Democrats declare Obama the winner in Florida

MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida‘s Democratic Party declared victory for President Barack Obama in the closely divided battleground state on Thursday, as he clung to a narrow but apparently insurmountable lead in the glacially slow tallying of votes from Tuesday’s election.

If Obama wins Florida, it will add to his Electoral College margin and he will have won all of the key U.S. swing states except North Carolina, which he carried in 2008.

“On behalf of Florida Democrats, I wish President Barack Obama congratulations on his re-election and on his winning Florida’s 29 electoral votes,” Rod Smith, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, said in a statement.

In a tacit concession, Republican Party of Florida spokesman Brian Burgess said in an email that he and other Romney supporters were “obviously not happy with the result” in the Sunshine State.

“But given the wave that we saw all over the country, we’re glad that we gave them enough of a fight in Florida to prolong the battle here as long as we did,” Burgess said.

As of Thursday evening, Obama had 49.92 percent of the statewide vote, versus 49.22 percent for Romney, according to the Florida Division of Elections.

Two of the three counties where ballots were still being tallied, Broward and Palm Beach, are heavily Democratic. The third county, Duval, has more registered Democrats than Republicans but has traditionally leaned Republican in presidential contests.

Just 58,055 votes separated the two candidates, but that was far more than in the 2000 election, when Republican George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes and captured the White House after a recount dispute that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

The slow-moving vote count in Florida has already made it the brunt of jokes on late-night television and conjured up ugly memories of the situation 12 years ago, when Florida was the cause of electoral gridlock.

This time, Florida seemed almost seemed irrelevant since Obama handily won re-election without its 29 electoral votes – the biggest prize of any of the nine key U.S. swing states.

HISPANICS FOR OBAMA

No officials were willing on Thursday to predict exactly when the race in the fourth most populous U.S. state, which has 67 counties, would be officially declared as decided. But barring any big surprises, Obama looked set to get a bump from Florida that would lift his electoral vote count to 332 over 206 for Romney.

“It’s appalling that two days after the election, Florida was not able to report our presidential election results,” Smith said in his statement.

“This embarrassment lays at the feet of Governor Rick Scott, who made a decision to cut early-voting in half and continually refused to extend early voting hours in light of the record turnout,” Smith said.

In comments earlier in Orlando, the Republican governor adamantly refused to accept responsibility for Florida’s failure to hold an election that was free of controversy.

Scott’s decision not to extend early voting, after it was cut back to eight days from 14 by the Republican-controlled legislature, has been cited by many Floridians as a cause of exceedingly long voter lines on Tuesday.

Scott told Reuters, “We did the right thing” when asked about the decision, which many saw as a move to blunt voter turnout for Obama.

The length of ballots, which included 11 proposed state constitutional amendments backed by the legislature, has also been blamed for long lines at polling places and delays in tallying final results. Scott said: “The amendments don’t go through the governor. The amendments only go through the legislature.”

Smith attributed Obama’s victory, at least in part, to what he described as “the strongest, largest ground game” Democrats had ever mounted in Florida, all part of a carefully calculated get-out-the vote effort.

The Obama campaign also cited a large turnout by the state’s 1.4 million Hispanics, who voted heavily for the president. Obama won a record 61 percent of Hispanic votes in Florida, up from 57 percent in 2008, according to exit polling data compiled by Bendixen & Amandi, research and media consultants for the Obama Hispanic campaign.

Democrats made surprising inroads in the Cuban-American community, capturing 48 percent of the traditionally conservative Cuban-American vote, according to Bendixen & Amandi, surpassing the 35 percent mark set by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1996.

“This really is a sea change,” said Sergio Bendixen, a longtime Miami pollster. “The Cuban community is no different from anywhere else in the country. It is lower middle-class, it does not have health insurance and it wants to have it. It counts on Medicare and Social Security and it’s finally figured out which party is defending their interests.”

He said the growing population of 380,000 Puerto Ricans in central Florida was also pivotal. They preferred Obama over Romney by a margin of 83 percent to 17 percent.

(Additional reporting by David Adams in Miami, Barbara Liston in Orlando and Michael Peltier in Tallahassee; Editing by Philip Barbara and Peter Cooney)

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Asian stocks sink on US fiscal cliff fears

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Friday, weighed down by fears over the so-called U.S. “fiscal cliff” that investors see as a big threat to the economic recovery.

Japan‘s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9 percent to 8,757.39 and Hong Kong‘s Hang Seng shed 0.5 percent to 21,453.49. South Korea‘s Kospi retreated 1 percent to 1,894.85 and Australia‘s S&P ASX 200 dropped 0.5 percent to 4,462.20.

The slump in Asia mirrored the trend in markets worldwide as investors have refocused on challenges to the world economy following U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election. Many worry that gridlock in Washington will prevent the president and Congress from reaching a deal before the package of tax increases and government spending cuts kicks in on Jan. 1.

Declines were more muted in mainland China, where investors were awaiting a number of economic indicators that would provide the latest update on the slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.3 percent to 2,065.92, while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.3 percent to 828.78.

The Chinese benchmarks briefly swung into positive territory after a report released just after trading started showed October inflation had eased to 1.7 percent, giving room for more stimulus. But investors stayed cautious as they awaited industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales figures later in the day.

“Markets may stabilize and possibly rebound on Chinese data for October, which we expect to show acceleration of output amid muted price pressures,” strategists at Credit Agricole CIB wrote in a research note.

On Wall Street, the Dow closed down nearly 1 percent to 12,811.32, bringing its two-day loss to 434 points. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index fell 1.2 percent to 1,377.51 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 1.4 percent to 2,895.58.

In currencies, the euro weakened to $ 1.2748 from to $ 1.2750 late Thursday. The dollar strengthened to 79.49 Japanese yen from 79.38 yen.

Crude oil for December delivery was up 12 cents to $ 85.22 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 65 cents to close at $ 85.09 on Thursday.

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Dancing With The Stars Family Rallies On Twitter In Support Of Brooke Burke-Charvet Following Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis

Members of the “Dancing with the Stars” family Tweeted their well-wishes for the show’s co-host, Brooke Burke-Charvet, who revealed on Thursday she has thyroid cancer.

Helio Castroneves, who was recently eliminated from the “All-Stars” season, said he is confident she will overcome the disease.

PLAY IT NOW: Brooke Burke-Charvet’s Sexy Lingerie Shoot!

“Hi @brookeburke, I have sure that you will win this battle. My affection for you,” the Indy driver wrote.

Brooke revealed on Thursday that she will be undergoing thyroid surgery and a thyroidectomy, and Erin Andrews, who competed in Season 10, noted she was praying for the host.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Lovely Brooke Burke-Charvet

“Thinking about @DancingABC friend @brookeburke..Prayers and all the best your way Brooke,” Erin wrote.

Also sending her kind words was Sabrina Bryan, who was eliminated last week on the show.

“@brookeburke hey girl!! You’re in my thoughts and prayers! Always here for you during this fight! Stay strong,” Sabrina wrote.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars — Week 6

Season 13 vet Ricki Lake wrote, “@brookeburke sending huge healing love your way.”

Current contender Melissa Rycroft shared her support, Tweeting, “You’re such a strong woman, and I admire your courage. I hope you feel all the love and support behind you…We love you!”

VIEW THE PHOTOS: ‘Dancing’s’ Derek Hough

And some of the professional dancers chimed in too.

Pro Derek Hough (Brooke’s Season 7 partner) Tweeted, “Love you Brookie B. [You're] in my prayers.”

Cheryl Burke Tweeted, “I love u @brookeburke!! Stay strong. Will be praying for u and sending u lots of positive energy!”

– Jolie Lash

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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VP Joe Biden guest stars as celebrity crush on “Parks and Rec”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Someone has a big crush on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden – and now she is getting to meet him.

Biden will make his TV acting debut with a cameo on NBC‘s comedy “Parks and Recreation” as the celebrity crush of actress Amy Poehler‘s ditzy local councilwoman Leslie Knope, NBC said on Thursday.

Biden, 69, will play himself in the episode “Leslie vs. April,” airing November 15, where Knope, a city councilwoman for the fictional small town of Pawnee, Indiana, has a surprise meeting with the vice president in Washington D.C.

Knope has long described her ideal man as having the “brains of George Clooney and the body of Joe Biden.”

“Meeting Vice President Biden was a thrill for me and for Leslie,” Poehler said in a statement.

“He was a good sport and a great improviser. The vice president maintained his composure while I harassed him and invaded his personal space. The nation of ‘Parks and Rec’ will be forever grateful,” she added.

The scenes with Biden were shot in July in the chambers of the vice president’s ceremonial office, during the TV show’s recent trip to the nation’s capital to film scenes for this season’s storylines.

The biggest challenge of landing Biden’s cameo was keeping it a secret before Tuesday’s U.S. elections. Airing the episode prior to November 6 could have been equivalent to a campaign contribution to advertise a candidate, executive producer Michael Schur told Entertainment Weekly.

“Parks and Recreation” follows the Pawnee Parks department and its tireless deputy Knope, who puts all her efforts into improving her little hometown.

This is a big season for Poehler’s character, who is finally elected into city government, gets engaged to campaign advisor Ben Wyatt and meets her political heroes including Senators Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snow and John McCain, who were featured in September’s season premiere.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Los Angeles mandates condoms for porn actors, industry threatens suit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles County voters passed a ballot initiative mandating that pornographic film actors wear condoms during sex scenes, prompting a trade group on Wednesday to threaten to sue and take production elsewhere.

Measure B, which was sponsored by the group AIDS Healthcare Foundation, won approval on Tuesday by a margin of 55.85 percent to 44.15 percent, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office.

“This is what democracy looks like; we took this to county government, and they didn’t act so we took it directly to the voters, and they spoke conclusively,” AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said.

The law requires adult film actors filming in Los Angeles County to use condoms during sex scenes. Most U.S. pornographic productions are made in the county’s San Fernando Valley.

Diane Duke, chief executive for the industry group Free Speech Coalition, told Los Angeles County supervisors in a letter on Wednesday that the law was unconstitutional and that it fell under state jurisdiction, not that of local government.

“Therefore, we will file suit and challenge this intolerable law in court,” Duke said in the letter. A copy was provided to Reuters.

She said the adult filmmakers had been approached to move elsewhere, adding: “In the upcoming weeks and months, we will provide a roadmap for adult production to move its over a billion dollar industry and its accompanying 10,000 jobs to these welcoming communities.”

David Sommers, a spokesman for the Board of Supervisors, declined to respond specifically to the letter, saying he had not read it. He said county health officials were still grappling with the law’s implications.

“This type of enforcement is a new thing for us and it’s a one-of-a-kind law and so how we move forward with its implementation is a conversation we’re just beginning to have given how the voters decided Measure B,” he said.

The initiative requires porn producers to get a health permit from Los Angeles County to make their movies showing explicit sex and nudity. Using condoms on set would be a condition of obtaining that permit.

California workplace laws mandate the use of condoms by porn performers, but AIDS Healthcare officials say the statute is not specifically aimed at the industry and is widely violated.

The Free Speech Coalition said in its letter that such requirements would impose “excessive costs of compliance.”

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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China submarines soon to carry nukes, draft US report says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China appears to be within two years of deploying submarine-launched nuclear weapons, adding a new leg to its nuclear arsenal that should lead to arms-reduction talks, a draft report by a congressionally mandated U.S. commission says.

China in the meantime remains “the most threatening” power in cyberspace and presents the largest challenge to U.S. supply chain integrity, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in a draft of its 2012 report to the U.S. Congress.

China is alone among the original nuclear weapons states to be expanding its nuclear forces, the report said. The others are the United States, Russia, Britain and France.

Beijing is “on the cusp of attaining a credible nuclear triad of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and air-dropped nuclear bombs,” the report says.

China has had a largely symbolic ballistic missile submarine capability for decades but is only now set to establish a “near-continuous at-sea strategic deterrent,” the draft said.

The deployment of such a hard-to-track, submarine-launched leg of China’s nuclear arsenal could have significant consequences in East Asia and beyond. It also could add to tensions between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies.

Any Chinese effort to ensure a retaliatory capability against a notional U.S. nuclear strike “would necessarily affect Indian and Russian perceptions about the potency of their own deterrent capabilities vis-à-vis China,” the report said, for instance.

ARMS CONTROL TALKS URGED

China is party to many major international pacts and regimes regarding nuclear weapons and materials. But it remains outside of key arms limitation and control conventions, such as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed in April 2010 and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The United States historically has approached these bilaterally with Russia.

Congress should require the U.S. State Department to spell out current and planned efforts to integrate China into existing and future nuclear arms reduction, limitation, and control discussions and agreements, the draft said.

In addition, Congress should “treat with caution” any proposal to unilaterally, or in the context of a bilateral deal with Russia, reduce operational U.S. nuclear forces without clearer information being made available to the public about China’s nuclear stockpile and force posture, it said.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Geng Shuang, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China is estimated by the Arms Control Association, a private nonpartisan group in Washington, to have a total of 240 nuclear warheads. The United States, by contrast, has some 5,113, including tactical, strategic and nondeployed weapons.

CHINA DEPLOYING NEW CLASS OF SUBS

Beijing already has deployed two of as many as five of a new class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. The JIN-class boat is due to carry the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile with an estimated range of about 7,400 km (4,600 miles).

The new submarines and the JL-2 missile will give Chinese forces its “first credible sea-based nuclear capability,” the U.S. Defense Department said in its own 2012 annual report to Congress on military and security developments involving China.

The JL-2 program has faced repeated delays but may reach an initial operating capability within the next two years, according to the Pentagon report, released in May.

The Pentagon declined to comment directly on China’s march toward creating a credible nuclear “triad” involving strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

“We monitor carefully China’s military developments and urge China to exhibit greater transparency regarding its capabilities and intentions,” Lieutenant Colonel Monica Matoush, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said by email.

Any assessment of China’s ability to have a nuclear triad would be an intelligence matter and likely be classified in nature, she added.

The final version of the report is to be released next Wednesday by the U.S.-China commission, a 12-member bipartisan group set up in 2000 to report to U.S. lawmakers on security implications of U.S.-China trade.

The draft, in its section on cyber-related issues, called on the Congress to develop a sanctions regime to penalize specific companies found to engage in, or otherwise benefit from, industrial espionage.

Congress should define industrial espionage as an illegal subsidy subject to countervailing duties, it added.

Lawmakers also should craft legislation to boost the security of critical supply chains, “particularly in the context of U.S. government and military procurement,” the draft said.

(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Merkel says Germany, Britain must work together on EU

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany and Britain must cooperate to work round their differences on the European Union‘s long-term spending plans, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

“Despite differences that we have it is very important for me that the UK and Germany work together,” Merkel said through a translator before a meeting in London with Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the EU‘s 2014-2020 budget.

“We always have to do something that will stand up to public opinion back home. Not all of the expenditure that has been earmarked has been used with great efficiency … We need to address that,” she said.

EU leaders meet in Brussels on November 22-23 to try to secure a seven-year budget for the 27-nation bloc amid signs of differences of opinion over what action should be taken.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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Video game maker Activision scores big gains in 3Q

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc. scored points in the third quarter with a performance that topped analysts’ forecasts.

The results announced Wednesday encouraged management to predict more good times in the crucial holiday shopping season when the company is counting on video game aficionados to snap up the latest edition in its popular “Call of Duty” franchise.

Activision credited “Diablo III,” a role-playing game designed for personal computers, and its latest version of “World of Warcraft” for moving its latest quarter to a higher level.

The company earned $ 226 million, or 20 cents per share, for the three months ending in September. That represented a 53 percent increase from net income of $ 148 million, or 13 cents per share a year ago.

Excluding items unrelated to its ongoing business, Activision made 15 cents per share. The company beat the average estimate of 8 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet. Adjusted earnings included a gain of 4 cents per share from the resolution of a U.S. tax audit.

Revenue for the period increased 12 percent from last year to $ 841 million. That figure, though, includes sales of games with online components, a revenue stream that the company and analysts prefer to spread out over time.

With that adjustment, Activision’s third-quarter revenue would have risen by 20 percent to $ 751 million — about $ 41 million above analysts’ projections.

The third quarter ended with a flourish as Activision sold 2.7 million copies of “World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria” in the first week after its Sept. 25 release.

CEO Bobby Kotick believes Activision has another hit on its hand with “Call of Duty: Black Ops II,” scheduled to go on sale Tuesday.

“We feel good about our product line-up, in spite of a difficult and challenging macroeconomic environment that could worsen,” Kotick said in an interview Wednesday.

Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., doesn’t expect the weak economy to keep people from buying its games as gifts during the upcoming holidays.

In the fourth quarter the company expects adjusted earnings of 70 cents per share on adjusted revenue of $ 2.41 billion. Analysts, on average, expect adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share on adjusted revenue of $ 2.34 billion.

Activision shares rose 23 cents, or 2 percent, to $ 11.36 in after-hours trading following the release of its earnings report.

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Taylor Swift reigns over Billboard 200, Meek Mill debuts high

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country-pop star Taylor Swift held onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday as her latest album “Red” kept rapper Meek Mill from the top spot.

“Red,” Swift’s fourth studio album safely took the No. 1 position after selling 344,000 copies according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Last week, “Red” scored the highest first week U.S. sales in a decade after selling 1.2 million copies. The album has outsold One Direction’s “Up All Night” to become the second-biggest album of 2012, behind Adele’s juggernaut record “21,” which has sold more than 4 million copies this year.

Rapper Meek Mill entered the chart at No. 2 with his debut studio album “Dreams & Nightmares,” selling 164,000 copies. The rapper collaborated with fellow Maybach Music artists for his debut, including Trey Songz, Wale, Rick Ross and Mary J. Blige.

Ahead of the holiday season, two festive albums debuted on the chart, with veteran crooner Rod Stewart’s “Merry Christmas Baby” at No. 3 and Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s extended play record “Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night)” at No. 9.

Country singer Toby Keith landed at No. 6 with his latest album “Hope on the Rocks,” following his appearance and best music video win at the County Music Association (CMA) awards last week.

Country group Little Big Town also saw a boost from their CMA vocal group of the year win as their album “Tornado” climbed the chart to No. 10.

Canadian singer Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse scored their second top ten album this year with “Psychedelic Pill” at No. 8, following their “Americana” album in June.

Over on the Digital Songs chart, Korean rapper Psy held the top spot with his infectious dance-pop single “Gangnam Style,” while Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” remained at No. 2 and Ke$ ha’s “Die Young” was a non-mover at No. 3.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Pfizer arthritis drug wins approval, to challenge Humira

(Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Tuesday approved Pfizer Inc‘s Xeljanz treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, one of the company’s most potentially lucrative experimental drugs, which is now poised to compete with Abbott Laboratories Inc‘s top-selling Humira.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it had approved Pfizer’s pill for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis who have not benefited from or been able to tolerate the standard oral treatment, methotrexate. Xeljanz can be used by itself or in combination with methotrexate and certain other standard treatments.

Industry analysts have predicted Pfizer’s drug, which works differently from current treatments and is better known by its chemical name tofacitinib, could eventually capture annual sales of up to $ 3 billion. The revenue is sorely needed, amid plunging sales of its Lipitor cholesterol fighter and other Pfizer medicines facing cheaper generics.

As a twice-daily pill, Xeljanz could prove more attractive to some patients than Abbott’s $ 8 billion-a-year Humira, which is given by injection every other week.

But Abbott has said Humira sales will continue growing by leaps and bounds, despite competition from Xeljanz.

“It is understandable why (new) patients might prefer an oral therapy versus one that requires needle-based delivery,” Sanford Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson said in a research note. He added that patients already benefiting from other medicines are unlikely to switch to a new product.

The FDA approved a 5 milligram dose of Xeljanz, given twice a day. But the agency said further safety data are needed to assess a 10 milligram, twice-daily dose, that Pfizer had also put before regulators.

Anderson said Xeljanz will likely cost $ 25,000 a year, in line with injectable medicines. Besides Humira, the injectables include Amgen Inc’s Enbrel and Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade — all three of which work by blocking a protein called tumor necrosis factor.

Anderson predicted the Pfizer pill, approved two weeks before Wall Street expected, will generate peak annual sales of at least $ 2.5 billion. Sales could be considerably higher, he said, if Xeljanz is also eventually approved for psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and other inflammatory conditions.

Rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases have been one of the most lucrative segments for drugmakers, with more than $ 20 billion in annual sales.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, causing inflammation and pain in the joints. It affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans, the FDA said.

An estimated 30 percent to 40 percent of patients with rheumatoid arthritis do not respond to available drugs, meaning there is room for other options.

Pfizer’s drug works by blocking molecules called Janus kinases which are linked to joint inflammation. The drug was associated with an increased risk of serious infections, tuberculosis, cancers and lymphoma. Humira, Embrel and Remicade also make patients more prone to serious infections and other complications.

The FDA said it approved the drug with a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, requiring safety information on the drug’s package insert label and a communication plan to inform healthcare workers about its risks.

The agency is also requiring Pfizer to conduct a postmarketing study to evaluate the drug’s long terms effects on heart disease, cancer and serious infections.

Pfizer shares rose 1.5 percent in after-hours trade to $ 25.09.

(Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Leslie Adler, David Gregorio and Carol Bishopric)

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