Monday 9 June 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Tennis: Nadal back on grass after Paris win

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HALLE (AFP) - Newly-crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal was quickly back in training on Monday, but this time on the grasscourts of Halle as the preparations for Wimbledon swung into top gear.Nadal took his ninth Roland Garros title in Paris on Sunday when he defeated Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in a bruising final that saw him bothered by leg cramps in the fourth set.But, determined to add a third Wimbledon title to his growing collection of Grand Slam wins, the 28-year-old Spaniard opted to ignore his tiredness and taste the grass instead.He had a brief 30 minutes session on one of the outside courts before leaving the stadium.Nadal, who pulled out of the tournament before the start last year after winning for the eighth time at Roland Garros, is the top seed with Roger Federer as second seed.Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, seen as a real threat at Wimbledon, is also in the draw as is Japan's Kei Nishikori and Richard Gasquet of France.Nadal has a bye in the first round and will play Dustin Brown in the second round after the German won through on Monday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia.That revived German hopes somewhat after the news that veteran Tommy Haas had pulled out with a shoulder injury which also cast doubts over his chances of playing at Wimbledon.I could hardly hit a ball in practice and so it would have been ridiculous to have tried to play here, he said.Whether there is any hope I will be fit in time to play at Wimbledon, even I do not know. I will try to get better by consulting a specialist but I think the chances are very small.Another German winner in early action on Monday was Philipp Kohlschreiber who defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4.But there was an upset in the defeat of last year's Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz of Poland who lost 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France.

Tennis: Hewitt, Tomic move into Queen's second round

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LONDON (AFP) - Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic made it a good day for Australia at Queens Club as they moved into the second round of the Wimbledon warm-up event on Monday.Hewitt kicked off his bid for a record fifth title at the grass-court event in west London with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.Hewitt, ranked 43rd in the world, is in the twilight of his career but he reached the semi-finals at Queens last year and took little over an hour to dismiss Gimeno-Traver to set up a meeting with Feliciano Lopez or Dusan Lajovic.I just felt pretty sharp out there. I have been hitting the ball really well in practice. It didnt take me long to get on the grass and feel comfortable, Hewitt said.Id love to win a fifth title here. I love coming back here. I just love the surroundings.The setting today was a fantastic crowd for a first day at Queens. It was a really good atmosphere out there.The 33-year-old former Wimbledon champion was joined in the second round by fellow Australians Tomic and James Duckworth.Tomic had to dig deep before finally seeing off Tim Smyczek of the United States 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, while qualifier Duckworth staged an impressive fightback to beat Israels Dudi Sela 0-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4It was Tomics first ATP main draw win in nearly five months, but he admitted it was a barely-deserved success after Smyczek, ranked 106th, served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.I should have lost that. You can play like crap for the whole two sets and then you can find three, four points and you can win the match. Its just strange, Tomic said.It was good to win, but like I said, very rarely youre going to get out of a match like that when a guy is serving at 5-4 in the third set.But if you can win a match like this when you dont play well, its very good for the confidence.Next up for Tomic will be Radek Stepanek or Mikhail Kukushkin, while Duckworth faces a daunting clash against Czech second seed and former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych.Also on the first day, Britains Dan Evans claimed a surprise 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/2) win against Austrias Jurgen Melzer.Melzer is ranked 51st in the world, while Evans is languishing down at 139.But the British number two fired an ace to win the final-set tie-break and will face seventh seeded South African Kevin Anderson in the second round.

Tennis: Federer hails Murray choice of Mauresmo

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HALLE WESTFALEN (AFP) - Swiss tennis star Roger Federer on Monday hailed Andy Murray's great choice of Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo as his new coach.Former world number one Federer will defend his only title of the 2013 season in the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event at Halle this week.And he said Wimbledon champion Murray's surprise decision to hire Mauresmo was interesting.There were rumours in Paris about them working together, said record 17-time Grand Slam winner Federer.I think it is very interesting. I think it's great and only time will tell if it is going to be successful or not. But Andy has always been open to try out things or go in a different direction with (Ivan) Lendl, with Brad Gilbert as well and now with Amelie Mauresmo... I think she is very sweet, said the world number four. I remember being at the Champion's dinner with her at one of my Wimbledon victories. I always enjoyed watching her play and she is a true professionnal. So from that standpoint, I think it's a great choice and I hope they're going to be a successful team together.Murray parted ways with Lendl in March after a two-year partnership with the multiple Grand Slam winner.Mauresmo, who won Wimbledon in 2006 before retiring in 2009, will initially work with the Scot for his grass-court campaign, which gets under way at Queen's Club this week in the build-up to his defence of the Wimbledon crown.Mauresmo coaches the French Fed Cup team and has previous experience of coaching a male player after a spell with compatriot Michael Llodra in 2010.She also helped out as Marion Bartoli's part-time coach when she won Wimbledon last year.

Football: Blatter takes aim at FIFA 'destroyers'

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SAO PAULO (AFP) - World football chief Sepp Blatter vowed to fight critics trying to destroy FIFA on Monday as he launched a staunch defence of his scandal-tainted organisation.Speaking before delegates of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Sao Paulo ahead of FIFA's 64th Congress, Blatter called for unity against people he described as the destroyers of FIFA.Show unity and confirm this unity, it's the best way to reply to all the destructors in the world, Blatter said.They want to destroy, not the game, but they want to destroy the institution, because our institution is too strong, he added. Blatter said FIFA was so strong we are sure they'll not destroy it.Blatter's rallying cry comes as FIFA faces mounting pressure over its 2010 decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.Major FIFA sponsors Adidas, Sony, Visa and Hyundai have demanded a thorough investigation of claims that Qatari official Mohammed bin Hammam paid millions of dollars in bribes to secure the tiny Gulf state's victory in the 2022 race. Blatter is tipped to run for a fifth four-year term as head of FIFA, and could announce his candidacy in the 2015 election at this week's congress.Qatar beat the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea to the 2022 tournament, despite a FIFA technical report which warned the searing temperatures during June and July posed a health risk.Amid calls for a re-vote, FIFA investigator Michael Garcia was to finish his inquiry into the 2022 vote and the 2018 bid contest, won by Russia, on Monday.Garcia is to speak at the Congress about his work, but his report will not be handed over to the FIFA adjudicatory chamber until mid-July, when the World Cup final is held.

Swimming: Phelps to continue comeback at Santa Clara

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SANTA CLARA (AFP) - Michael Phelps, the 18-time Olympic champion and 22-time medal winner who came out of retirement in April, continues he comeback next week at the Santa Clara Grand Prix.USA Swimming announced Phelps was entered for the four-day meet that begins June 19 but did not detail which events he might swim.The meet is a key warm-up event for the US national championships on August 6-10 at Irvine, California.That is the American qualifying meet for next year's world championships in Russia, which is the last major global swim showdown ahead of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.While Phelps has not confirmed that he is aiming to swim at another Olympics, he and coach Bob Bowman have usually kept tight-lipped about plans even ahead of Phelps' run to a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Phelps won the 100 butterfly title last month at Charlotte, North Carolina, in his first final since the London Olympics.He finished second to Olympian Ryan Lochte in the same event at the final two months ago in Mesa, Arizona, in his first meet since the 2012 London Games.

Karachi: Dead bodies of 8 trapped persons recovered

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Rescuers have recovered bodies of eight people, including one ASF official, have been recovered from cold storage facility at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport on early Tuesday morning.Rescuers have recovered bodies of eight people, seven cargo workers and one ASF official, who remain trapped inside a cold storage facility at the Karachi airport after a deadly militant attack Sunday night.Rescue teams recovered the bodies of trapped people after destroying three wall of the cargo complex. The dead bodies are being transferred to Jinnah Hospital for identification.

Oil rallies after encouraging US, China, Japan data

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices rallied sharply Monday, with the US benchmark hitting a three-month high, after positive Chinese, Japanese and US economic data raised expectations for more energy demand.West Texas Intermediate for July delivery leaped $1.75 to close at $104.41 a barrel, the highest close for the benchmark US futures contract since March 3.The European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July, settled at $109.99 a barrel, a gain of $1.38 from Friday's close, in London.The market gained support from China, the world's second-largest consumer of crude oil, after official data showed Sunday its trade surplus surged 75 percent in May from a year ago.Chinese exports increased 7.0 percent and imports declined 1.6 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of $35.92 billion.The weekend (Chinese) report comes as a quite unexpected surprise on the upside, underpinning the demand for commodities, said Desmond Chua, an analyst for traders CMC Markets.The strong (export) gains overshadowed an unexpected fall in imports that could signal weaker domestic demand, said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.Flynn noted the Chinese data followed the US jobs report Friday showing employment returning to its pre-recession peak, confirming steady improvement in the world's top economy and top crude consumer.Japan meanwhile revised upward its economic growth for the first quarter to the fastest pace in more than two years, at an annual rate of 6.7 percent.Investors also were focused on Wednesday's meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Vienna.The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose dozen member nations together supply about one third of the world's crude, is forecast by analysts to maintain its daily output ceiling at 30 million barrels of oil.

Dollar rises vs. euro in thin trade

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The dollar drifted higher against the euro in thin trade Monday after a news-packed week marked by European Central Banks new stimulus measures and a solid US May jobs report.The rebound from the euro last week following news of the ECBs rate cuts and targeted lending scheme was retraced Monday, said John Kicklighter, chief currency strategist at DailyFX.The euro slipped to $1.3592 around 2100 GMT from $1.3641 late Friday.The general underpinning the dollar enjoyed stemmed from last weeks US jobs report that showed another month of healthy employment growth, said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at XE.com.The US economy added 217,000 jobs in May while unemployment held at a multiyear low of 6.3 percent, unchanged from April.With the ECB and the US jobs data in rear-view mirror, the foreign exchange market appeared poised to sink to new multi-year lows in volatility, said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.Lien discounted the possibility of any additional surprises from the Federal Reserve or the ECB over the next three months, predicting the euro-dollar trade would likely remain within a $1.35 to $1.38 range.

Neesham, Watling set up huge NZ total

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KINGSTON (AP) - All-rounder Jimmy Neesham struck his second consecutive test century on Monday and wicketkeeper B.J. Watling added 89 as New Zealand amassed 508-7 declared on the second day of the first cricket test against the West Indies.In reply, the West Indies safely negotiated nine overs to reach 19-0 at stumps at Sabina Park. Home favorite Chris Gayle, celebrating his 100th test, was unbeaten on eight while Kieran Powell was 11 not out.Earlier, Neesham lashed 11 fours and two sixes in his 107, becoming only the eighth man to reach three figures in each of his first two tests. The 23-year-old Neesham scored a century on his debut against India at Wellington in February.The Otago left-hander got able assistance from Watling, who hit seven fours and one six before he was dismissed in the final session seeking quick runs.Neesham and Watling's sixth wicket stand of 201 boosted New Zealand after they wobbled slightly after resuming on 240-2.Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn (3-142) knocked back first-day centurion Kane Williamson's off stump as the batsman played no stroke. Williamson's 113 included 12 fours and spanned more than six hours.Off-spinner Shane Shillingford (3-145) soon added the scalp of Ross Taylor for 55. The former skipper chipped an ondrive to Kirk Edwards at midwicket.New Zealand quickly dipped to 279-5 when Benn got one to turn and bounce. Captain Brendon McCullum edged to Chris Gayle at slip via the shoulder of wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.But Neesham and Watling dominated the rest of the day to blunt the West Indies attack.Neesham eventually fell to a catch behind off Benn but Tim Southee blasted 21 not out off seven balls to keep the momentum with the Kiwis.Watling, who survived one difficult chance when West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin floored a thick edge off Gayle's off-spin when he was 48, fell 11 runs short of a fourth test ton when he holed out to deep midwicket.The West Indies' reply also enjoyed a slice of luck as Powell edged Tim Southee to second slip but Peter Fulton grassed the knee-high catch.

Bell vows to lead from the front

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LONDON (AFP) - Ian Bell said he wanted to lead from the front after being named England's Cricketer of the Year on Monday.The 32-year-old Warwickshire batsman won the award, voted for by the English cricket media, on the back of making three centuries and two fifties during England's 3-0 home Ashes series win against Australia last year.But that series was quickly overshadowed by England's 5-0 thrashing in Australia in 2013/14.I don't think we reacted well to the problems we had and there has been plenty of fall out since, said Bell in what appeared to be a reference to the post-Australia tour ditching of star batsman Kevin Pietersen and Andy Flower's replacement as coach by Peter Moores.When you step back from it all and have a look, I think we got blindsided by Australia. It is horrible to come away from that with a 5-0 scoreline, but it will be a good experience in the long run for the younger players who were on that trip.Back in 2006/07, myself, Cooky (current captain Alastair Cook), Straussy (retired skipper Andrew Strauss), Jimmy (Anderson and KP (Pietersen) were all on that tour when we lost 5-0 and we all came back in 2010/11 and won that series.There is no reason why on the next tour of Australia the (Joe) Roots, the (Gary) Ballances, the (Ben) Stokes can't go back and win.It is easy to look at the winter and get down, but we have done some good stuff too recently, insisted Bell, who received his award during a dinner at Lord's -- the venue for Thursday's first Test against Sri Lanka. To win three Ashes on the bounce means we must have been doing something right.Thirteen Tests have now passed since England managed the benchmark score of 400 in an innings.Bell, for much of his career a 'rising star', is now one of England's senior players and should reach the landmark of 100 Tests in this month's second and final Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley.You're looking for the senior players to lead the way so of course myself and Cooky have to shoulder plenty of responsibility in that department, Bell said.We are the men who have been there and done it and scored the big hundreds, so it is time for us to do so again.Hopefully, this (award) is the start of something special for me and the team, helping some of these young guys through into the team.Part of that is me playing well as a senior player and leading from the front, said Bell, whose 98 Tests have yielded 6,722 runs, including 20 hundreds, at an average of 45.41.As for playing 100 Tests, Bell reflected on the words of England great Graham Gooch.It's a funny one because you are thinking of your 100th one but, as Goochie says, the only match that means anything or the only innings that means anything is the one you're in right now.This season has seen England push back its home Test programme, reducing the chances of matches being played on typically English green, seaming pitches.Bell believes that will work in favour of Sri Lanka, who beat their hosts 3-2 in a recent one-day series, and especially star batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.You only have to look at the two guys in their team who will go down as two of the greatest of all time, Bel said. They've got absolute quality through their side.It is not early season anymore, so they'll be a lot more comfortable.

US offers help in Pakistan airport probe

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States Monday offered to aid Pakistan in investigating a deadly seige on Karachi airport and denounced the assault which left 30 people dead.The United States condemns the attack on the Karachi airport. And our hearts go out... to the families of the victims and those who were wounded in that attack, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.Washington has offered assistance to the relevant Pakistani authorities investigating this crime, added State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf, although she was not aware if the offer had been taken up.The assault has left Pakistan's nascent peace process with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in tatters and officials in the northwest reported that some 25,000 people had fled a restive tribal district in the past 48 hours, fearing a long-awaited ground offensive.Ten militants were among the dead in the seige of Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, the latest spectacular offensive to be launched by the TTP in an insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since 2007.The TTP said the brazen attack was its latest revenge for the killing of its leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike in November. TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the government had used peace talks as a ruse, and promised more attacks to come in retaliation against recent air strikes in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.Harf would not comment on the use of air-strikes to quell the insurgency, but said the US and Pakistan both had concerns about counter-terrorism.Broadly speaking, we have supported the Pakistani government as they've undertaken counterterrorism efforts because it's a fight we certainly share, she told reporters.The Pakistani government has a responsibility and an obligation to protect its citizens and to take appropriate counterterrorism measures.Washington had advised the Pakistani authorities to take civilian life into account, Harf said.But... the onus here is on these terrorist groups to lay down their arms, to stop attacking innocent Pakistani and other civilians, Harf added.

Pakistan deny Afghan claim of attack on Abdullah Abdullah

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ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan on Monday rejected Afghan claims it was linked to an attack on presidential front-runner Abdullah Abdullah last week that left 12 people dead ahead of an election run-off.The denial came a day after Kabul accused foreign intelligence services -- a thinly veiled reference to Islamabad -- of being behind the two blasts, including a suicide bombing.We firmly reject any insinuation of Pakistan's involvement in the attack, Pakistan's foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in a statement.Abdullah survived the assassination attempt, which happened on Friday. The attack triggered strong international condemnation, including from the United States and the UN Security Council.The National Security Council (NSC), which is chaired by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, had said the foreign agency had acted through Lashkar-e-Taiba in an organised manner, and the terrorists were aiming to disrupt the election in Afghanistan.Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistan-based militant group.Pakistan is deeply disappointed by these irresponsible allegations as they serve to vitiate the positive environment created between the two countries through constructive efforts over the past many months, Aslam said.Afghanistan has made similar claims following major attacks in the past, including the assault on the Serena Hotel that killed nine people in March.Aslam said: The latest allegations fall in the familiar pattern of certain elements in Afghanistan sparing no occasion to malign Pakistan and its security institutions and shifting the blame to others for their own security failures. We are sure that neither the Afghan people, nor the international community, would be misled by these motivated allegations, she added.Afghanistan is in the middle of elections to choose a successor to Karzai, who has ruled since the fall of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, with the run-off vote scheduled for June 14.Pakistan was the main supporter of the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and Afghan officials have long voiced suspicions about connections between the hardline movement and Islamabad's powerful intelligence services.Many Afghan Taliban leaders seek shelter in Pakistan, and Islamabad's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency is often accused of maintaining ties to the militants to ensure future influence in Afghanistan after US-led NATO troops withdraw.

UN chief urges Pakistan to address terrorism

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned an attack on Pakistan's largest international airport that killed 30 people and called on the government to address terrorism and religious extremism.Ban also condemned suicide attacks targeting Shiite Muslims in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan, which a local official told AFP killed at least 24 pilgrims.The UN secretary general strongly condemned the two attacks and is deeply concerned by this upsurge of violence across Pakistan, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.While acknowledging the measures already taken to maintain security, he urges the government of Pakistan to further increase its efforts to address terrorism and religious extremism, including with a view to protecting the rights of all people to safely practice their religion, and to bring the perpetrators of such attacks to justice, the spokesman added.

Nisar sees foreign hand behind Karachi attack

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KARACHI (Dunya News) - Addressing a press conference in Karachi on Monday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that 29 people, including 10 militants, were killed in terrorist attack at Karachi airport on Sunday.Chaudhry Nisar said that 11 ASF and seven Rangers officials were killed in the operation. He further said that all national assents remained safe in the attack. However, he added that three aircraft were partially damaged.The minister said that Rangers reached the airport within seven minutes of the attack and Army in 20 minutes time.Chaudhry Nisar informed that the attackers appeared to be foreign nationals while the weapons they used also hinted towards a certain country. However he did not disclose the name.He further informed that seven terrorists were killed by security forces while three blew themselves up.

Greek PM reshuffles government after poor showing in EU polls

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ATHENS (AFP) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras oversaw a major cabinet reshuffle on Monday in response to his government's poor showing in EU elections last month. The shake-up, aimed at reinvigorating Samaras's struggling conservative-Socialist coalition, comes just weeks after its defeat in EU elections to the country's main opposition, the radical left-wing Syriza party.Syriza beat Samaras's ruling centre-right New Democracy into second place in the May poll, gaining more than 26 percent of the vote. The reshuffle saw the replacement of more than a dozen ministers, including health, education, development and interior, government spokeswoman Sophia Voultepsi announced on Monday.Most significantly, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was replaced by 59-year-old economist and university professor Guikas Hardouvelis.Hardouvelis, a chief economist of Eurobank and previously a top economic advisor to former Prime Minister Lucas Papademos at height of the Greek financial crisis, is seen as holding similar pro-European, centre-left leanings as his predecessor. Syriza made significant gains in EU elections on a campaign opposing the harsh austerity measures passed by the Greek government in return for a massive 240 billion euro ($330 billion) bailout funded jointly by the European Union and the IMF.Syriza's 39-year-old leader Alexis Tsipras called the vote a referendum on austerity.Following Syriza's victory, speculation has been rife that Stournaras, who played a key role in the EU and IMF bailout negotiations, may be replaced. But it is unlikely that Hardouvelis will depart from the course set out by his predecessor, and is expected to continue to implement the conditions set out by the terms of joint EU and IMF bailout. It is thought that Stournaras will leave to head the Bank of Greece, where current governor George Provopoulos's term expires on June 21.Elsewhere in the cabinet, positions held by Samaras's coalition partners, the socialist Pasok party, remained intact. The party's president, Evangelos Venizelos, remains deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.Similarly, socialist Yannis Maniatis remains as environment minister and Michalis Chryssohoides retains the post of transport minister. Monday's reshuffle is the second since Samaras was elected in June 2012. Just a year after he came to power in June 2013, the Prime Minister was forced to shake-up his cabinet following a political crisis caused by the closure of the public broadcaster ERT.While financial assistance from Brussels is expected to end this year, Athens hopes to resume negotiations with its European partners to reduce its huge public debt, which has reached about 175 percent of gross domestic product.
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