tv BBC News BBC News December 20, 2023 5:00am-5:31am GMT
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the former president says he'll appeal to the us supreme court. the head of hamas is expected to travel to egypt for talks on a fresh ceasefire in gaza — as israel says it's willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages. authorities in iceland say the volcano that erupted in the southwest of the country is becoming less active. and tiny and tasty — coming up in business, we talk to the ceo of a caviar company who is finding sales are booming despite the cost of living squeeze. hello a warm welcome to the programme. we begin in the us. the state of colorado
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where its supreme court has ruled that donald trump is disqualified from holding office and is not eligible to appear on the state's republican primary ballot next year. the ruling is based on a rarely used provision of the us constitution that bars officials who have engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" from holding office. it says he's in—eligible to appear on next year's ballot because of his role instigating violence against the us government. this refers to the former president's actions onjanuary 6 of 2021, the day of the attack on the us capitol building and this only applies to colorado's republican primary, but it could have wider implications for mr trump as he attempts to regain the presidency. in a statement, the trump campaign said the court had "issued a completely flawed decision," adding they "will swiftly file an appeal to the united states supreme court." that was closely followed
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by a campaign speech from mr trump in iowa where the first contest of the 2024 season will be in less than a month. shortly after the ruling, mr trump addressed the decision at a rally in iowa. this every time the radical left democrat marks this communist are fascist and diet me, i consider it actually a great badge of honour. thank you very much, i appreciated. thank you very much. because i am being indicted for you, never forget, am being indicted for you, neverforget, our enemies am being indicted for you, never forget, our enemies want to take my freedom because i will never let them take away your freedom, will never let them take away yourfreedom, it is will never let them take away your freedom, it is very simple. i will not let them do it. they want to silence me because i will never let them silence you and in the end, they are not after me, they are after you, they are not after me, they are afteryou, ijust they are not after me, they are after you, ijust happen to be standing on their way and always will stand in the way. the claim was brought
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by a group of colorado voters, as well as an advocacy group based in washington, and the lawsuit is viewed as a test case for a wider effort to disqualify the former president, who is currently leading in the opinion polls for the republican primary. mario nicolais, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, expressed the outcome of the ruling. the thrill with the outcome on these six individuals, i cannot overstate how courageous they are. to bring a lawsuit like this and to bring it out on basically say that the united states constitution stands with the fact that this country is a rule of law country. and that's what they believed in. so, it includes six people, four of them are republicans, to an end for a leaded to primary�*s in colorado but among the republicans, we have our lead link if, he is a former state and house majority leader in colorado so she served as a
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republican official in a high—ranking official in our state. and she has been adamant that she does not think that he is qualified under the us constitution to serve in the presidency again. we have a former chief of staff or republican governor, we have a conservative republican columnist for the denver post. we just have a great group of people who basically said, look, we think this is our duty as citizens in this country, to stand up for a constitution and to say that when you cross the line and to engage in insurrection, after taking an oath to protect that constitution, you are no longer eligible to hold up, you are no longer eligible to run for office. live now to frank bowman, distinguished professor emeritus at the university of missouri school of law. good to have it on the programme. on a you are listening into all of that. so, what are your thoughts on this move in colorado, what will happen next?—
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happen next? frankly, to observe _ happen next? frankly, to observe is _ happen next? frankly, to observe is that _ happen next? frankly, to observe is that in - happen next? frankly, to observe is that in this - happen next? frankly, to i observe is that in this case, as you've already heard it, the essence of the case was an effort of the amendment of the constitution to disqualify mr trump on the ground that he engaged in insurrection. and critical to note here is that first of all, a trialjudge and then, the majority of the colorado supreme court found that in fact, he had, engaged in insurrection, he attempted to forcefully overthrow the united states government. that's quite remarkable. and we are over, this was a close decision by the supreme court, it was a decision but even the three dissenters did not disagree with the basic point. which is that the findings that mr trump, which is that the findings that mrtrump, infact, engaged in insurrection. and that's just amazing. former president of the united states has been found by a number of very distinguished judges to have engaged in insurrection. now, unfortunately, in the near
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term, i think it's quite unlikely that this will have any effect at all on his fortunes in the republican primary�*s but this is something to remember as we go forward. in future... to remember as we go forward. infuture... i to remember as we go forward. in future... i want to get your take with the us supreme court will go with this or not, what you're thinking will be in terms of that outcome? i think this is certainly _ terms of that outcome? i think this is certainly going - terms of that outcome? i think this is certainly going to - terms of that outcome? i think this is certainly going to have l this is certainly going to have to go to the supreme court. i think the future of the case really turns on question that procedure. the essential problem here is created by the fact that on the 14th amendment's past and the 186280 is the qualification, it didn't have entered any enforcement mechanism, congress passed one in the 1860s but that statue was repealed in 19117 so the problem is that we don't really know how this provision of the constitution is to be enforced and by whom. the dissenters in the colorado case basically
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said, to simplify somewhat, that while they didn't agree with the insurrection, they didn't think that the colorado procedures were sufficient or that colorado was the proper venue, the proper authority to decide what procedures should be used. difficulty that the supreme court is confront is that each american state essentially controls the election procedures in that state. even for federal office. and one of the quandaries they were going to confront is that we've got colorado finding that he is disqualified but that ruling doesn't bind any of the other 49 states. they have to decide whether it should. i will ask you about that because ultimately, the us supreme court will be making a decision if it goes to that level but in terms of other states, some of them tend to follow suit, do you think?— you think? well, again, the problem — you think? well, again, the problem is _ you think? well, again, the problem is that _ you think? well, again, the
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problem is that each - you think? well, again, the problem is that each state | you think? well, again, the i problem is that each state has different rules for deciding on ballot eligibility. and one of the things that dissenters are said in fact in colorado is, we do want a situation in which every state is making independent decisions about who makes to qualify for presidential ballot and i think the prospect of that consistency. it is perhaps the thing that will bother the supreme court most. in the end, the supreme court will take the case, i guess is that it's like they may overturn the colorado opinion but if they do, i think they will avoid the question of whether or not mr trump in fact committed insurrection or engaged in it but i think what they will do is they will focus on questions of process. who is the right person to decide that question? figs the right person to decide that ruestion? �* , . the right person to decide that ruestion? ~ , . . ., question? as always, uncharted waters, question? as always, uncharted waters. we _ question? as always, uncharted waters, we are _ question? as always, uncharted waters, we are navigating - question? as always, uncharted waters, we are navigating with l waters, we are navigating with the former president, thank you very much, frank baumanjoining there from the university of law. the palestinian islamichhad
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group, which took part in the october the 7th attacks alongside hamas, has published a video with two hostages being held in gaza, urging the israeli government to engage in negotiations for their release. the men identify themselves as gadi moses, 79 and elad katzir, 47 — they were kidnapped from kibbutz nir oz and appear separately in two clips. they both warn that israel's bombings are endangering their lives. prisoners of war and hostages are protected under international humanitarian law and so the bbc does not broadcast the full details of material which may have been filmed under duress. a source tells the bbc that the leader of hamas, ismail haniyeh, is expected to visit cairo on wednesday. hamas has said it won't negotiate an exchange of prisoners as long as the israeli military operation continues in gaza.
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meanwhile, the un delays for the second time a vote on a resolution calling for a secession in fighting in the gaza strip. language in the resolution still stand in the way, with the un having to compromise for a suspension of hostilities. that's watered down from the original, stronger call for a ceasefire in the original draft. the us has vetoed the previous resolutions. here's white house national security spokesman john kirby. we don't have in update for you on the progress of talks to try to get another humanitarian paws in place so that we can get hostages out. we continue to work this by the hour. we don't support a permanent ceasefire at this time. it would simply validate what hamas did on 7 october. it would leave them in power in gaza, which is unacceptable to us and to our israeli friends and, of course, it would give them a much longer time line to prepare and plan additional attacks. we do support smaller,
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more localised, more targeted humanitarian pauses to get hostages out and to get more aid in. with me is mohamed taha from the bbc arabic service. he is with us once again. good to see you. let's talk about all these issues. the leader of hamas saying that they are willing to discuss a pause in hostilities but they want a full ceasefire, is that correct and that's where the sticking point could be? the and that's where the sticking point could be?— point could be? the position now of hamas _ point could be? the position now of hamas that - point could be? the position now of hamas that they - point could be? the position. now of hamas that they won't start the negotiations around hostages unless the ceasefire happens. i think this is — explains a lot about what's happening in the un counselled that there is general atmosphere that this resolution will pause, that's why it has been delayed from yesterday to today to make sure that the wording is ok. i today to make sure that the wording is ok.— today to make sure that the wording is ok. i was going to say from _ wording is ok. i was going to say from hamas _ wording is ok. i was going to say from hamas point - wording is ok. i was going to say from hamas point of- wording is ok. i was going to l say from hamas point of view, if they're not happy to agree to anything unless it is a full ceasefire, that's very different to the wedding that's
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been discussed at the un at the moment. , ,. , , ., moment. they were discussing an uruent moment. they were discussing an urgent and _ moment. they were discussing an urgent and sustainable _ urgent and sustainable ceasefire and the word sustainable is very flexible word, what that means is there should be pauses in fighting to make sure that humanitarian situation is lifted up or complete ceasefire for permanent ceasefire that this will know very soon. it is permanent ceasefire that this will know very soon.- will know very soon. it is a suspension _ will know very soon. it is a suspension of _ will know very soon. it is a suspension of facilities - will know very soon. it is a suspension of facilities at l will know very soon. it is a i suspension of facilities at the un is looking out which is watered down because the us would not vote in favour of the term ceasefire in this. {131 term ceasefire in this. of course. _ term ceasefire in this. of course, but _ term ceasefire in this. of course, but with that strength of ceasefire and the apparent acceptance from israel to this is a turning point in this war andi is a turning point in this war and i think the main point that happen in this war, what happened last week when the israeli army killed three of
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the hostages, this was a turning point inside israel and mounted of the cause that this hostages would never get out of gaza using force and the negotiation should happen and the ceasefire should happen as well. adding to that, also, the humanitarian situation, gaza with now more than 20,000 people were killed and if we look at the people who died in there, there are 40,000 people who died and we are talking about unprecedented tragedy thatis about unprecedented tragedy that is happening in gaza that could be on that unprecedented. once again, qatar is very important in this process of negotiating some sort of pause and between the two sides. £31 and between the two sides. of course qatar is playing a big part, the head is in continuous contact with qatari side as long as hamas with a continuous contact with both egypt and
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qatar as well. they are keen for this hostages deal to happen and general atmosphere, as i said, is pointing that this exchange of hostages and stop of hostility would happen soon. ~ ., ., ~ ., soon. we will look at life pictures _ soon. we will look at life pictures this _ soon. we will look at life pictures this morning, i soon. we will look at life | pictures this morning, it's soon. we will look at life i pictures this morning, it's now a quarter past seven local time, this is pictures of gaza from southern israel, i believe, from the cameras there. what's the night been like, we can see plumes of smoke this morning. of course, fighting everywhere in the strip, especially this place that we can see. this is khan yunis, where israel think that the leadership of hamas is there. fighting has intensified there. fighting has intensified there. israeli forces said that 11 people were killed from the israeli army in the last 24 hours. yet hamas launched a rocket attack against tel aviv
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overnight, so the fighting is still going on fiercely in the strip. still going on fiercely in the stri -. ., ~ i. still going on fiercely in the stri. ., ~ i. still going on fiercely in the stri. ., ~ ., strip. 0k. thank you. good to have you. _ strip. 0k. thank you. good to have you. as _ strip. 0k. thank you. good to have you, as always, - strip. 0k. thank you. good to have you, as always, from i strip. 0k. thank you. good to | have you, as always, from bbc arabic. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news: former tory mp peter bone has lost his seat in a vote by constituents. it means a by—election will be held in wellingborough, in northamptonshire, early next year. the recall petition was held after mr bone was suspended as an mp over bullying and sexual misconduct allegations, which he denies. the scottish government has announced a new 45% band for people earning over £75,000, meaning higher earners in scotland will be paying more income tax. the top rate, which is paid by those earning more than £125,000, will also rise to 48%. the housing secretary announces a pledge to intervene if there have been delays to house building as a result of poor performance
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among planning teams. michael gove says that he will call out local authorities that are dragging their feet when it comes to processing housing applications. more details on those stories on our website, and also the bbc news app. you're live with bbc news. junior doctors in england are about to start a three—day strike in a dispute over pay. they'll walk out from 7:00 uk time this morning, after five weeks of negotiations failed to reach an agreement. this time of year is traditionally one of the nhs's most busy periods. our health correspondent, sharon barbour, has the details. siren wails hospitals across england — already struggling with the pressures that winter brings — are bracing themselves, as tens of thousands ofjunior doctors of thousands of junior doctors walk of thousands ofjunior doctors walk out for three days. whose
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nhs? 0ur _ walk out for three days. whose nhs? our nhs! _ walk out for three days. whose nhs? our nhs! dr— walk out for three days. whose nhs? our nhs! dr greenhouse walk out for three days. whose i nhs? our nhs! dr greenhouse is a sur: ical nhs? our nhs! dr greenhouse is a surgical registrar. _ nhs? our nhs! dr greenhouse is a surgical registrar. he's - a surgical registrar. he's already qualified to undertake major knee and hip surgery. every time that i go and see a patient in the accident and emergency department and i can't examine them in a room because there's no space and so they're on a trolley in the corridor, it's not right. and when you see how little it seems the government values us — again, that is a real blow to many doctors' morale. we're not asking for a huge pay rise. we're asking for our pay to stop being cut and to reverse the pay cuts we've already suffered. the pay cuts we've already suffered-— the pay cuts we've already suffered. . , ., ., suffered. have you thought about leaving? _ suffered. have you thought about leaving? i— suffered. have you thought about leaving? ithink- suffered. have you thought about leaving? i think all. about leaving? i think all “unior about leaving? i think all junior doctors, _ about leaving? i think all junior doctors, to - about leaving? i think all junior doctors, to be i about leaving? i think all. junior doctors, to be honest about leaving? i think all- junior doctors, to be honest - junior doctors, to be honest — i think most have thought about leaving. i think most have thought about leavinu. , ~ .. ., leaving. the strike action will mean the _ leaving. the strike action will mean the cancellation - leaving. the strike action will mean the cancellation of- mean the cancellation of thousands of appointments and operations. sally is in excruciating pain, and had two appointments for an operation cancelled because of strike action. unable to take it anymore, she's now paid more
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than £13,000 to get her hip operation done privately. it was a big decision because, obviously, i've been saving the money to leave to my kids or to have a nice holiday. but it's my health rather than this poor soul who's wandering around screaming in pain.— soul who's wandering around screaming in pain. what do you sa to screaming in pain. what do you say to people — screaming in pain. what do you say to people who _ screaming in pain. what do you say to people who are - screaming in pain. what do you say to people who are having i say to people who are having their operations, their appointments, cancelled or postponed as a result of the strike action? {iii postponed as a result of the strike action?— strike action? of course i'm sorry to _ strike action? of course i'm sorry to anyone _ strike action? of course i'm sorry to anyone who - strike action? of course i'm sorry to anyone who has i strike action? of course i'm| sorry to anyone who has had their operation or appointment postponed. but unfortunately, the government is not bringing us a credible offer that we can put to members to end this. with consultants covering for theirjuniors, and surgical their juniors, and surgical teams theirjuniors, and surgical teams diverted to help on the front line, emergency care will continue — but hospitals are warning of long waits in a&e. we're entering into uncharted territory. and the level of risk in our service is why we, in the nhs federation, will come together with patient organisations to call on the
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government to try to resolve this dispute, and for both sides to suspend this action. the government says talks can continue if thejunior the government says talks can continue if the junior doctors call off their strikes. let's turn to iceland, where the dramatic volcano eruption is calming after days of lava spewing hundreds of metres into the sky. it's now starting to calm down after several days. all night, the volcano spewjets of molten lava from a crack in the earth that's now several kilometres long. the area is a volcanic and seismic hot spot — not far from the capital, reykyavik. experts say the eruption could last weeks — or maybe even months. our correspondent, sofia bettiza, is following the story, and sent this update. well, this is as close as we could get to the volcano, which you should be able to see
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right there behind me in the distance. and that's because the authorities here are urging people not to come to this area for their safety and also to allow scientists to assess the situation on the ground. but i can tell you we can smell the smoke, we can see ashes floating in the air. from time to time we can hear, we can feel the vibration underneath our feet, and we can definitely hear the sound of the volcano rumbling in the background. and just to give you an idea of the situation, as we were driving here from the capital reykjavik, which is about 40 minutes away, we could immediately see the orange jets of lava in the distance. that gives you an idea ofjust how powerful this volcanic eruption is. now, in the past few hours we have seen people here taking selfies, taking videos, but that is mostly tourists and we spoke to people from the us, from the uk, and from india who were here on holiday but wanted to come here and see this in real life because they have told us
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that this seems like something out of a movie, something that feels like a once—in—a—lifetime experience. but when you speak to people from iceland they will tell you a very different story. i spoke to a policeman who told me that for people here, who live here, this is just a regular tuesday. of course, that might be an exaggeration, but this is a country that is used to volcanic eruption. the authorities here say that they have everything under control, that this does not pose a threat to life. that they had been expecting this to happen for weeks. and as a precaution they have evacuated a nearby town. now, the good news is that in the last few hours the intensity of the eruption has been decreasing. and according to forecasts, in the next few days the wind is going to push away the smoke from the inhabited areas and that is very good news for thousands of people who have been evacuated and are hoping to be able
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to come home, to come back to their homes for christmas. sofia bettiza reporting there. democratic and republican leaders of the united states senate have both said that washington will not be able to approve a new package of military aid for ukraine before the year's end. negotiators say they still work towards finalising an agreement in the time remaining this year. one big contention point is around republican senators one big contention point is around republican senators keen on an agreement on the border before they approve a new aid package for ukraine and israel. now to russia, where president putin met the country's top military leaders, telling them that "we will not give up what is ours." our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports
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on president putin's defiant tone on ukraine and how he's positioning himself to remain in the topjob. a minute's silence for soldiers killed. then, a rallying cry from russia's commander—in—chief. on the war in ukraine, vladimir putin claimed his troops have the advantage now despite western support for kyiv. translation: all attempts to inflict a military defeat on us, a strategic defeat, as the west called it — these attempts have been shattered by the courage and persistence of our soldiers. they have come up against the increased might of our armed forces and the resources of russian industry and military production. across moscow, russians are being told in no uncertain terms, "victory will be ours and russia, the country of winners." although to many here, what exactly would constitute victory in this war is unclear.
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and outside the us embassy, no tinsel, just trolling. so, these letters, these are the symbols of what the kremlin still calls its "special military operation" in ukraine, and that reads "to victory." and all of this right on the doorstep of the american embassy — a less—than—subtle hint to the west that this is a war vladimir putin has no intention of losing. he has every intention of winning the upcoming election, too, which he's registering to run in. mr putin will know that his toughest critics and potential rivals won't be on the ballot. like alexei navalny. he tried to run for president last time round, but was barred. since then, the kremlin critic has survived a nerve agent attack... ..and received a 19—year prison sentence.
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his lawyers say that right now they don't know where he is. it's thought he may be in transit from this maximum—security jail to one of russia's harshest penal colonies. vladimir putin has defeated his most vocal opponents at home. many are injail or in exile. for the kremlin leader, next year will be all about trying to defeat president zelensky. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. and let's leave you with these lovely pictures from japan's capital, tokyo. here you can see the tokyo tower, surrounded by some of the 800,000 blue—and—white led lights have been strung up on trees to make them look frost covered. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. wintry weather does not feature heavily in our forecast between now and christmas day,
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but cloud, wind and rain will. on the earlier satellite picture, you can see this stripe of cloud that brought rain in the south on tuesday. then a zone of clear skies not lasting long. more cloud rolling in from the atlantic in association with a warm front bringing a rather grey and quite damp wednesday in many locations. also, quite a windy day out there, so any early brightness across england and wales will be replaced by cloud spreading from the north and the west with some outbreaks of rain. northern ireland and scotland just having a generally grey and cloudy day with some bits and pieces of rain and drizzle. it's going to be a breezy or indeed a windy day, but a mild one for most. just a little bit colder in the far north there in shetland. and then through wednesday night, extensive cloud cover, some mist and murk, splashes of rain, heavier rain pushing into scotland and the winds really picking up. gales likely across northern scotland, but we could see gales developing elsewhere by the start of thursday morning. it's going to be a mild start
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to thursday, but a really windy start to the day, with this deep area of low pressure passing to the north of the uk. this frontal system bringing cloud and a little bit of rain as it slides just a touch further southwards. behind that, some sunny spells, but some showers which could be wintry over high ground in scotland. and it is going to be very windy. particularly gusty conditions to the east of high ground — say, to the east of the pennines, northern and eastern parts of scotland. we could in places see gusts of 70—80mph, very rough seas and maybe even some coastal flooding around some north sea coasts. temperatures, well, just 2 degrees by the middle of the afternoon in lerwick, 12 there for cardiff and plymouth, so staying mild in the south. quite a messy weather picture for friday. it looks like we'll see a band of rain trying to push northwards and eastwards. that could run into some cold air to provide a bit of snow over high ground in scotland. temperatures are 4 degrees in aberdeen, 12 for london, 12 for plymouth. now, mild air will win out for most of us over the weekend and as we head towards christmas day. just a little bit colder in the north.
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uk inflation data is out shortly that will reveal if prices are still tailing off. stormy waters: global shipping rates spike and there is widespread condemnation of houthi attacks on vessels in the red sea. we take a closer look at the supply chain impacts. deal done: southwest airlines and a pilots union have finally agreed on new terms that the union says is worth $12 billion over five years. and tiny and tasty: we talk to the ceo of a caviar company who is finding sales are booming despite the cost of living squeeze. if you justjoined us, you are welcome and in time for the top business stories.
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