Clooney called as witness in Berlusconi sex trial

ROME - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called Hollywood star George Clooney among his defense witnesses when he goes on trial next month accused of sleeping with an under-aged prostitute, court documents said.

US actor George Clooney poses with his girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis before the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2011 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week in this September 27, 2010 file photograph.[Photo/Agencies]

Berlusconi is accused of having sex with Moroccan night-club dancer Karima el Mahroug, known by her stage name Ruby, when she was 17, below the legal age for prostitution in Italy.

In the trial, which begins on April 6, prosecutors accuse Berlusconi of having had sex with a "significant number" of prostitutes during parties held at his private villa near Milan.

He is also accused of abusing his office to have Ruby released from police custody where she was accused of theft, as part of a cover-up.

Ruby told prosecutors during questioning that Clooney and his partner, Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, were among the guests at one of Berlusconi's parties, a claim denied by Canalis.

Clooney, a US actor and activist, said he could recall meeting the Italian leader only on one occasion, about aid to Africa. "It seems odd since I've only met Berlusconi once and that was in an attempt to get aid into Darfur," Clooney said in a statement from his Los Angeles-based spokesman.

Clooney and Canalis are among an illustrious list of trial witnesses made public Tuesday, featuring well-known Italian television presenters, actors, journalists and politicians.

Four government ministers, including Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna, a former topless model, have been called to testify.

Berlusconi denies ever paying for sex and says his parties were normal, "convivial" dinners.

taken from : China Daily
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Premiere of the television series "The Kennedys"

图Actor Tom Cruise poses with his wife and cast member Katie Holmes at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Katie Holmes and her husband actor Tom Cruise chat at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Tom Cruise poses, as his wife and cast member Katie Holmes watches, at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Barry Pepper poses at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Charlotte Sullivan poses at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Tom Cruise poses with his wife and cast member Katie Holmes at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

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Emma Watson quits college and goes back to Hogwarts

"Harry Potter" movie star Emma Watson has given up her schoolbooks and gone back to practicing witchcraft, for the films, anyway.

Watson, who portrays the British boy wizard's sidekick Hermione Granger in the wildly popular movies, posted a message to fans on her website on Monday saying that she is taking some time out of Brown University to finish off the "Potter" films.

The final chapter, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" will be released worldwide this upcoming July.

"I love Brown and I love studying pretty much more than anything but recently I've had so much to juggle that being a student AND fulfilling my other commitments has become a little impossible," Watson wrote.

"I've decided to take a bit of time off to completely finish my work on 'Harry Potter' (the last one comes out this summer) and to focus on my other professional and acting projects. I will still be working toward my degree...it's just going to take me a semester or two longer than I thought," the British actress added.

Watson also thanked her fans for their "continuing support."

The actress, who turns 21 years-old next month, enrolled at Brown in September 2009 for a four-year degree course. She had played brainy Hermione since the first Harry Potter movie, which was released in 2001.

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Genesis vocalist Phil Collins announces retirement

British singer, drummer and actor Phil Collins, who has enjoyed international chart success both as a solo artist and with the band Genesis, announced on his website that he has retired.

Media reports in recent days have given conflicting accounts of Collins' intentions, with some saying he has retired and others denying it.

"Why they were printed at all is a mystery, as I haven't spoken to anybody in the press for a few months," wrote the 60-year-old from London.

In a bid to set the record straight, he said he was not quitting due to bad reviews, poor treatment by the press, because he did not fit in or because he felt unloved.

"I am stopping so I can be a full-time father to my two young sons on a daily basis," Collins added.

"Some of the things mentioned above have been said by me in various interviews, but said as asides with a smile on my face and in passing.

"They were not meant to be 'headlines', they were small parts of a conversation. This clearly doesn't come over in print and I should know better."

He said some of the press coverage had portrayed him as a "tormented weirdo," but he reassured fans there was "no need for the straitjacket."

He made no mention of reports that health problems, including nerve damage in his hands, had forced him to retire.

Collins, singer of hits like "In the Air Tonight" and "Against All Odds," has won multiple Grammy awards, an Academy Award for his soundtrack to the film "Tarzan" and has sold an estimated 100 million albums as a solo artist.

Genesis is estimated to have sold around 150 million albums.

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Avril Lavigne more 'emotional,' 'raw' on new album

Canadian singer Avril Lavigne says her fourth album "Goodbye Lullaby," released in the United States on Tuesday, shows a different side to the petulant pop-punkster image she has perfected in the past.

"It is a more emotional, more raw record," Lavigne told Reuters in a recent interview in London to discuss Goodbye Lullaby, released by Sony Music's RCA Records label.

"And I think it's good for me to kind of switch it up a bit and do that."

At 26, and recently divorced, the star who burst on to the scene as a teenager with "Let Go" aims to win over a new audience with the fresh approach while still holding on to her core fanbase.

"I think, if anything, this record ... may be able to gain more of a mature audience along with it, and I hope to keep the same kind of core younger group," Lavigne explained.

"It's different this record for me, but it's very me. It's my personality, it's my style. It's not like I went and did something totally different or anything like that. It just showcases a different side to me and more of that."

Whether the album succeeds will soon become clear when the pop charts are published in the United States, Britain and other key markets where Lavigne's fanbase is strong.

FALLEN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS?

But some critics are concerned that the artist whose total album sales are estimated at 30 million may have fallen between two worlds.

"Avril Too Serene" was the New York Post's headline.

"Right from her 'Sk8er Boi' breakthrough in 2002, punky spunk always separated Canadian rock chick Avril Lavigne from the pack," wrote Dan Aquilante in a two-star review.

"Four discs into her career and after a highly publicized split from her Sum 41 groom, Deryck Whibley, Lavigne's latest record smacks of maturity (that's bad) and is salted with self-blame and doubt (worse).

"Add to that a surprising lack of divorce venom, and the result is a milquetoast breakup album -- a 13-song pileup of easy rock."

Mike Doherty, writing for Canada's National Post, agreed, describing the new album as "a middle-of-the-road collection of mildly yearning, acoustic-guitar-based songs."

Rolling Stone magazine awarded the record three stars in a mixed review, and also noted an obvious change in direction.

"Avril Lavigne is a romantic," said Jody Rosen. "That's a hard concept to wrap your mind around."

Among the collaborators on the album was ex-husband Whibley, Evan Taubenfeld and Butch Walker and songwriter/producer Max Martin.

It includes the song "Darlin,'" which Lavigne wrote when she was 14 and living in Canada.

"So you know, bringing back old songs that I did when I was younger and starting new ones and doing it on my own and playing the piano more and just recording it at my house ... it was just a different approach," she said.

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Kelly Osbourne ready for motherhood

Kelly Osbourne wants to have a baby with her gay best friend.

The 26-year-old beauty - who split with her last boyfriend Luke Worrall after he reportedly cheated on her with both men and women - confesses she is sick of straight men and would like to have a child with a homosexual pal, as her mother Sharon Osbourne would "love it".

She told Closer magazine: "I'm fed up with straight men - I'd love a baby with my gay best friend Nate. We'd be the perfect parents and my mum would love it!"

Kelly - who is the new face of Madonna and her daughter Lourdes' clothing line Material Girl - recently revealed she is dating 26-year-old musician Rob Damiani, but the pair are planning to take things slowly.

She said: "It's true, I'm having fun getting to know someone new. I met Rob over in the UK recently, and I want to take things slowly, so that means keeping some things private."

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Film premiere of 'Red Riding Hood' at Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood

Cast member Amanda Seyfried poses at the premiere of "Red Riding Hood" at the Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California March 7, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Amanda Seyfried poses at the premiere of "Red Riding Hood" at the Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California March 7, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Amanda Seyfried poses at the premiere of "Red Riding Hood" at the Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California March 7, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Virginia Madsen poses at the premiere of "Red Riding Hood" at the Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California March 7, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Virginia Madsen poses at the premiere of "Red Riding Hood" at the Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California March 7, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

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Pirates happy to rip off 'big movie companies'

LOS ANGELES - You've heard of Big Oil and Big Tobacco. Welcome to Big Movies.

In a survey released Monday, 36% of the people who engage in the piracy of films and TV shows over the Internet say one reason they do it is because they don't want to "contribute to the profits of big movie companies."

The data come from PricewaterhouseCoopers, which polled 202 people ages 18-59 who admit to online piracy.

Those who use the Internet to steal movies and TV shows are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to do the deed, and 81% who steal content say they will continue to do so in the future, the study shows.

The digital pirates say they might stop stealing such content if movies were priced at a maximum of $3 and TV shows at $1.

While some pirates say they have at least a modicum of sympathy for the studio investors and employees that they are ripping off, it's not enough to curb their illicit behavior. Only one-third say they even feel bad about driving up the cost of content for other consumers.

"Everyone does it" was one primary reason they gave for their piracy. PWC also opines that videos available free with ads have led to confusion about what's pirated and what's not.

Among the "concerns" of pirates, nothing frightens them more than the thought that they might infect their computers by engaging in piracy.

Also near the top of the list: the chance of getting into legal trouble; having to sit through a poor-quality stream or download; and the nagging feeling that they are "doing something wrong."

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Britney's single "leaks," some predict a club hit

The second single from Britney Spears' upcoming album "Femme Fatale" was posted on the internet on Thursday, and the upbeat dance anthem "Till the World Ends" has some pundits predicting a club hit.

Tracks leaking online has long been a problem for musicians seeking to control the release of their records, although Spears quickly took to Twitter to promote the "formal premiere" of the track on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on Friday.

Her record label also brought forward the single's digital release, making it available on iTunes on Friday, several days earlier than originally planned.

Britney has announced the full track listing for Femme Fatale, which goes on sale on March 29 and will test the public's appetite for the latest Spears comeback.

The new album will feature 12 tracks, with four extra songs available on the deluxe edition.

"I think 'Femme Fatale' speaks for itself ... I wanted to make a fierce dance record where each song makes you want to get up and move," Spears said.

Early reaction to Till the World Ends, written by fellow popstar Ke$ha and produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin, suggests that the 29-year-old's rollercoaster career is on the up again.

"Like its predecessor 'Hold It Against Me', Spears's main intention with her new single seems to be keeping the dance floor pulsating with sweaty bodies," wrote Gerrick D. Kennedy on the L.A. Times music blog "Pop & Hiss."

"And we don't blame her, as the catchy song does make you want to grab some glow sticks and hit the clubs."

Music channel MTV opined: "Britney Spears' new single ... sounds poised to be a club smash."

The electro-pop song's message is predictably simple, summed up in the refrain: "Keep on dancin' till the world ends."

And while critics agree that it could be the work of any number of pop stars, some say Spears, whose torrid personal life has often overshadowed her musical success, has the confidence and "breathy" vocals to pull it off.

The first track from the album, "Hold It Against Me," debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January, breaking digital download records on the way.

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Britney Spears and boyfriend are a 'normal couple'

Britney Spears and her boyfriend Jason Trawick are a "normal couple".

The 'Hold It Against Me' singer has been dating agent Jason since March 2009 and despite her high profile insisted the relationship is no different from that of any other couple.

She said: "We're really normal. We just like to watch movies. We work out a lot. We love to work out. We do stuff together like that. We take walks."

Britney, 29 - who has two children Sean Preston, five, and four-year-old Jayden James with ex-husband Kevin Federline - is currently preparing to release her new album 'Femme Fatale' and revealed she thinks it will be her best record yet.

She told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show: "It's, I think, my best work yet. I love the album. It's definitely something that you want to work out to. It's definitely upbeat. Will.i.am's on the record and I'm a dancer so it's definitely something I can work with. It's just really fun, it's a really really fun record.

"A lot of the people that I worked on this record with, Max Martin, I've worked with him on several of my albums and so I love working with him. I stick to a genre of people that I've worked with for a while. And then I actually experiment as well, so I experimented working with Will.i.am and stuff like that, so that's kind of how I work."

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Love at first sight for Kristen Stewart and Robert

Kristen Stewart fell in "love at first sight" with Robert Pattinson.

The real life couple play Bella Swan and her vampire love Edward Cullen in the 'Twilight Saga' movie series and Catherine Harwicke - who directed the first 'Twilight' movie - said Kristen felt an instant attraction to her co-star.

Catherine said: "I looked at a couple pictures and was like, 'I'm not sure.' He had been fired from his last job, he was unemployed, he was in debt.

"I have footage of their first meeting at my dining-room table. Kristen was like, 'It's got to be Rob!' She felt connected to him from the first moment. That electricity, or love at first sight, or whatever it is."

While Kristen, 20, eventually managed to convince the director to hire Robert, Catherine revealed she made him promise not to get romantically involved with his co-star because she was only 17 at the time and he was four years older.

She explained to Newsweek: "I told him, 'You've got to realize that Kristen is 17 years old. She's underage. You've got to focus, dude, or you're going to be arrested.' I made him swear on a stack of Bibles."

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Taylor Swift dating Glee star?

Taylor Swift is reportedly dating 'Glee' star Chord Overstreet.

The 'Love Story' hitmaker - whose most recent relationship was with 'Love & Other Drugs' star Jake Gyllenhaal from October to December last year - has been spotted enjoying dates with the actor and friends say the pair are enjoying getting to know each other.

After the couple were spotted at a hockey game last week, a friend told E! News: "They are dating. It's in the early stages so who knows, but they seem to be into each other."

The pair also attended Harvey Weinstein's pre-Oscar party at Soho House on Saturday (26.02.11) night where a source said: "They spent most of the night talking closely and giggling. He would playfully touch her arm, and she couldn't stop smiling. It was cute!!"

Meanwhile Taylor, 21, reportedly had an intense chat with former boyfriend Jake, 30, at the Vanity Fair post Oscars bash last night (27.02.11), where onlookers said they appeared to be "sorting something out".

A guest at the party told People: "They were outside near the restroom having a discussion. It seemed a bit more serious - it certainly wasn't a 'Hi, how are you?' talk. It seemed like they were catching up, sorting something out."

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U2 to play Glastonbury festival

Irish rockers U2 will perform at the Glastonbury music festival this year, joining Britain's Coldplay and U.S. singer Beyonce as the main headline acts.

The band had to cancel their scheduled appearance at one of the world's biggest outdoor music events last year when lead singer Bono injured his back.

U2 will play the Pyramid stage, which can be seen by tens of thousands of fans standing on a grassy slope, on Friday, June 24.

"After the disappointment of U2 being unable to play last year, we're now doubly excited at the prospect of the Friday night supergroup breaking the sound barrier," said Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis.

U2 guitarist the Edge added: "It's more a way of life than a festival. I made it last year to the Friday show -- got to play with Muse, got to hang out, ate a veggie burger and fries, and got to play on the Pyramid Stage.

"I have to say there is something really special and iconic about that stage. So we're all looking forward to coming back to pick up where I left off. And we're so excited to get to play in front of the world's greatest festival audience."

Eavis, an English dairy farmer now in his 70s, has developed Glastonbury from a small, free music festival into a major event in the pop calendar attracting some of the biggest acts and around 150,000 paying fans living on site in tents.

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'King's Speech' and tradition triumph at Oscars

Hollywood found a new group of kings lording over movies on Monday, the makers of Oscar winner "The King's Speech," whose heartwarming tale triumphed over a flashy story of new technology in "The Social Network."

"King's Speech" claimed four Oscars -- best film, actor for Colin Firth, director and screenplay -- with a traditional story of a British monarch defeating personal demons. It featured World War Two-era costumes, sweeping sets and a royal tale that seemed bigger than life itself.

The British movie entered Sunday's Oscars, the world's top film honors, in a tight race for best film with "The Social Network," which chronicled the rise of Facebook from a website dreamed up in a college dormitory to an Internet sensation.

But the contemporary tale of the digital age -- and its stable of young actors such as Jesse Eisenberg -- failed to capture the fancy of Oscar voters as much as did the old-fashioned, sweeping saga "The King's Speech."

"What has struck me is the emotional response to (the movie), which seems to have been very, very personal and quite diverse," Firth told reporters after the awards show.

The veteran actor, age 50, won best actor over a group of others that included Eisenberg, 27, who portrayed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It was Firth's second nomination and Eisenberg's first.

Natalie Portman claimed the best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a young ballerina who grows into womanhood in "Black Swan."

Portman called it "a dream" backstage to be a winner and despite the fact that she has starred in big-budget flicks such as the "Star Wars" movies, she instantly becomes an even more sought-after star.

COMEDY ONSTAGE

Similar to Firth, veterans Melissa Leo and Christian Bale won best supporting actress and actor, respectively, for roles in another straightforward movie, boxing drama "The Fighter."

Among other key winners were family comedy "Toy Story 3" for best animated feature, Wall Street meltdown movie "Inside Job" for top documentary and Denmark's "In a Better World" took the prize for foreign language film.

The world's top film honors from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came packed with a lot of comedy onstage from show hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

Franco, 32, and Hathaway, 28 -- the first man and woman to co-host the program -- had been expected to bring a youthful edge to the show, but it seemed that some of the better sequences harkened back to the Hollywood of old.

Hathaway sang a beautiful number, after which Franco appeared in a dress and blonde wig, looking like Marilyn Monroe -- or, perhaps more closely like her co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon when they dressed in drag for "Some Like it Hot."

And even the more subtle fashion of recent years -- when women dressed down in a nod to the economic recession -- seemed turned on its ear. This year, some razzle and some dazzle returned to Oscar's red carpet with bright and colorful gowns.

In a year that was supposed to have been all about what was new and hip, it was what was the old that was new again.

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Franco, Hathaway fail to wow as Oscar hosts

LOS ANGELES – Oscar organizers tried something unprecedented in the awards' 83-year history on Sunday -- entrusting a young, attractive pair of Hollywood stars to host the film industry's highest honors.

But the efforts of James Franco and Anne Hathaway fell largely flat, according to early reviews of their first stint as Oscar hosts.

The New York Times said that "the prolonged effort to pander to younger viewers was downright painful" at times, while the Boston Herald remarked sourly that "references to the Internet, apps and Facebook do not make a show trendy, or alas, entertaining."

Entertainment Weekly, however, said that Hathaway, 28, and Franco, 32, were "marvelous Oscar hosts" calling them "funny, poised, relaxed, and smart."

Producers of the Oscar telecast had been hoping that the duo might lure younger viewers who have increasingly tuned out the Oscars in recent years.

"Anne, I must say, you look so beautiful and so hip," Franco deadpanned as show opened.

"Oh, thank you, James," said Hathaway, the youngest host in Oscar history. "You look very appealing to a younger demographic as well."

Early in the show, presenter Justin Timberlake, appeared to use a smart-phone app to illuminate a "Shrek" backdrop to introduce awards for animated films.

OLD HOLLYWOOD ALSO CELEBRATED

Two films wildly popular with young moviegoers this past year, "Twilight" sequel "Eclipse" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," figured prominently in a pre-taped comic lip-syncing sequence.

But the show hardly turned its back on Hollywood of yesteryear. Kirk Douglas, 94, his speech badly slurred from a stroke 15 years ago, shuffled on stage with a cane to present the Oscar for best supporting actress to Melissa Leo for "The Fighter."

Douglas alluded to the Oscar generation gap in complimenting Hathaway on her looks.

"She's gorgeous," he said as the young actress blew him kisses. "Where were you when I was making pictures?"

The night's Oscar winner for best original screenplay, David Seidler, 73, for "The King's Speech," said he was the oldest person ever to claim that award.

The program frequently conjured up images and music from Oscar-winning film blockbusters of yore, from "Gone with the Wind" to "Star Wars" and "Titanic."

In one of night's biggest nods to Hollywood's older set, actor-comedian Billy Crystal, an eight-time Academy Awards host widely hailed as one of the best, made a surprise appearance to introduce a salute to the first televised Oscars in 1953, and its master of ceremonies, the late Bob Hope.

Harkening back to an era that predated the birth of many of the stars who filled the Kodak Theater on Sunday, Crystal said he was just 5 years old then.

A clip of that historic telecast showed Hope -- who presided over more Oscars than anyone, 18 in all -- opening the show that year with the now-famous line, "Welcome to the Academy Awards, or as it's known at my house, Passover."

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Angelina Jolie gets love pendant for Brad

Angelina Jolie has commissioned a pendant engraved with a microscopic love message for Brad Pitt.

The stunning actress has asked London-based jeweller Robert Procop to prepare the necklace, based on Ancient Egyptian amulets, but the company will not let on what the secret intimate message reads.

Robert told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I can't tell you what it says, and you would need a microscope to read it. The technology is quite new. The hidden message is lasered on."

Angelina, 35, has worked with Robert, a former chief executive of upmarket jeweller Aspreys, for 10 years and the pair are even planning to go into business, designing a range called 'The Style Of Jolie' together.

Speaking about how the line will look, Robert has said: "Angelina has very classic style. These are pieces she wears herself."

Pieces from the collection will be sold privately through the designer's network of clients, with all proceeds going to charity the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict

Last year, Angelina teamed up with Brad to create a gold and silver collection for Asprey, with all profits donated to the same charity, which was co-founded by Angelina.

The capsule collection, entitled The Protector, included baby gifts such as egg cups and silver spoons, and was inspired by snakes.

Speaking about the charity, Angelina said: "These are the children who most need a safe place to learn, a place to heal, a place to learn reconciliation, a place to build a better future and a place - to just be children. Yet the education for these children is often forgotten. Tens of millions of children and adolescents in conflict are not in school."

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