USA TODAY US Edition
Fei-Fei Li sparks AI boom but keeps humanity at heart
On Feb. 18, Fei-Fei Li made headlines. The company she cofounded, World Labs, announced it had raised $1 billion – with a B – in funding. Now it’s poised to bring artificial intelligence into 3D. That’s the “spatial intelligence” that will make it...
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Angel City plays to win for women, their community
If you’re heading to your first Angel City Football Club home game at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, you will experience a vibe. Girls wearing too-large player jerseys − their dads in pink wigs. PodeRosas, a group of Spanish-speaking supporters, chanting,...
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Generation Z and the demise of the house party
We used to be a proper country. Where dancing on sticky living room floors, sneaking beers from our parents’ refrigerators and bumping music on stereos were hallmarks of adolescence. • Gen Z, apparently, doesn’t know that. Or at least not to the same...
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Pressure building in airport impasse
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers deployed to ease security lines at airports across the country, the pressure on the White House and Capitol Hill to end the monthlong shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security reached its highest...
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Young people may wonder: Why even try?
For decades, the American dream meant upward mobility, but many young people today define it as simply achieving stability. • To them, securing housing, a stable career, health care and education are essential steps toward living comfortably, according...
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When tragedy hit, this grandma helped teens heal
At 4 a.m. every Wednesday, Peggy Winckowski wakes up to make breakfast. She reminds her husband, Bill, to stay in bed and she gets ready. “I don’t walk out of that bathroom without my face on,” she says. “I’m going to have my earrings on. I’m going to...
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Sarah Bond believes gaming has power to connect us all
Sarah Bond fondly remembers sitting next to her father playing King’s Quest II – solving puzzles, navigating mazes and unlocking doors – all in an effort to rescue the beautiful maiden, Princess Valanice, from captivity. • At age 6, Bond had no idea...
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‘Dark’ things unfold with sheriff on watch
JASPER, AL − On a brisk December morning in Walker County, Alabama, the temperature in Sheriff Nick Smith’s office is a welcome shelter from the cold. Down a flight of stairs from where Smith sits, into a chill that grows with every step, Anthony...
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Can nuclear power end water crisis?
In the middle of the desert sits a sign: “Caution docks may be slippery.” They are not. In fact, there’s not a drop of water to be seen at Antelope Point Marina, which once sat near the shore of Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir. The...
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New era of protests is missing its music
In late January, Bruce Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis,” memorializing Minnesota residents shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, weaving “ICE Out Now” chants into a chorus of Trump-era resistance. A few weeks later, U2...
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Mother turns her unthinkable loss into advocacy
Maybe, for the first time since her son’s death, Rachel Goldberg-Polin can grieve. ● Or so she told her therapist. ● But how would it happen? ● Goldberg-Polin imagines herself in a grocery store. In the cereal aisle, she’d spot a box of Cap’n Crunch on...
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‘Only in America’: A love of country drives her mission
Every Fourth of July, Emma Bloomberg had a tradition when she was growing up. She and her little sister, Georgina, would stand before their father and recite the Declaration of Independence. • The document’s ornate, English Roundhand script wasn’t easy...
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Colleges get dressed for NIL success
When the University of Tennessee athletic department switched its apparel provider from Nike back to Adidas last summer, the biggest clue as to why was hidden within a sentence seven paragraphs into the university’s announcement. ● Tennessee’s new...
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Aaron Parnas rises to his media moment
Vice President Kamala Harris skirted tradition in September when she picked liberal prodigy Aaron Parnas instead of a cable news host to helm the first tour stop for her tell-all 2024 campaign book, “107 Days.” “Thank you for giving me the best job in...
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Foreign spies swapping sex for secrets
The foreign woman was attractive, well-dressed and confidently at ease. • She struck up a conversation in person with the former American soldier – at the time, a senior defense contractor – answering his questions about the company she said she worked...
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Channing Dungey knows how to make television magic
Channing Dungey loves stories. It started with books – she was reading at age 2 – and blossomed thanks to Saturday nights with her mom. “I grew up with a mom who loved old movies,” she says. Channing, mom Judith, and little sister Merrin would gather...
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Following a dream, from ‘trailer girl’ to country superstar
When Lainey Wilson was 9 years old, she wrote a song called “Lucky Me.” • She still remembers every word. • That same year, she got her first pair of bellbottoms, her first horse and her first glimpse of the stage that would indelibly shape her future:...
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New gold rush sweeps across American West
SDENVER loshing chilly river water around his black plastic pan, Kevin Singel tilted it this way and that, catching the sun, looking for a telltale glint: flecks of gold. • “Right there,” exclaimed the longtime prospector and guidebook author. “We got...
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Revolution was born in America’s historic taverns
An 18th century traveler through the southern part of New Jersey might stop at the Indian King, a respite on a long journey along Kings Highway, then and now a main thoroughfare connecting several towns. ● At the Indian King, that traveler could find a...
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Shopping cart roundup targets urban blight
As Julian Montague drove around Buffalo, New York, he noticed them everywhere. ● Tipped over at intersections, crushed by snowplows in parking lots, waiting alone at bus stops. Shopping carts had wandered away from their stores. ● Montague, an artist,...
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In America, ‘you kind of do the math’
Hilary Hodge suffers from severe allergic asthma. But in 2012, she saw hope in biologic medication. There was one catch: She was living in the United States at the time, and biologics would cost her $36,000 a year. A few years later, she moved to...
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Will Trump focus on economy or legacy?
The state of President Donald Trump’s union is troubled. • When he delivers the annual State of the Union address on Feb. 24, the audience in the House chamber will likely include members of a Supreme Court that just outlawed the stiff tariffs that...
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A golden finish for Americans in Milan
MILAN – Alysa Liu arrived at the Olympic figure skating venue Thursday night, Feb. 19, hopping up and down, more excited for her teammate Amber Glenn than herself. She had watched Glenn’s stellar long program on the shuttle bus over to the Milano Ice...
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Snow’s hidden wonders celebrated amid Games
Call it beautiful, annoying, inspiring or dangerous, snow is anything but boring. And that’s even before you start learning more about the science behind it. Olympians and everyday Americans know snow is a complex and fickle phenomenon, influenced by...
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Biologists help condors soar
A6-year-old California condor hopped from an open crate and trotted a half-dozen steps toward the cliff, spreading its two-tone wings in the winter sun before launching over the upper end of Grand Canyon. • Condor No. 987’s return to the wild after...
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Civil rights icon lived for justice
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a towering civil rights icon who battled alongside Martin Luther King Jr., negotiated global hostage releases, and shamed corporations for their lack of corporate diversity and failure to support voting rights, has...
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Squeaker or tsunami?
Big numbers and high stakes are riding on the ballot in November: 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats, 39 governorships − and the country’s course for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term. ● Who will win? In the math of the midterms, a...
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Cold can turn a stay in jail into a death sentence
As temperatures outside the DeKalb County Jail plunged into the teens, a tragedy was unfolding inside the Georgia jail. • Lamar Walker was begging for help and slowly freezing to death, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his family. • Walker, 34,...
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‘Girl time’ sets patient on the road to healing
Jennifer Taylor’s breast cancer story started like thousands of other women’s: by finding a lump. ▪ Her doctor guessed it was hormonal but sent her for a mammogram and an ultrasound just to be sure. In the days leading up to her mammogram appointment,...
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Amid WWII, Iowa farmed humanity
Jean Shey was 12 when she first questioned her father’s judgment. ▪ He wanted to serve lunch to the Germans. Not neighbors – prisoners of war in her town of Algona, Iowa. ▪ Five of them. Men captured overseas while her friends’ brothers were fighting...
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Grandkids’ caregiving fight taken to court
Baby Briana’s arms twitched and her legs flopped against the cold concrete. She stopped breathing. The 16-month-old needed an ambulance to arrive within minutes and someone to pump air into her lungs with infant CPR until it got there. Briana’s life...
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‘American Icons’: Bud rides again
For the second consecutive year and 10th overall, the power of the Clydesdale reigned over USA TODAY’s Ad Meter. The Budweiser icon, this time aided by an American bald eagle, pushed Anheuser-Busch to the top rating in USA TODAY’s annual viewer survey...
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Dad discovers truth of jailed son’s death
COMPTON, CA – The man in the suit arrived in an unmarked car on a spring morning in 2020 with the worst news James Brown had ever heard. His 30-year-old son Jamall was dead. Brown hadn’t heard from him in the days since he was detained on a parole...
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TOP 25 SUPER BOWL MOMENTS
SAN JOSE, CA − Should the Seattle Seahawks have simply run the ball? It’s a question that’s been posed countless times over the past decade-plus but has returned to the forefront with a vengeance this week as Seattle prepares to play the New England...
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Kids delve into sports betting
Seventy-five dollars is all Sam needed for his next round of sports bets on his BetMGM app. Well – it wasn’t officially his. He was 17 years old, and the legal gambling age in his home state of Arizona is 21. Sam used his mom’s ID behind her back to...
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Hefty bills catch patients off guard
During a routine visit to a medical office in suburban Boston, Suzanne Maguire had a small plug put in her tear duct to treat persistent dry eye. She paid $600 for the procedure, which took just a few minutes. Weeks later, the Arlington, Massachusetts,...
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Detainees describe horror at facility
LAREDO, TX – They stole a few hours’ sleep under glaring LED lights, crowded in by dozens of other detainees. They shivered through fevers and flus and prayed deadlier diseases weren’t stalking their confines. Then, just as they feared their...
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Deep divisions remain over aid in dying
When Susan Rahn dies, she wants a party. ● The 55-year-old grandmother from Webster, New York, has Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. ● Rahn considers herself lucky for having lived far beyond her expected lifespan at the time of her diagnosis over a...
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Appeals court weighs further cuts to CFPB
A federal appeals court will soon decide whether the Trump administration can fire a majority of the staff at an agency tasked with helping consumers and take other actions that could gut the bureau. The Trump administration has delayed funding and...
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ICE endangers strides made in local policing
Booming flash bangs and fireworks rattled the frigid windows of Michelle Gross’ home in North Minneapolis. “It sounded like a war zone outside,” Gross said about the confrontation between federal agents throwing grenades and protesters lighting...
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Latest MN shooting spurs new protests
Minnesota leaders are vowing to hold federal officials accountable for the fatal shooting on Jan. 24 by a Border Patrol agent of a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, whose death has sparked fresh protests in a state already rocked by the killing of...
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‘Crunchy moms’ find validation in RFK Jr.
CLEVELAND – The word “crunchy” once defined a progressive outlook in the health and wellness world. Crunchy moms of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s espoused yoga, granola and wheatgrass, alongside broadly left-leaning political views on everything from...
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American dream was born in protest
The founders called it “petitioning for redress.” Martin Luther King Jr. referred to it as “civil disobedience,” and his protégé, Sen. John Lewis, described it as “good trouble.” ● Whatever the term, historians largely agree: The United States was born...
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Summer camp sign-up a mad dash
For some moms, the emails begin to arrive in early December. “SUMMER CAMP 2026!” reads the subject line. It’s not even Christmas yet. Parents are increasingly complaining about − and stressed out by − the ever-earlier summer camp sign-up dates that...
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Return to power divides Americans
President Donald Trump swept back into the White House last year amid a series of promises he laid out in his inaugural address Jan. 20. Prosperity. Security. Respect. Hope. For millions of conservatives, Trump’s return to power was a dream come true....
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A game-changer
MIAMI – Banners flap along South Beach’s Alton Road, heralding both Hoosiers and Hurricanes. Digital billboards all over town cheer on both Indiana University, led by wunderkind Fernando Mendoza, and the University of Miami, the oncedynastic hometown...
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Ms. Rachel’s persona fits her own life
By toddlers’ standards, Ms. Rachel is among the most famous people in the world. The YouTube educator and one of Glamour’s Women of the Year has become many kids’ favorite celebrity, gracing their screens with colorful videos and catchy songs. • But at...
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Alaskan history carved in ‘totem pole capital’
KETCHIKAN, AK – An arched sign stretching between two city blocks welcomes travelers to “Alaska’s first city” and the “salmon capital of the world.” But Ketchikan, the first port on many Alaska cruises, has another nickname: the “totem pole capital of...
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Questions linger in wake of shooting
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a 37year-old woman in Minneapolis, sparking protests as the Trump administration claimed self-defense and local and state authorities said the agent acted recklessly. The shooting Jan. 7...
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Dry January
Gen Z is drying out, and it’s not a ‘blip’ Young people’s sobriety goes beyond just January The new year brings countless resolutions. For some, it starts with Dry January, a monthlong challenge void of any alcohol consumption. • A new generation of...
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Displaced survivors face hurdles to return
ALTADENA, CA – The smoky stench still lingers here on this stretch of Loma Alta Drive. A year after deadly wildfires rampaged through this once-vibrant road of colorful houses, the scars on the landscape and the struggles for residents remain. The...
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The Kennedys see their tradition tested
WASHINGTON – Stepping inside Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s sun-filled apartment is like stepping into American history. A letter from her father, Robert F. Kennedy, hangs in the hallway. “Dear Kathleen, as the oldest of the Kennedy grandchildren you...
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Implications of Maduro raid grow
Inside his home on a military base, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro bolted for a safe room as U.S. troops swooped into the compound and explosions lit up the nighttime sky over Caracas. Maduro made it as far as the door but couldn’t get it to...
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‘It’s everywhere’
After T’Roya Jackson discovered the paint in her apartment gave her daughter lead poisoning, she and her children moved out. ● They couch-surfed for a while before moving into a homeless shelter over the summer. The hair stylist began looking for a...
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Indiana’s QB went from 2,149 to No. 1
MIAMI – Fernando Mendoza sat in the front seat of the rental car on the six-hour drive, dialing one college coach after another. He had just finished a weeklong visit to some of college football’s most elite programs – Alabama, Clemson, South...
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Black women find a home in Mexico
MEXICO CITY l On a perfect, sunny 75-degree day, a group of Black American women gathered at a sidewalk cafe over coffee and pastries to dish about dating, the affordability of weight loss medications and where to find the best chocolate chip...
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Unseen threats
At first, the messages seemed normal. Innocent, even. ● “Hi,” “How are u?” And then: “Do you want to make Robux?” ● To millions of kids who play Roblox every day, those words might seem irresistible, and the same was true for Amie’s then-13-year-old...
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Meet the Americans eating like it’s 1776
Ayear and a half ago, Donnie Dodson set out to cook, and then rate, every U.S. president’s favorite meal – just for fun. Like any recent college graduate, he opted to chronicle the venture on TikTok, under the moniker “Eats History.” ● His first video,...
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Santa’s workshop?
Tucked away at the end of a narrow industrial park, inside the former warehouse of a heating and air conditioning company, sit piles and piles of Barbies, Legos, toy trucks, art kits, stuffed animals, baseballs and basketballs, board games and books. •...
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‘Song Sung Blue’ a love letter to Neil Diamond
Hugh Jackman, left, reveals how legendary singer shaped his life and how the movie led to a karaoke night with the performer.
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Rampant retaliation afflicts youth sports
For months, Brooke Wilfley raised concerns that the president of her local youth hockey governing board was using his position for profit. ● The Denver-area hockey mom discovered that the president, Randy Kanai, was secretly routing the Colorado...
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Move over, Santa!
FORT WORTH, TX − Sleigh bells ring, and a few dozen twinkly-eyed seniors are listening. Mrs. Claus is in the house, and she’s got a major bulletin to share. “I’ve come from the North Pole to deliver some very exciting news,” she tells those gathered...
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Big Easy’s big funk: You ‘feel the change’
NEW ORLEANS – At first glance, Bourbon Street remains as it always was: Tourists clutch cocktails as they totter down the uneven sidewalks in high heels. The shoeshine guys make their bad dad jokes. The brass bands draw crowds, cell phone cameras in...
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A lifeline for revitalizing Baltimore?
On a blustery November morning, Brandon Scott’s small entourage stood on the sidewalk outside The Terraces at Park Heights, a new senior living facility in West Baltimore. Scott, 42, is in his second term as mayor of Baltimore. He grew up just blocks...
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Family says they just want ‘a safer America’
BFirst of two stories looking at the role of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the changing landscape of immigration enforcement. ack when he was in uniform, everywhere the airman went Americans adored him, thanked him for his service, offered to...
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In 20 terms, she broke new ground
Nancy Pelosi isn’t given to regrets, but she now finds herself preparing to return to California while President Donald Trump remains in power in Washington. And there still hasn’t been a woman elected president. “I always thought that a woman would...
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Motocross now deadliest youth sport in USA
Two medics rolled Ashlee Sokalski onto a backboard and fitted the 19-year-old with a neck brace in the middle of the dirt motocross track. Other teen racers whizzed past on their off-road motorcycles, no halt to the race, no safety flaggers in sight....
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Grocery tracker: What’s your bill?
Jesi Aviles knows exactly what her weekly grocery bill will be before she walks into Walmart. “I know when I go in the grocery store, I’m not leaving without spending $400.” The 32-year-old stay-at-home mom of five in Mount Airy, North Carolina, has...
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Michigan dad sues over wrongful conviction: ‘They did me wrong’
Behind prison walls, they called him “Baby Killer.” • It was a torturous nickname for Michael Griffin, who was serving a life sentence for the death of his infant daughter – a crime he adamantly denies. He said she fell from a baby swing inside their...
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TIME TO GET REAL ON UFOS
A group of researchers say it’s time for academia to get serious about studying UFOs. The movement, championed by the Society for UAP Studies, is wrapping up an international conference aimed at establishing a new discipline dedicated to studying...
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Better future sought for Christmas trees
Steve Ottman was born to sell Christmas trees. Ottman, 73, said his family has been growing the holiday staple in Wisconsin since the Great Depression. But now his 50-acre Christmas tree farm just outside Belleville is in trouble. Drought struck...
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