Tom Kington
@tomkington
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Italians now referring to a message sent via Whatsapp as a 'whatsappino', proving the Italian language can smooth out the ugliest words
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We already knew Mussolini was on the payroll of British Intelligence in 1917. Now a new book provides evidence the UK actively backed his 1922 march on Rome and seizure of power
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Italy’s Foreign Press Association moved into Silvio Berlusconi’s old Rome apartment this morning. First discovery was a secret door to a back staircase. Good way to allow party guests to leave in a hurry?
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Don't know how long these spots will remain uncluttered, so splurged on breakfast with a view at the Trevi Fountain. €4.40 for a cappuccino, raisin bun and toasted sandwich.
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It's that time of the year in Rome when locals are in scarves and tourists are in flip flops
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In Moldova, Europe's poorest country, residents have put up 90,000 Ukrainians in their homes without asking to be paid. One refugee tells me, "When it’s safe to return home, Moldovans will be the most welcome guests in the whole of Ukraine”
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Back on my favourite train ride in Italy - the night train from Sicily to Rome which gets a lift across the Straits of Messina on the ferry
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How Rome works: To obtain a new young person's
city transport season ticket for my son I had to print off a form and and take it to a station where I queued up for 45 minutes to get the ticket. It will be amazing when Rome transport managers hear about the internet
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Is it me, or does Italy's Corriere della Sera devote pages every day to predictions and leaks about pending rules on Covid-related movement restrictions which the government hasn't decided on yet... but reports them as fact? It's driving me mad.
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‘Italy without Italians’: cover of mag owned by Berlusconi sends message that people of colour, even those born in Italy, can never be Italian. Comes days after government minister discussed threat of ‘ethnic substitution’
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You can't see Prince Harry's book on sale at my Rome newsstand because it sold out. 'This week's best seller,' says vendor
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A local in Italy's coronavirus 'red zone' tells me: 'Food shops left open let in 5 at a time, people are in masks and the chemist is serving through a hatch. We saw news about Wuhan but never thought it would happen here. It’s like an unreal cemetery'
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World's greatest private collection of Roman statuary goes on show in Rome this week after being kept under wraps for decades by noble Torlonia family. Just been to press viewing and here are some pics..
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I have been telling Italians for months about masks making my glasses fog up. Just been told I have been using the wrong word and have actually been saying my glasses are dipped in breadcrumbs
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Mussolini getting a springtime brush-up at Rome’s Olympic stadium this morning
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Some of the hundreds of ancient Roman dice dug up at the Forum in Rome and now on display there
Roman rock crystal gaming die, marked one to six just like modern dice. 1st-2nd century AD
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Italy's Carabinieri just sent me the pic I have been waiting years to see. Cosa Nostra fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro after his capture this morning in a Palermo health clinic following 30 years on the run
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Italy is limiting big screens in piazzas tonight and some Rome squares are being shut off over Covid fears, in stark contrast to the 66k packing into Wembley despite virus surge in UK
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Rome mayor's rubbish czar claims mounds of stinking trash are due to people dumping it to damage mayor's rep ahead of election. Nothing to do with chronic mismanagement. Just like when mayor accused foes of fly tipping old fridges to make her look bad
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My tweet from this café at Rome's Trevi fountain yesterday drew an incredible 2.6k likes, which I think shows a huge, pent-up desire to travel again. And today, Italy has announced it is ditching its quarantine rule for visitors from the UK, EU and Israel
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Despite Italy's bid to accelerate jabs, here's a prediction for the summer: Hedonistic, maskless foreign tourists waving vax passports as they order another bottle of white, watched from the shadows by thoroughly pissed off unvaccinated Italians
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What's the preferred Covid vaccine of ancient Roman philosophers?
AstraSeneca
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“It doesn’t matter if in the morning I find your smile on my bedside table … You’re the queen, the only goddess," sings Italian comic Checco Zalone to Helen Mirren in their pro-vax video
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"Get up here, Triton needs a scrub" Monday morning bath time at the Trevi Fountain
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Me getting Pele's autograph at a London book signing my dad took me to
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Last night I watched Matteo Salvini address a rally for 20 mins, then spend over an hour posing for hundreds of selfies. Is there another politician in the world who does that?
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Maradona honoured outside Naples' San Paolo stadium tonight
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I was in the Sistine Chapel today to watch all 10 of Raphael's giant tapestries being hung in their original spots for the first time since the 16th C. Can confirm velcro is used
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Non-stop leaking of Italy's new Xmas rules, but nation is forced to spend its Friday night twiddling thumbs in front of computer waiting for PM Conte's Facebook presser to really find out whether it can see granny on the 25th. How is this good for Conte's popularity again?
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In Pompeii this week I stood on a grassy hillock which is soon to be excavated and where more stunning finds are expected as the site's golden age continues. “Wherever you dig at Pompeii, you find,” the director tells me
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Rome's Palatine Hill and Forum are being used by school teachers to hold open air lessons to escape cramped classrooms. History lessons now being held at the Roman senate and under the shade of trees next to imperial palaces with views over Colosseum
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Villa Glori park in Rome where the old pines are dying thanks to a bug which could have been halted if the city had acted in time, and where a new holm oak planted has already died thanks to lack of care. Povera Roma
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Most wood furniture at Herculaneum was preserved in carbonised form by 500c volcanic mud, but where wood was flung onto the beach, the mud was cooled by seawater and the wood has survived as 2,000 year old living wood, like this incredible ceiling panel
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In the touristy heart of Rome, 17% of housing is now on AirBnB, Sapienza University research reveals. Florence 29%, Palermo 25%, Bologna 32%. Yet Italy's plans to tackle the problem are minimal compared to robust action by London, NY, Paris, Amsterdam
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The world waited decades for the incredible Torlonia Roman statues to be exhibited, only for the show to open as Covid strikes again. I had no problem booking tix with 12 hrs notice to go for a 2nd time. Here are more pics for those who can't make it
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Seen at opening of Augustus' tomb in Rome today: 'Viva il Duce' graffiti (1930s), grooves in Roman brickwork where urinals were bolted in to create loo when tomb used as concert hall (early 20thC), rings to tether bulls when tomb used as bull fighting ring (18thC)
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Can the drones win it? Rome put on a hell of a light show with drones at the Colosseum tonight to promote its candidacy to host the 2030 Expo
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First day back for outdoor customers at Babingtons Tea Room by the Spanish Steps in Rome
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Latest round of digging at Pompeii has halted but boss Massimo Osanna tells me that when lockdown ends work will continue at the tavern where a counter and amphorae were found. 'We want to analyse organic material in food containers, and there may rooms for prostitutes', he says
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There are so many offices and shops shut in central Rome that I am able to park my moped legally for the first time in years. Doesn't feel right.
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A Bergamo hospital talked to 500 ex-covid patients and found that after 1-3 months, 30 per cent still have breathing problems, 10 per cent have heart problems and about 9 per cent have cognitive problems, including loss of memory and concentration
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Last week I wrote about the Rome bridge that goes nowhere. Now they have added a bike path.
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Here's archeologist Alessandro Russo showing off the rather striking mosaic now emerging in the reception room (which also features floor to ceiling mosaics) being excavated at Pompeii, which I visited yesterday
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At Pompeii, in the room next door to the newly discovered mosaic of Orion ascending to heaven is a second mosaic which seems to show Orion capturing a beast with multiple heads, including the heads of a deer, snail, monkey, parrot and crocodile. And its tail is a snake.
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New figures show number of 18-34 yr olds in Italy fell nearly a qtr in last 20 yrs. Italy now has proportionally fewest people in age group of any EU country. Hard to get people to have more children, as gov wants, when there are simply fewer people
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Luigi Di Maio, head of Italy's 5Star party, was just asked at a press conference what he would do in government about the F-35 fighter.
Didn't answer.
As Italy's 5Star party edge towards power, it's worth recalling they said last year they would kill off the F-35 fighter programme
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Today outside my local supermarket, the two symbols of modern Rome - an overflowing bin and a massive wild boar
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Italy’s population shrank by 342,000 in 2020, equalling population of Florence, a new report reveals, as Covid put people off having children while pushing up death rates. This difference between births and deaths was highest since 1918, when it was 648,000 due to Spanish Flu
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Mount Etna dumped 12,000 tonnes of volcanic ash on this town in Sicily in 90 minutes - the same weight as the rubbish collected there in a year
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Boarding the 5.52am train from Siracusa to Palermo. It's direct, no need to change, so only takes 4.5 hours. Ticket: 17.30 euros. So far it's just me
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Just seen an Italian news site has written that the Times has compared Meloni's electoral reform plan to a Mussolini law. For the record, my article simply quotes Italian senator Liliana Segre saying this. Here is the article..
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Italy will reintroduce 5 day quarantine for visitors from UK, but not before Monday, meaning Welsh fans flying in for Wales' game vs Italy on Sunday are spared. "We took the game into consideration when we made the decision on timings," government source tells me
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'You don't want to do it like that!' Italy's dictionary has a new word, 'Umarell', defining 'Pensioners who gather, often with hands behind their back, at building sites, checking, asking questions, giving suggestions or criticising the activities'
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Often said Italy has too many amazing sites to know what to do with: Just a handful of people today at the Celano gorge, 90 mins from Rome. An incredible canyon a few metres wide in places with rock walls soaring 200 metres high
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Drove 11 hours north to flee 37c in Rome and get a look at the Dolomites. Nice and cool but tough to find a spot
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With so many defendants on video link from their jails, Italy's biggest mafia trial in 30 yrs is looking like the world's biggest mob Zoom
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At the end of lockdown in Rome the first thing I did was have a ricotta and caramelised fig ice cream at Settimo Gelo. Today I have returned for another. Just in case.
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The stumps of Rome's dead trees make streets look like mouths full of broken teeth, but local sculptor Andrea Gandini manages to turn them into works of art. Here's Socrates, one of 60 he's done
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Am at the annual conference in Venice run by the Italian embassy to the UK. Another drab, anonymous location
#veniceseminar
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Italy claims Wagner is playing role in current migrant surge from Africa, but recent boom has been from Tunisia in wake of crack down on sub-Saharan migrants there. Boats are arriving from E.Libya, but from Tobruk and Wagner is not there. What am I missing?
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Amazing passageway up to Palatine, built by Domitian, visitable this month for 1st time.
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Wandered past the Pantheon tonight and found police band playing Morricone hits then the national anthem. Applause from a crowd of relaxed Romans with a few scattered tourists
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Matteo Renzi says he brought down Italy's government because no-one listens to his great ideas about rebounding from Covid. But I keep on listening to his speeches to understand what those ideas are, and he is pretty vague. That's why it is easy to see this as a simple power grab
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@JessicaLPhelan
The magic word 'sarebbe' strewn throughout the article never makes it into the headline
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The carbonised pieces aren't bad either. Here's a crib, bed, shrine and stool, all going on display at a show at Portici near Herculaneum later this year
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If the Rome press corps has a doyen it's Paddy Agnew. Here's a piece about how the Irish Times axed him, and what he's doing about it
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With almost all the coronavirus patients in intensive care in Lombardy over 65, local elderly people have been asked to stay indoors as much as possible for 2-3 weeks
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Look what happens when the cruise ships and tourists leave.. Dolphins in Venice's Grand Canal
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Thank you Mail Online for ripping off, almost word for word, my piece in
@thetimes
on Ostia's mafia, to the point that a sentence I wrote has become a quote in your headline. Do you see the irony that the article is about threats to journalism?
#magpieMail
Italian journalist, 43, who exposed gypsy mafia gang vows not to leave Rome despite death threats
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Here in Rome, I have just received in the mail a parcel posted to me from the UK in September, almost 6 months ago. And because of Brexit, I was asked to pay customs to collect it from the post office.
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While in Rome I've seen a department store cafe open with a Roman aqueduct running through it, a necropolis discovered under a rugby stadium, an imperial barracks in a tube station and a 2,000 yr old warehouse found under a food market. Now this.
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Have bought a paper for years from newsstand by Trevi fountain in Rome run by couple who were a vital point of contact for the few locals clinging on as AirBnB guts the area. The couple have just retired and sold up, giving residents one less reason to stay
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Recycling bin by my house in Rome. On one side it says 'Unrecyclable waste', on other side 'Paper and cardboard'. So Romans just bung everything in it and the mayor wonders why recycling isn't working
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Meanwhile in Rome a gang of alleged fraudsters who dressed as cardinals to trick victims out of millions of euros have been caught by police officers disguised as priests
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North vs South in Italy in 2 pics. On the left, tree in Merano in Alto Adige with grill allowing water to reach roots. On the right, cement collar on earth around tree in Rome to make space for bin. And Romans wonder why their trees fall over
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According to recently released documents, Sir Samuel Hoare, who knew Mussolini when he was head of British intelligence in Rome between 1917 and 1918, later claimed that British money was used to “form the Fascist Party and to finance the march on Rome”
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The fresco is framed by designs similar to work carried out in a workshop across the street from the house where the fresco was found. "If that is the case it shows Pompeiians used the artisans in their own neighbourhood to decorate their homes"
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After years of false promises and loopholes, the Italian government has just promised it will finally kick cruise ships out of Venice by August 1...
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Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy's most wanted mafia boss, being led out of the Palermo health clinic where he was arrested this morning after 30 years on the run
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Who needs stodgy Christmas pudding when your Neapolitan mother in law makes Struffoli - 100's of deep fried dough balls covered in honey and multi-coloured sugar
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Banks of the Tiber, centre of Rome, Saturday afternoon. Apart from upset shop and restaurant owners, this about sums it up
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Is Italy again showing the UK the way on Covid? At Rome's 2 airports, the 30 min testing of 25,000 passengers arriving from 4 hotspot countries since mid-August has turned up 203 positives
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'Underground grottoes with ceilings up to five metres high have been found, including one under the Palatine Hill with a 20 metre-wide shallow lake in it'
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“We are about to come into contact with the past, and it’s a big unknown; we don’t know what awaits us,” Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii archaeological park, said as he knelt to inspect the slowly emerging stone work
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And so it begins. In my local park in Rome, most of the pines are being chopped down because of a bug that city officials ignored for years. 'But since most of Rome's pines are infected does that mean we'll lose them all?' I ask the guy with the chainsaw. 'Yup,' he says
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Adding this to my list of top Rome ice creams. A scoop of mango and a scoop of insanely fresh lime and mint for 2.50 euros from Neve di Latte in Flaminio
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Before Italy's 1st Euro victory vs Turkey, the team bus briefly left assistant coach Gianluca Vialli behind by mistake before the driver stopped to let him board. Since then, for good luck, before every game Vialli is left off the bus, which leaves, then stops to let him board
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Top Italian virologist Andrea Crisanti said his wife, who works in London, visited Italy and was amazed at the difference. “She noticed Italians are far more aware of the danger. Every shop here has hand sanitiser and orders you to wear a mask"
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When faced with lockdown, the British ransack supermarkets for toilet roll. As the risk of lockdown now grows here in Rome, supermarkets have had a run on blocks of parmesan
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Italy's papers have stationed a reporter with every party leader during this week's presidential election and given them each a page a day to fill. Cue reams of unreadable space filling froth and speculation. Which is actually an accurate reflection of the political debate
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20-something ahead of me in Rome pizza queue used the phrase "Whatever-sti'cazzi", all rolled into one (Roughly translates as: 'Whatever, who gives a fxxk'). Nice to see such a great English word joining forces with a top Italian expression
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I wrote recently about new digging in the shops off the Clivus Victoriae street which is due to reopen this year in the Domus Tiberiana on the Palatine Hill. Here is the 5thC crushed horse skeleton they found in one room (earthquake victim?). Zoom in to see the split open skull
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The world's biggest private collection of classical sculptures (623 pieces) is hidden in storerooms in Rome and has never been open to the public. I got a look at it ahead of a planned ground-breaking show next year
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Unable to visit the UK this year, my family drew up a list of things we buy when we go there and the stuff we miss. Kindly relative boxed it all up and sent it over for Christmas
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