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Guy De Launey

@guydelauney.bsky.social
6.5K followers 436 following 1.3K posts

Balkans Correspondent 📹 🎙 BBC, DW, CBC 🖋️ Monocle Magazine, The Observer, The New World Presenter 🎙 Monocle Radio Moderator ⚖ at large Tadej Pogačar's mountain domestique No Abba monocle.com/contributors/guy-de-lau…

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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Skopje on the Potomac? It seems that Donald Trump is taking inspiration from North Macedonia's capital when it comes to reshaping the monuments and buildings of Washington DC. Caveat: the Skopje 2014 "antiquisation" project was not an unqualified success. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
The desecration of DC: from a giant arch to a nuke-proof bunker, Trump’s legacy-building blingfest is an architectural atrocity
A bloated ballroom, a six-storey military HQ, a helipad-cum-cocktail patio, a gilded angel on a giant arch honouring himself … our architecture critic deplores the decorator-in-chief’s mutilation of W...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Why would Serbia's government want to associate its country with a war criminal? The Hague tribunal always made it clear that individuals were tried and convicted - not states or peoples. But glorifying criminals is not unique to Serbia. My latest for Monocle. monocle.com/affairs/ratk...
monocle.com
The ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ is dead – but divisions live on in the Balkans
Serbia’s former president Boris Tadić got it right. Ratko Mladić was a “stain” – and his death in custody in...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The BBC's leaders are facilitating cuts instead of fighting against them. Will anybody take a principled stands against the (badly) managed decline of a vital institution? When a Fifa official shows you how to do it, you know your moral compass is out of whack. www.linkedin.com/posts/guydel...
linkedin.com
You do not have to follow orders. BBC leaders would do well to learn that - with an example from a most unlikely source. The man in the picture below is Kevin Lamour, the Chief Operating Officer of…...
You do not have to follow orders. BBC leaders would do well to learn that - with an example from a most unlikely source. The man in the picture below is Kevin Lamour, the Chief Operating Officer of ...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I wanted to go to the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. But per this article, prices are way too high. And the late finishing time makes getting back home to anywhere other than the local area arduous-to-impossible. A shame - live athletics is fab. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/a...
theguardian.com
European Athletics Championships face backlash over ‘crazy prices’ and empty seats
Keely Hodgkinson’s coach and the BBC commentator Steve Cram have led a chorus of concern about high ticket prices causing lower attendances at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Why are foreign correspondents important? I explain for Monocle. The example I use is the so-called "sniper tourism" story in Bosnia. A tale with elements of Squid Game that has been going around the world since last November. The major problem: there is no evidence. monocle.com/culture/medi...
monocle.com
In an age of misinformation, on-the-ground reporting is the only safeguard
The Sarajevo sniper-tourism scandal proves why reporting from trusted sources is more important than ever.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This is possibly the greatest-ever answer in a newspaper questionnaire. In this case, The Guardian's "honest playlist". Oddly enough, I heard 6Music playing back to back Tricky the other day and immediately feared the worst.
Extract from The Guardian honest playlist feature, interviewing the musician Tricky. 

Question - The song I’d like played at my funeral
Answer - I’m never going to die, so there’s no need to think about that.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Trieste-Belgrade railway revival actually happened? The governments of Italy and Serbia affirmed their commitment last week. And other EU and regional bodies are on board. Hopefully the rest of us will be as well, come 2029. Here's what I told Monocle Radio.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
What happened when I asked Albania's PM Edi Rama if we should be worried about him? That's after the corruption investigations involving his closest political allies. Find out here. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Thousands of Albanians demand prime minister's resignation
Flamingos have become a national symbol of protest, triggered by opposition to a luxury development.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
If I could like this ten times, I would. Puts it all in a nutshell.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
That's "Kushner's island" over there. Properly known as Sazan. I'm on the Albania coast near Vlorë, talking to people about the pros and cons of tourist developments - and the impact on wildlife. Watch this space.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Is binning expert correspondents in eastern Europe a good idea at a time like this? Disinformation on the rise, Russia interfering in many countries, threatening several and actually at war with one? Well, BBC News management seems to think so. It's disposing of me and 4 of my colleagues.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
What is it with RTV Slovenija and cyclists? Today's bizarre article is about "cyclists who do not respect road traffic regulations". Then cites a car "while overtaking, hit a cyclist with its rearview mirror, causing him to fall and be seriously injured". Good grief. www.rtvslo.si/lokalne-novi...
rtvslo.si
Kraševcem sive lase povzročajo kolesarji, ki ne spoštujejo cestnoprometnih predpisov
Za domačine v kraških vaseh srečanja s kolesarji niso vedno najprijetnejša. Opozarjajo na velike hitrosti in neustrezno opremljenost koles. Policija v večini primerov kolesarjem izdaja opozorila.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
The deployment of "grow up" as a rebuke is to be discouraged. But what do you say to a group of people who need their sports car to go "vroom, vroom!", never mind that it shifts like the proverbial? www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
‘How can you have a Ferrari without any vroom?’: electric model shocks owners’ club
Suggestion the Luce EV should be stripped of prancing horse logo shows strength of feeling from Ferrari fans
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Here's my piece about the imminent departure of Christian Schmidt as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The brevity of the piece means a lot has been left out. It's certainly been a more eventful term than that of his predecessor, Valentin Inzko. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Bosnia's powerful peace envoy quits, with questions over role's future
Christian Schmidt had been in the role since 2021, and departs after appearing to lose the backing of the United States.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Slovenia's heading for a right-wing coalition. "Starting points" include "the family is the fundamental cell of society", reducing immigration through "greater joy of life and increasing the birth rate". Plus the relativisation of Nazi atrocities. www.rtvslo.si/slovenija/ja...
rtvslo.si
Janša: Uskladili smo izhodišča za koalicijsko pogodbo, sledi usklajevanje konkretnih vsebin
Predsednik SDS-a Janez Janša je povedal, da so izhodišča za koalicijsko pogodbo usklajena in da računa, da bi lahko vsebine uskladili v tednu dni. Na odločanju o mandatarju ob tem računajo tudi na gla...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Radicalised banjo player calls for English Channel to be mined, so "economic migrants" - his fellow human beings - can be blown to smithereens. As the son of a French mother and husband of a Singaporean woman, you'd think he'd be able to recognise the irony. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Spectator owner’s son calls for mine-laden ‘floating wall’ to stop Channel crossings
Winston Marshall, former member of Mumford & Sons, says people crossing are ‘economic migrants’ not refugees
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Kosovo's PM Albin Kurti looking a little bit lonely in the National Assembly. Fewer than 10 hours remain to select a president. Otherwise, elections. Again. For the 3rd time since last February.
Kosovo's PM Albin Kurti all alone in the National Assembly
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
People unhappy with parking charges in Ljubljana are starting a petition to trigger a referendum. The organisers believe they should have the right to free parking spaces. Why? If anyone wants to start a petition demanding even higher parking charges, let me know. www.rtvslo.si/lokalne-novi...
rtvslo.si
Začelo se je zbiranje podpisov za referendum o plačevanju parkirnin v ljubljanskih soseskah
Zbiranje podpisov pod zahtevo za razpis referenduma o širitvi plačevanja parkirnine v ljubljanskih soseskah bo potekalo preko e-Uprave ali osebno na upravnih enotah in bo trajalo do 28. maja. Številni...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
I have written to UK culture minister Lisa Nandy three times regarding the BBC funding situation and how it is affecting its ability to function as a news organisation. Three times because I have had no reply. I sent them from Oct 2024-Jul 2025. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/a...
theguardian.com
News of BBC jobs cuts ‘real concern‘, says UK’s culture secretary
Lisa Nandy says staff have been strongly affected as some express frustration that high-paid presenters and executives likely to be safe
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Good example of what architect/urbanist Jan Kattein and I discussed at the Urban Future Better Cities Event in Ljubljana. Itself a city that could do a bit more of this with its existing, decrepit shopping centres rather than opening another new, massive mall. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Future of the NHS, saviour of the high street? High hopes for health hub in a Barnsley shopping centre
Transfer of medical services from hospital to former Wilko store is improving healthcare access and boosting footfall
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
This billboard in Ljubljana threatens an €80 fine for cyclists who don't look out for pedestrians. Which is fair enough. But as a pedestrian (and cyclist), the biggest threat comes from motorists. Where's the billboard warning them to be on their best behaviour?
Billboard warning careless cyclists in Ljubljana that they face an €80 fine.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I did a full programme for The Urbanist on Monocle Radio last week. All about the Urban Future Better Cities Event in Ljubljana, and the interesting people - and ideas - gathered there. As a committed city dweller, cyclist, walker and non-car owner, this sort of urbanism is very close to my heart.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
It's first time I have received a message from Slovenia's emergency system. It seems I'd better take in the garden furniture.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
A post-election take on what's just happened in Slovenia. People kept saying healthcare was the issue, but everything from dog-whistling accordions to naked xenophobia played a role in the campaign. And quite possibly, the outcome. monocle.com/affairs/slov...
monocle.com
Slovenia has a patriotic problem: The centre left held out but it shouldn’t be proud - Monocle
Following recent victories in The Netherlands and the Paris municipal elections, Europe's centre-left is gaining ground. But Slovenia's leftist win...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Heading to bed with the result of Slovenia's parliamentary elections tighter than the proverbial. 29 seats for the governing, centre-left Svoboda; 28 for the right-wing SDS. 46 seats needed to govern. The current coalition has 41. Former SDS foreign minister Anže Logar has 6 seats for his Democrats.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I have passed a version of this poster on my morning bike ride every day for the past few weeks. When this version appeared, I first thought it must have been ironic graffiti. It would appear not. The slogan says "Slovenia for Slovenes". Polls suggest the party concerned will not pass the threshold.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
I'm all in favour of fewer cars. But can't help thinking that choosing an e-bike over the regular variety is missing out. On fun, free exercise, the satisfaction of zipping along under your own power.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Tickled to read @timdowling.bsky.social's paean to eyebrow-raising. Aged 8-ish, I strained in a mirror for many hours to develop independent mastery over my left eyebrow. I never got around to the right. But I see Tim did. We should get together, form a band. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
My mother’s best advice: learn to raise one eyebrow at the world
It took almost a year of practice and then I was too embarrassed to show off my talent. But finally, during a stage performance, I elevated a solitary brow and the crowd went wild
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Broke my usual "no posed photos with interviewees" rule when I spoke to Croatia's defence minister, Ivan Anušić. Well, the official photographer was there, and it seemed rude to refuse. The topic was the resumption of conscription after almost two decades. The first recruits joined up today.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
It's hard to believe how successive UK governments have failed to grasp the importance of the country's enormous creative sector. That's whether one considers it from an economic, soft power or information security perspective. As a bonus, its products makes people feel good.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
I know you know this, but: there was never a war between Kosovo and Serbia. I think I would have noticed.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This is correct. The advice I always used to give new freelancers was "don't panic". Now it would probably be a choice of either one of those words.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Ok, I'll bite. From Croatia - and no, not Thompson. youtu.be/2pfLE5YJ1Fo?...
youtu.be
nipplepeople FRKA (Official video), Kire Mitrev, Slavica Maras
YouTube video by nipplepeople
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
It's funny watching British politics from afar. And wondering why a party with a massive parliamentary majority would not simply use that position to enact its programme, rather than worrying about the next election, which is still several years away.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
My local park has a ski jump. Wondering whether it is too late for me to learn...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Get in the mood for tonight's ski jumping with my piece on From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Radio 4. Once again, the remarkable Prevc siblings from Slovenia feature heavily. It's at the end of the programme. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, Gaza: Rafah border crossing reopens
The reopening of the 'lifeline to the world' has brought relief to sick Palestinians.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Now that "penis-gate" has got your attention, have a shufty at my piece for Monocle about the world's best ski jumpers... The super, soaraway, Slovenian siblings - Nika and Domen Prevc. monocle.com/affairs/spor...
monocle.com
How Slovenia's ski jumpers are preparing for the Winter Olympics - Monocle
A robust training centre, youth development programme and a family of high flyers have helped Slovenia defy gravity and soar...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
True dat.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
It's hard to get anything on the news right now if it doesn't relate to Ukraine, Gaza or Trump. So, here's my BBC News piece from yesterday on the story I pitched as the Trump Hotel Trial. NB: does contain non-Trump information. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
How plans for Trump International hotel in Belgrade unravelled
The project would have built on the ruins of the defence ministry bombed by Nato back in 1999.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
I did a BBC programme about London knife crime 20+ years ago. As part of it, I went back through historical crime records. It was clear that, despite moral panic, London was far safer at that time than it had been in the past. Probably likewise for all major British cities.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Jill Scott's reckons one shouldn't know singers' dietary habits. And yet, from her own The Way: "Made me some breakfast/toast, two scrambled eggs, grits". And, more disconcertingly, Love Rain: "loose like bowels after collard greens". TMI, Jill. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
theguardian.com
R&B star Jill Scott: ‘I like mystery – I love Sade but I don’t know what she had for breakfast’
The neo-soul singer and actor answers your questions on being taken to a go-go club as a child, training as an English teacher and getting mistaken for footballer Jill Scott
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
That's a tenth of Kosovo's GDP then. Without going through its constitution, one rather suspects the president doesn't have the power to authorise such expenditure.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
This made my jaw drop to the extent that I thought it must have been AI generated. But no... (see next post).
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
If Grok (indirectly) sent you here, then you'll find quite a lot of BBC journos are already on Bluesky. I've been here for a while...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Indirect endorsement for Ryanair by The Guardian. The Irish airline fills 94% of its seats, uses new, fuel-efficient planes and has no business or first class. Plus baggage charges presumably reduce the weight of each flight and thereby the fuel burned. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Revealed: how aviation emissions could be halved without cutting journeys
Exclusive: Getting rid of premium seats, ensuring flights are near full and using efficient aircraft could slash CO2, analysis suggests
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
The Crans-Montana fire has haunting similarities to last year's Kočani nightclub fire in North Macedonia. The families of the 61 people who died in Kočani have sent a message of support. www.slobodenpecat.mk/roditelite-o...
slobodenpecat.mk
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
ZipCar in London was a bit clunky - but it needed developing, not shutting down. A backwards step for sustainable, flexible, multi-modal mobility. Again, I am thankful for Slovenia/Croatia's Avant2Go service. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Zipcar, world’s biggest car-sharing company, to close UK operation
Move by firm, owned by US group Avis Budget, will remove access to shared fleet across London at end of year
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Proof that Donald Trump doesn't even need to be present to draw a crowd: people in Belgrade have been protesting against his family's plans to build a Trump International Hotel (among other things) on the site of a notorious 1999 NATO airstrike. My story for Monocle: monocle.com/affairs/urba...
monocle.com
Trump’s towers don’t tend to last. Is Belgrade taking a backwards step? - Monocle
Thousands of Belgraders marched down Kneza Miloša street last week, banging drums and blowing horns with Donald Trump’s name ringing...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
The Club Pulse fire in Kočani was one of the most difficult stories I've ever covered. A town of 25k people; 63 dead and hundreds injured. Scores still receiving treatment today. The trial of more than 30 people is now underway. My BBC piece with @paulkirby.bsky.social. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Dozens go on trial over deadly North Macedonia nightclub fire
Thirty-five people and three institutions are on trial. Prosecutors say years of failings turned the venue into a death trap.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
A Zagreb landmark is on fire. Vjesnik Tower opened in 1972 as a proud symbol of Yugoslavia's modernity. It has been mostly empty for some time. Zagreb's mayor says "the destruction is total". www.index.hr/vijesti/clan...
index.hr
Vjesnik gori satima. "Sjurili smo se na vrh. Onda smo shvatili da gori ispod nas"
PROCJENJUJE se da će gašenje potrajati cijeli dan.
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