Syria refugees say rape is a key reason they fled, report says

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

Rape is one of the primary reasons that Syrian refugees say they fled their country, “a significant and disturbing feature” of the war raging between rebels and Syrian government forces, the International Rescue Committee said Monday.

In a new report based on hundreds of interviews in Jordan and Lebanon, the assistance group said refugees recounted Syrian women and girls being gang-raped in front of their families or assaulted by armed men in public. Others were kidnapped, violated, tortured and killed, the refugee aid group was told.

The aid group did not assign blame to either side in the conflict for the reported rapes. “We deliberately do not ask about perpetrators,” said Alina Potts, Women’s Protection and Empowerment Emergency Coordinator for the group. “We’re looking at what the needs are.”

Syrian rape survivors face shame and stigma that compounds the trauma, and often inhibits them from reporting sexual violence. Many families have married off their daughters early, believing a husband could protect girls from rape. The rush to early marriages has also been reported by other groups.

"They rape girls who are as young as her in Syria now," the father of a pregnant 14-year-old child bride told IRIN news service last year. “I will not feel OK if I do not see her married to a decent man who can protect her.”

Other girls are wed after an assault, in the belief that a marriage could “safeguard their honor,” the IRC reported. Some fear being killed by their own families if they reveal they were attacked. In one extreme case, a father shot his daughter as armed men drew near, trying to prevent the “disgrace” of her rape, the aid group was told.

Despite the continued reports of rape, help for sexual assault survivors is scant in the countries that Syrian refugees have fled to, the group reported.

“Syrian women say they feel unsafe in crowded shelters where they have minimal privacy, yet they are scared to report violence, because of shame or fear of reprisal from family members,” the report said. “Others just don’t know where to turn for help.”

The IRC said it was expanding targeted care and counseling for refugees in Jordan and Lebanon and launching similar programs in Iraq, but warned that funding from abroad hasn’t kept pace with the needs of women and girls across the region.The outpouring of refugees has also given rise to new threats of exploitation outside Syria.

"There must be safeguards to protect women from further violence.... There have been reports of people being targeted by unscrupulous landlords, saying, ‘I know you can’t afford the rent, but if you give me your daughter, your family will have a place to stay,’” Potts said.

Sexual violence is one of a long list of reported atrocities in Syria, including killings, torture and abductions. More than 600,000 refugees have poured out of Syria and millions more are believed to be in need inside the country, according to the U.N.

Aid agencies partnering with the U.N. have appealed for more than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians for six months, the biggest appeal ever made for such a crisis.

The IRC urged donors to meet the pleas for help, focusing added attention on the needs of women and girls. It also pressed for more aid for refugees living outside of the camps, who make up the bulk of the displaced yet garner less attention from media and donors. Borders should be kept open to allow more Syrians to flee, it said.

For the record, 2:40 p.m. Jan. 14: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that rape was the most common reason for leaving Syria cited by the refugees. The report called it "a primary reason," but did not say it was the most common one.

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Watch the Entirety of <em>Toy Story</em> as a Live-Action Remake

How much do uber-geeks Jonason Pauley and Jesse Perrotta love Toy Story? Enough to spend two years filming a DIY feature-length stop-motion remake of Pixar’s entire 1995 blockbuster shot for shot, using little more than cardboard boxes, string and toys.

It’s hardly the first time DIY auteurs have used action figures to make fan films about iconic movie characters, but the Live-Action Toy Story Project represents extraordinary fan devotion, and even used of the original soundtrack dialogue from Tom Hanks and company along with the original Randy Newman score.

That’s usually the part where lawyers usually start firing off cease and desist orders, but in this case, the project managed to make its own happy ending. After Pauley, 19, and Perrotta, 21, trekked to Pixar headquarters in Emeryville last week and passed out DVDs of their homespun homage, they received the studio’s blessing, and Live-Action Toy Story Project can now be seen in its entirety above.

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Jodie Foster comes out as gay at Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Hollywood actress Jodie Foster confirmed long-running speculation that she is gay by coming out at the Golden Globes awards on Sunday, but joked she wouldn’t be holding a news conference to discuss her private life.

The notoriously private Foster stunned the audience of stars and Hollywood powerbrokers as she accepted a life-time achievement awarded by announcing she was now single.

“Seriously, I hope that you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big-coming-out speech tonight,” she said, “because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age.”

Foster said she had always been up front with trusted friends and family about her sexual orientation.

“But now apparently, I’m told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference … that’s just not me,” she said.

Foster, 50, then talked to her “ex-partner in love” Cydney Bernard, from whom she recently split, and their two sons in the audience.

“Thank you Cyd, I am so proud of our modern family, our amazing sons,” Foster said.

Over the years, Foster had come under withering criticism from the gay community for not publicly recognizing she was gay.

The two-time best actress Oscar winner for “The Silence of the Lambs” and “The Accused” said she had valued her privacy because of her early acting career, which started at the age of three.

“If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you’d had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you, too, might value privacy above all else,” she said.

(This story is corrected with spelling of Bernard’s first name to Cydney in paras 6 and 7)

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy and Mary Milliken; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Well: How to Go Vegan

When I first heard former President Bill Clinton talk about his vegan diet, I was inspired to make the switch myself. After all, if a man with a penchant for fast-food burgers and Southern cooking could go vegan, surely I could too.

At the grocery store, I stocked up on vegan foods, including almond milk (that was the presidential recommendation), and faux turkey and cheese to replicate my daughter’s favorite sandwich. But despite my good intentions, my cold-turkey attempt to give up, well, turkey (as well as other meats, dairy and eggs) didn’t go well. My daughter and I couldn’t stand the taste of almond milk, and the fake meat and cheese were unappealing.

Since then, I’ve spoken with numerous vegan chefs and diners who say it can be a challenge to change a lifetime of eating habits overnight. They offer the following advice for stocking your vegan pantry and finding replacements for key foods like cheese and other dairy products.

NONDAIRY MILK Taste all of them to find your favorite. Coconut and almond milks (particularly canned coconut milk) are thicker and good to use in cooking, while rice milk is thinner and is good for people who are allergic to nuts or soy. My daughter and I both prefer the taste of soy milk and use it in regular or vanilla flavor for fruit smoothies and breakfast cereal.

NONDAIRY CHEESE Cheese substitutes are available under the brand names Daiya, Tofutti and Follow Your Heart, among others, but many vegans say there’s no fake cheese that satisfies as well as the real thing. Rather than use a packaged product, vegan chefs prefer to make homemade substitutes using cashews, tofu, miso or nutritional yeast. At Candle 79, a popular New York vegan restaurant, the filling for saffron ravioli with wild mushrooms and cashew cheese is made with cashews soaked overnight and then blended with lemon juice, olive oil, water and salt.

THINK CREAMY, NOT CHEESY Creaminess and richness can often be achieved without a cheese substitute. For instance, Chloe Coscarelli, a vegan chef and the author of “Chloe’s Kitchen,” has created a pizza with caramelized onion and butternut squash that will make you forget it doesn’t have cheese; the secret is white-bean and garlic purée. She also offers a creamy, but dairy-free, avocado pesto pasta. My daughter and I have discovered we actually prefer the rich flavor of butternut squash ravioli, which can be found frozen and fresh in supermarkets, to cheese-filled ravioli.

NUTRITIONAL YEAST The name is unappetizing, but many vegan chefs swear by it: it’s a natural food with a roasted, nutty, cheeselike flavor. Ms. Coscarelli uses nutritional yeast flakes in her “best ever” baked macaroni and cheese (found in her cookbook). “I’ve served this to die-hard cheese lovers,” she told me, “and everyone agrees it is comparable, if not better.”

Susan Voisin’s Web site, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, offers a nice primer on nutritional yeast, noting that it’s a fungus (think mushrooms!) that is grown on molasses and then harvested and dried with heat. (Baking yeast is an entirely different product.) Nutritional yeasts can be an acquired taste, she said, so start with small amounts, sprinkling on popcorn, stirring into mashed potatoes, grinding with almonds for a Parmesan substitute or combining with tofu to make an eggless omelet. It can be found in Whole Foods, in the bulk aisle of natural-foods markets or online.

BUTTER This is an easy fix. Vegan margarines like Earth Balance are made from a blend of oils and are free of trans fats. Varieties include soy-free, whipped and olive oil.

EGGS Ms. Coscarelli, who won the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars with vegan cupcakes, says vinegar and baking soda can help baked goods bind together and rise, creating a moist and fluffy cake without eggs. Cornstarch can substitute for eggs to thicken puddings and sauces. Vegan pancakes are made with a tablespoon of baking powder instead of eggs. Frittatas and omelets can be replicated with tofu.

Finally, don’t try to replicate your favorite meaty foods right away. If you love a juicy hamburger, meatloaf or ham sandwich, you are not going to find a meat-free version that tastes the same. Ms. Voisin advises new vegans to start slow and eat a few vegan meals a week. Stock your pantry with lots of grains, lentils and beans and pile your plate with vegetables. To veganize a recipe, start with a dish that is mostly vegan already — like spaghetti — and use vegetables or a meat substitute for the sauce.

“Trying to recapture something and find an exact substitute is really hard,” she said. “A lot of people will try a vegetarian meatloaf right after they become vegetarian, and they hate it. But after you get away from eating meat for a while, you’ll find you start to develop other tastes, and the flavor of a lentil loaf with seasonings will taste great to you. It won’t taste like meat loaf, but you’ll appreciate it for itself.”

Ms. Voisin notes that she became a vegetarian and then vegan while living in a small town in South Carolina; she now lives in Jackson, Miss.

“If I can be a vegan in these not-quite-vegan-centric places, you can do it anywhere,” she said. “I think people who try to do it all at once overnight are more apt to fail. It’s a learning process.”

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What are your vegantips? We’re collecting suggestions on ingredients, recipes and strategies.

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On the Road: Security Check Programs Tend to Create an Elite Class - On the Road

THE Transportation Security Administration plans to widen the pool of travelers who qualify for PreCheck, its 14-month-old expedited security program that allows selected passengers to pass through special checkpoints without having to remove laptops from bags or take off their shoes, belts or outer coats.

That’s a welcome prospect for the roughly 40 percent whom the agency considers frequent fliers out of the annual 640 million domestic passengers — people who are screened “time and time again” at airports, according to John S. Pistole, the agency’s administrator. As such, these frequent travelers are presumably “known and trusted” fliers who make up a pool of potential members of so-called known-traveler security programs like PreCheck, he said.

A traveler qualifies for PreCheck only after passing a background check, and only the highest-frequency travelers are invited to take part by the five airlines currently participating.

But as the T.S.A. expands the program into the general population, some questions arise. For example, the agency is considering inviting private companies to help conduct those background checks, which would be done only on people who volunteer their information in order to enroll.

In a year-end report to agency employees, Mr. Pistole suggested that the checks could be conducted by companies “that we would contract with that would vet to our criteria and assess the exact things that we want to know about a person.”

Last week, the agency took a step in that direction, issuing a request for proposals from companies that might want to do the background checks to identify passengers who “present a low risk to the aviation transportation system” and who could enroll in an expanded PreCheck.

Every traveler I know who has participated in PreCheck likes the program enormously, even though there is no guarantee that a member is able to use a dedicated PreCheck lane on any given trip. That is because the T.S.A. has built in randomness as a security measure. PreCheck is now available at 35 airports, and the agency plans to expand the number of participating airports and airlines this year.

The potential for such programs to increase the possibility of racial profiling is well known. But another question concerns overall privacy. Assuming private businesses become involved, the security of passengers’ private data will be an issue — especially considering that the collected information may have commercial value beyond security purposes.

Another question is whether the government wants to create a class system for treating citizens differently at airport security. For example, I occasionally complain here about the way the airlines have instituted stark contrasts between the haves and have-nots in air travel, devising ever more complex ranks of privilege and status on the plane or at the boarding gate.

At the security checkpoint, it arguably makes sense to de-emphasize what Mr. Pistole calls the “one size fits all” approach and rely more on intelligence-based risk assessment. But what about the have-nots, the majority of travelers who pose no risk but who are not “known” well enough to qualify for special treatment?

Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed reservations about the T.S.A.’s idea of “allowing private companies to carry out risk analysis” to determine which Americans might qualify as trusted travelers.

Jay Stanley, an A.C.L.U senior policy analyst, described concerns about a system that would rely on a commercial “data broker” to collect background information and essentially assign a passing score to qualified participants. Aside from the implications for those who may fail a background check for any reason, what about the majority of air travelers, who simply don’t apply, or who don’t travel enough to qualify for consideration?

Mr. Stanley said that he has no serious issue with the current PreCheck program because its scope is limited. But as it expands more into the general population, he said, “I’m uncomfortable with the logic of this kind of program, and where it will take us in the end,” as government and possibly private businesses share more and more data on travelers.

In its request for proposals, the T.S.A. enumerates strict standards for privacy protections in “safeguarding the personal information from loss or disclosure.”

Incidentally, here’s a disclosure of my own. I recently enrolled in another known-traveler program, Global Entry, which is run by the Customs and Border Protection agency and provides expedited re-entry into the country for members who have passed a background check, submitted to a personal interview and fingerprinting and paid $100 for five years. Global Entry also automatically bumps its members into the PreCheck program — and that was a prime incentive for me to join.

Which makes me one of the “haves” in security, I suppose. My hubris is tempered, however, by my decidedly have-not status elsewhere, as I wait at the gate with my fellow humble have-nots and watch the privileged board ahead of us, rank by elite rank.

So are we indirectly creating a security underclass as we filter out trusted travelers for special treatment at the checkpoints?

“The notion that our own government is going to either directly or via an arms-length corporate relationship sort through the population and stamp some people with a trusted label and others with an untrusted label — that makes me uneasy,” Mr. Stanley said.

Me too, actually.

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Egyptian court orders new trial for Mubarak

CAIRO—

An Egyptian court granted an appeal by former President Hosni Mubarak and ordered a new trial into the killings of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising, a move certain to inflame the political unrest that has upset the country’s democratic transition.

The ruling was a victory for the ailing Mubarak and his Interior minister, Habib Adli, who also won his appeal. Both men, who had been sentenced to life in prison, face other criminal charges and are likely to remain in detention until a new trial in the deaths by security forces of more than 800 protesters.

“The previous ruling was unfair and illegal,” said Yousry Abdelrazeg, one of Mubarak’s lawyers, who accused the judge in the first trial of political bias. “The case was just a mess and there was no evidence against Mubarak.”

No date has been set for the new trial.

The court’s decision comes amid turmoil over an Islamist-backed constitution and outrage over the expanded powers of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. It means a bloody chapter in Egypt’s 2011 revolt will be revisited with the prospect that Mubarak, whose police state ruled for 30 years, may be absolved in a case that deepened the nation’s political differences and impassioned the Arab world.

Mubarak was convicted in June of not preventing the deaths of hundreds of protesters attacked by police and snipers during the uprising, which began on Jan. 25, 2011, and ended 18 days later when he stepped aside and the military seized power.

Mubarak argued that he had not ordered the crackdown and was unaware of the extent of the violence. A recently completed government-ordered investigation into the killings, however, reportedly found that Mubarak had monitored the deadly response by security forces in Tahrir Square via a live television feed.

The appeals court ruling came a day after prosecutors announced an investigation into allegations that Mubarak, 84, received about $1 million in illicit gifts from Al Ahram, the country’s leading state-owned newspaper. The former president has reportedly been in a military hospital since December after he fell in a prison bathroom and injured himself.

Last year’s trial riveted the nation with images of the aging Mubarak wheeled into the defendant’s cage on a stretcher, his arms crossed and his eyes hidden behind sunglasses.

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com  

(Special correspondent Reem Abdellatif contributed to this report)

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Watch the All-New Corvette Debut Live at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT

The Detroit Auto Show kicks off tomorrow, but Chevrolet is unleashing its next-generation Corvette tonight at a special event in the Motor City. We’ll be on hand for the reveal, but if you want to get a leg-up on the rest of your gearhead friends, Chevy is live-streaming the pre-show reveal at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific. We’ve embedded the video above, so start refreshing this page to get an eye-full, and look for our live coverage of the show starting at 8 a.m. Eastern on Monday. And if you’re really impatient, the first details of the all-new ‘Vette have already leaked out, including some exterior pics that are sure to whet your appetite.

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NBC Sports Network will sponsor gun show despite Newtown School shootings

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The NBC Sports Network is staying on target with its sponsorship of a major gun show that will take place a little more than a month after the Newtown, Conn., school shootings that left dozens, most of them children, dead.

A spokesman for NBC Sports told TheWrap on Friday that the cable outlet NBC Sports Network will continue to sponsor the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference, otherwise known as the SHOT Show. The show, a major convention for the firearms industry, will take place at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas from January 15-18.

The Newtown school shootings took place on December 14.

“We’ve participated in the SHOT Show for several years,” the spokesman told TheWrap in a statement, adding that its sponsorship of the show is “part of our commitment to our outdoor programming block.”

The NBC Sports Network, which was known as Versus until a little more than a year ago and had previously been known as the Outdoor Life Network, carries hunting, fishing and other outdoor programming, such as “Gun It With Benny Spies,” along with traditional sports programming, according to USA Today.

The SHOT Show, which is not open to the public, is not just a trade show but “a powerful display of industry unity and its resolve to meet any challenge affecting the right to make, sell and own firearms,” according to the show’s website.

The show is held by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) which, eerily enough, is based in Newtown.

The organization was in attendance Thursday at a White House meeting of Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on firearms.

Since the Newtown school shootings, the topic of gun control has been very much at the forefront of national debate, with some groups calling for tighter restriction, and the National Rifle Association choosing to focus on media violence and mental illness as possible causes of gun-related violence.

Among those urging tighter restrictions is longtime NBC on-air personality Bob Costas, who called for stricter gun control during a December airing of “Sunday Night Football.”

Speaking shortly after Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend before driving to the Chiefs’ practice complex before taking his own life, Costas cited a column by Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock in his call for gun control.

“In the coming days, Jovan Belcher’s actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows?” Costas said. “But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe. If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”

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City Room: Cuomo Declares Public Health Emergency Over Flu Outbreak

With the nation in the grip of a severe influenza outbreak that has seen deaths reach epidemic levels, New York State declared a public health emergency on Saturday, making access to vaccines more easily available.

There have been nearly 20,000 cases of flu reported across the state so far this season, officials said. Last season, 4,400 positive laboratory tests were reported.

“We are experiencing the worst flu season since at least 2009, and influenza activity in New York State is widespread, with cases reported in all 57 counties and all five boroughs of New York City,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement.

Under the order, pharmacists will be allowed to administer flu vaccinations to patients between 6 months and 18 years old, temporarily suspending a state law that prohibits pharmacists from administering immunizations to children.

While children and older people tend to be the most likely to become seriously ill from the flu, Mr. Cuomo urged all New Yorkers to get vaccinated.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that deaths from the flu had reached epidemic levels, with at least 20 children having died nationwide. Officials cautioned that deaths from pneumonia and the flu typically reach epidemic levels for a week or two every year. The severity of the outbreak will be determined by how long the death toll remains high or if it climbs higher.

There was some evidence that caseloads may be peaking, federal officials said on Friday.

In New York City, public health officials announced on Thursday that flu-related illnesses had reached epidemic levels, and they joined the chorus of authorities urging people to get vaccinated.

“It’s a bad year,” the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve got lots of flu, it’s mainly type AH3N2, which tends to be a little more severe. So we’re seeing plenty of cases of flu and plenty of people sick with flu. Our message for any people who are listening to this is it’s still not too late to get your flu shot.”

There has been a spike in the number of people going to emergency rooms over the past two weeks with flulike symptoms – including fever, fatigue and coughing – Dr. Farley said.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mr. Cuomo made a public display of getting shots this past week.

In a briefing with reporters on Friday, officials from the C.D.C. said that this year’s vaccine was effective in 62 percent of cases.

As officials have stepped up their efforts encouraging vaccinations, there have been scattered reports of shortages. But officials said plenty of the vaccine was available.

According to the C.D.C., makers of the flu vaccine produced about 135 million doses for this year. As of early this month, 128 million doses had been distributed. While that would not be enough for every American, only 37 percent of the population get a flu shot each year.

Federal health officials said they would be happy if that number rose to 50 percent, which would mean that there would be more than enough vaccine for anyone who wanted to be immunized.

Two other diseases – norovirus and whooping cough – are also widespread this winter and are contributing to the number of people getting sick.

The flu can resemble a cold, though the symptoms come on more rapidly and are more severe.

A version of this article appeared in print on 01/13/2013, on page A21 of the NewYork edition with the headline: New York Declares Health Emergency.

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Disruptions: U.S. Agency Warns of Java Software Problem

6:53 p.m. | Updated The Department of Homeland Security has warned users to disable Java software on their computers, citing a security hole that allows hackers to take control of their machines.

“Java 7 Update 10 and earlier contain an unspecified vulnerability that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system,” the agency said in an alert issued last week. “This and previous Java vulnerabilities have been widely targeted by attackers, and new Java vulnerabilities are likely to be discovered.”

A European security researcher who blogs under the name Kafeine first discovered the vulnerability and posted it to his blog Thursday. The homeland security agency said that it had confirmed that Microsoft Windows, Apple’s Mac OS X and Linux platforms were all affected and that it was “unaware of a practical solution to this problem.” On Thursday evening, the agency recommended that users disable Java in their Web browsers.

On Sunday, Oracle, Java’s developer, released a patch for the security hole. Apple stopped shipping its computers with Java enabled last year, largely because of security concerns, but said it was remotely disabling the Java 7 plug-in on Macs where it had already been installed. Windows and Linux users can disable Java by following this guide on java.com.

Oracle did not return a request for comment on Sunday.

Java, a widely used programming language that runs on more than 850 million personal computers, has been the source of security problems before. Last April, hackers exploited a Java vulnerability to infect more than half a million Apple computers with a vicious form of malware in what was the largest-scale attack on the OS X operating system to date.

A month later, the Shadowserver Foundation, a nonprofit group that tracks cyber threats, discovered that hackers had used a Java security hole to infect visitors to several foreign policy Web sites, including the Web sites of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Amnesty International Hong Kong and the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The exploit was particularly disconcerting because it let attackers download a malicious program onto its victims’ machines without prompting. Users did not even have to click on a malicious link for their computers to be infected. The program simply downloaded itself.

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