Environment news

• Second EU radar satellite launches

  25-04-2016 23:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European Space Agency launches a second radar satellite into the EU's new Sentinel constellation, to acquire a complete map of the Earth every six days.
  
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• Paris climate deal: countries with about half of global emissions to join this year

  25-04-2016 23:21 via theguardian.com
  
  At least 34 countries representing 49% of greenhouse gas emissions formally joined the agreement, bringing it ‘within striking distance’ of entering into forceThe White House has said countries accounting for about half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions would join the Paris climate agreement this year, bringing the agreement “within striking distance” of entering into force.At least 34 countries representing 49% of greenhouse gas emissions formally joined the
  
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• Saudi Arabia targets 9.5 GW of renewable by 2030

  25-04-2016 22:31
  Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia plans to generate 9.5 gigawatts of electricity from renewable energy by 2030, it said on Monday as it approved its Vision 2030 reform plan. The plan, a package of economic and social policies is designed to free the kingdom from dependence on oil exports. "Even though we have an impressive natural potential for solar and wind power, and our local energy consumption will increase threefold by 2030, we still lack a competitive renewable sector at present." "To build u
  
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• Government 'phenomenally complacent' over VW scandal, say MPs

  25-04-2016 21:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Transport select committee members accuse minister Robert Goodwill of attempting to protect reputation of VW in light of emissions scandalConsumer groups and MPs have criticised the government’s response to the VW scandal, as a minister refused to state if the vehicle manufacturer had done anything illegal and whether British drivers should be compensated.Members of the transport select committee said the government had been “phenomenally complacent” and that VW lawyers would b
  
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• Aramco value to top $2 trillion, less than 5 percent to be sold, says prince

  25-04-2016 20:55
  Saudi Arabia expects state oil company Saudi Aramco [SDABO.UL] to be valued at more than $2 trillion (1.4 trillion pounds) and plans to sell less than 5 percent of it through an initial public offering (IPO), Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Monday. Subsidiaries of the company would also be sold in IPOs as part of a privatisation drive and to bring more transparency to the oil giant, Prince Mohammed said. "If 1 percent of Aramco is offered to the market, just 1 percent, it will be
  
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• Saudi reform plan pleases markets, doesn't reassure sceptics

  25-04-2016 20:20
  By Andrew Torchia DUBAI (Reuters) - A sweeping economic reform plan announced by Saudi Arabia on Monday pleased the financial markets but fell short of convincing sceptics that the kingdom can prosper in an era of cheap oil. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised to invest Saudi petrodollars more aggressively, sell stakes in state firms such as oil giant Saudi Aramco, restructure ministries to make them efficient, modernise the education system and even give foreigners long-term reside
  
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• The ohia tree is in trouble

  25-04-2016 20:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  The ʻohiʻa is Hawaii’s iconic tree, a keystone species that maintains healthy watersheds and provides habitat for numerous endangered birds. But a virulent fungal disease, possibly related to a warmer, drier climate, is now felling the island’s cherished `ohi`a forests.Hawaii’s isolation, 2,390 miles from the North American mainland, has given the island chain a unique array of species found nowhere else, including the ʻohiʻa lehua, an evergreen in the myrtl
  
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• Sir David King: UK should shift renewable energy subsidy focus to offshore wind

  25-04-2016 19:51
  
  The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) should concentrate its limited renewable energy subsidy budget on offshore wind, in an effort to drive down costs and increase investor demand, the UK's chief climate envoy has told edie.
  
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• Sir David King: UK should shift subsidy focus to offshore wind

  25-04-2016 19:30
  
  The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) should concentrate its limited renewable energy subsidy budget on offshore wind, in an effort to drive down costs and increase investor demand, the UK's chief climate envoy has told edie.
  
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• Ale of an idea: Amsterdam unveils King's Day urine plan

  25-04-2016 19:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Water board aims to provide model of sustainability by collecting byproduct when orange-clad revellers take the pilsIt is a process as natural as it is inevitable: the consumption of large quantities of beer leads to the production of large quantities of another amber liquid.But when up 1.5 million ale-fuelled revellers take to the streets and canals of Amsterdam on Wednesday for the city’s annual King’s Day celebrations, the local water board does not intend to let it go to waste. C
  
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• Desert dolphins: plan to bring animals to Arizona for show outrages activists

  25-04-2016 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 100,000 people signed a petition against a plan for Dolphinaris, which would house dolphins in pools and allow people to swim with and ride themA plan to transport a group of dolphins to the Arizona desert so tourists can pay to frolic with them has come under fire from animal welfare activists who claim the attraction will be harmful to people as well as the dolphins.
  More than 100,000 people have signed a petition against a plan for a Dolphinaris to be established on tribal land near
  
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• Oil down; Morgan Stanley, Barclays warn of bearish forces

  25-04-2016 18:41
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell as much as 2 percent on Monday after an inventory spike at a key storage base for U.S. crude and leading banks in the commodities trade said a two-month long rebound has defied fundamentals. Market intelligence firm Genscape reported that stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude futures rose 1,549,705 barrels in the week to April 22, traders said. The front-month contract in U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI
  
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• Factbox - Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 reform plan

  25-04-2016 18:40
  (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia announced on Monday its Vision 2030 reform plan, a package of economic and social policies designed to free the kingdom from dependence on oil exports. Following are details of the plan, released in public appearances by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and in government documents provided to the media. PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND Restructure the state-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF), which the prince said would turn the world's top oil exporter into a global invest
  
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• RWE npower to lower output at coal plant in Wales from April 2017

  25-04-2016 18:39
  RWE npower will reduce operating hours at its 1,600-megawatt Aberthaw coal-fired power plant in Wales from April 1, 2017 as demand for coal-generated electricity is expected to fall, it said. The company said it would move to an operating regime that focuses on generating electricity when needed, instead of the more steady production model it has been following. The company said it had also decided to adapt technology at the station that will allow it to burn a wider range of coal and that will
  
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• Heathrow and TfL at odds over environmental impact of expansion

  25-04-2016 18:15
  
  Proposals for a third runway at Heathrow could cost the taxpayer around £17bn and aggravate London's air pollution because of increased traffic levels, according to documents obtained by Greenpeace from Transport for London (TfL).
  
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• EU energy chief casts doubt on need for Nord Stream 2 pipeline

  25-04-2016 17:38
  By Georgina Prodhan HANOVER (Reuters) - Europe may end up with more gas than it needs if the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, designed to double the amount of gas Russia pumps to Germany via the Baltic Sea, is built, the European Union's most senior energy official said on Monday. Maros Sefcovic, European Vice President for Energy, said the pipeline plans raised a lot of questions, including over its business case in light of the EU's own gas demand estimates. "It would imply that we are going to build e
  
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• UK envoy: carbon pricing ‘too sluggish’ to meet climate goals

  25-04-2016 17:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate Home: Sir David King favours technology development over emissions trading as a way to shift emerging economies off coalCarbon pricing is “too sluggish a weapon” against climate change, top UK envoy Sir David King said on Monday.Speaking at a sustainability event in London, Sir David argued innovation to bring down the cost of clean technology would bring swifter results. Continue reading...
  
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• Rise in CO2 has 'greened Planet Earth'

  25-04-2016 17:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The emissions of carbon dioxide from industrial society has spurred a huge growth in trees and other plants, says a report.
  
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• Wind farms' climate impact recorded

  25-04-2016 16:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In the first study of its kind, scientists have been able to measure the climatic effect of a wind farm on the local environment.
  
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• 12 ways the arts can encourage climate action

  25-04-2016 15:57 via theguardian.com
  
  A panel of experts around the world share their thoughts on the most effective ways the arts can prompt climate action
  Sponsored by Connect4ClimateOur belief is that people act out of having a relationship with the environment. If that emotional connection is not there, they won’t care. Rather than relaying messages, it’s about creating experiences and creating an alternative that’s actually more rewarding. I often wonder if it’s as simple as encouraging creativity over c
  
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• Saudi prince unveils sweeping plans to end 'addiction' to oil

  25-04-2016 15:52
  By Samia Nakhoul, William Maclean and Marwa Rashad RIYADH (Reuters) - The powerful young prince overseeing Saudi Arabia's economy unveiled ambitious plans on Monday aimed at ending the kingdom's "addiction" to oil and transforming it into a global investment power. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Riyadh would raise the capital of its public investment fund to 7 trillion riyals ($2 trillion) from 600 billion riyals ($160 billion) and would sell up to five percent of shares in state o
  
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• Cod almighty: the secret of Norway's monster fish bonanza

  25-04-2016 15:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate change and human restraint appear to be behind the spectacular catches drawing anglers to the far north islandsForty years ago, the wife of the editor at the local paper for the remote Lofoten islands in Norway’s far north had an idea to boost its tiny circulation. The newspaper started to award a bag of coffee and a certificate to any angler who landed a cod over 30kg (66lb).Now the paper’s records, painstakingly compiled over the decades, bear witness to a remarkable outcom
  
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• Berta Cáceres: an outspoken voice for the environment is silenced – video

  25-04-2016 15:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Berta Cáceres, the environmental campaigner from Honduras, was shot dead at her home by armed intruders last months. For years, she led protests against the building of dams, illegal logging and plantations. Despite repeated threats to her safety, Cáceres refused to be silenced. Photograph: Tim Russo/AP‘Time was running out’: Honduran activist’s last days marked by threats Continue reading...
  
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• Oil resumes rise after brief pause

  25-04-2016 15:15
  By Sarah McFarlane LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday, extending recent gains, building on three weeks of higher prices and reversing earlier losses from traders taking profits. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 17 cents at $43.90 a barrel. ABN Amro chief energy economist Hans van Cleef said that prices were reflecting the anticipation of the rebalancing of supply and demand.
  
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• Less than 5 per cent of Saudi Aramco to be sold

  25-04-2016 15:11
  Saudi Arabia plans to sell less than 5 percent of its state oil company Saudi Aramco [SDABO.UL] through an initial public offering (IPO), Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Monday. Subsidiaries of the company would also be sold by IPO, as part of a privatisation drive and to bring more transparency to the oil giant, Prince Mohammed said.
  
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• SSI calls for 'substantive' conclusion on shipping emissions target

  25-04-2016 14:57
  
  Global shipping coalition the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) has warned that the lack of a definitive conclusion at a recent International Maritime Organisation (IMO) meeting has decreased the likelihood of a binding agreement on future industry emissions reduction targets.
  
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• Do you live in one of America's worst cities for air pollution?

  25-04-2016 14:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  The American Lung Association has released its annual “State of the Air” report and its findings are troubling. Most Americans live in counties with air pollution so bad that it is a severe risk to their health. According to the report, that means 166 million people are at risk of an early death and significant health problems including asthma, developmental damage and cancer.Without a doubt the most concerning discovery made by the American Lung Association was that short-term
  
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• Saudi investment fund will turn kingdom into a global player - top prince

  25-04-2016 13:48
  Saudi Arabia's new investment fund will turn the world's top oil exporter into a global investment power, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview on Monday. Asked by Arabiya whether he thought the management of PIF would be too autocratic, he said there would be an elected board that would make investment decisions for PIF.
  
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• Shell to close BG head quarters near London by year end

  25-04-2016 13:31
  Royal Dutch Shell will close the head office of BG Group, the gas producer it agreed to acquire for $50 billion in February, by the end of the year, it said on Monday, as part of a plan to save costs and cut 10,300 jobs worldwide. The oil major will also offer voluntary redundancy packages to staff at the BG headquarters in Reading, near London, and to Shell staff in the UK. Shell also said on Monday it would close BG's Aberdeen office to focus onshore operations in the Scottish city at its own
  
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• Tetra Pak's bio-based carton hits new milestones

  25-04-2016 13:12
  
  Swedish food processing and packaging company Tetra Pak has announced the launch of a new bio-based version of its Tetra Top package which will have a plant-based renewable content of more than 80%.
  
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• Premier Oil shareholders support acquisition of E.ON North Sea assets

  25-04-2016 12:53
  Premier Oil shareholders approved the oil producer's $120 million takeover of E.ON's North Sea oil and gas fields on Monday, as the deal cleared its final hurdle. As many as 99.99 percent of votes cast at a special shareholder meeting on Monday supported the transaction, which will give Premier additional stakes in 40 oil and gas licences in the UK North Sea. When the transaction was first announced, Premier's shares were suspended as the deal was classified as a reverse takeover.
  
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• Satellite Eye on Earth: March 2016 - in pictures

  25-04-2016 12:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Salt lakes, dust rivers and ice shelves were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthThousands of saline lakes span the south-western part of Western Australia, at the headwaters of the Frankland river, north of Stirling Range national park.Millions of years ago, declines in rainfall caused river flows to ebb and river valleys to fill in with sediment. Wind then sculpted the loose sediment to form the lake basins that remain today. Some of the lakes now f
  
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• Next oil downturn? Looming gasoline glut threatens crude's rebound

  25-04-2016 12:22
  By Henning Gloystein and Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A rebound in oil prices this year from 12-year lows is in danger of coming to a crashing halt, as the main engine of global demand growth for the past several years starts to sputter amid signs of a gasoline glut. Crude oil has rallied more two-thirds from its mid-January nadir on robust demand from refineries worldwide, stoking cautious optimism among producers and exporters that the epic rout that slashed global prices by 75 percent b
  
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• A global coalition mapping and motivating decarbonization | Joseph Robertson

  25-04-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A coalition of governments, oil companies, and other key parties works for climate action and carbon pricing
  Would it surprise you to learn that governments, oil companies, NGOs and major investors are coming together to map—and to motivate—the decarbonization of the global economy?The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) is a policy-focused alliance of national and subnational governments, intergovernmental agencies, businesses and institutional investors, nonprofits and stake
  
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• Cambodian Royal Turtle nearly extinct _ less than 10 in wild

  25-04-2016 11:51
  PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's Royal Turtle is nearly extinct, with fewer than 10 left in the wild, because increased sand dredging and illegal clearance of flooded forest have shrunk its habitat, a conservationist group warned Monday.
  
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• Japan says China's maritime expansion making the world 'greatly worried'

  25-04-2016 10:54
  Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking ahead of a visit to Beijing, said on Monday China was making the world "worried" with its military buildup and maritime expansion in the East and South China Seas. Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have long been plagued by a territorial dispute, regional rivalry and the legacy of Japan's World War Two aggression. China and Japan dispute sovereignty over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets, wh
  
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• Indonesia OPEC governor - no urgency to freeze output with oil at $45

  25-04-2016 10:18
  Indonesia's governor to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday that oil at $45 a barrel was "not bad" and that there would be no urgency to freeze output if crude remained at that price. Despite failure to reach a deal to curb oil output and support prices at an April 17 meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers, crude prices have maintained a general upward trend since hitting a 12-year trough in mid-January. Front-month Brent crude was trading at $44.75 (31 pounds) p
  
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• MPs to debate planning bill to protect UK homes from surface flooding

  25-04-2016 10:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Government faces a possible defeat over proposal to require all new houses to have sustainable drainage to prevent surface flooding and sewer overflowsMoves to protect more households from the threats of surface flooding and sewer overload will be debated in parliament on Monday, with the government facing possible defeat in a key vote.Surface flooding is a growing problem, with at least 20,000 sewer overflows occurring in the UK a year. It is caused by the overloading of Britain’s antiqua
  
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• Russian government in talks with potential bidders for Rosneft, Bashneft stakes - agencies

  25-04-2016 10:15
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's government is in talks with potential buyers of stakes in the nation's top oil producer Rosneft and medium-sized oil producer Bashneft , Russian news agencies quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying on Monday. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov)
  
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• 'Time was running out': Honduran activist's last days marked by threats

  25-04-2016 10:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Berta Cáceres, the environmental advocate shot dead in her home in March, told friends of a hitman boasting about his plans as she ‘worked frantically’ In her final days, Berta Cáceres was bombarded with texts and calls warning her to give up the fight against the Agua Zarca dam, or else.The Honduran indigenous leader told trusted friends and colleagues that some of the death threats were from a suspected sicario – or hitman – who was terrorizing community m
  
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• 'Breakthrough' CCS technology paves way for sustainable construction industry

  25-04-2016 10:00
  
  A technological innovation that will enable Europe's cement and lime industries to significantly reduce their environmental footprint through carbon capture and storage (CCS) has received €12m backing from the European Union.
  
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• Ikea starts selling solar panels in UK stores

  25-04-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Swedish firm is optimistic of sales despite recent cuts to solar incentivesSolar panels will join tea lights and spider plants on sale at Ikea stores from Monday, despite huge government cuts to solar subsidies for homeowners.Shoppers will be able to order panels online and at three stores, initially Glasgow, Birmingham and Lakeside, before the so-called Solar Shops appear in all the Swedish company’s UK stores by summer’s end. Continue reading...
  
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• Crocodile attacks camper, dragging him from tent in Northern Territory

  25-04-2016 07:04 via theguardian.com
  
  19-year-old ‘very lucky’ to be alive after crocodile grabbed his right foot and pulled him from his tent while on a fishing trip in the Daly region near Katherine A 19-year-old man is recovering in hospital after he was pulled from his tent by a crocodile in Australia’s Northern Territory in the early hours of Monday morning. Related: Northern Territory removes 290 saltwater crocodiles from waterways in a yearContinue reading...
  
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• Feathered blades and feathered wings

  25-04-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Derwentwater, Lake District Sculls are the swiftest human-powered craft – but when they are gliding along they are also ideal for bird-watchingSkiddaw’s scalloped massif rises above the old pencil town of Keswick, with the silvery-blue teardrop of Derwentwater poised below and stretching three miles towards crag-girt Great End in the far distance. At Portinscale, at the northern end of the lake, I watch as Nick Cowan, the Lakeland Rowing Club captain, clambers back on to the jetty an
  
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• Oil falls as traders cash in after three weeks of gains

  25-04-2016 05:51
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell over 1 percent on Monday as traders took profits after three weeks of gains and as a jump in the dollar late last week was priced into fuel markets. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 62 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $43.11 a barrel. "I guess (there's been) some profit taking after a strong rally into the end of last week," said Virendra Chauhan of Energy Aspects in Singapore.
  
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• Death toll rises to 32 at petrochemical plant explosion

  25-04-2016 05:28
  Four more people have been found dead after last week's explosion at a petrochemical plant in southeastern Mexico, raising the death toll to 32, state oil giant Pemex and Mexican plastic pipe maker Mexichem said in a joint statement on Sunday. The vinyl petrochemical plant in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz is a joint venture between Pemex's petrochemical unit and majority owner Mexichem.
  
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