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☆ Armenian priest fears for Karabakh's Christian heritage amid mass exodus
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive last week to retake the whole region, prompting a mass Armenian exodus. More than 50,000 people had crossed the border into Armenia by early Wednesday afternoon, nearly half of Karabakh's estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians. Prior to last week's offensive, the Karabakh Armenians had lived under an effective 10-month Azerbaijani blockade which had led to chronic shortages of food, fuel and medicines. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN LANDConflict in the region between Armenians and Azeris goes back more than a century. There are churches in Azerbaijan which the authorities say are Caucasian Albanian rather than Armenians, something Armenians strongly dispute.

Persons: David, Irakli, Priest, Father David, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Christianity, Thomson Locations: Goris, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, KORNIDZOR, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, Baku, Shusha, Moscow, Russian, Armenia's, Albania, Albanian, Turkey, Iran, Ottoman Turks

☆ Two mainland China bishops to attend big Vatican meeting after tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Two bishops from mainland China are due to attend a major Vatican meeting next month, officials said on Thursday, a positive sign after recent tensions between the Holy See and Beijing. The two bishops were chosen by their brother bishops in China, meaning they likely had approval from the Communist government, which holds great sway over the Chinese Catholic Church. Two other Chinese bishops were allowed by the government to attend another synod for the first time in 2018 but did not stay for the entire meeting. A landmark 2018 agreement between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops has been tenuous at best, with the Vatican complaining that Beijing has violated it several times. Two months ago the Vatican chided Beijing for not consulting over the transfer of two bishops from one diocese to another.

Persons: Pope Francis, Anthony Yao Shun, Jining, Joseph Yang Yongqiang, Francis, Philip Pullella, Alex Richardson Organizations: Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, CITY, Communist, Catholic Church, Communist Party, Catholic, Churches, Thomson Locations: China, Beijing, Zhoucun, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vatican, Mongolia

☆ Opinion | America’s Shift Away From Religion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Americans Are Losing Their Religious Faith,” by Nicholas Kristof (column, Aug. 24):Mr. Kristof writes that Americans’ loss of faith results from religious scandals and the bad behavior of “charlatans” such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. The trend is a problem, he argues, because religion is central to our country’s social capital. First, Americans are also becoming less religious because there is zero evidence to support any of the central claims religious institutions make about God and the supernatural. And second, what worries me is not that people are less religious, but that they transfer their blind faith in religion and religious leaders to charismatic politicians like Donald Trump. But Americans aren’t losing their underlying spiritual and religious beliefs; they are defining and seeking connections to “higher powers” in other ways.

Persons: ”, Nicholas Kristof, Mr, Kristof, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Donald Trump, Mark K, Cassell Washington, aren’t Organizations: charlatans, Cassell, Kent State University

☆ Opinion | Where Should Agnostics Go on Sundays?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

So what he’d like — well, here’s the quote:I can easily imagine a “church for the nones.” (It would need a more appealing name.) I could attend a Christian church on Sundays and teach my daughter about other beliefs the rest of the week. With all my reservations, I don’t really want to join an existing church. And I don’t think I am going to have much luck getting my fellow nones to join something I start. My sense is that the people who want what church provides are going to the existing Christian churches, even if they are skeptical of some of the beliefs.

Persons: Perry Bacon, ’, Jessica Grose, Nick Kristof, Bacon, certainties, Doesn’t Bacon, Hasn’t, he’s, I’ve Organizations: The Washington Post, Society for Ethical, Netflix Locations: America, ”

☆ Gang in Haiti opened fire on church-led protest, killing at least 7 people, human rights groups say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Michelle Velez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —At least seven people are dead after a gang opened fire on a church-led protest in a suburb of Haiti’s capital on Saturday, according to local human rights groups. Hundreds of people gathered by a Christian church leader, marched in Canaan, a northern suburb of capital Port-au-Prince, and rallied against gang violence when a local gang opened fire with machine guns, Marie Yolène Gilles, director of human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere, told CNN. The number of people killed is likely higher, given the number of parishioners at the march, said Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights director Gédéon Jean. A video shared with CNN by a local human rights group shows bloody bodies on the ground, wearing shirts with the religious group’s logo. Gang violence in HaitiWaves of crime and unrest have hit Haiti since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Persons: Marie Yolène Gilles, Gédéon Jean, ” Jean, Jean, Jovenel Moïse, Ariel Henry, Prince, Kale ”, María Isabel Salvador Organizations: CNN, Analysis, Human, Haitian National Police, United Nations Locations: Haiti’s, Canaan, Port, Haiti

☆ At least 7 killed after Haiti gang opens fire on church-led protest -rights group
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 26 (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed in Haiti on Saturday, local rights group CARDH said, after a gang that controls a northern suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince opened fire with machine guns on a protest organized by a Christian church leader. Local media reported at least 10 had been killed, and CARDH director Gedeon Jean said the final number would likely be higher, adding that several people were wounded and some churchgoers had been kidnapped. Videos shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, showed some 100 people, many wearing yellow shirts associated with the religious group of Pastor Marco, marching in the suburb Canaan, some carrying sticks and machetes. Many Haitians have joined civilian self-defense groups known as "Bwa Kale," a movement that has inspired hope but also sparked retaliation against civilians and stirred fears the groups are spurring on the violence. Reporting by Harold Isaac and Ralph Tedy Erol in Port-au-Prince and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: CARDH, Prince, Gedeon Jean, Pastor Marco, Kale, Harold Isaac, Ralph Tedy Erol, Sarah Morland, William Mallard Organizations: PORT, Local, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Haiti, Canaan, Port, Mexico City

☆ More women are aiming to become church leaders. Together, they could change American Christianity
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Aj Willingham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

How the presence of women church leaders has grownStudents pray at the opening of a women's ministry class at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in 2021. However, numbers across different denominations reveal the same pattern: More women in training, more women being ordained. How women can change the church that isPeople at a pro-women ordination demonstration in New York City, circa 1970. FPG/Getty ImagesFuller Theological Seminary, where Abernethy works, is one of the largest seminaries in the US and one with a noted history of championing female faith leaders. So women and women of color have never really served just one function or one role.

Persons: —, They’ve, ”, Alexis Abernethy, “, LM Otero, Let’s, Eileen Campbell, Reed, FPG, Abernethy, that’s, “ I’ve, Linda Barnes Popham, Christiana Botic, Emily Badgett, Emily, ” Badgett, Badgett, it’s, Suzie Sang, “ It’s, Sang Organizations: CNN — Christian, Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, Fuller Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, ELCA, United Church of Christ, CNN, “, Fern Creek Baptist Church, New York Times, Candler School, Theology, Emory University, Women, Fuller, Southern Baptist Convention, The Methodist Locations: Southern, Pasadena , California, Fort Worth , Texas, New York City, it’s, Fern Creek, Atlanta, Christianity

☆ Ancient Roman Pantheon to start charging entry from Monday
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People queue to enter Pantheon, one of the ancient world's best preserved monuments which from July will start charging visitors an entry fee in Rome, Italy, June 30, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneROME, June 30 (Reuters) - Visitors to Rome's Pantheon, one of the ancient world's best preserved monuments, will have to pay a 5 euro ($5.45) entrance fee from Monday, Italy's tourism ministry has said. It remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome and has a circular skylight at its crown. The building survived the Barbarian attacks on Rome and was transformed into a Christian church in 609. ($1 = 0.9168 euros)Reporting by Cristiano Corvino; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Guglielmo Mangiapane ROME, Emperor Hadrian, Karsten Kohler, Cristiano Corvino, Crispian Balmer, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, UNESCO, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy

☆ Face of seventh-century teen buried with rare cross revealed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

She was ceremoniously laid to rest with a gold and garnet-encrusted cross, and her burial site was uncovered more than a decade ago. The remains of the teen, who died around the age of 16, according to researchers, presented striking questions: Where did she come from? The Trumpington Cross was found during an excavation of the grave in 2012. And her ornately decorated cross, often referred to as the Trumpington Cross, indicates she was likely an aristocrat, if not royalty, and one of the era’s earliest Christian converts. The Trumpington Cross that was found at the burial site, believed to have been unearthed for the first time since the seventh century.

Persons: —, you’ve, ”, Sam Leggett, Leggett, ” Leggett, University of Cambridge Leggett, bioarchaeologists, Hew Morrison, Morrison, ” Morrison, It’s, Sam Lucy, ” Lucy, she’s, “ Organizations: CNN, University of Edinburgh, University of Cambridge, Christian Church, University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology Locations: Great Britain, Cambridge, Trumpington, Scotland, England, Germany, what’s, United Kingdom, Cambridge Region, ”

☆ Pat Robertson, the televangelist who helped turn Christianity into a political force, is dead at 93
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ben Finley | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Robertson was a televangelist who helped bring Christianity to the center of the Republican Party. Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson was born March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, to Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson. Robertson was interested in politics until he found religion, Dede Robertson told the AP in 1987. Pat Robertson listens as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. But after President Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, Robertson said Trump was living in an "alternate reality" and should "move on," news outlets reported.

Persons: Pat Robertson, Robertson, —, — Pat Robertson, Steve Helber, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Jeffrey K, Hadden, ″, ″ Robertson, Bush, — Robertson, John C, Green, Marion Gordon, Pat, Absalom Willis Robertson, Gladys Churchill Robertson, Pam MacDonald, Adelia, Dede, Elmer, Dede Robertson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, God, George W, Hugo Chavez, misspoke, Bill Clinton, Trump, Kellyanne Conway, Joe Biden, Robertson's, Gordon, Rupert Murdoch's Organizations: Christian Broadcasting Network, Republican Party, Service, Christian Coalition, Regent University, American Center for Law, Justice, University of Virginia, Associated Press, ″, Republican, House, The University of Akron, U.S, Representative, Washington, Lee University, 1st Marine Division, Yale University Law School, Conservative, Conference, Yale, Southern Baptist, Catholic, AP, New York Theological Seminary, CBN, University of Akron, White, Trump, International, Entertainment Inc, The, Rupert, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Locations: Va, Virginia, America, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake , Virginia, Iowa, George H.W ., U.S, Chesapeake, Lexington , Virginia, Korea, Houston, Southern, New York, Bedford, Stuyvesant, Ohio, New, Portsmouth , Va, Virginia Beach , Virginia, Pennsylvania, Orlando , Florida, Kenya, IFE

☆ Anti-monarchists see an opportunity to prove their point in the coronation events.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They said they expected at least 1,000 people to turn up for Saturday’s protest, wearing yellow, holding banners and chanting, “Not my king.” Several anti-coronation parties are also planned around the country, with members eager to use the crowning of King Charles as evidence of the absurdity of having a monarchy in this day and age. “They will put a glittery golden crown on his head in a Christian church,” said Matt Turnbull, a 35-year-old Republic member who lives in London and planned to attend the protest, in an interview. “Look at it, and just accept that something about this feels weird in 2023.”Mr. Turnbull said that he expected the coronation to make his stomach turn, but that it also felt good that he would not be alone in having such a feeling. “The worse it makes me feel to watch it,” he said, “the more quickly we will move to abolish it.”That Charles appears to be less popular than Elizabeth, his mother, is also rising the hopes of anti-monarchists. Riz Possnett, 19, a University of Oxford student who uses they/them pronouns, said that the monarchy and its colonial legacy were an outdated symbol for modern, multicultural Britain.

☆ Churches are building tiny homes across the US to help house the homeless
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Churches are working with homeless charities to build micro homes across the US, The AP reported. The homes can be built on spare church land and use existing water and electricity supplies. Tiny homes are becoming an increasingly popular solution to help tackle the homelessness crisis. APWashington-based social purpose company Pallet has seen rising interest in its tiny homes that cost $5,500 and can be set up in less than an hour. Donald Whitehead, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told The AP he welcomed the churches' moves and regarded tiny homes as a "great emergency option".

☆ Lebanon in confusion as daylight savings dispute deepens divisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Timour Azhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It said it would turn clocks forward on Saturday night and other Christian organisations, parties and schools announced similar plans. Businesses and media organizations, including two of Lebanon's main news channels LBCI and MTV, announced they too would enter daylight savings on Saturday night. But later that day, Mikati issued the decision to stay in winter time. Independent MP Waddah Sadek said on Twitter decisions were taken without "any consideration for the consequences or confusion that they cause". Some Twitter users shared an old recording of famed Lebanese composer and musician Ziad Rahbani speaking about daylight savings.

☆ Police deploy to sensitive sites in Vienna, warning of Islamist attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, March 15 (Reuters) - Vienna police stepped up armed patrols at sensitive sites in the Austrian capital including churches on Wednesday after the country's domestic intelligence agency received information suggesting an Islamist attack was being planned. The city's police took the rare step of warning the public on social media that there would be a heightened presence of armed police, including special forces, in the city. Vienna is among the safest capitals in the world and militant attacks are rare. "Our intelligence services have reason to believe that an assault with an Islamistic motive is planned to be carried out in Vienna," Vienna police said in English on Twitter. The tourist-filled streets of central Vienna were busy as usual after the police warning.

☆ Kamala Harris tells Tyre Nichols' funeral attendees that Congress must pass a sweeping police reform bill: 'It's non-negotiable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vice President Kamala Harris demanded passage of police reform legislation at the funeral for Tyre Nichols. As a senator, she co-authored a bill mirroring the House-passed George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021. Harris told mourners on Wednesday that "Tyre Nichols would be here with us today" if police had been in pursuit of public safety. Speaking directly to Nichols' mother and stepfather, she called them "extraordinary." Biden and Harris both spoke with Nichols' mother and stepfather to offer support, and Biden pledged to continue pushing Congress to pass the bill, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

☆ Tyre Nichols funeral draws civil rights leaders, U.S. vice president
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alyssa Porter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Al Sharpton will eulogize Nichols, and another prominent civil rights leader, attorney Ben Crump, will deliver a "call to action" during a funeral at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Nichols' adopted hometown of Memphis. Among those planning to join the mourners was U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Crump said the Nichols family invited. Harris spoke with Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, in a private telephone call on Tuesday, he said. Two other officers implicated in the events leading to Nichols' death have been relieved of duty - effectively suspended - and are under investigation. "What happened to Tyre Nichols here is a disgrace to this country," Sharpton told reporters, flanked by Nichols' mother and his stepfather, Rodney Wells.

☆ Photos of Tyre Nichols' funeral at Mississippi Boulevard Church in Memphis show a community jolted into activism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Tyre Nichols' funeral was held Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. A man arranges flowers around Tyre Nichols' casket at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP, PoolThe funeral of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Memphian who was brutally beaten by five police officers on January 7, was held Wednesday at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. Nichols, who has a 4-year-old son, has been remembered by his family and friends as a lover of sunsets, photography, and skateboarding. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, on Tuesday, accepting her invitation to the funeral.

☆ Biden's bully pulpit is Democrats' best policing reform tactic as Congress grapples with Tyre Nichols' death
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Warren Rojas | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Monday he said making the George Floyd Act the law of the land is long overdue. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the funeral service for Tyre Nichols at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Now he wants to see Congress act in a bipartisan way to "make transformational change," she said. House Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar was much less optimistic about policing reform opponents suddenly rallying around the Floyd Act or any other substantive proposals. "The thing is, it may have been Tyre Nichols yesterday.

☆ VP Harris to attend Nichols funeral as prosecutors weigh more charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Alyssa Pointer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alyssa PointerMEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 31 (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris will attend Wednesday's funeral of Tyre Nichols, the Black man who died three days after Memphis police officers savagely beat him following a traffic stop earlier this month, the White House said on Tuesday. Nichols will be eulogized by the Reverend Al Sharpton at a service at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis on Wednesday morning. Family members of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who were killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis in 2020, will also attend. "We are looking at all individuals involved in the events leading up to, during, and after the beating of Tyre Nichols," his office said, adding that the investigation is incomplete. In an apparent reference to Hemphill, the office said an officer present during the initial encounter with Nichols may also face charges.

☆ Missouri Camping Ban Squeezes Rural Homeless Population
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Shannon Najmabadi | Photographs Bruce E. Stidham For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BOLIVAR, Mo.—The pastor of the First Christian Church was startled one morning when what he thought was a mound of donated clothes on his church doorstep was in fact Titus Finn, who had curled up there and spent the night. Mr. Finn, 26 years old, said he had slept virtually “any spot I can lay my head” in the city of 11,000—living in and out of homelessness since childhood.

☆ Church of England Declines to Back Same-Sex Marriage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Archbishop Justin Welby said some would see the decision to allow blessings of same-sex couples as going too far, while others would see it as not going far enough. The Church of England won’t allow same-sex weddings to take place in church, but will allow priests to bless couples who have married in a civil ceremony, the latest chapter in a continuing debate over LGBT rights across various Christian churches. After a six-year debate on the issue, the church said Wednesday that bishops had decided not to change the Church’s fundamental teaching “that holy matrimony is between one man and one woman for life.” It said the blessing by a priest was the furthest it could go without changing church doctrine.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

CNN —Multiple explosions have been reported in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and in annexed Crimea – including at a Russian military barracks. Federov last month said Russia had turned Melitopol into “one giant military base.”“The Russian military is settling in local houses they seized, schools and kindergartens. The Ukrainian military has not yet confirmed or commented on the attack. The unofficial Crimean media portal “Krymskyi veter” said an explosion at a Russian military barracks in Sovietske had set the barracks on fire and there were dead and wounded. “In total, Russian terrorists used 15 Shahed drones against Odesa,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his daily address on Saturday.

☆ A lost ecosystem revealed in Greenland by oldest environmental DNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A long time agoAn artist's illustration reconstructs Greenland's unique ecosystem as it existed 2 million years ago. Beth ZaikenScientists in Denmark have found the world’s oldest DNA sequences in sediment from the ice age. The core, taken from northern Greenland, revealed that the polar region was once abundant with plant and animal life 2 million years ago. Mastodons, reindeer, geese, lemmings and hares lived in an ecosystem that was a mix of temperate and Arctic flora and fauna. The fossil includes the head, neck and body together — a rare discovery for the marine reptiles, which didn’t preserve well in one piece.

☆ 'Jeopardy!' fans frustrated by controversial Bible clue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Aj Willingham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“Jeopardy!” fans are confused and more than a little miffed after a controversial Final Jeopardy! But the correct answer is still a subject of debate, even among Biblical scholars. “(Romans is right if Paul didn’t write Hebrews),” he added. “Dear Jeopardy: But Paul didn’t write Hebrews!!!!!! In the middle of the confusion, He emerged as the night’s winner despite his incorrect Final Jeopardy!

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