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☆ Taiwan vice president leaves on sensitive trip to United States
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Fabian Hamacher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Taiwan's Vice President William Lai arrives at Taoyuan International Airport before his departure to the United States for a stopover in New York on his way to Paraguay, in Taoyuan, Taiwan August 12, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsTAOYUAN, Taiwan, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Taiwan Vice President William Lai left on Saturday for a sensitive trip to the United States, which China has condemned and Taiwanese officials fear could prompt more Chinese military activity around the democratically governed island. Lai, the front-runner to become Taiwan's president in elections in January, is officially making only transit stops in the United States on his way to and from Paraguay for the swearing in of its president. The United States has not announced who may be going to Paraguay next week. Neither Taiwan nor the United States has given exact details about his U.S. schedule, and both are aiming to keep that part low key, according to officials briefed on the trip.

Persons: William Lai, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Lai, Kamala Harris, Laura Rosenberger, Fabian Hamcher, Yimou Lee, Ben Blanchard, William Mallard Organizations: Taoyuan International Airport, REUTERS, Taiwan, U.S, United, American Institute, AIT, Thomson Locations: Taoyuan, United States, New York, Paraguay, Taiwan, Carlos Garcia Rawlins TAOYUAN, China, Lai, Taipei, Washington, Beijing, U.S, Honduras, Virginia, San Francisco

☆ Congress's UFO hearing shows the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The discovery of extraterrestrial life is likely to be a slow build-up, rather than an explosive eureka moment. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

Persons: NASA isn't, David Grusch, Randall Hill, UAPs, Elon Musk, John Locher, Karine Jean, Pierre, we've, Lori Glaze, Glaze, James Webb, Jean, Philippe Arles, It's, Aaron Gronstal, Mary Voytek, Joe Biden, Anna Moneymaker, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Stephen Hawking, I'm, we're Organizations: Service, NASA, Beijing, Reuters, Department of Defense, Associated Press, AP, White House, Navy, US Department of Defense, JPL, Caltech, Delaware State University Locations: Wall, Silicon, South Carolina, Surfside Beach , South Carolina, US, Alaska, Canada, Lake Huron, Rachel , Nevada, Bugarach, France

☆ Japan ex-PM Aso's 'fight for Taiwan' remark in line with official view, lawmaker says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Kantaro Komiya | Thomson Reuters | Kantaro Writes About Everything Japan'S Economic Indicators To North Korea'S Missiles To Global Regulation On Ai Companies. His Previous Stories Have Been Published In The Associated Press | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Japan's Former Prime Minister and current Vice-President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Taro Aso, speaks during the Ketagalan Forum in Taipei, Taiwan August 8, 2023. Aso's speech angered China, which claims Taiwan as its territory. Keisuke Suzuki, an LDP lawmaker who accompanied Aso's Taiwan visit this week, told the BS Fuji talk show on Wednesday that Aso had discussed the issue with Japanese government officials, indicating that Aso's view did not deviate from the official position. "The comment was not lawmaker Taro Aso's personal remark, but a result of arrangements with government insiders", Suzuki said. Aso's visit, which marked the most senior Japanese political official to visit Taiwan since 1972, when Japan normalised diplomatic relations with China, came as tensions have risen over democratically governed Taiwan amid China's increasing military pressure on the island during the past three years.

Persons: Taro Aso, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Taro Aso's, Aso, Keisuke Suzuki, Aso's, Suzuki, Joe Biden, White, Hirokazu Matsuno, Kantaro Komiya, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Liberal Democratic Party, REUTERS, Japanese, Beijing, Fuji, United, Taiwan, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, TOKYO, Japan, United States, China, Aso's Taiwan, U.S

Japan's Former Prime Minister and current Vice-President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Taro Aso, speaks during the Ketagalan Forum in Taipei, Taiwan August 8, 2023. "I believe that now is the time for Japan, Taiwan, the United States and other like-minded countries to be prepared to put into action very strong deterrence," he said in remarks streamed online. He added that clearly showing the will to defend Taiwan was a form of deterrence. Aso is the most senior Japanese political official to visit Taiwan since 1972. In 2021, Aso, then deputy prime minister, called any invasion of Taiwan by China a "threat to Japan's survival" and said Japan and the U.S. would defend Taiwan together should such an incident happen.

Persons: Taro Aso, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Aso, Japan's, Tsai Ing, Tsai, Sakura Murakami, Satoshi Sugiyama, Kantaro, Ben Blanchard, Chang, Ran Kim, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Liberal Democratic Party, REUTERS, Japanese, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Japan, United States, Taiwan Strait, China, U.S, TOKYO

[1/2] FILE PHOTO-The logo of Foxconn is pictured on top of a company's building in Taipei, Taiwan October 31, 2022. The facility will be separate from the current sprawling campus near Chennai where Foxconn assembles Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhones and employs more than 35,000 people, the source said. "This is a major achievement for the state," Tamil Nadu Minister for Industries TRB Rajaa said in a statement, after Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and other representatives met with the state officials including its chief minister. Reuters reported last week that the Foxconn subsidiary was in talks with Tamil Nadu about the investment, with the company aiming for the plant's completion in 2024. Foxconn plans to quadruple the workforce at its iPhone factory in Tamil Nadu by late 2024 in a bid to spread its bets beyond China, Reuters reported last year.

Persons: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Foxconn, Industries TRB Rajaa, Young Liu, Liu, Foxconn's, Munsif, Yi, Mou Lee, Aditya Kalra, Jamie Freed, Himani Organizations: REUTERS, Industrial, Tamil Nadu Minister, Industries, Foxconn, Sunday, Reuters, Tamil, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, CHENNAI, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tamil, India, Tamil Nadu, China, Bengaluru, Praveen

☆ Indian government meets Foxconn, Samsung, Reliance to improve PLI scheme
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Shivangi Acharya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsNEW DELHI, June 28 (Reuters) - The Indian government met large global firms such as Foxconn (2354.TW), Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) to find ways to boost manufacturing in the country with its production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. The PLI scheme, introduced in late 2020, is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's main industrial policy to boost manufacturing. The government has so far announced incentives for 14 sectors including electronics and technology products, pharmaceutical drugs, and drones, among others, drawing investments totalling 625 billion Indian rupees ($7.62 billion) until March 2023, per the statement. Investments under the PLI scheme are expected to rise further to 2.74 trillion rupees as it runs its course, according to government estimates. With more than 1.97 trillion rupees earmarked for incentives, payouts totalled 29 billion rupees until fiscal 2023 across eight industries.

Persons: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Piyush Goyal, Narendra, Shivangi Acharya, Janane Organizations: REUTERS, Samsung Electronics, Reliance Industries, India's Trade, Dell, Nokia Solutions, Investments, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, DELHI, New Delhi

Roszarubezhneft's five joint ventures now must rely on PDVSA-designated intermediaries that take a large share of the revenues for their services, the people said. The joint ventures are owed about $3.2 billion from sales handled by PDVSA, one of the people said. Roszarubezhneft, Russia's oil ministry, PDVSA and Venezuela's oil and foreign affairs ministries did not reply to requests for comment. It also could help PDVSA make progress toward its goal of raising Venezuela's oil output by 40% this year. Oil production at the five joint ventures has dwindled as U.S. sanctions have hampered investment and maintenance work, and deterred many buyers of Venezuelan crude.

Persons: PDVSA's Jose Antonio, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, PDVSA, Rosneft, Nicolas Maduro's, Roszarubezhneft, Alexandra Ulmer, Marianna Parraga, Vivian Sequera, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Chevron, PDVSA, Reuters, Washington, U.S . Treasury, National Security, State Department, Nicolas Maduro's United Socialist Party, Assembly, Thomson Locations: PDVSA's, Anzoategui, Caracas, Moscow, Venezuela, U.S, Russia, Ukraine, Roszarubezhneft, Venezuela's, Rosneft

☆ From Titanic tours to space exploration: extreme tourism is on the rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Kukenan (L) and Roraima mounts are seen from the Tec Camp, near Venezuela's border with Brazil January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File PhotoJune 21 (Reuters) - The $250,000-a-head expedition that vanished this week en route to the deep-sea wreck of the Titanic ocean liner is just one example of extreme tourism that is becoming more commonplace for those who can afford it. Branson's Virgin Galactic Holdings said last week its first commercial spaceflight, called "Galactic 01", would launch between June 27 and June 30. Before he set his sights on space, Branson was one of an elite group of extreme hot-air balloon travelers, becoming the first to traverse the Pacific Ocean in a balloon in 1991. Reporting by Julia Harte; editing by Donna Bryson and Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Branson, Arthur Conan Doyle's, Julia Harte, Donna Bryson, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Tec, REUTERS, SPACE, Virgin Galactic Holdings, SpaceX, Heli, Thomson Locations: Roraima, Venezuela's, Brazil, Indian Kashmir, India, Pakistan, New Delhi, Mount Roraima, Venezuela

The series, “Wave Makers,” follows the fictitious lives of a team of campaign staffers in the run-up to a presidential election in Taiwan. The turn of events took the creators of “Wave Makers” by surprise. The main story line of "Wave Makers" features the solidarity and support between its two female protagonists. “Even the protagonists in ‘Wave Makers’ might not be able to persevere in our system,” said Kang at the National Chengchi University. These are people we must protect, not treat with prejudice.”For the show’s scriptwriters, Taiwan’s #MeToo moment has not fully arrived.

Persons: MeToo, ”, Tsai Ing, ” Tsai, Chien Li, Nina Peng, Wen, Let’s, “ Let’s, William Lai, Wang Dan, Wang, Kang Ting, Kang, “, Chien, Tsai, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Taiwan’s, Liao, ” Kang, Lu Sheng, ” Peng Organizations: Taiwan CNN —, Netflix, Democratic Progressive Party, Kuomintang, KMT, “, National Chengchi University, Chinese Communist Party, Inter, Parliamentary Union, CNN, National Taiwan Normal University Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Beijing, “, Asia

"Since Xi Jinping took power in 2012, China has expanded the legal landscape for exit bans and increasingly used them, sometimes outside legal justification," the Safeguard Defenders report reads. Attention on the exit bans comes as China-U.S. tensions have risen over trade and security disputes. The Reuters analysis of records on exit bans, from China's Supreme Court database, shows an eight-fold increase in cases mentioning bans between 2016 and 2022. Most of the cases in the database referring to exit bans are civil, not criminal. Some activists say the wider use of exit bans reflects tighter security measures under President Xi.

☆ Guatemala president pledges strong support for 'Republic of Taiwan'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony outside Taiwan's presidential office, Giammattei said Guatemala and Taiwan were "brotherly countries" and important allies. Speaking in Spanish, he referred twice to the "Republic of Taiwan", rather than its official name, the Republic of China, generally stylised these days by the government as the Republic of China, Taiwan. Giammattei, standing next to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, ended his speech with a rousing "long live free Taiwan", receiving a broad smile from Tsai who thanked him in English. [1/6] Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen walks next to Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei during his welcome ceremony in front of the Presidential building in Taipei, Taiwan April 25, 2023. Giammattei is paying a return visit to Taiwan after Tsai visited Guatemala less than a month ago.

[1/5] Alec Hsu shows to the camera patches depicting a Formosan black bear holding Taiwan’s flag and punching Winnie the Pooh at his store in Taoyuan, Taiwan April 10, 2023. The patch shows an angry Formosan black bear holding Taiwan's flag and punching Winnie the Pooh, with the slogan "Scramble!" The endangered Formosan black bear is seen as a symbol of Taiwanese identity. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out taking the island by force. While the Winnie the Pooh patch cannot be found on Chinese social media, Beijing has also been promoting videos and commentary about its drills around Taiwan.

☆ As Chinese military exercises, US lawmaker pledges training for Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Michael McCaul, Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, who is leading a delegation of US lawmakers visiting Taiwan, speaks during a news conference at the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan April 7, 2023. "As the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, I sign off on all foreign military sales, including weapons to Taiwan, and I promise you, Madam President, we will deliver those weapons," he said. "And we will provide training to your military - not for war, but for peace," he added, without giving details. The United States is set to expand the number of troops helping train Taiwanese forces, two U.S. officials told Reuters in February. China describes Taiwan as the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States, and the topic is a constant source of friction between Beijing and Washington.

☆ Senior US lawmaker says doing everything possible to speed up Taiwan arms deliveries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Michael McCaul, Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, who is leading a delegation of US lawmakers visiting Taiwan, and Taiwan's Parliament Speaker You Si-kun, shake hands during a news conference at the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsTAIPEI, April 7 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. lawmaker said on Friday he was doing everything possible to speed up the delivery of weapons to Taiwan, suggesting other countries that have the arms could sell them onto the island with U.S. government permission. Taiwan has since last year complained of delays to U.S. weapons deliveries, such as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, as manufacturers turn supplies to Ukraine to support its defence against Russia. "On the weapons issue, I sign off on those deliveries and we are doing everything in our power to expedite this," he said, speaking at Taiwan's parliament where he met its speaker, You Si-kun. While China staged war games around Taiwan in August after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei its reaction this time has been more muted.

The unpaid invoices originated with dozens of little-known companies acting as middlemen for Venezuela's oil exports since U.S. sanctions in 2020 halted deals with international trading firms and customers. Venezuela's Attorney General's office in October began a probe after oil tankers absconded without full payment to PDVSA. Venezuela's oil ministry and PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment. Maroil boosted Venezuela's petcoke exports following a commercial pact with PDVSA in 2016. In Venezuela, two heavy oil upgrading facilities controlled by PDVSA, Petro San Felix and Petrocedeno, produce and store petcoke.

☆ Taiwan president reviews troops ahead of sensitive U.S. visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen looks at a close combat demonstration while visiting a military base in Chiayi, Taiwan March 25, 2023. She is making a high-profile and sensitive trip to the United States and Central America starting on Wednesday. China has condemned the United States for allowing her to go, though her visit there is technically only a transit. At the end of the trip, Tsai is expected to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles. Visiting an army base in Chiayi in southern Taiwan, Tsai reviewed their training, seeing them erect anti-tank barriers and practice martial arts.

☆ Chinese officials arrive in Taiwan on first post-pandemic visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Liu Xiaodong, Deputy Head of the Shanghai office of China's Taiwan Affairs Office and head of the delegation of Chinese officials visiting Taiwan, walks out of the arrival hall at Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan February 18, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsTAIPEI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A group of Chinese officials arrived in Taiwan on Saturday on the first visit in three years, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, to attend a cultural event at a time of soaring military tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan's government this week allowed the trip of six officials, lead by Liu Xiaodong, deputy head of the Shanghai office of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, to attend the Lantern Festival in Taipei, at the invitation of the city government. Chilly Chen, head of the pro-independence Taiwan Republic Office, told Reuters the Taiwanese people were very hospitable and welcomed visitors but were concerned they were coming to push Chinese policies on the democratic island. But China continues to carry out military activities near Taiwan, including almost daily crossings of the Taiwan Strait's median line by Chinese air force jets, which had previously served as an unofficial barrier.

☆ The UFO shoot-downs show the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Extraterrestrial life likely wouldn't show up as flying objects, but finding it could cause similar chaos. An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

☆ A top oil analyst explains Europe’s new fuel sanctions on Russia and how that impacts global energy markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The flow of crude oil is seen in a container while an oilfield worker works on a drilling rig at an oil well operated by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA Carlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersMatt Smith is the lead oil analyst at Kpler. Phil Rosen: This week the EU has new sanctions and a price cap kicking in on Russian oil products, such as diesel. MS: They're one of the leading producers and leading exporters in the world, so we shouldn't expect that to change. What will influence this is how long this war goes on, and how detrimental that is to its energy industry. Demand for cardboard boxes has dropped to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.

[1/2] An oil tanker is docked while oil is pumped into it at the ships terminal of PDVSA's Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui April 15, 2015. It reinforces measures implemented last year after several buyers skipped out on payments for oil, which provides most of the South American country's income. After taking the helm, Tellechea launched an extensive audit of supply contracts, according to a written order to PDVSA seen by Reuters. The new terms narrow a wide variety of contract modalities to a few requiring prepayment of cargoes entirely in cash or allowing payment via goods and services to Venezuela, but they must be received before Venezuela will release the oil, according to the documents. Even long-term buyers must abide by the new rules that require payment in full by cash before each oil delivery.

Exports also benefited from the restart of a PDVSA-Chevron crude upgrader at their Petropiar joint venture in the Orinoco Belt. Nearby, one of Petrolera Sinovensa's two crude blending plants operated by PDVSA and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) also resumed work. Venezuelan PDVSA's crude processing facilities restarted operations after outages and a lack of diluents, leading to a sale increase in November. PDVSA also sent about 38,000 bpd of crude, fuel oil and gasoline blend stock to key political ally Cuba. Another Iran-flagged tanker in Venezuela, the Huge, is also expected to navigate back carrying fuel oil for NICO this month as part of an oil swap with PDVSA, according to the documents.

"We will definitely work all out to adjust our production capacity and output, so there is no impact on demand for these two holidays," Liu said. On Wednesday, Foxconn said it would continue production in Zhengzhou under a "closed loop" system, where staff live and work on-site in a bubble isolated from the wider world. "Of course there may be other factors that require the reconfiguration of production capacity, such as geopolitics," Liu said. Having said on Monday it would "revise down" its fourth quarter outlook given the situation in Zhengzhou, Foxconn said revenue in the final three months of this year would be flattish. read moreReuters last month reported that Foxconn's production of Apple's iPhones at the Zhengzhou factory could slump by as much as 30% in November due to tight COVID-19 restrictions.

REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File PhotoHOUSTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A grounded oil supertanker under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions being refloated in Indonesia is filled with Venezuelan fuel, according to vessel monitoring services. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control last week imposed sanctions on the stranded tanker, Young Yong, for its part in an international oil smuggling network that Washington said supports Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force. Both tankers had departed between late July and early August carrying fuel oil supplied by Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA, according to internal company documents seen by Reuters and TankerTrackers.com, which confirmed the vessels' identities. The Panama-flagged Eagle Brenda, identified on PDVSA shipping schedules as "Eagle I," also carried some 1 million barrels of Venezuelan fuel oil, the documents showed. The tanker was in Venezuelan waters at least twice since last year, where it loaded Venezuelan crude and fuel for exports, according to PDVSA's schedules and TankerTrackers.com.

☆ Foxconn ramps up EV push with stake in U.S. truck maker Lordstown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File PhotoNov 8 (Reuters) - Foxconn, the world's biggest contract electronics maker, has extended its drive into electric vehicle (EV) business with a deal to take a near-20% stake in loss-making U.S. electric truck maker Lordstown Motors Corp (RIDE.O) for up to $170 million. It said on Tuesday the latest deal would deepen Lordstown's ties with Foxconn's EV development platform MIH, or Mobility in Harmony. Lordstown Chief Executive Officer Edward Hightower, speaking via video at an MIH event in Taipei, said the truck maker and Foxconn were eyeing production for other original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, as well. Foxconn shares traded up 0.5% on Tuesday. Lordstown CEO Hightower said the vehicle maker aims to deliver the first Endurance trucks to customers in the current quarter.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Output of Apple iPhones at major China plant could fall 30% amid COVID curbs -source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The logo of Foxconn is pictured on top of the company's headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan October 31, 2022. A second person familiar with the situation said many workers remained at the Zhengzhou plant and that production was continuing. Foxconn on Oct. 19 banned dining at canteens at the Zhengzhou plant and required workers to eat meals in dormitories. Foxconn has not disclosed whether any workers at the Zhengzhou site had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Authorities have since Oct. 19 reported 264 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province.

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