Pacific Asia
Yesterday
'I dissected 300 humans': Former Unit 731 members expose Japan's wartime atrocities
Pacific Asia • 4:33 PM
1 min
"Evil Unbound," a new film depicting the horrors of the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 and its germ warfare programme, has hit cinemas across China and beyond. As the latest in a wave of patriotic films to find success at home, it sheds light on one o
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Taliban release elderly British couple after months of detention in Afghanistan
Pacific Asia • 11:29 AM
1 min
The Taliban on Friday released a British couple held in Afghanistan for nearly eight months on undisclosed charges. Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbara, 76, had an emotional reunion in Doha with their family members, who thanked Qatari officials for
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Inside Thailand’s ‘little Burma’, a refuge for Myanmar’s exiles
Pacific Asia • 9:49 AM
1 min
Myanmar is once again in the grip of civil war. Since the 2021 military coup that ousted the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, hundreds of thousands of Burmese have fled to Thailand to escape escalating violence and a collapsing economy. Thai auth
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Modi's firm approach to punitive US tariffs could turn the tables on Trump
Pacific Asia • 9:16 AM
1 min
New negotiations are set to begin this week between Washington and New Delhi on the Trump administration’s steep tariffs on imports from India. So far, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to bow to US economic pressure, counting on his count
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Thursday, september 18, 2025
UN Security Council votes to reimpose Iran nuclear sanctions, Tehran blasts ‘illegal’ move
Pacific Asia • 10:29 PM
1 min
A UN Security Council resolution aimed at halting the reimposition of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme failed Friday after weeks of last-ditch diplomatic talks appeared to break down. France, Germany and Britain have moved to trigger the “sna
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Shifting gears: Malaysia bets on indigenous plant for EV future
Pacific Asia • 10:08 AM
1 min
Malaysia was once a leader in Southeast Asia’s automotive sector, even producing the region’s first national car. But in recent years, it has struggled to keep pace with neighbours like Thailand and Indonesia, who are rapidly advancing in the electric ve
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Wednesday, september 17, 2025
Monday, september 15, 2025
Afghanistan's Taliban regime is waging 'war on all forms of secular education'
Pacific Asia • 10:40 AM
1 min
PRESS REVIEW – Monday, September 15: While the US and the Taliban are developping "bilateral relations", papers report on the regime's "war" on secular education. Also: after pro-Palestinian protests cut the Vuelta cycling race short, an opinion piece sa
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How Nepalese police shot at protesters with ‘military-grade ammunition’
Pacific Asia • 12:50 AM
1 min
The Nepalese police used lethal weapons against protesters gathered on September 8 to protest government corruption. At least 19 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded on that day, according to an official count. Our Observers describe unprece
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Sunday, september 14, 2025
Tens of thousands join Ankara protest against legal crackdown on Turkey's main opposition party
Pacific Asia • 6:30 PM
1 min
At least 50,000 people rallied in Ankara's vast Tandogan Square Sunday to protest against a year-long legal crackdown on members of Turkey's main opposition party, organisers said. The protest comes ahead of a court decision Monday that could invalidate
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Nepal’s new PM says will only serve for 6 months, urges 'cooperation' after deadly protests
Pacific Asia • 8:33 AM
1 min
Nepal’s first female prime minister, Sushila Karki, took office on Sunday and vowed to only stay in the role for the next six months. She replaces Khadga Prasad Oli, who was forced to resign and flee his official residence amid violent youth protests ove
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Australia to invest $8 billion in nuclear sub shipyard
Pacific Asia • 2:29 AM
1 min
Australia is investing Aus$12 billion (US$8 billion) over the next 10 years to transform a shipyard in Western Australia into a nuclear submarine service facility. The project is part of a major military overhaul aimed at strengthening Australia’s defenc
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Saturday, september 13, 2025
From 8-bit to 3D: Nintendo's iconic 'Mario' games turn 40
Pacific Asia • 9:00 AM
1 min
Surrounded by thousands of objects bearing the likeness of Nintendo's moustachioed plumber, 40-year-old Kikai reflects that his "life would be totally different without Mario" who also marks four decades this week. The colourful "Super Mario Bros.", rele
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Nepal sets March elections after naming interim prime minister
Pacific Asia • 6:59 AM
1 min
Nepal's former chief justice Sushila Karki was sworn in Friday as the country's prime minister to lead a six-month transition to elections, after deadly anti-corruption protests ousted the government. The previous prime minister quit Tuesday as parliamen
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Friday, september 12, 2025
Nepal appoints first female PM as interim leader following deadly protests
Pacific Asia • 5:23 PM
1 min
Nepal appointed former chief justice Sushila Karki interim prime minister on Friday in a bid to appease student protesters whose deadly anti-corruption rallies toppled the previous government. Karki was known as an anti-corruption crusader in government
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The Kabul hospital that still treats Afghan women
Pacific Asia • 2:05 PM
1 min
As Taliban restrictions leave Afghan women without medical care after a deadly earthquake, we have a report from one rare hospital in Kabul where women are still able to access treatment. Also, at least nine French families are suing the government over
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'No thanks': Raided South Korean workers leave US despite Trump's offer to let them stay
Pacific Asia • 1:55 PM
1 min
More than 300 South Koreans detained in the US after a massive immigration raid on a Hyundai-LG factory have returned home, despite the Trump administration's offer to let them stay. As he marked 100 days since he took over a country in crisis, President
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In Indonesia, addiction to smoking starts in childhood
Pacific Asia • 12:38 AM
1 min
Considered one of the world's largest producers and consumers of tobacco, Indonesia is seeing a devastating scourge amongst its youth: some 40 percent of teenagers aged 13 to 15 smoke, and one in five smokers today lit their first cigarette before the ag
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Thursday, september 11, 2025
Nepal ex-chief justice tipped to lead transition as talks between army and demonstrators continue
Pacific Asia • 9:16 AM
1 min
Nepal's army will resume talks on Thursday with "Gen Z" protesters to decide a new interim leader for the Himalayan nation, an army spokesperson said, after angry demonstrations that killed 30 and forced the prime minister to resign. Meanwhile former chi
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Leaderless but determined: Youth-driven protests erupt amid deep distrust in Nepal’s ruling class
Pacific Asia • 8:21 AM
1 min
Nepal’s Gen Z–led protests have thrown support behind former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, urging her to take the helm as interim leader after deadly unrest forced the prime minister’s resignation. Karki, 73, who made history in 2016 as Nepal’s first fema
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Nepal deploys army as protesters look for interim leader
Pacific Asia • 8:18 AM
1 min
Nepal's army was set to resume talks on Thursday with "Gen Z" protesters to pick an interim leader for the Himalayan nation, an army spokesperson said, after angry demonstrations that killed 30 and forced the prime minister to resign.
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Nepal deploys army as protesters look for interim leader
Pacific Asia • 1:30 AM
1 min
Troops patrolled Kathmandu on Wednesday, ordering residents to stay home after two days of violent protests over a social media ban forced Nepal’s prime minister to resign, left 25 people dead, and pushed demonstrators to press the military for a transit
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Wednesday, september 10, 2025
Nepal protest movement 'hijacked by different interest groups', political scientist says
Pacific Asia • 7:35 PM
1 min
Nepal's army took back control of Kathmandu on Wednesday after the worst violence in two decades ousted the prime minister and left the parliament ablaze, enforcing a curfew and starting talks with protest leaders. Speaking on FRANCE 24 from Kathmandu, P
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Fancy a move to the countryside? Japan seeks to curb rural exodus
Pacific Asia • 11:46 AM
1 min
Reviving Japan's countryside is a topic that's close to the heart of Shigeru Ishiba, the country's outgoing prime minister. Ishiba hails from a remote part of Japan and owes his political career to support from rural voters. This year, he doubled subsidi
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'Years of frustration' caused Nepal unrest: Papers react to Gen Z protests
Pacific Asia • 9:57 AM
1 min
PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, September 10: Nepal's Gen Z protests cause several Nepali news sites to be inaccessible. But first: the French papers react to their new prime minister. Also, the inside pages in France attempt to understand this Wednesday's "Bl
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Tuesday, september 9, 2025
Nepal: PM resigns after deadly protests
Pacific Asia • 2:10 PM
1 min
Protests in Nepal have already left 19 people dead and at least 90 injured, as the unrest entered its second day and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned from office.
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Nepal's parliament burns as PM gives in to protesters' call to resign
Pacific Asia • 3:23 AM
1 min
Nepal’s prime minister stepped down Tuesday amid escalating protests sparked by a short-lived social media ban, which quickly grew into widespread unrest targeting his government and allegations of corruption within the country’s political elite. Furious
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Monday, september 8, 2025
Sunday, september 7, 2025
Japan's Shigeru Ishiba resigns after his party suffered a historic defeat in a summer election
Pacific Asia • 3:30 PM
1 min
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced Sunday that he will resign, following growing calls from within his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July’s parliamentary election. Story by Catherine Viette.
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Embattled Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba to resign, media report
Pacific Asia • 8:26 AM
1 min
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to step down, local media reported on Sunday, as members of his ruling party seek to hold a new leadership race following disastrous upper house elections. James Simms, a freelance journalist based in Tok
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Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Ishiba resigns after election debacle
Pacific Asia • 7:27 AM
1 min
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned on Sunday following calls to take responsibility for his party's historic defeat in July's parliamentary election.
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The Bright Side: Australia bans logging in eastern woodland to protect koalas
Pacific Asia • 12:05 AM
1 min
Australia's eastern New South Wales state government has imposed a ban on logging across 435,000 acres of forest to create a Great Koala National Park. The furry marsupials are at risk of extinction in the wild across the state due to deforestation, drou
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Saturday, september 6, 2025
Thailand’s political crisis: What you need to know
Pacific Asia • 11:36 AM
1 min
🇹🇭 What’s happening in Thailand?
🗳️Construction tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul was elected prime minister on Friday after breezing through a parliamentary vote.
✈️ But on Thursday, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra suddenly left the country. The
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Japanese prince comes of age, delaying the male-only succession debate
Pacific Asia • 2:55 AM
1 min
Japan’s Prince Hisahito, the nephew of Emperor Naruhito, received a traditional black silk and lacquer crown to mark his 19th birthday Saturday. His birth in 2006 marked an end to a brief debate on the country's male-only succession rule since the empero
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Friday, september 5, 2025
China & the 'axis of upheaval’, Brazil's Bolsonaro case & Europe's migration debate
Pacific Asia • 7:04 PM
1 min
In this edition of The World This Week: China's military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II sees President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un side by side; former Brazilian president Jai
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‘It’s feminist and it’s badass’: the Iranian women taking up pole dancing and aerial dance
Pacific Asia • 3:45 PM
1 min
Hanging from a rope, a harness or a hoop, Iranian women are flocking to gyms to perform aerial dance and sharing videos of their routines on social media. Others are quietly practising another form of self-expression – pole-dancing – in underground venue
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Challenging Western hegemony: China demonstrates its vision in a big way
Pacific Asia • 2:29 PM
1 min
This week, China showed off its military and diplomatic prowess at a giant Victory Day parade, with dozens of world leaders – but few from the West – in attendance. President Xi Jinping stood shoulder to shoulder with Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Ko
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Philippines: Ten years after Duterte's war on drugs, families fight for justice
Pacific Asia • 2:04 PM
1 min
It was a campaign promise with deadly consequences. In the Philippines, the war on drugs led by former president Rodrigo Duterte resulted in over 30,000 deaths, according to international organisations. It also left behind broken families who are fightin
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Thailand’s Anutin elected PM in parliamentary vote, Thaksin leaves country
Pacific Asia • 6:51 AM
1 min
Thailand's Anutin Charnvirakul was elected prime minister on Friday after breezing through a parliamentary vote which came hours after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra suddenly left the country on his private jet for Dubai. A Thai court last week
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Snapback: what would renewed UN sanctions mean for Iran’s struggling economy?
Pacific Asia • 12:52 AM
1 min
If the so-called snapback mechanism set in motion by France, the UK and Germany last week comes into effect in mid-October, a slew of international sanctions will come crashing down on an already throttled Iranian economy. But for Tehran, the threat of d
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The price of prosperity: Singapore's 60 years of independence
Pacific Asia • 12:40 AM
1 min
On August 9, 1965, Singapore became an independent city-state. Despite having no natural resources, it now rivals some of the world's greatest nations. The key to its success: a strategic port that's now one of the planet's busiest economic hubs, and att
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Thursday, september 4, 2025
Did Xi Jinping snub Narendra Modi during his visit to China?
Pacific Asia • 9:32 PM
1 min
In the wake of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization summit in Tianjin, which was attended by more than 20 world leaders earlier this week, some internet users are claiming that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was snubbed by Chinese President Xi Jin
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Indonesian president faces continued nationwide strikes over inequality
Pacific Asia • 11:02 AM
1 min
PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, September 4: Indonesia's president continues to face nationwide protests over a government priviledge scandal. But first: the international press continue to focus on China and President Xi Jinping's elaborate Victory Day celebra
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'Alternative great power: China's 'very effective military machine' striving to be world-class
Pacific Asia • 7:54 AM
1 min
Through its use of military pageantry, China aims to project itself as a non-Western great power on the global stage, explains Alessio Patalano, Military Historian, Author, and Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia in the Department of War Studies, an
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In a 'hot mic' moment, Xi and Putin contemplate immortality and organ transplants
Pacific Asia • 5:07 AM
1 min
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were overheard Wednesday musing about life-extending organ transplants and the possibility of immortality. The discussion was captured by state media microphones before Beijing's massive m
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Afghanistan earthquake death toll tops 2,200, rescue efforts 'still ongoing'
Pacific Asia • 12:10 AM
1 min
The death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan over the weekend has risen to more than 2,200, officials said Thursday. The deadliest quake to hit the country in decades has also stymied the emergency response as the cash-s
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Wednesday, september 3, 2025
Putin says he discussed longevity, immortality with Xi Jinping
Pacific Asia • 6:18 PM
1 min
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were caught on a hot mic on Wednesday discussing human longevity in a brief exchange that touched on living to 150 years old and even the prospect of “immortality.” The unscripted conversation took place right bef
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'Unstoppable' China? Xi's show of strength alongside Putin and Kim
Pacific Asia • 6:11 PM
1 min
China has staged an impressive display of its military might to mark its Victory Day, a commemoration of the end of World War II, which Beijing couches as its defeat of Japanese forces and – crucially – fascism.
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Dual message: Exerting military might, Xi says China's role is 'making, securing, protecting peace'
Pacific Asia • 2:55 PM
1 min
As Xi Jinping seeks to "highlight his strength at home and growing influence on the world stage," FRANCE 24's Genie Godula welcomes Dr. Dylan Loh Ming Hui, Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University. Dr. Dyla
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Who is Kim Ju Ae? North Korean leader's daughter makes global debut on China trip
Pacific Asia • 11:48 AM
1 min
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un brought his young daughter Kim Ju Ae to China this week, his most significant foreign trip in years, fuelling speculation that the teenager is being primed as the heir to the Kim dynasty and the country's next leader.
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A 'battle for history'? Papers react to China's victory parade
Pacific Asia • 10:15 AM
1 min
PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, September 3: China's military parade marking the end of World War II stirs up debates about history. But first: papers react to a US strike on an alleged drug vessel from Venezuela. Next, Trump's deployment of the National Guard
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Amid safety concerns, can India remain the 'pharmacy of the world'?
Pacific Asia • 9:58 AM
1 min
As the world's second-largest producer of medication, India is facing increasing scrutiny over drug quality following deadly incidents involving Indian products. Is India's race to remain the "pharmacy of the world" coming at the cost of human lives? FRA
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Putin tells Kim Jong-un that North Korean troops fought 'heroically' against Ukraine
Pacific Asia • 9:42 AM
1 min
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for bilateral talks in Beijing on Wednesday after attending a major military parade alongside China's Xi Jinping. Putin praised the bravery and heroism of North Korean soldiers who
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The Bright Side: Bangladesh eyes end to dazzling Darya-e-Noor diamond mystery
Pacific Asia • 4:25 AM
1 min
The glittering Darya-e-Noor diamond has not been seen since a former prince of Dhaka placed it in a sealed bank vault in 1908 as collateral for a British colonial loan. Bangladesh's cash-strapped government has now ordered a committee to unseal the price
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Rescuers scramble to reach Afghan quake victims as death toll passes 1,400
Pacific Asia • 4:19 AM
1 min
Emergency workers struggled on Wednesday to reach remote villages devastated by the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night as Taliban officials said the death toll had soared to more than 1,400 and aid workers warned tha
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Kim and Putin join Xi Jinping at massive military parade in Beijing
Pacific Asia • 1:51 AM
1 min
Chinese President Xi Jinping said humanity must choose between peace and war as he held his country's largest-ever military parade on Wednesday, flanked by Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Military hardware displayed in Beijing's Ti
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Tuesday, september 2, 2025
How China’s XXL military parade puts its military and territorial ambitions on show
Pacific Asia • 2:39 PM
1 min
Wednesday’s military parade in Beijing celebrating the 80-year anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II seems set to position China as the natural leader of a rival bloc to the Western international order – while at the same time pushing
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SCO summit: 'The most anti-American nations in the world chatting and laughing'
Pacific Asia • 11:09 AM
1 min
PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, September 2: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit is making headlines – we take a look at papers from China, Russia and India as well as coverage in the rest of the world. Next, papers discuss the 6.0-magnitude earthquake
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China’s power optics on display as Xi welcomes allies ahead of military parade
Pacific Asia • 8:01 AM
1 min
President Xi Jinping is set to flaunt China's vision of a new global order at Wednesday's Victory Day military parade. Reporting from Hong Kong, France 24's Patrick Foy says the parade has been described as a "coming out party for China's military modern
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New 5.2 quake hits Afghanistan as rescuers scramble to find survivors
Pacific Asia • 4:37 AM
1 min
Another earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday near to where a 6.0 magnitude quake on Sunday night killed more than 1,400 people. Villagers joined rescue workers in a desperate search for survivors as the disaster threatens to worsen Afghanistan's
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