will vie in June elections for seats in a national assembly that will draft a new constitution for the North African country. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. chief slams Syria for "atrocious" Homs assault
Fri,2 Mar 2012 02:47 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon turned up the pressure on Syria on Friday, telling U.N. member states of "grisly reports" of Syrian government forces arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs. "The Syrian government has failed to deliver on its responsibility to protect its people," Ban told the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly. "Civilian populations are under military assault in several cities." "A major assault on Homs took place yesterday," he said. "Civilian losses have clearly been heavy. ... Full Story | Top |
12,000-plus MF Global customer claims deemed valid
Fri,2 Mar 2012 02:37 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - The trustee for MF Global's fallen brokerage said he is nearly halfway through the process of determining the validity of more than 25,000 claims from commodities customers burned by MF Global's collapse. Trustee James Giddens said in a court filing on Friday he has deemed 12,143 claims valid, denying only three. He has another 13,000 claims to get through, according to the filing. Deeming a claim valid legitimizes the claim itself, but does not guarantee full payback. ...
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U.S. security team attacked in Yemen, bomb injures 22
Fri,2 Mar 2012 02:34 PM PST
Reuters - ADEN (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire on a U.S. security team as it trained Yemeni soldiers in the south of the country, the Pentagon and a security official said on Friday, both denying reports from an Islamist group that a CIA officer was killed in the assault. In the north of the country, a bomb blast hit an anti-U.S. protest, injuring at least 22 people, a rebel group that controls much of the region said. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan clerics demand punishment for Koran burners
Fri,2 Mar 2012 02:10 PM PST
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - Senior Afghan clerics said on Friday the burning of Korans at a NATO base last month was an "evil act" that must be punished, a demand that could deepen widespread public anger over the incident. "The council strongly condemns this crime and inhumane, savage act by American troops by desecrating holy Korans," members of a council of clerics said after meeting President Hamid Karzai, according to a statement issued by his office. "The council emphasized that the apology for this evil act can never be accepted. Those who committed this crime must be publicly tried and punished. ...
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Obama says he's not bluffing on Iran military option
Fri,2 Mar 2012 02:02 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON/OTTAWA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama issued his most direct threat yet of U.S. military action against Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, but in a message to Israel's leader ahead of White House talks he also cautioned against a pre-emptive Israeli strike. "As president of the United States, I don't bluff," Obama warned Iran in a magazine interview published on Friday, three days before he will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. ...
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U.N. chief speaks of "grisly reports" from Syria
Fri,2 Mar 2012 01:32 PM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he had received "grisly reports" that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs after rebel fighters had fled. The Baba Amro district of Homs became a symbol of resistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after government troops surrounded it with tanks and artillery and shelled it intensively for weeks, killing and wounding civilians cowering in its ruined buildings. ...
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Captain of capsized liner could be in danger at hearing: lawyer
Fri,2 Mar 2012 01:07 PM PST
Reuters -  GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - The captain of a giant cruise liner which capsized off Italy, killing at least 25 people, could be in danger if he attends a pre-trial hearing into the disaster this Saturday, his lawyer said. Prosecutors have accused captain Francesco Schettino of causing the accident by sailing the multi-storey Costa Concordia too close to the Mediterranean island of Giglio in January, where it was torn open by rocks. A hearing will be held in a theatre in the Tuscan town of Grosseto on Saturday, when judges will question experts about the wrecking of the 114,500 ton liner. ...
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U.N. chief fears executions, torture in Syria's Homs
Fri,2 Mar 2012 12:22 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said he was worried that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs. "A major assault on Homs took place yesterday," Ban told the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly. "Civilian losses have clearly been heavy. We continue to received grisly reports of summary executions, arbitrary detentions and torture." (Reporting By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Doina Chiacu) Full Story | Top |
Netanyahu warns against diplomatic path with Iran
Fri,2 Mar 2012 12:17 PM PST
Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday global powers would be falling into a trap if they pursued talks with Iran and he challenged Tehran with a series of demands before he meets U.S. President Barack Obama. But at the same time, Netanyahu was careful at a news conference with Canada's leader to avoid widening a rift with Obama over what Washington fears could be an Israeli rush to attack Iranian nuclear facilities before economic sanctions and diplomacy run their course. ... Full Story | Top |
Benghazi protesters demand justice be restored
Fri,2 Mar 2012 12:16 PM PST
Reuters - BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Hundreds of Libyans protested outside the main courthouse in Benghazi on Friday, demanding that a militia which had occupied the building during the revolution leave and allow judges to return to work. The militia, one of dozens set up during the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, has been using the courthouse as its headquarters and wants it to remain a symbol of the revolt that began in the eastern coastal city. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria stops Red Cross entering Baba Amro
Fri,2 Mar 2012 11:17 AM PST
Reuters -  GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Syrian authorities had prevented it from entering the battle-scarred Baba Amro district of Homs on Friday, where it had hoped to take in aid and evacuate the sick and wounded. Syrian authorities handed over the bodies of two journalists killed on February 22, American Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, it said. Their bodies were being taken from Homs to Damascus in Syrian Arab Red Crescent ambulances, ICRC chief spokeswoman Carla Haddad said. ...
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I would not have survived in Baba Amro: MSF surgeon
Fri,2 Mar 2012 11:17 AM PST
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - For two weeks French surgeon Jacques Bares watched civilians die in a candle-lit operating room from wounds which would have been easily treatable in peacetime, while mortar rounds rained down on the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Beres, co-founder of Doctors Without Borders, worked alongside Syrian surgeons in a makeshift hospital near the Baba Amro neighborhood where journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were killed by shellfire on February 22. Rebels withdrew from the district on Thursday after being pounded by shell and mortar fire for weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
Three mull first U.S. lawsuits against Murdoch: source
Fri,2 Mar 2012 11:09 AM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Three people who believe they were targeted by a private investigator working for Rupert Murdoch's News of the World while they were in the United States are considering suing his company in U.S. courts, a source close to the case said. The lawsuits would be the first litigation filed against Murdoch's News Corp empire in the United States and could mark a significant escalation in a scandal that has already shaken Britain's media and political establishment. ...
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Captain of capsized liner could be in danger at hearing: lawyer
Fri,2 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PST
Reuters - GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - The captain of a giant cruise liner which capsized off Italy, killing at least 25 people, could be in danger if he attends a pre-trial hearing on Saturday into the disaster, his lawyer said. Prosecutors have accused captain Francesco Schettino of causing the accident by bringing the multi-storey Costa Concordia too close to the shore of the Mediterranean island of Giglio in January, where it was torn open by rocks. He has already been held up to condemnation and ridicule around the world. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. ends search for missing cruise ship passenger
Fri,2 Mar 2012 10:36 AM PST
Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday said it had suspended its search for a 47-year-old Canadian woman who went overboard off the cruise ship, Bahamas Celebration, on its way from Freeport, Bahamas, to Palm Beach, Florida. Coast Guard air and sea crews mounted an intense effort for two days before calling off the search on Thursday night. Officials were alerted that the woman was missing by her male cabin mate on Wednesday morning when the ship arrived back in port, said Glenn Ryerson, vice president for sales and marketing at Celebration Cruise Line. ... Full Story | Top |
Evacuated Syria reporters arrive in France
Fri,2 Mar 2012 10:22 AM PST
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - Two French journalists evacuated from the besieged Syrian city of Homs were flown home on Thursday and greeted by President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said the Syrian government would have to answer to international courts for its civilian killings. Freelance reporter Edith Bouvier, whose femur was shattered during shelling of Homs's Baba Amro district, was lowered carefully - strapped into a stretcher - from a government plane that was sent to fetch the pair after rebels brought them over the border into Lebanon late on Thursday. ...
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Analysis: Monti's success could slow Italy reform
Fri,2 Mar 2012 09:22 AM PST
Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mario Monti took power three months ago to rescue Italy from economic disaster. In one way, he may have done his job too well. Monti's "Save Italy" austerity budget and his international credibility have helped bring the country' borrowing costs sharply down from levels that brought it to the brink of economic disaster in November. But that in itself is taking pressure off the broad coalition of parties backing his unelected government of experts to sustain their support for vital reforms. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran parliament vote seen bolstering Supreme Leader
Fri,2 Mar 2012 09:11 AM PST
Reuters -  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranians voted on Friday in a parliamentary election likely to reinforce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power over rival hardliners led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian leaders were looking for a high turnout to ease an acute crisis of legitimacy caused by Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009 when widespread accusations of fraud plunged the Islamic Republic into the worst unrest of its 33-year history. ...
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ICRC says taking journalists' bodies to Damascus
Fri,2 Mar 2012 09:10 AM PST
Reuters -  GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian authorities on Friday handed over the bodies of two journalists killed on February 22, American Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, to the ICRC, which is taking them by ambulance from Homs to Damascus, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. "We have the bodies of 2 journalists, Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik. They are being taken by ambulance of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, accompanied by the ICRC, and are heading to Damascus," chief ICRC spokeswoman Carla Haddad told Reuters in Geneva. ...
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Syrian authorities prevented entry into Baba Amro: ICRC
Fri,2 Mar 2012 08:55 AM PST
Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that Syrian authorities had prevented it from entering the Homs district of Baba Amro on Friday, where it had hoped to bring in aid and evacuate the sick and wounded. "The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SARC) were not allowed to enter the Baba Amro district of Homs today," ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said in a statement issued in Geneva. ... Full Story | Top |
West seeks to pressure Iran at U.N. nuclear meet
Fri,2 Mar 2012 07:29 AM PST
Reuters -  VIENNA (Reuters) - Western powers hope to win Russian and Chinese backing for rebuking Iran at the U.N. nuclear agency next week over Tehran's failure to address mounting fears that it is secretly bent on acquiring nuclear weapons capability, diplomats say. Seeking to ward off any such diplomatic action, Iran has warned its opponents and others against making "provocative statements" at the March 5-9 meeting of the 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ...
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Pact for budget discipline signed by 25 EU states
Fri,2 Mar 2012 06:57 AM PST
Reuters -  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - All but two European Union countries signed a treaty on tighter budget discipline for the euro zone on Friday, marking a coup for Germany which pushed for the accord to try to prevent a repeat of the loose spending that led to a debt crisis. Only Britain and the Czech Republic did not sign the 'fiscal compact', under which countries in the euro zone are bound to write a 'golden rule' on balanced budgets into their national constitutions or equivalent laws, with automatic correction mechanisms if the rule is breached. "This stronger self-constraint ... ...
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Insight:Japan's post-tsunami test: making a rebuilding boom last
Fri,2 Mar 2012 06:40 AM PST
Reuters -  YAMADA, Japan (Reuters) - Shigeo Osugi walks around concrete foundations where his coastal town restaurant "Migoto" stood before a towering tsunami washed it away last year. "I will stay in Yamada because I have friends here and they supported me for a long time," he says, pointing to the area that was once the kitchen where he and his two sons prepared meals for up to 100 customers. Yamada is one of the many small towns dotted along the coast of Japan's northeast Tohoku region that was ravaged by the huge earthquake and tsunami it triggered on March 11 last year. ...
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Yemen rebels say bomb wounds 22 at protest in north
Fri,2 Mar 2012 06:22 AM PST
Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - A bomb blast hit an anti-U.S. protest in northern Yemen Friday, wounding at least 22 people, a rebel group that controls much of the north of the country said. In a statement, the leader of the Houthi movement - Shi'ite rebels that Yemen's military tried to crush in campaigns in 2004-2009 - said the bombing took place in the province of Saada, on Yemen's northwestern border with Saudi Arabia. It did not say who it believed carried out the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
China to unveil military budget after U.S. Asia "pivot"
Fri,2 Mar 2012 06:19 AM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China is likely to unveil its military spending for 2012 on the weekend, flagging the direction that Beijing will take after President Barack Obama launched a new "pivot" to reinforce U.S. influence across Asia. Beijing has not set a time to announce the yearly budget for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), but it has made a habit of releasing the number at a news conference preceding the annual parliament session, which this year opens on Monday. ...
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Miracle or not, Putin on course to win in Russia
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:34 AM PST
Reuters -  TIKHVIN, Russia (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin followed in the footsteps of Russia's tsars when he interrupted his presidential election campaign to seek the blessing of the Virgin of Tikhvin, a Byzantine icon which believers say works miracles. Legend has it that all the tsars except one sought the Virgin's blessing before ascending the throne. The one who did not, Nicholas II, turned out to be the last, killed by revolutionaries in 1918. Putin has now visited the icon in a 16th-century monastery five times. ...
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Senegal's anti-Wade coalition gathers pace
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:23 AM PST
Reuters - DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegalese presidential challenger Macky Sall won new support on Friday as key figures in the country's street protests urged their followers to vote for him in next month's run-off against incumbent Abdoulaye Wade. Wade, 85, fell short of the majority needed for victory in Sunday's first round, scoring 34.8 percent against his former prime minister Sall's 26.6 percent. Senegal has a long tradition as a peaceful democracy and the vote is being closely watched in African and Western capitals. ... Full Story | Top |
Communist Kremlin hopeful looks to a new generation
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:06 AM PST
Reuters -  NOVOMOSKOVSK, Russia (Reuters) - A flashy campaign advertisement sets the scene after Russia's presidential election: Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov steps out of a black Mercedes in front of the Kremlin, the seat of power since Soviet times. After three failed attempts to win the presidency, the perennial loser of Russian politics is trying to convince the country once again to vote him into the top office in Sunday's election. ...
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Putin says no crackdown on protesters after vote
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:06 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Vladimir Putin promised he would not crack down on Russia's burgeoning opposition movement following his likely election as president on Sunday, but rejected protesters' calls for early parliamentary polls. Tens of thousands of people have turned out for protests in Moscow and other cities since a disputed parliamentary vote in December - the biggest protests of Putin's 12-year rule. The unprecedented wave of demonstrations has cast a shadow over the powerful prime minister who appeared politically invincible throughout much of his rule. ... Full Story | Top |
Russian single-industry town pledges loyalty to Putin
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:06 AM PST
Reuters - TOGLIATTI, Russia (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin peers sanguinely down from a large billboard beside the road leading into Russia's biggest car plant, in the city of Togliatti, on the Volga. The campaign poster depicts Putin standing coolly in sun glasses next to the AvtoVAZ factory's newest product, the Lada Granta, and says the plant is backing his bid to return to the presidency in an election on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
Khamenei's outlook dims hope for Iran nuclear deal
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:05 AM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - As tensions over Iran's nuclear program ratchet higher once again, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's aversion for the West remains a formidable barrier to any diplomatic solution. A visit by U.N. nuclear inspectors to Iran last week, a few days after Tehran wrote to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton promising "new initiatives" in negotiations, suggests the door to diplomacy has not slammed shut. Harsher Western sanctions are damaging Iran's economy and Israel is debating military action, with or without a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran vote draws hard core, leaves reformists cold
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:05 AM PST
Reuters - TEHRAN (Reuters) - Faithful supporters of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei flocked to the polls early on Friday but most reformists stayed home, saying the parliamentary election was meaningless. "I am here to back Ayatollah Khamenei," shopkeeper Houman Riyazi, 50, said at a polling station in southern Tehran. Khamenei called for a high turnout in the election, seen as a test for the popularity of the clerical establishment, which was rocked by the bloody aftermath of a 2009 presidential vote that reformists said was rigged in Ahmadinejad's favor. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran's Ahmadinejad, reviled abroad, fades at home
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:05 AM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has often surprised his foes, but Friday's parliamentary poll may make him a lame duck for the rest of his presidency, a penalty for defying the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader. Vilified in the West for his barbs against America and Israel, his defiance on Iran's nuclear work, and questioning of the Holocaust, the blacksmith's son has long relied on his charismatic appeal to the poor and devout, as well as his links to the elite Revolutionary Guard and Basij religious militia. ...
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Factbox: Iran's parliamentary election process
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:05 AM PST
Reuters - TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranians voted on Friday in a parliamentary election that amounted to a contest between loyalists to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sidelined since a disputed presidential election in 2009, leading pro-reform groups did not take part in the vote because, they said, it was not "free and fair". They were looking beyond this election to the presidential race next year instead. Following are some facts about Iran's ninth parliamentary election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. ... Full Story | Top |
Exclusive: India cancels Iran oil shipment due to sanctions
Fri,2 Mar 2012 05:05 AM PST
Reuters - NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - India's largest shipping company was forced to cancel an Iranian crude oil shipment last month because its European insurers refused to provide coverage for the vessel on the grounds of tightening sanctions on the OPEC member, industry sources said. The European Union announced new sanctions in January prohibiting European insurers from indemnifying ships that carry Iranian crude and oil products anywhere in the world. ... Full Story | Top |
Ten people killed in mortar attack on anti-Assad protest
Fri,2 Mar 2012 04:30 AM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least ten people were killed when Syrian security forces fired a mortar on a protest against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the town of Rastan in Homs province on Friday, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Footage posted by activists on YouTube showed body parts in a truck and a body without a head. The number of victims was not clear in the video. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny) Full Story | Top |
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