18/08/2016 BBC Newsline


18/08/2016

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the triathlon, with Alistair beating his brother

:00:00.:00:12.

This is BBC Newsline and these are the headlines

:00:13.:00:18.

A Sinn Fein MLA resigns over claims about his contact with a key witness

:00:19.:00:24.

The latest from Rio after yesterday's arrest

:00:25.:00:28.

of Ireland's most senior Olympic official.

:00:29.:00:31.

The number of high A-level grades rises again -

:00:32.:00:35.

we'll hear from a careers advisor as decisions are made

:00:36.:00:37.

An appeal for accommodation for nurses from abroad coming

:00:38.:00:41.

On day 13 of the Olympic Games - join me live in Rio

:00:42.:00:49.

And the next couple of days will be very unsettled and unsummery,

:00:50.:00:58.

but there is light before the end of the weekend.

:00:59.:01:01.

It's been a day of accusations, a resignation and an apology

:01:02.:01:10.

Sinn Fein's Daithi McKay stood down from the Assembly

:01:11.:01:17.

It was claimed that when he was the Chair

:01:18.:01:21.

of the Assembly's Finance Committee, the North Antrim MLA advised

:01:22.:01:24.

the loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson about evidence

:01:25.:01:27.

he was to give to that committee about the sale of Northern Ireland's

:01:28.:01:31.

Mr McKay has now apologised saying his contact was inappropriate.

:01:32.:01:39.

Our political editor Mark Devenport is at Stormont.

:01:40.:01:47.

A day of upset. Tell us how this all kicked off. From the moment these

:01:48.:01:57.

revelations first emerged and on BBC Ulster radio show, things started to

:01:58.:02:01.

look very bad indeed for Daithi McKay. 11 months ago he was here at

:02:02.:02:06.

Stormont presiding over a that are making major headlines. But today,

:02:07.:02:10.

all the headlines were about whether the evidence given in those hearings

:02:11.:02:15.

were Whatley appeared on the surface. Last temper, Jamie Bryson

:02:16.:02:23.

used the privilege to make a series of explosive claims about the

:02:24.:02:27.

multi-million pound NAMA property deal, including best direct

:02:28.:02:31.

allegation that the then First Minister was involved. Can I take

:02:32.:02:37.

this committee that person a is Mr Peter Robinson MLA. Now it has

:02:38.:02:40.

emerged that before he gave the evidence, he was in contact with the

:02:41.:02:44.

committee cheer Daithi McKay and another Sinn Fein member about how

:02:45.:02:47.

exactly he should make the revelations. -- cheer. This is the

:02:48.:02:55.

former candidate Mr Mackay is meant to have put the blogger in touch

:02:56.:03:03.

with. He apparently sent messages on social media. In one message, he

:03:04.:03:07.

wrote... You are not denying that the truth

:03:08.:03:35.

of the message that have now emerged in public, that there were these

:03:36.:03:39.

exchanges between yourself, Mr Mackay and another Sinn Fein Amba?

:03:40.:03:47.

This was private and confidential information that has gone into the

:03:48.:03:52.

public domain. Peter Robinson strenuously denies any wrongdoing

:03:53.:03:57.

over NAMA and VDU people leaves the latest revelations prove he was the

:03:58.:04:02.

victim of a dirty tricks operation. -- DUP. This is a corruption of the

:04:03.:04:07.

Assembly process. They have found somebody who is prepared to work

:04:08.:04:11.

with them in corrupting the Assembly process. When I give evidence to the

:04:12.:04:15.

committee and the as me to go and give evidence, I called the Mickey

:04:16.:04:22.

Mouse committee. Had I known what I know now, it's more like a

:04:23.:04:25.

conspiracy. The blogger at the centre of it all insists he will not

:04:26.:04:30.

have anything to do with any investigation into the matter. Will

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you cooperate? No. I will not corroborate into any investigation,

:04:37.:04:41.

view my sources are. I will not be cooperating with any investigation.

:04:42.:04:47.

Sinn Fein says the party as a whole had no knowledge of any prior

:04:48.:04:53.

contact with Jamie Bryson. Someone I have worked with over the last years

:04:54.:04:59.

but in this instance I think he accepts he made an error of judgment

:05:00.:05:04.

and an error of judgment which has led him to resign as an MLA and I

:05:05.:05:08.

think he did the appropriate steps. -- took the appropriate steps. When

:05:09.:05:13.

he was cheering the NAMA hearings, Daithi McKay was a high-flyer.

:05:14.:05:17.

Sometimes spoken about as a potential minister. Now, he'll have

:05:18.:05:27.

to be replaced as an MLA. His political career is in tatters.

:05:28.:05:32.

Mark, what reaction has been from other parties at Stormont? Other

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politicians are asking whether Daithi McKay conduct was in breach

:05:36.:05:40.

of any of the Stormont reels of conductconduct. One thing is clear

:05:41.:05:46.

is that the opposition parties have scepticism whether Mr Mackay could

:05:47.:05:52.

have acted on his own without the knowledge of any other Sinn Fein

:05:53.:05:56.

colleagues. This is what we do. They deny and is only after time you get

:05:57.:06:00.

the full truth. I think if you look at the culture of Sinn Fein, the

:06:01.:06:06.

fact you can't count paperclips without Connelly has given their

:06:07.:06:13.

approval, the fact it was so wrong. Sinn Fein representatives do what

:06:14.:06:18.

they are told. I've sat on Council and you are not allowed to sneeze

:06:19.:06:21.

without it being approved. Do not believe it was one person making

:06:22.:06:25.

such an orchestrated move within a committee, unless it was sanctioned

:06:26.:06:31.

from very high up. The DUP and see police investigation and an

:06:32.:06:33.

investigation by the Assembly authorities. Where do you think the

:06:34.:06:37.

process will go from here? The fact Daithi McKay has resigned from being

:06:38.:06:44.

an MLA, the current real say that if the complaint is brought by the

:06:45.:06:48.

member of public or other politician, during the course of the

:06:49.:06:53.

next couple of weeks, it can still be investigated. That seems quite

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likely. One thing I expect we will see early next week is another

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meeting of the Finance committee, which is now cheered by the DUP, she

:07:00.:07:06.

is trying to have an early meeting to discuss these revelations about

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her predecessor in the committee role, Daithi McKay. We believe that

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they are. -- we will leave it there. There's plenty to come before 7pm

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including: We've advice for young people who've just

:07:18.:07:22.

got their A level results. The Olympic Council of Ireland says

:07:23.:07:26.

it will defend itself "to the hilt" in any investigation

:07:27.:07:29.

into ticket-touting The Council's President Pat Hickey

:07:30.:07:31.

was arrested by the Brazilian And as BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson

:07:32.:07:36.

reports, the controversy is making Patrick Hickey. The senior Irish

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Olympic official has been arrested over ticket touting. One reason for

:07:59.:08:06.

the worldwide publicity, the circumstances of his arrest. Early

:08:07.:08:11.

yesterday morning at a hotel in Rio. Soon afterwards he took ill and

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spent last night in hospital. Irish Olympic officials have been allowed

:08:16.:08:22.

to visit him. He has had lots of tests and he has made no comment as

:08:23.:08:27.

about the allegations. We will defend ourselves to the hilt, that

:08:28.:08:34.

is all I will say. He did not want to talk about the tickets

:08:35.:08:38.

controversy. No comment at the moment. Pat Hickey has categorically

:08:39.:08:47.

denied any wrongdoing. According to Brazilian police, anyone caught

:08:48.:08:50.

selling Olympic tickets illegally could face a long jail sentence. If

:08:51.:09:00.

Pat Hickey is guilty in Brazil, he can get seven years of prison. It is

:09:01.:09:06.

alleged that some tickets for the opening ceremony were being sold at

:09:07.:09:11.

four times their face value. Ten days ago Brazilian police arrested

:09:12.:09:16.

an Irish businessman. He has insisted he did nothing wrong and is

:09:17.:09:21.

waiting to see what action, if any, the authorities in real going to

:09:22.:09:26.

take. Whatever happens in Brazil, it is already clear that back in

:09:27.:09:30.

Dublin, the Irish Government are going to carry out their own

:09:31.:09:33.

investigation. We are determined that we will set up an enquiry to

:09:34.:09:39.

find out what happened. I don't know what, event happening fast. Tonight,

:09:40.:09:47.

Pat Hickey remains in hospital under police guard.

:09:48.:09:51.

Thousands of students received their A-level results today.

:09:52.:09:53.

The number getting the top grades has risen again, and girls continue

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to out perform boys, as our education correspondent

:09:59.:10:00.

The moment of reckoning in east Belfast. And then relief. How did

:10:01.:10:17.

you get on? I got three days. That gets me into Queens next year. Very

:10:18.:10:21.

happy. There are plenty of others sharing good news. I do happy with

:10:22.:10:29.

that? I got an a star and two days. More than I was expecting. Today is

:10:30.:10:35.

not just sharing the a 's star is but hearing were the other going

:10:36.:10:39.

next and what they are heading off to an excitement. There is a slight

:10:40.:10:42.

rise in the numbers of students getting top marks. The proportion of

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students getting a two E grades did the same at 98.2%. It's another year

:10:50.:10:57.

in which local students have performed strongly. Young people now

:10:58.:11:04.

had on to university. There are plenty of other options, too. Some

:11:05.:11:09.

students at this college are planning to go into apprenticeships

:11:10.:11:13.

or work. Most of our students are going to university, but this year

:11:14.:11:18.

we are very lucky and had two successful students under it the

:11:19.:11:23.

apprenticeship programme. I want to earn money and get work experience

:11:24.:11:29.

and qualifications. I decided to go to hijab for an apprenticeship.

:11:30.:11:37.

There was some advice. -- I decided to go for an apprenticeship. Keep

:11:38.:11:44.

your options open and think ahead about what you want to do. It was

:11:45.:11:48.

also another good year for girls as they continue to get more top marks

:11:49.:11:57.

than boys. I got a PKU for a star is and I and alerted. -- I got for a

:11:58.:12:05.

star is. It was the same in Derry. I got an a star. I am so excited about

:12:06.:12:14.

that. I will be starting at Queens in September. The success is part of

:12:15.:12:19.

the reason why students here outperform those in England and

:12:20.:12:20.

Wales again. Christina Kelly is Deputy Head

:12:21.:12:21.

of the Careers Service Smiles for those who have done

:12:22.:12:36.

better than expected today. What advice do you give them? First Jews

:12:37.:12:40.

and to have done better than expected today, it is a day of great

:12:41.:12:49.

excitement again for them. -- for those students. They can look at

:12:50.:12:56.

upgrading. There will be students who have done less well than what

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they had hoped for. Again, for those students there are alternative

:13:03.:13:06.

options. For example, clearing would be the first option that the we well

:13:07.:13:13.

consider, which is where the higher institutions will have agencies that

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might appeal to the students. Aside from clearing, there are alternative

:13:21.:13:25.

options, such as apprenticeships, foundation degrees, HND is,

:13:26.:13:34.

agencies. There are alternatives in the Republic. Indeed there are other

:13:35.:13:42.

academic institutions that are possible. Also technical colleges

:13:43.:13:51.

offer educational opportunities as well. Some students may wish to

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declare for a year and have a think about whether the course they have

:13:56.:14:00.

chosen the right one for them. They may want to do a gap year. There are

:14:01.:14:07.

opportunities for all and further education colleges all across

:14:08.:14:11.

Northern Ireland. In regard to the colleges, for those students who

:14:12.:14:14.

want to reset and think they could do better next year but there are

:14:15.:14:21.

schools don't allow them to reset in their academic school, what are the

:14:22.:14:26.

options for them? The further education colleges, of which there

:14:27.:14:29.

are six right across Northern Ireland, they offer a broad range of

:14:30.:14:35.

academic, professional and technical qualifications. There will be

:14:36.:14:39.

courses there that are suitable for every young person. It could be a

:14:40.:14:43.

here apprenticeship, foundation degree... Those further education

:14:44.:14:51.

colleges also offer degrees. You mentioned a gap year. Not everyone

:14:52.:14:56.

can afford to be away for a year into something very different. Many

:14:57.:15:01.

young people want to get a job. Given the long-term unemployment

:15:02.:15:04.

problems with young people, how difficult is it going to be for

:15:05.:15:08.

them? It is going to be difficult for young people now after they have

:15:09.:15:14.

done A-levels to get a job. The higher apprenticeships that I just

:15:15.:15:18.

talked to you about, the actually combine a job with accumulating

:15:19.:15:25.

qualifications, experience and skills. They are a very valid and

:15:26.:15:29.

legitimate route first you don't because they can learn while the

:15:30.:15:33.

errand. Also foundation degrees, which are on offer at colleges,

:15:34.:15:41.

those foundation degrees are very good stepping stone on to career

:15:42.:15:46.

pathways. -- learn while the errant. They learn about local industries

:15:47.:15:54.

and they road and a first step of the career pathway. It's a

:15:55.:16:01.

progression route onto other higher grades altercations. Clearly, lots

:16:02.:16:04.

of options out there. Thank you very much.

:16:05.:16:08.

And if you check out our news online story on A-levels there are details

:16:09.:16:11.

of how you can get in contact an advisor at the Careers Service.

:16:12.:16:16.

The BBC has learned that the health service has offered over 500

:16:17.:16:19.

A majority will be arriving in September from the Philippines

:16:20.:16:26.

and will be trained across the 5 health trusts.

:16:27.:16:28.

An appeal has also been made to landlords for accommodation.

:16:29.:16:31.

Our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly has been

:16:32.:16:33.

to Craigavon to meet a Filipino nurse who arrived 14 years ago.

:16:34.:16:43.

Hello. It's a long way from the Philippines to Craigavon. 14 years

:16:44.:16:52.

ago, Genevieve made that very trip to pursue a career in nursing. After

:16:53.:16:58.

12 years being a nurse and a senior nurse, I applied for the sister

:16:59.:17:08.

post. I got it. I was so delighted and it's been tested that no matter

:17:09.:17:13.

where you have come from, you have the same opportunity. Following for

:17:14.:17:18.

overseas recruitment campaigns, the health service has made 43 offers

:17:19.:17:26.

two nurses in Remain and Italy. -- Romania. They will be working as

:17:27.:17:32.

health work to here assistants, while they complete the registration

:17:33.:17:38.

process. There are a number of reasons for this current shortage.

:17:39.:17:45.

Back in 2010 the health minister cut the annual number of nursing

:17:46.:17:51.

training posts by 100. Recently, the profession has lost a number of

:17:52.:17:58.

experienced nurses. Preparations are underway to house foreign nurses.

:17:59.:18:02.

This appeal to local landlords to get in touch. The Royal College of

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Nursing says they will support the new arrivals and it's unfortunate

:18:07.:18:11.

this shortage exist in the first place. It could've been avoided if

:18:12.:18:15.

we had planned and they had planned appropriately going back ten ago.

:18:16.:18:21.

Unfortunately the number of home-grown nurses and post has

:18:22.:18:26.

reduced year on year. That has had an effect, we have close to 1000

:18:27.:18:30.

nurses less in the system than we should have. Like Genevieve, the new

:18:31.:18:36.

recruits will have to sit an English test. 14 years on, she is almost

:18:37.:18:42.

sounding like a local. You have a bit of the accent. Yes ex-mac

:18:43.:18:47.

anywhere you go they would say, you're from Northern Ireland. Yes, I

:18:48.:18:50.

think so. Tourist numbers had a slow

:18:51.:18:55.

start in the early part of the year with fewer

:18:56.:18:57.

having stay-at-home breaks. Though there were better

:18:58.:18:59.

figures for visitors Today also brought news that a

:19:00.:19:01.

major American hotel chain Here's our business

:19:02.:19:04.

correspondent Julian O'Neill. Belfast is seeing a boom in hotel

:19:05.:19:20.

activity and arriving for the first time as Marriott International, the

:19:21.:19:25.

global chain has signed a franchise agrees mint for a 4-star hotel to

:19:26.:19:30.

include new office blocks and will open in 2018. -- franchise agreement

:19:31.:19:39.

for a 4-star hotel. There has been a shortage of new hotels. The demand

:19:40.:19:46.

is there and we are very positive about the future. Several new hotels

:19:47.:19:52.

are being built here, mostly in anticipation of increased business

:19:53.:19:57.

from conferences. They represent long-term investments, pitched a

:19:58.:20:01.

growing numbers from external markets, Britain and beyond. Figures

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released today by the Department for the economy sure that the British

:20:06.:20:10.

and overseas visitor markets are thriving. A slump in stay at home

:20:11.:20:16.

breaks has pulled down the tourism sector's performance in the first

:20:17.:20:21.

three months of 2016. A struggle on the home front but not all bad news.

:20:22.:20:26.

That's according to one hotelier that sits on the board of two is

:20:27.:20:32.

Northern Ireland. On the lead up to Brexit people were nervous. I don't

:20:33.:20:35.

think there is any big surprise. I am pleased to see people who are

:20:36.:20:40.

coming is doing longer and spending more, that's what is ideal. The

:20:41.:20:45.

tourism sector believes things have improved since the period covered by

:20:46.:20:50.

the figures. Recent falls in sterling is said to be giving a

:20:51.:20:53.

Brexit rounds and keeping locals at home and bringing more visitors from

:20:54.:21:04.

outside. A major exhibition by a man believed to be one of the great

:21:05.:21:10.

painters opens tomorrow. David Hockney's work will be on display

:21:11.:21:17.

tomorrow. David Maxwell has had a preview. This much anticipated

:21:18.:21:23.

exhibition of David Hockney's work has arrived in Belfast and there are

:21:24.:21:28.

62 pieces of his artwork here. This is the largest of them from his

:21:29.:21:33.

deeper pools series from the 1970s. Somebody who can tell us more about

:21:34.:21:39.

the exhibition is and, the chief executive of the studio. What can

:21:40.:21:44.

people see here? As you say, so many of David Hockney's artwork. Some of

:21:45.:21:48.

the famous ones but some of my famous ones are behind me from the

:21:49.:21:54.

arrival of spring series. It's an example of how David Hockney threw

:21:55.:22:00.

out his practice really pushed boundaries. -- throughout his

:22:01.:22:05.

practice. What does it mean to have this exhibition? It's a big deal for

:22:06.:22:11.

Belfast and northern Ireland to exhibit David Hockney's work year.

:22:12.:22:17.

This is the first major exhibition in the island of Ireland ever. Some

:22:18.:22:20.

of his work has been done on the iPad and some very close to some of

:22:21.:22:28.

our artists will be training. That is really interesting because for

:22:29.:22:33.

Hockney it is all about drawing. He loves to draw. Ulster University is

:22:34.:22:36.

one of the very few art schools left in the UK that still has a life

:22:37.:22:42.

drawing class. And, thank you very much indeed. It is ticketed entry

:22:43.:22:47.

and the art expecting a big demand. A donation is expected to be made.

:22:48.:22:54.

Next, the Olympic Games and Stephen Watson has been

:22:55.:22:56.

This was the day we had pencilled in for the boxing semifinal but he was

:22:57.:23:13.

beaten earlier this week and went on to land that the judges. The fallout

:23:14.:23:19.

from the boxing has continued today. As is the excerpt from the finals

:23:20.:23:23.

wasn't controversial enough, the opponent that Conlon thought he

:23:24.:23:27.

beat, the boxer who was deemed to be awarded the contest by the judges,

:23:28.:23:32.

the Russian, has withdrawn from the competition due to the injuries he

:23:33.:23:36.

suffered against Conlon. The Russian world not fight for a place in the

:23:37.:23:43.

final but will receive a bronze medal. Team Ireland came agonisingly

:23:44.:23:48.

close to the Meadow for the first time in 16 years. -- medal. He

:23:49.:23:57.

finished in fourth place in the final of the men's 400 metre

:23:58.:24:03.

hurdles. His time was a new Irish record and would have been an offer

:24:04.:24:08.

a bronze in London and is over in Beijing and Athens. I'm delighted

:24:09.:24:17.

how the race went. It was a step too far this time round. It's my first

:24:18.:24:26.

final and more to come. When I was overheard ten and I was gaining

:24:27.:24:31.

ground, if I'd had another few hundred metres, who knows what could

:24:32.:24:35.

have happened. Unfortunately it's a 500 metre race. To be anywhere close

:24:36.:24:41.

to a medal, that's great. He did so well.

:24:42.:24:47.

Elsewhere today, in the second round of the women's golf

:24:48.:24:49.

tournament, Stephanie Meadow is now on four over,

:24:50.:24:51.

some 13 shots off the lead while Leona Maguire is fairing

:24:52.:24:54.

a little better on three under par after a round of 65 -

:24:55.:24:57.

but she is still 4 shots off the pace for a medal.

:24:58.:25:02.

And at the sailing - the Irish 49er crew

:25:03.:25:04.

of Carrick's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern from Ballyholme,

:25:05.:25:11.

are in the medal race of the 49er class.

:25:12.:25:17.

They can't get a medal but we will let you know how they get on. Now

:25:18.:25:30.

for the weather. We have rain coming in tonight. Temperatures up to 20

:25:31.:25:37.

Celsius tonight. Today. As we zoom round, we can see the cloud is over

:25:38.:25:43.

the Republic. Here is the rain moving into the south west of

:25:44.:25:47.

Ireland, which is coming our way later on tonight. It won't rain

:25:48.:25:51.

until after midnight, this evening is going to be dry and warm. After

:25:52.:25:59.

midnight, the rain comes. On the sticky side. We have this area of

:26:00.:26:03.

low pressure, which would be more at home on a chart in the middle of

:26:04.:26:07.

autumn, rather than the end of summer. Very unseasonable weather

:26:08.:26:11.

tomorrow and Saturday. It moves away and get this ridge of high pressure

:26:12.:26:16.

coming in to give us drier and brighter conditions, at least for

:26:17.:26:19.

the second half of the weekend. Tomorrow is all about the rain. From

:26:20.:26:24.

the north coast it will be dry but that rain will be too far away. Once

:26:25.:26:34.

it arrives, it will be persistent and heavy at times. That means lots

:26:35.:26:37.

of puddles and not great for driving or cycling or generally walking. By

:26:38.:26:39.

lunchtime it is still raining in most places. Temperature not

:26:40.:26:46.

surprisingly down on today's values. 20 Celsius today and maybe 18 at

:26:47.:26:52.

best tomorrow. It will start to dry up. Most of that rain clearing away

:26:53.:26:57.

and the sunshine coming through as the rain stops and there may have

:26:58.:27:01.

some sharp showers and some of those will get heavy tomorrow evening as

:27:02.:27:05.

in the north words. Another warm night tomorrow night, too. Moving on

:27:06.:27:10.

to Saturday, were looking at a day of sunshine but also some heavy

:27:11.:27:15.

showers breaking out, which could break out anywhere. Not necessarily

:27:16.:27:19.

everywhere. If you're heading to the cultural show on Saturday, bringing

:27:20.:27:25.

the umbrella but it will be raining all the time. One of the best

:27:26.:27:29.

pictures of the deer they are. I love it.

:27:30.:27:31.

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:27:32.:27:33.

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:27:34.:27:37.

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