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<channel>
	<title>Intercontinental Cry</title>
	
	<link>http://intercontinentalcry.org</link>
	<description>Intercontinental Cry provides news, commentary, videos, and media alerts concerning the world's Indigenous population.</description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
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	<language>en</language>
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		<title>Judge upholds land rights in Raposa-Serra do Sol</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/378132934/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/judge-upholds-land-rights-in-raposa-serra-do-sol/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:26:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[court rulings]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Good News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[land]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[struggles]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2485</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
The first of eleven Supreme Court Judges cast his vote in the landmark case that will decide the future of Raposa-Serra do Sol, a legally-recognized Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian state of Roraima.
&#8220;Magistrate Carlos Ayres de Britto, the first and only judge to have voted so far, used the Portuguese word &#8216;esbulho&#8217; (dispossession or unlawful possession) to describe the occupation of parts of the reservation by non-indigenous landowners who want to break up the 1.7 million hectare reserve in order to hold on to the land that they farm,&#8221; writes IPS News.
Here, Britto is referring to the group of vigilante rice farmers that have refused to leave the territory, despite being ordered to do so by a 2005 Presidential decree.
A key judge in the case, Britto further stated that the reservation must remain intact in order for Brazil to uphold the constitutional rights of the the Makuxi, Wapixana, Ingariko, Taukepang, and Patamona peoples who share the territory.
He also emphasized that the five communities are the region&#8217;s original occupants, and that &#8220;territories like Raposa-Serra do Sol which border other countries are not incompatible with national security, as the military have claimed,&#8221; notes a press release by Survival International.
Following Britto&#8217;s ruling, which took about two hours to deliver, the next judge in line to vote requested an adjournment to further examine the case. 
A final ruling is expected to be handed down by the end of the year.
Photo: www.sisejuferj.org.br c/o brasil.indymedia.org
]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Venezuela Moves to Support the Yukpa</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/377697178/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/venezuela-moves-to-support-the-yukpa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:38:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Good News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Yukpa]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2476</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Following last weeks attack on Venezuela&#8217;s Indigenous Yukpa community &#8212; and the worrisome lack of support by the government to ensure their safety &#8212; President Hugo Chavez pledged on Sunday to come to the aid of the Yukpa.
&#8220;Nobody should have any doubts: Between the large estate owners and the indians, this government is with the indians,&#8221; proclaimed Chavez on his weekly television show, Ala Presidente.
&#8220;Chavez [also] announced that he &#8216;gave instructions&#8217; to Vice President Ramon Carrizalez, Interior and Justice Minister Rodríguez Chacín, Environment Minister Yubirí Ortega, and the military commander in Zulia, General Izquierdo Torres, to &#8216;demarcate the indigenous lands with the participation of the indigenous councils,&#8217; compensate the landowners, and offer the communities the protection, credits, and equipment they need to launch sustainable agricultural projects, all of which the Law clearly obligates the government to do,&#8221; explains James Suggett of Venezuela Analysis. 
&#8220;However, the declarations came just days [two days] after the Venezuelan National Guard beat and detained alternative media workers and leaders of a humanitarian delegation en route to assist the Yukpa in the occupied lands, causing many to suspect regional and local authorities willingly contradict central government policies in the conflict-ridden, coal-rich zone known as the Sierra de Perijá.&#8221;
It may also confirm a statement made in July by Alejandro Vargas, one of the estate owners involved in the attacks. According to Guillermina Romero, the daughter of Cacique Sabino, who&#8217;s been leading the Yukpa effort to reclaim the lands occupied by the estate owners, Vargas said that pleading to the National Guard or ...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Listing of Biological/Chemical Warfare Agents an ‘error’</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/376236047/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/listing-of-biologicalchemical-warfare-agents-an-error/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:05:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[toxins]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While searching through the Treasury Board of Canada&#8217;s &#8216;Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory&#8217; database last week, pollution researcher John H.W. Hummel came up on a &#8217;shocking&#8217; discovery: a listing that says &#8220;biological/chemical warfare agents&#8221; were found within the Campbell River First Nation&#8217;s Traditional Territory in British Columbia.

Searching further, Hummel discovered eleven more sites across Canada that similarly  hold &#8220;biological/chemical warfare agents&#8221; (whatever they may be).

&#8220;It&#8217;s the most shocking discovery I&#8217;ve made in my whole life!&#8221; Hummel comments in an email.
Following the discovery, Hummel set out to draw the media&#8217;s attention and to demand the government take action on these sites. The Campbell river site in particular,  like the vast majority of toxic sites that are situated on indigenous territories (over 4400 according to the database) have no action plan assigned to them. 
A few days after sending his emails out, Mark Hume from the Globe and Mail got back to him. In his reply, Hume said that, according to Transport Canada, the Campbell River listing was simply a data error. He was told, &#8220;there is not and never has been any biological/chemical warfare agents detected at [the site].&#8221;
&#8220;That is indeed good news,&#8221; Hummel said in his response, &#8220;but I&#8217;m curious what is contained in the other 11 contaminated sites which the Treasury Board of Canada site says contains biological/chemical warfare agents?&#8221;
Perhaps they are also &#8216;data errors&#8217;? Same goes for the thousands of other toxic sites across the country. That&#8217;s exactly how the government seems to view them! 
Why else wouldn&#8217;t they be taking action ...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Venezuala’s Yukpa attacked by armed “agressors”</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/374239697/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/venezualas-yukpa-attacked-by-armed-aggressors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[accountability]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[reclamation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[sovereignty]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[violence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Yukpa]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2425</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
The Yukpa, an indigenous community in the northwestern region of Venezuela, were attacked last week by hundreds of armed aggressors.
&#8220;According to the Yukpa, the aggressors were hired by elite landowners to evict the indigenous population from the vast, largely idle pastures in the region known as the Sierra de Perijá near Venezuela&#8217;s northwestern border with Colombia,&#8221; writes James Suggett of Venezuela Analysis. 
&#8220;The attacks were the latest and largest in a string of attempts to intimidate and terrorize a Yukpa community since they intensified their land recuperation efforts over the past year by occupying 14 privately owned estates known as Haciendas,&#8221; he continues.  
There have also been repeated attempts to assassinate the Yukpa Cacique (chief) Sabino Romero, who is leading the recuperation efforts. Last month, an attempt resulted in the death of Cacique Romero&#8217;s father.
The aggressors once again sought him out during last week&#8217;s attack. &#8220;They arrived quietly and hit me over the neck with their guns and hit me in the back. They grabbed me by the hair and dragged me and asked for Sabino, yelling dirty words and saying they are going to kill me,&#8221; testified Guillermina Romero, Sabino&#8217;s daughter (pictured above).
The Chavez government, unfortunately, has not come to the defense of the Yukpa. Nor have they taken any steps in the way of demarcating their land, as they are supposed to do under the constitution, and a 2005 Indigenous Peoples law.
According to government figures, the Yukpa are among 59 other cases, out of 67, that the government has been stalling on. ...]]></description>
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		<feedburner:origLink>http://intercontinentalcry.org/venezualas-yukpa-attacked-by-armed-aggressors/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Police in Ecuador evict 300 Indigenous families</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/373506177/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/police-in-ecuador-evict-300-indigenous-families/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:15:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[displacement]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Ecuador]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[protests]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[reclamation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[sovereignty]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[struggles]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[violence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2412</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Anywhere up to 1,000 police officers in Ecuador were sent last week to evict 300 Kichwa, Shuar and Huaorani families from a 70-hectare lot of land which the Indigenous People had reclaimed early last year.
The officers used force to remove the families after they refused to leave on their own. At least one person was wounded by a gunshot during the eviction.
Members of the alleged owners of the land, a group of seven (non-indigenous) families, were present as well. According to some reports, they decided to take an active role in the eviction and &#8216;help out,&#8217; by setting fire to the homes that the indigenous peoples built while waiting for government recognition of their ancestral title to the land. 
Following the eviction, The National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador (CONAIE), expressed its protest against the eviction, calling it an invasion, and saying, &#8220;[they] did not even give a space of 15 minutes for the owners to retrieve their things.&#8221;
Explained further in a press statement, CONAIE says the families had no foreknowledge of the eviction, but that it was in any case illegal because the land historically belonged to, and was occupied by the Indigenous Peoples.
Here&#8217;s a short video of the eviction, from Confirmado.net
]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Circle the Wagons (arrests at a Dakota Blockade)</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/372743902/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/dakota-people-blockading-sesquicentennial-wagon-train/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:37:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[blockades]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[protests]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[racism]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Sioux]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2165</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This video was taken about a week before the racist suppression at Minnesota&#8217;s Sesquicentennial on May 18 of this year. A group of Dakota People gathered in Fort Snelling to block a wagon train and dispel the &#8216;cherished myths&#8217; of the settlers.
&#8220;This is a place of genocide, our ancestors were force marched here in 1862 and interned in the concentration camp for an entire winter. So many of our people died here, women and children, so much of our history is ignored and suppressed. We are here to tell the truth about this history and challenge the Sesquicentennial celebration,&#8221; said Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.. &#8220;All we&#8217;re asking is to be heard,&#8221; said Ben Yahola, amidst protestors holding signs that say &#8220;We are not invisible,&#8221; &#8220;1862,&#8221; &#8220;Site of Dakota Genocide,&#8221; and &#8220;My grandmother died here.&#8221; 
It wasn&#8217;t long before &#8220;two skittish horses were steered by their mounted officers through the protestors, endangering everyone in their path, including several small children,&#8221; notes a press statement issued on the same day as the blockade, May 10. &#8220;Unsure of what to do, one officer radioed for backup. As reinforcements arrived, one officer said, &#8216;I thought we came down to do some thumping.&#8217; A sheriff&#8217;s SUV tried to force its way through the crowd of protestors to clear a path for the wagon train. Then, two kids and two women laid down in front of the SUV. For twenty minutes while protestors smudged, prayer drums sounded, and speakers addressed their message about the past’s atrocities, officers conferred, debating how best ...]]></description>
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		<feedburner:origLink>http://intercontinentalcry.org/dakota-people-blockading-sesquicentennial-wagon-train/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Company Abandons Plan for Waste Dump in Quitovac</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/371975729/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/company-abandons-plan-for-waste-dump-in-quitovac/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:48:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Good News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mexico]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Oodham]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Sacred Grounds]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[toxic]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Traditions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2121</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
The Centro de Gestion Integral de Residuos S.A. (CEGIR) proposal to build a hazardous dump site near the O&#8217;odham sacred site of Quitovac, in Sonora, Mexico,  has been defeated by O&#8217;odham and local Mexican communities.
&#8220;The attempt by CEGIR to build this toxic dump was in total violation of the Human Rights of O&#8217;odham Indigenous communities,&#8221; explains a recent press statement (pdf) by the O&#8217;odham VOICE Against the WALL and the O&#8217;odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition. &#8220;If this dump had been built, it would have been in violation of the integral O&#8217;odham right to protect their traditional homelands and their continued responsibility to conduct their traditional way of life through ceremonies that have been held at Quitovac since time immemorial.&#8221;
The proposed facility would have handled anywhere up to 45,000 tons of hazardous materials each year, ranging from asbestos and radioactive materials, to aliphatic peroxides, compressed gasses, explosives, and infectious biological wastes.
The nearby communities would have been exposed to these dangerous materials through their release into the land and air. The local community&#8217;s source of water would have also become contaminated.
Aswell, the facility threatened one of the most sacred places to the O&#8217;odham People, a place that&#8217;s central to their origins. &#8220;The O&#8217;odham creation story says that at Quitovac the cultural hero, I&#8217;Itoi, killed a monster that threatened to destroy the people,&#8221; notes the Society for American Archaeology website. Each year the O&#8217;odham, who&#8217;s lands are now divided by the U.S.-Mexico border, gather at the site for ceremonies honoring this historic event.
The waste dump ...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>65 Indigenous Communities Declare Victory in Peru</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/371011121/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/65-indigenous-communities-declare-victory-in-peru/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:57:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Good News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Peru]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[protests]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2385</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Indigenous groups in Peru are claiming victory after more than a week of protests throughout the state.
A day after the government declared martial law in three of the provinces affected by the protests, on August 19 a congressional commission voted to overturn the controversial law known as Decree 1015, which the indigenous groups were challenging.
They say the law &#8220;makes it easier for mining and energy companies to buy communally owned land, will lead to a foreign land grab, especially in the Amazon rain forest,&#8221; Reuters explains. &#8220;Garcia passed the law by decree earlier this year under special powers Congress granted him to bring Peruvian law into compliance with a new free-trade deal with the United States.&#8221;
The Congressional Commission said Garcia &#8216;went too far&#8217; with the decree, and &#8220;agreed in principle to bring any new land law into compliance with Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization. The Commission also issued an official document to the Executive calling for the overturn of Supreme Decree 058-2008-PCM, imposing the states of emergency,&#8221; adds Bill Weinberg of the WW4Report.
The head of Peru&#8217;s legislature followed the announcement by saying it may go to a floor vote on Friday. 
Garcia, on the other hand, thinks revoking the decree is a &#8220;huge mistake,&#8221; and that it will condemn Peru&#8217;s indigenous and rural communities to &#8220;another century of backwardness and misery.&#8221;
It&#8217;s not all that far off from the truth. However, it is in fact Garcia&#8217;s decree that would be condemning them to more &#8220;backwardness and misery.&#8221; 
That&#8217;s why Sixty-five indigenous communities rose up ...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Two Petitions for Indigenous Communties in Brazil</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/370068037/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/two-petitions-for-indigenous-communties-in-brazil/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:32:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Guarani]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Makuxi]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[petitions]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[URGENT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2374</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two petitions have been posted online to help the Kaiowa Guarani of Mato Grosso do Sol and the Peoples of Raposa Serra do Sol, in northern Brazil. Details and links to the petitions can be found below&#8230;
Raposa Serra do Sol
Signatures are requested by August 21, 2008. Brazil&#8217;s Supreme Court is about to decide on whether or not to uphold the ratification of Raposa Serra do Sol, a reserve populated by more than 18,000 Indigenous People. You may recall the recent violence attacks against some of them, at the hands of vigilante rice farmers illegally occupying the reserve.  If the supreme court rules against Raposa Serra do Sol, it could be setting a dangerous precedent, even validate the use of force (against law-abiding indigenous people).  The Peoples of Raposa Serra do Sol have posted the petition in both Portuguese and English: www.petitiononline.com/rss408/petition.html 
The Kaiowa Guarani of Mato Grosso do Sol
The Kaiowa Guarani of Mato Grosso do Sol experience Genocidal Conditions. Their land has been promised for many years. They have requested that international attention be placed on the government entities to complete the demarcation of their land and end to the genocide: www.petitiononline.com:80/guarani/petition.html
An English translation of the Kaiowa Guarani petition:
STOP THE GENOCIDE
For Land and Life of the Kaiowá Guarani People
More than one hundred Kaiowá Guarani lives are sacrificed annually in this beginning of the millennium, in Mato Grosso do Sul. It is the voracity of the monoculture of agribusiness, stimulated by omission of the Federal Government in demarcating the indigenous lands; the impunity of ...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Mexican Campesinos Tricked into Leasing Their Land</title>
		<link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IntercontinentalCry/~3/370045826/</link>
		<comments>http://intercontinentalcry.org/mexican-campesinos-tricked-into-leasing-their-land/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ahni</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[indigenous]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mexico]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://intercontinentalcry.org/?p=2368</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Hundreds of Indigenous campesinos have been tricked into giving away their lands for a wind farm project on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico.
The non-Spanish speaking agrarians signed tenancy agreements with a number of different companies, some of which last up to 60 years. Now the companies refuse to fulfill their end of the agreements.
For instance, the Spanish company Union FENOSA promised agricultural aid to Faustina López Martínez, from the village of Juchitán, so they can run a set of windmills on  her 3 hectares of land for the next 30 years.  The company, however, will not give her the aid - offering only the lesser part of the agreement, 150 pesos (less than US$15) a year.
Divided between FENOSA, berdrola, Endesa, Preneal, Gamesa and others, there are at least 185 different contract violations like like this. A group of lawyers from  human rights organizations in Oaxaca and Mexico are attempting to annul them.
Perhaps serving a greater example &#8212; if anything, about the limitations of privately-owned land &#8212; the Santiago Niltepec community, located east of the Isthmus, refused to sign a tenancy contract with FENOSA.
&#8220;José Santiago Ramírez, secretary of the Santiago Niltepec Community Goods Commission, says the Spanish transnational offered 30-year contracts and 1,000 to 1,200 pesos — $98 to $117 — per hectare (2.5 acres) to the campesinos annually to rent their lands. But no company can have a contract directly with the landowner since 95 percent of the population&#8217;s lands is communal,&#8221; notes the Latin America Press.
The example, is that ...]]></description>
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