Political news

• Mexico says rejects threats against investment after Trump remark

  06-01-2017 23:54
  Mexico's government said on Friday it rejects any attempt to use threats to influence investment in the country, one day after Donald Trump said Japanese automaker Toyota would have to pay a hefty tax to produce cars in Mexico for U.S. consumers. "The Economy Ministry categorically rejects any attempt to influence investment decisions by companies based on fear or threats," the ministry said in a brief statement. It made no mention of Toyota or U.S. President-elect Trump.
  
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• Nigeria militants say readying fighters to hit 'enemy' in Niger Delta

  06-01-2017 23:53
  A Nigerian militant group, which has claimed a wave of attacks on oil pipelines in the Niger Delta, said on Friday that it had asked its fighters to prepare to fight the "enemy" as authorities were not ready for dialogue. The Niger Delta Avengers had declared a ceasefire last year after staging major attacks on oil facilities crippling the OPEC member's oil output in a fight for more oil revenues to give dialogue with authorities a chance. The government has been holding talks for more than six
  
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• Ivory Coast uprising by disgruntled soldiers spreads to other cities

  06-01-2017 23:33
  By Ange Aboa and Loucoumane Coulibaly BOUAKE, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Disgruntled soldiers demanding salary increases and the payment of bonuses seized control of Ivory Coast's second-largest city, Bouake, on Friday, in an uprising that spread to at least two other cities. A statement from Defence Minister Alain-Richard Donwahi read out on state television said a group of soldiers had used their weapons to force their way into the military headquarters in Bouake soon after midnight and then made
  
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• DHS designating election infrastructure as 'critical'

  06-01-2017 23:24
  Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says he's designating U.S. election systems as critical infrastructure, a move that will provide more federal help for states to keep election systems safe from ...
  
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• Civil rights groups gear up to fight Sessions nomination

  06-01-2017 23:24
  
  Leaders of civil rights organizations on Friday reasserted their criticisms of attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions as unqualified for the role, and urged his Senate colleagues to put the Alabama Republican's record to a thorough vetting.
  
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• Shooter kills five people, wounds eight at Fort Lauderdale airport

  06-01-2017 23:21
  By Zachary Fagenson FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - A gunman with a U.S. military identification opened fire at a baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday, killing five people before being taken into custody, officials and witnesses said. Five people died and eight were wounded, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters at the airport, where air traffic was shut down. The gunman had arrived on a flight with a checked gun in his bag, Broward County
  
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• Canada says no Canadian connection to Fort Lauderdale shooting

  06-01-2017 23:21
  OTTAWA (Reuters) - The man suspected of shooting dead five people in Fort Lauderdale airport on Friday did not fly from Canada and was not on a Canadian flight, said a spokeswoman for the Canadian embassy in Washington. "There is no Canadian connection," said Christine Constantin. Citing U.S. officials, she said the suspect had flown from Anchorage, Alaska to Fort Lauderdale via Minneapolis, Minnesota. A Florida law enforcement official earlier said the shooter had been on a Canadian flight. (Re
  
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• Biden signs desk drawer in ceremonial office

  06-01-2017 23:20
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is signing his desk drawer at his ceremonial office to mark the final days of the Obama administration.
  
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• Facebook hires former CNN anchor Campbell Brown for news role

  06-01-2017 23:17
  Former CNN reporter, anchor and host Campbell Brown is joining Facebook Inc to lead its news partnerships team, an appointment aimed at repairing the online social media company's troubled relationship with the traditional media. Brown announced the move in a post on her Facebook page on Friday. Facebook has come under scrutiny for its role in disseminating what became known as 'fake news' during last year’s U.S. presidential election, which had a negative effect on the businesses of more
  
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• U.S. charges ex-Haiti coup leader with drug trafficking conspiracy

  06-01-2017 23:09
  The leader of a 2004 coup that toppled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and who had been wanted for more than a decade by U.S. authorities, was charged on Friday in the United States with engaging in drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies. Guy Philippe, 48, faces a three-count indictment including conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, conspiring to launder money, and engaging in monetary transactions stemming from unlawful activity, the U.S. Department of Just
  
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• Brazil gang kills 31, many hacked to death, as prison violence explodes

  06-01-2017 23:06
  By Pedro Fonseca and Brad Brooks RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Jailed members of Brazil's most powerful drug gang killed 31 inmates at a penitentiary on Friday, decapitating and cutting out the hearts of most of them, in revenge for a separate prison massacre that left 56 dead this week. The bloodletting in the Monte Cristo prison in the Amazonian state of Roraima, carried out by members of the First Capital Command (PCC) gang, sparked fears that months of violence between criminal groups
  
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• Five-star City demolish woeful West Ham

  06-01-2017 23:04
  Manchester City crushed West Ham United 5-0 to give manager Pep Guardiola the perfect introduction to the FA Cup as they cruised into the fourth round with a thumping victory at the London Stadium on Friday. After taking the lead through Yaya Toure from the penalty spot, the five-times winners swept their opponents away with devilish attacking verve, inflicting on the beleaguered Hammers their worst ever home defeat in the competition. Sergio Aguero then flicked the ball home early in the second
  
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• DEA opens shop in China to help fight synthetic drug trade

  06-01-2017 23:04
  
  SHANGHAI (AP) — In a sign of improving cooperation between the U.S. and China to fight the global drug trade, the Drug Enforcement Administration will open a new office there and its top chief will visit next week for the first time in more than a decade.
  
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• Will Trump's promised wall become taxpayer-funded fence?

  06-01-2017 23:01
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the signature promise of his campaign: Donald Trump vowed to build an impenetrable, concrete wall along the southern border. And Mexico was going to pay for it.
  
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• Israel cuts $6 million in U.N. funding over settlements resolution

  06-01-2017 23:01
  Israel said on Friday it would cut $6 million in funding to the United Nations in 2017 in protest against a U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded an end to Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for an independent state. The United States abstained from the Dec. 23 vote, allowing the 15-member Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favour. Israel and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had called for Washington to wield its veto.
  
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• GOP worries about killing health law without replacement

  06-01-2017 23:01
  
  Republicans are increasingly jittery over rushing to demolish much of President Barack Obama's health care law without having a GOP alternative that's ready to go. While nothing about revamping the nation's ...
  
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• U.S. intel report says Putin directed cyber campaign aimed at helping Trump

  06-01-2017 22:56
  Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "an influence campaign" in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election with the goal of undermining the democratic process and denigrating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, a new, declassified intelligence report said on Friday. "We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump," the report said. "We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election
  
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• U.S. intelligence report - Putin directed cyber campaign to help Trump

  06-01-2017 22:50
  By Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Republican Donald Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, U.S. intelligence agencies said in an assessment on Friday. Russia's objectives were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate former secretary of state Clinton, make it harder for her to win and harm her presidency if she did, an uncla
  
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• Trump, amid media battles, meets with Conde Nast executives

  06-01-2017 22:50
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump sat down Friday with executives at Conde Nast, a magazine chain whose editors have frequently been his foes.
  
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• Obama's final jobs report: Big pay gain, slower hiring

  06-01-2017 22:47
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' paychecks rose in December at the fastest pace in more than seven years as steady hiring and low unemployment led some businesses to pay more to attract and keep workers.
  
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• U.S. ambassadors appointed by Obama must quit by Inauguration Day

  06-01-2017 22:43
  (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has issued a blanket mandate for politically appointed ambassadors installed by President Barack Obama to leave their posts by Inauguration Day, the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand said on Friday. "I will be departing on January 20th," Ambassador Mark Gilbert said in a Twitter message to Reuters. The mandate was issued "without exceptions" through an order sent in a State Department cable on Dec. 23, Gilbert said.
  
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• EPA: 540 tons of metals entered river in Colo. mine spill

  06-01-2017 22:33
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 540 tons of metals — mostly iron and aluminum — contaminated the Animas River over nine hours during a massive wastewater spill from an abandoned Colorado gold mine, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday in a new report on the 2015 blowout that turned rivers in three states a sickly yellow.
  
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• U.S. Democrats want strong response to intel report on 2016 election

  06-01-2017 22:32
  The top Democrats on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees said on Friday a report on Russian activity related to the 2016 U.S. election should inspire a strong response to prevent a repeat. "The strength of America's democracy will be measured, in part, on how we respond, and the steps we take to develop a robust and proactive cyber strategy," said Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate panel. Representative Adam Schiff, his counterpart on the House pane
  
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• Shoulder problem could sideline England's Robshaw from Six Nations

  06-01-2017 22:29
  England flanker Chris Robshaw could miss the Six Nations after aggravating an existing shoulder problem that could require surgery, his club Harlequins said on Friday. "Disappointing to start this year with this shoulder injury. Will know the full extent on Monday," the 30-year-old former England captain said on Twitter.
  
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• Trump says Mexico would repay U.S. funds spent on border wall

  06-01-2017 22:21
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday Mexico ultimately will repay the United States for his planned border wall, a day after news emerged that his transition team had asked fellow Republicans in Congress to vote to approve the funding. Trump told the New York Times he would most likely seek repayment through renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which groups the United States, Mexico and Canada.
  
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• Africa rising? Well, yes it is.

  06-01-2017 22:20
  In recent years the phrase “Africa Rising” has been used to describe a continent on a rapid and unwavering course toward prosperity. It’s meant to counter the dismal narrative that suggests Africa’s problems are so overwhelming it will never surmount them. Recommended: How much do you know about Africa's most populous country?
  
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• Turkey dismisses 6,000 more workers in post-coup crackdown

  06-01-2017 22:05
  Turkey dismissed more than 6,000 more police, civil servants and academics under emergency rule on Friday, continuing a purge in the wake of a failed coup last July, according to decrees issued in the Official Gazette. The decrees ordered the dismissal of 2,687 police officers, 1,699 officials from the justice ministry, 838 from the health ministry, more than 630 academics and 135 officials from the religious affairs directorate. Parliament, dominated by the ruling AK Party, voted this week to e
  
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• Economists hit back at claims of crisis after post-Brexit misses

  06-01-2017 22:01
  Criticism from the BoE highlights failures in big-event forecasts
  
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• Michael Heseltine, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Fined For Knocking Cyclist From Bike

  06-01-2017 22:00
  
  The former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has been fined £5,000 by magistrates after he admitted knocking a cyclist off his bike.
  Michael Heseltine appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and entered a guilty plea to a charge of careless driving, The Press Association reports.
  The 83-year-old Tory grandee, driving a green Jaguar, pulled out of a lane and into the path of the cyclist on the B4525 near Thenford in Northamptonshire on June 19 last year.The male cyc
  
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• Nicola Jennings on Donald Trump's Twitter endorsements – cartoon

  06-01-2017 21:53
  
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• The Latest: GOP uneasy about how to replace health care law

  06-01-2017 21:52
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress (all times EST):
  
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• After intel brief, Trump says hack had no impact on election

  06-01-2017 21:29
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — After a briefing from the nation's top intelligence officials, President-elect Donald Trump said Friday he is confident Russians did not affect the outcome of the U.S. presidential election but he didn't say whether he now accepts the intelligence assessment that Moscow did meddle in the race.
  
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• Trump says hacking did not affect U.S. election outcome

  06-01-2017 21:28
  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday that the outcome of the 2016 U.S. election was not affected by cyber attacks after intelligence agencies briefed him on their conclusion that Russia had staged cyber attacks during the campaign. Having hours earlier dismissed the controversy as a "political witch hunt," Republican Trump later issued a statement whose main aim appeared to be to deflect questions about the legitimacy of his Nov. 8 victory over Demo
  
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• At least five dead in Fort Lauderdale airport shooting

  06-01-2017 20:58
  By Zachary Fagenson FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - A shooter wearing a Star Wars T-shirt opened fire at a baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday, killing at least five people before being taken into custody, officials and witnesses said. Five people died and eight more were wounded in the incident, the local sheriff's office said. The shooter, who said nothing, appeared to be a man in his 20s wearing a Star Wars T-shirt who was shot by police as he attem
  
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• Murray and Djokovic face off in Doha final

  06-01-2017 20:55
  (Reuters) - Andy Murray and champion Novak Djokovic will go toe-to-toe in the Qatar Open final after the world's top two players laid down their markers for the 2017 season. World number one Murray swept aside Czech third seed Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4 to record his 28th consecutive victory and will be targeting a sixth title in succession on Saturday. Djokovic, who was deposed as world number one by Murray in November and was beaten by the Scot in their last showdown -- in the title match of the 20
  
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• German prosecutor investigates publisher of Axel Springer's Bild

  06-01-2017 20:52
  German prosecutors on Friday said they had opened an investigation of Kai Diekmann, publisher of best-selling European tabloid newspaper Bild, days after parent company Axel Springer announced he had resigned. Diekmann has long been one of the most powerful media figures in Germany, with his newspaper becoming known for either making or breaking careers of political leaders and celebrities. "We have a criminal investigation against Kai Diekmann," a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Potsda
  
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• Trump to order anti-hacking plan within 90 days of taking office - statement

  06-01-2017 20:49
  President-elect Donald Trump said he had a "constructive" meeting with members of U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday and plans to appoint a team to give him a plan to combat cyber attacks within 90 days of taking office on Jan. 20. "While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effec
  
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• UK bike courier wins ‘gig economy’ legal battle

  06-01-2017 20:47
  Judge agrees woman was worker for CitySprint and not self-employed contractor
  
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• UK bicycle courier wins ‘gig economy’ legal battle

  06-01-2017 20:47
  Judge agrees woman was worker for CitySprint and not self-employed contractor
  
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• Trump calls Russian hacking controversy 'political witch hunt' - NYT

  06-01-2017 20:43
  By Amy Tennery NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump dismissed a controversy over Russian hacking during the 2016 U.S. election campaign as a "political witch hunt," the New York Times reported on Friday before U.S. intelligence agencies were to brief him on the matter. The midday briefing coincided with deep tension between U.S. intelligence agencies and Republican Trump, who has disparaged their conclusions that Russia staged cyber attacks to interfere in the election by hacking De
  
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• 8 ways the US job market has evolved over Obama's 8 years

  06-01-2017 20:41
  
  When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009 in the midst of the Great Recession, the economy was hemorrhaging jobs. Employers were panicking in the face of plummeting demand and a financial ...
  
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• DC mayor: Arrests for pot smoking unlikely at inauguration

  06-01-2017 20:16
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington's mayor says police won't be looking to arrest people for smoking marijuana in public on Inauguration Day.
  
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• Lawmaker removes Capitol Hill art with pig in police uniform

  06-01-2017 20:09
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican lawmaker removed a high school student's painting from a Capitol Hill display Friday because it shows a pig in a police uniform, aiming a gun at African-American protesters. The image was inspired by the shooting and protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
  
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• Electoral College makes it official: Trump wins presidency

  06-01-2017 20:09
  
  Congress certified Donald Trump's presidential victory Friday over the objections of a handful of House Democrats, with Vice President Joe Biden pronouncing, "It is over." House Democrats objected ...
  
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• Stock soars to victory at Four Hills tournament

  06-01-2017 20:08
  Poland's double Olympic champion Kamil Stoch claimed the prestigious Four hills ski jumping tournament on Friday after winning the final stage in Austria. Stoch jumped 138.5 metres to secure victory after Norway's Daniel Andre Tande, the overnight leader and winner of the last two events in Germany and Austria, misjudged his final jump and landed awkwardly to fall down the standings. Stoch's compatriot Piotr Zyla claimed second in the standings after a third place finish in Friday's jump with Ta
  
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• New towns and garden cities as answers to Britain’s housing crisis | Letters

  06-01-2017 20:08
  
  I read with great interest the various contributions in G2 (5 January) on garden cities, towns or villages of tomorrow. The plea in the first article, by Owen Hatherley, was for a new town that “doesn’t look planned by developers but for the public good”. This is what I found in the new town I have lived in for almost 60 years. When I moved to Crawley in 1957 it was to a new town designated 10 years earlier which was growing rapidly. The main characteristic of such new towns of
  
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• Rail minister pledges no repeat of Paralympian's train experience

  06-01-2017 20:04
  
  Government to meet CrossCountry trains after Anne Wafula Strike had to wet herself as there was no accessible toilet availableA government minister has pledged that no other disabled traveller should go through what wheelchair user Anne Wafula Strike experienced when she was forced to wet herself on a train because there was no working accessible toilet.The rail minister, Paul Maynard, told Wafula Strike through her MP, Robert Halfon, that government officials are meeting with CrossCountry, the
  
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• Distinguished envoy or sneering shock jock? It’s a no-brainer for Farage | Marina Hyde

  06-01-2017 19:56
  
  The Brexiter initially cast himself as our man in Trump’s America or even the Middle East – but he now sees the real power lies elsewhereFour weeks ago Nigel Farage declared that the chief joy of no longer being Ukip leader was not “having to deal with low-grade people every day”. This week Nigel announced that he will be taking calls from the public every day from Monday to Thursday on the radio station LBC.Whether the public are “low-grade people” or somethi
  
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• White House panel urges U.S. defence of clout in high-end chip market

  06-01-2017 19:52
  A blue-ribbon presidential panel on science recommended on Friday that the United States take steps to defend its dominance of the high-end semiconductor market against a stiff Chinese challenge. The report follows plans by China to use a massive, $150 billion government investment in its semiconductor industry to expand the share of Chinese-made integrated circuits in the domestic market from its current 9 percent. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said the United St
  
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• VW, Justice Dept nearing $3 billion deal to resolve diesel allegations

  06-01-2017 19:52
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG and the U.S. Justice Department are nearing an agreement to resolve the government's civil and criminal investigations that would require the German automaker to pay a penalty of more than $3 billion (2.4 billion pounds), sources briefed on the talks said on Friday. Volkswagen is also expected to face oversight by an outside monitor and agree to other significant reforms in connection with its diesel cheating scandal as part of a potential
  
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