News : France24

North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the eastern sea Tuesday, South Korea's military reported. The missiles flew 400 km, landing outside Japan’s exclusive zone without causing damage. This follows a North Korean intercontinen

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Iran arrests female student who stripped to protest harassment

Pacific Asia • 10:15 AM

1 min

Iranian authorities arrested a female student on Saturday after she staged a solo protest against harassment by stripping to her underwear outside her university, reports said. The woman, who has not been identified, had been harassed inside Tehran's pre

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Two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed in helicopter crash

Pacific Asia • 8:29 AM

1 min

Two of Iran's Revolutionary Guards have died in a helicopter crash during an anti-terror operation in the country's restive southeast, state media said Monday, adding that the fatalities included a general in the elite force.

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Turkey sacks three more mayors in Kurdish-majority southeast

Pacific Asia • 7:03 AM

1 min

The Turkish government stripped three elected pro-Kurdish mayors of their posts in southeastern cities on Monday and replaced them with state officials, citing charges on terrorism-related offences.

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Chinese investors show irrational enthusiasm for Trump ‘meme stock’

Pacific Asia • 3:47 PM

1 min

The share price of a small Chinese company in financial difficulties has skyrocketed in recent days. The company's only real asset is its name: Wisesoft, which in Chinese sounds like the phrase 'Trump wins big'. Chinese investors are prone to buying shar

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Air pollution levels in Lahore rise 40 times above WHO limit

Pacific Asia • 11:32 AM

1 min

Air pollution levels in Pakistan's second biggest city Lahore reached an unprecedented high on Saturday, soaring more than 40 times above the WHO’s acceptable limit for pollutants. Authorities have imposed strict new restrictions, including partial work-

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China sends three new-generation astronauts to space station

Pacific Asia • 4:46 PM

1 min

China has declared its latest space mission "a total success", after the Shenzhou 19 spaceship carried three astronauts to its space station. The young crew includes the country's first female space engineer. The launch comes some 21 years after China co

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Typhoon Kong-rey makes landfall in Taiwan, killing at least 2

Pacific Asia • 3:28 AM

1 min

Two months after Typhoon Gaemi battered Taiwan, Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on the island on Thursday, as massive waves, serious floods and ferocious winds cut power, cancelled flights, killed at least two people and injured 580.

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Fight for women's rights in Afghanistan is a universal one, former minister says

Pacific Asia • 10:17 PM

1 min

Afghan women are now forbidden from praying loudly or reciting the Koran in front of other women, according to a Taliban government minister. It's the latest restriction on women following laws that ban them from raising their voices and showing their fa

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In Shanghai, Halloween sends shivers down China's spine

Pacific Asia • 7:13 AM

1 min

Chinese authorities are seeking to limit Halloween celebrations in Shanghai, fearing that the festivities could serve as a platform for political dissent. For the regime, the October 31 holiday, imported from the United States, could become a means of cr

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North Korea launches intercontinental missile, escalating threat to US mainland

Pacific Asia • 11:37 PM

1 min

North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, marking its first test in nearly a year, aimed at demonstrating its capability to strike the US mainland. Leader Kim Jong Un ordered the launch, calling it a “military action” to counte

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Will Russia's war against Ukraine go global? Enter the North Koreans

Pacific Asia • 7:22 PM

1 min

Ukraine's president warns it could lead to "a world war." Is Volodymyr Zelensky overreacting by sounding the alarm over the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia? NATO believes the troops are destined for the Kursk region on the border with Ukrai

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China sends three astronauts on space mission to further hopes of landing on moon

Pacific Asia • 7:13 AM

1 min

A three-person crew of Chinese astronauts set off on a mission to Tiangong space station on Wednesday where they will work on projects to advance China's goal of sending its own astronauts on the Moon and constructing a lunar base. "We're witnessing a ne

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Chinese crew blasts off on 'dream' mission to Tiangong space station

Pacific Asia • 7:11 AM

1 min

A three-person crew of Chinese astronauts set off on a mission to Tiangong space station on Wednesday where they will work on projects to advance China's goal of sending its own astronauts on the Moon and constructing a lunar base. China's only woman spa

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India's female healthcare workers seek protection following murder of trainee doctor

Pacific Asia • 1:44 PM

1 min

Indian is still reeling from the rape and murder of 31-year-old trainee doctor Moumita Debnath in a Kolkata hospital on August 9. The horrific crime is a reminder of the lack of security for women in the country, but it also highlights the worrying situa

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Berlin slams ‘inhumane’ Tehran for executing German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd

Pacific Asia • 6:59 PM

1 min

Slammed by Berlin as an "inhumane regime", Iran on Monday executed dual German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd after detaining him since 2020, when he was captured while travelling through the United Arab Emirates, according to his family. He had been

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Major defeat: Japanese politics in turmoil as ruling party loses majority

Pacific Asia • 4:47 PM

1 min

Uncertainty shrouded Japan’s political landscape on Monday after the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 15 years. FRANCE 24 speaks to Jeffrey J Hall, special lecturer at Japan's Kanda Universit

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Japan's ruling party braces for a blow to its comfortable majority

Pacific Asia • 10:45 AM

1 min

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’ s conservative ruling party braced for a blow to its comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament in Sunday’s elections amid public rage over the party’s financial scandals and discontent over a stagnant e

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Japan's new Prime Minister faces crucial test amid party scandal, as election polls open

Pacific Asia • 9:46 AM

1 min

Japan voted on Sunday in its tightest election in years, with new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his juggernaut Liberal Democratic Party facing potentially their worst result since 2009. More information with Jake Adelstein, journalist in Tokyo.

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Death toll from Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines rises to 110

Pacific Asia • 5:33 AM

1 min

The death toll from Tropical Storm Trami on Sunday hit 110 in the Philippines in what is the deadliest storm to hit the southeast Asian country this year. Floods and rain-induced landslides also forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

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Japan's ruling party fails to win majority in snap election

Pacific Asia • 9:01 PM

1 min

Japan's ruling party did not win a majority in parliament after voters cast their ballots on Sunday, dealing a blow to new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Voters have been left disillusioned by Japan's high cost of living and political scandals that helpe

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Pakistani Taliban kills 10 police at checkpoint near Afghan border

Pacific Asia • 7:35 AM

1 min

Around 20 Taliban fighters launched a deadly assault on police in northwest Pakistan, officials said Friday, in the latest in a series of attacks on security forces by the Pakistani branch of the militant group.

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Taiwan president says island 'won't yield an inch' of its territory

Pacific Asia • 5:13 AM

1 min

In a speech to military veterans who had fought against Chinese forces on Friday, Taiwan's president said the island would not "yield an inch of ground" after two weeks of increased military drills by China and Taiwan in the stretch of sea that separates

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Are relations between China and India about to thaw?

Pacific Asia • 12:23 AM

1 min

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first bilateral talks in five years on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this week. In this edition of Access Asia, we look at the source of the tensions and find o

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Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson 'anxious but in fighting spirit', lawyer says

Pacific Asia • 1:54 PM

1 min

One of the lawyers defending the international environmentalist and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has spoken of his outrage at his client’s further detention. A Greenland court has granted a fourth extension of Watson's time in jail for another thre

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Turkey points finger at PKK as attack on defence firm kills five, injures 22

Pacific Asia • 1:54 PM

1 min

Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack on the headquarters of Turkish defence firm TUSAS, located near the capital Ankara, Turkish officials said Wednesday, pointing the finger at Kurdish separatists who have carried out attacks in th

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Diwali goes abroad: Festival of lights increasingly celebrated outside India

Pacific Asia • 1:13 PM

1 min

In this edition of Entre Nous, FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza tells about Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. The holiday is increasingly being celebrated outside India. This year, toymaker Mattel unveiled a Barbie doll to coincide with Diwali. We hear fr

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A bitter dish to swallow: Japan continues whaling tradition

Pacific Asia • 10:06 AM

1 min

The anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been held by Danish authorities in Greenland since July. Japan accuses him of injuring fishermen and damaging a vessel during a whale hunt in 2010. Tokyo is demanding Watson's extradition so he can face charges,

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'No Woman's Land' documents battle for women's rights in Afghanistan

Pacific Asia • 12:20 AM

1 min

The lives of women living in Afghanistan under the strict regime of the Taliban have been captured in a new photography exhibition. The project, entitled "No Woman’s Land" – an intimate look at the battle for women’s rights in Afghanistan – saw its co-au

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South Korea sets world record with fertility rate dropping to new low

Pacific Asia • 2:52 PM

1 min

South Korea has set a new world record. However, it’s not celebrating. The country now has the lowest birth rate in the world – an average of just 0.7 children per woman in 2023, standing alone among major economies in having a fertility rate below one.

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South Korea says North Korea dispatched troops to help Russia fight Ukraine

Pacific Asia • 5:42 AM

1 min

North Korea has not sent troops to Russia to help Moscow fight Ukraine, one of its United Nations representatives said Monday, dismissing Seoul's claims as "groundless rumour". South Korea's spy agency said Friday that Pyongyang sent a "large-scale" troo

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Seoul summons Moscow envoy to demand withdrawal of North Korean troops from Russia

Pacific Asia • 8:17 AM

1 min

South Korea's Vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun Kim told the Russian ambassador to South Korea, Georgiy Zinoviev, that the deployment of North Korean troops and weapons for Russia's war in Ukraine “poses a significant security threat" to South Korea an

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Turkish cleric, longtime Erdogan rival Fethullah Gulen dies in US aged 83

Pacific Asia • 6:44 AM

1 min

Turkish Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen has died in the United States, where he lived since 1999. Gulen was a one-time ally of Turkey’s powerful leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan but they fell out badly, and Erdogan accused him of being behind an attempt to se

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Indonesia swears in former general Prabowo Subianto as new president

Pacific Asia • 9:03 PM

1 min

Indonesia got a new leader on Sunday as former general Prabowo Subianto was sworn in after winning the presidential election by a landslide earlier this year. The 73-year-old nationalist, who has been accused of human rights abuses, has committed to upho

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What remains of the dried-out Aral Sea, a man-made ecological disaster?

Pacific Asia • 8:00 AM

1 min

The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world, but today all that remains of it is a vast desert wasteland. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union began diverting the rivers that fed the Aral Sea for cotton production, and over time, it dried out. S

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Halal ‘love match’ apps take on traditional matchmaking in Pakistan

Pacific Asia • 3:36 PM

1 min

More than 80 percent of people in Pakistan are estimated to end up in arranged marriages and many families turn to professional matchmakers, known as Rishta aunties, to help find the perfect partner. But in recent years a number of apps have appeared on

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Meet the co-creator of the new 'Diwali Barbie'

Pacific Asia • 12:18 AM

1 min

With the festival of lights just around the corner, Mattel has unveiled the first "Diwali Barbie", co-created by Indian fashion designer Anita Dongre. The recently released doll has been embraced by little children around the world. Dongre opens up about

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North Korea redefines South Korea as a 'hostile' state

Pacific Asia • 3:35 AM

1 min

After North Korea blew up key roads and rail links to South Korea on Tuesday, tensions between the two countries reached new heights as Pyongyang announced on Thursday that new revisions to its constitution qualify the South a "hostile" state.

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North Korea blows up key road, rail links to South

Pacific Asia • 10:32 PM

1 min

Pyongyang blew up key road and rail links to South Korea on Tuesday, after warning it would take steps to cut ties with Seoul. The blasts make little difference in practical terms, because the countries are already separated by one of the most heavily fo

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Inside Cambodia's cyber-scam centres, where workers are victims of human trafficking

Pacific Asia • 11:31 AM

1 min

It’s happened to us all: a message arrives on our phone that looks genuine but turns out to be a scam. The internet has enabled scammers worldwide to find and contact potential victims. In Southeast Asia, the problem has reached alarming proportions and

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How a Sikh leader's murder in Canada led to a diplomatic crisis with India

Pacific Asia • 10:51 AM

1 min

India and Canada have expelled each other's diplomats over the 2023 murder of Sikh activist and naturalized Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was fatally shot in his pickup truck in British Columbia. Canada identified India’s top diplomat in the

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Chinese war games around Taiwan

Pacific Asia • 10:08 AM

1 min

China stages military exercises in the waters and air around Taiwan this Monday. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory, deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard vessels to encircle the island in its fourth round of larg

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Taiwan reports record 153 Chinese aircraft near island during military drills

Pacific Asia • 3:11 AM

1 min

A record 153 Chinese military aircraft were detected near Taiwan as China held large-scale drills encircling the island on Monday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Tuesday. Beijing has in recent years ramped up military pressure on Taipei to accept its

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Canada and India expel top envoys in dispute over assassination of Sikh activist

Pacific Asia • 3:03 PM

1 min

Canada and India each expelled six diplomats on Monday, including their respective ambassadors, in tit-for-tat moves as part of an escalating dispute over the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada.

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'Taiwan has been on alert for these kinds of military exercises'

Pacific Asia • 7:31 AM

1 min

"Taiwan has been on alert for these kinds of military exercises", said France 24's correspondent in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan Camenzind Broomby. "They were in some way expected after the speech that President Lai Ching-te, the relatively recently-elected presi

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South Korea military says ‘fully ready’ amid dispute with Pyongyang over drone flights

Pacific Asia • 4:27 AM

1 min

South Korea said Monday it was "fully ready" to respond after North Korea ordered army units on the border to be "ready to open fire" amid a dispute over drone flights into the North. Tensions between the neighbouring countries grew as the North accused

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China vows never to renounce 'use of force' to retake Taiwan as drills end

Pacific Asia • 1:22 AM

1 min

China deployed planes and ships around Taiwan in military drills on Monday, issuing a "stern warning" to "separatist" forces. The drills marked the fourth large-scale exercise in two years as Beijing refuses to rule out force in its efforts to control Ta

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Taiwan on ‘alert’ after spotting Chinese aircraft carrier sailing to its south

Pacific Asia • 8:26 AM

1 min

Taiwan’s military is on “alert” after a Chinese aircraft carrier was spotted sailing to its south on Sunday. Last week, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te held a National Day speech in which he vowed to resist Chinese annexation. Beijing responded by saying

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China to issue $325 billion in bond funds to boost ailing economy

Pacific Asia • 3:09 AM

1 min

China's finance minister on Saturday said the country would issue $325 billion in special bonds in a effort to boost the flagging economy. The announcement while the world's second-largest economy loses momentum and lift consumer confidence amid a sharp

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FRANCE 24 speaks to sister of Japanese man acquitted after 46 years on death row

Pacific Asia • 5:58 PM

1 min

An 88-year-old Japanese man who had fought to overturn a murder conviction for decades has finally been acquitted. Iwao Hakamata was arrested in 1966 and spent 46 years on death row. In a landmark retrial, a court declared him innocent in late September,

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Indian tycoon Ratan Tata, respected for his business acumen and philanthropy, dies at 86

Pacific Asia • 8:05 PM

1 min

Ratan Tata, a pillar of India's proud but dwindling Zoroastrian Parsi community, who led the Tata Group for decades, died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night, aged 86. His years at the helm of a family business empire founded under British colonial r

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'Monkey house': South Korea's US 'comfort women' legacy to be demolished

Pacific Asia • 2:54 PM

1 min

A graffiti-covered building slated for demolition close to the inter-Korean border was once a "monkey house", a clinic for sex workers hired by US soldiers protecting Seoul from North Korea. Activists, including women who were forced into gruesome treatm

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China raises stakes in trade row by imposing provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports

Pacific Asia • 9:01 AM

1 min

A worsening trade row between Beijing and Brussels continues with China's decision to impose provisional tariffs on brandy imported from the European Union. The move comes after the EU slapped additional tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on electric vehicles

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Bangladesh's interim leader Yunus says reforms will come before elections

Pacific Asia • 8:21 AM

1 min

Nobel Peace prize-winner turned interim leader of Bangladesh, Mohammad Yunus, said in an interview published Tuesday that he would not call elections before necessary reforms had been pushed through. Yunus, known for his efforts to lift people out of pov

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Crisis-hit French territory of New Caledonia on brink of economic collapse

Pacific Asia • 8:00 AM

1 min

Back in the spring, the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia was gripped by deadly riots that left many businesses in ruin. This, in turn, aggravated its already crippled economy. The nickel industry, the archipelago's primary resource, was already

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Challenges ahead for Japan's new PM Ishiba

Pacific Asia • 4:06 PM

1 min

Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, has called for "fundamentally bolstering" the country’s defences in the face of rising regional and global threats. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer speaks with Robert Ward, Japan Chair at the International Institute for

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North Korea will use nuclear weapons if attacked, says leader Kim Jong Un

Pacific Asia • 12:43 AM

1 min

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, ramped up the rhetoric that has increasingly soured relations between South Korea, promising it would use "all the offensive forces it has possessed, including nuclear weapons". South Korea responded that its US-backed

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UK cedes Chagos Islands to Mauritius in deal securing Diego Garcia military base

Pacific Asia • 3:23 PM

1 min

The UK agreed on Thursday to renounce sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, but agreed a deal with Mauritius to secure the future of a UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.

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Afghan athlete under police protection slams gender apartheid as 'crime against humanity'

Pacific Asia • 1:17 PM

1 min

FRANCE 24 spoke to Marzieh Hamidi, a former taekwondo champion for Afghanistan who has been a refugee in France since 2021, when the Taliban returned to power. In late August of this year, she posted a video on social media denouncing "gender apartheid"

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In the footsteps of Mao Zedong: Chinese authorities encourage 'Red Tourism'

Pacific Asia • 10:53 AM

1 min

Exactly 75 years ago, Mao Zedong proclaimed the foundation of the People's Republic of China in front of crowds gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Ever since, October 1 has been a national holiday in China. To mark this anniversary, some Chinese peo

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