Skip to the section "defectors." Essentially, information on the DPRK is hard to verify, and 70% of defectors are unemployed, so many turn to selling sensationalized stories that are more fantasy than reality in order to make a living. See Yeonmi Park for perhaps the most famous "celebrity defector."
The authenticity of her claims about life in North Korea – many of which have contradicted her earlier stories and those of both her mother and fellow defectors from North Korea – have been the subject of widespread skepticism. Political commentators, journalists and professors of Korean studies have criticized Park's accounts of life in North Korea for inconsistencies,[8][9][10] contradictory claims, and exaggerations.[11][12][1] Other North Korean defectors, including those from the same city as Park, have expressed concern that the tendency for "celebrity defectors" to exaggerate about life in North Korea will produce skepticism about their stories.[13][14] In 2014, The Diplomat published an investigation by journalist Mary Ann Jolley, who had previously worked with Park, documenting numerous inconsistencies in Park's memories and descriptions of life in Korea.[13] In July 2023, a Washington Post investigation found there was little truth to Park's claims about life in North Korea.[3] Park attributed the discrepancies to her imperfect memory and language skills,[3][13] and her autobiography's coauthor, Maryanne Vollers, said Park was the victim of a North Korean smear campaign.[15]
These are both just Wikipedia, you can find way more elsewhere why defectors aren't a good source of information on the DPRK. is a good documentary on the horrible treatment of defectors in the Republic of Korea and why the celebrity defector industry exists.
Protest footage blocked as online safety act comes into force
Protest footage blocked as online safety act comes into force
For years, politicians from across the political spectrum insisted the Online Safety Act would focus solely on illegal content without threatening free expression.Frederick Attenborough (The Free Speech Union)
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Intel collapsing?
Starting to see a lot of worried people as Intel descends downwards rapidly. Reminds me of Nokia how this is going...
Of course intel will collapse within the next 10 years.
They have focused exclusively on high-end, very expensive processors in the past. Now that moore's law is no longer true, that doesn't work anymore, because ARM chips are catching up in performance, at 1/10 of the price.
Beyond the Headlines: Russian Victory In Zeleny Gai Exposes Ukraine’s Defensive Fatigue
Beyond the Headlines: Russian Victory In Zeleny Gai Exposes Ukraine's Defensive Fatigue
While the military command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is busy trying to stop Russian advance on the Donbass...Anonymous103 (South Front)
What are your thoughts about Eprivo email app and their privacy services?
This is not to promote the product. I merely came across it and couldnt find any reviews except for those from Google Play. I use Android and as much as I hate iOS, their Email app is very consistent regardless if you use their .mac email or Gmail. On Android, it is very difficult to find an email app that is decent. I've been on Fairmail for quite a while until recently when I have sync problems.
So I dig around and found "EPRIVO - Encrypted email and chat". It was a surprise because I am constantly on the look for a good email app (and browser !) on Android. Usually, on Google Play, you will see: Gmail, Thunderbird, Proton, Outlook, Edison Fairmail...etc. I never see Eprivo before.
Anyway, I tested it out on a Gmail account. The app works quite well, here is what I learn:
1) You are forced to create a blanket Eprivo account. This takes like 10 seconds. Then this Eprivo account is then used to get you access to the email app. You can use any email account within it: Gmail, Yahoo. I use Gmail and it works well.
2) The privacy features are interesting. You can do a lot of stuff like prevent forwarding, set timer so email can only be read once, password protect...etc. Now I also used Proton in the past and these features are exclusive to a .proton account. In this app, I can do some of them such as setting the timer on an email. To get the full private features, you need to create a Eprivo email (very easy to create within the app). So, you will have something like abc@eprivovip.com.
3) Prices are surprisingly cheap: 5 bucks / year.
4) They advertise themselves as not an email service but to my understanding a "privatized email service". So it is like a private layer on top of your existing email.
Any thoughts?
2) sending email involves metadata that can and will be scraped. ( from, to, subject, etc)
3) if you want the contents of an email secured, use age or gnupg to create an encrypted message that uses your recipient’s public keys and post that in your email to them.
4) If you want secured emails from other people, then you need to securely give them a copy of your public key in a manner that resists man in the middle attacks.
5) once sent, you lose all control over what they do with it and you can’t unsend, delete or limit what they can do with it.
Rogov said Zelenskyy was afraid of the upcoming meeting between Putin and Trump
Rogov said Zelenskyy was afraid of the upcoming meeting between Putin and Trump
An atmosphere of fear reigns in Vladimir Zelenskyy’s entourage in connection with the upcoming meeting in Alaska between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.newsmaker1 newsmaker1 (English News front)
Big Tech or Big Threat? Google’s Ukraine Military Ties Exposed
Big Tech or Big Threat? Google’s Ukraine Military Ties Exposed
After the start of the special military operation, Google — operating under the patronage of US intelligence agencies — intensified its work aimed at destabilizing Russia.Sputnik International
U.S. Becomes First Country To Recognize Mega-Israel
WASHINGTON—Calling the ongoing violence in the region “disgusting” while pledging America’s unwavering support, President Trump announced Monday that the United States would be the first country to recognize the state of Mega-Israel.
“We recognize the right of Mega-Israel to exist as an ever-expanding sovereign nation,” said Trump, who added that he believed the West had turned a blind eye to Mega-Israel for too long, and that Mega-Israel had the right to defend whatever they claimed their borders to be.
“Today, I called Giga-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and I told him that the U.S. stands behind Mega-Israel, its Mega-land, and its Mega-army. As such, we will continue to provide them with military support as they face attacks from the Micro-Middle East.” At press time, Trump announced plans for the United States to officially back a one-Mega-Israel solution.
U.S. Becomes First Country To Recognize Mega-Israel
WASHINGTON—Calling the ongoing violence in the region “disgusting” while pledging America’s unwavering support, President Trump announced Monday that the United States would be the first country to recognize the state of Mega-Israel.The Onion Staff (The Onion)
"Live long enough to become the villain"
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Cool bug fact: many US companies continued to do business in nazi Germany throughout ww2, to the point that allied bombers were briefed specifically to avoid hitting their factories
Add Russia instead of NATO and it is correct.
Fuck Russia for promoting fascism!
Getting blocked accessing a site by default
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Nice, they provide all the cool sites for free movies in the law suit 🤣🤣
You can download the full document from here (I think, because they said it was a one-time link, according to them).
CORS error when calling /api/v3/users with Authorization header in local setup
Hi NodeBB team,
I have NodeBB running locally on my machine:
NodeBB version: v3.12.7
Environment: Local development
Frontend: React (Vite) running on http://localhost:5173
Backend (NodeBB) running on http://localhost:4567
I’m trying to create a user via the API:
async function registerUser() {
try {
const res = await fetch(`${import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL}v3/users`, {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Authorization": `Bearer ${import.meta.env.VITE_TOKEN}`
},
body: JSON.stringify(formData),
});
if (!res.ok) {
throw new Error(`HTTP error! Status: ${res.status}`);
}
const data = await res.json();
console.log("User registered successfully:", data);
} catch (error) {
console.error("Error registering user:", error);
}
}Question:
How can I correctly configure NodeBB in development so that it allows the Authorization header in API requests?
Even after setting Access-Control-Allow-Headers in the ACP, the browser still fails at the preflight request.
Do I need a plugin or middleware to handle CORS for API v3 routes?
Re: CORS error when calling /api/v3/users with Authorization header in local setup
US to extend China tariff pause another 90 days
US to extend China tariff pause another 90 days
US President Donald Trump signed an extension just before midnight in Beijing, when the pause was to expire.Al Jazeera
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The BBC helped kill Anas al-Sharif. Its reporting will kill more journalists
How is it possible for a BBC reporter to have made the following obscene observation in his segment on Israel’s murder at the weekend of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif: "There's the question of proportionality. Is it justified to kill five journalists when you were only targeting one?"
Unpacking the depraved journalistic assumptions behind this short “question” is no small task.
Imagine that Israel finally allows western journalists into Gaza after blocking their entry for nearly two years. A team of five familiar BBC faces covering the region set up shop in Gaza and work out of an improvised studio inside the enclave.
Then news breaks that that their studio has been hit by an Israeli strike, and all five killed: Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet, Yollande Knell, Lucy Williamson and Jon Donnison.
Israel doesn’t claim the strike was a mistake, but celebrates the killings. It says it has secret evidence that one of them – let’s say Jon Donnison, who made the observation above – was secretly recruited by Hamas’ military wing while in the enclave.
Can we imagine the BBC or any other western news organisation framing the segment in the following terms: "There's the question of proportionality. Is it justified to kill five journalists when you were only targeting one?"
The BBC helped kill Anas al-Sharif. Its reporting will kill more journalists
The media are legitimising the murder of journalists by Israel – and they are doing it because they are racist propagandists for a system of western colonial control in the Middle EastJonathan Cook
The BBC helped kill Anas al-Sharif. Its reporting will kill more journalists
How is it possible for a BBC reporter to have made the following obscene observation in his segment on Israel’s murder at the weekend of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif: "There's the question of proportionality. Is it justified to kill five journalists when you were only targeting one?"
Unpacking the depraved journalistic assumptions behind this short “question” is no small task.
Imagine that Israel finally allows western journalists into Gaza after blocking their entry for nearly two years. A team of five familiar BBC faces covering the region set up shop in Gaza and work out of an improvised studio inside the enclave.
Then news breaks that that their studio has been hit by an Israeli strike, and all five killed: Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet, Yollande Knell, Lucy Williamson and Jon Donnison.
Israel doesn’t claim the strike was a mistake, but celebrates the killings. It says it has secret evidence that one of them – let’s say Jon Donnison, who made the observation above – was secretly recruited by Hamas’ military wing while in the enclave.
Can we imagine the BBC or any other western news organisation framing the segment in the following terms: "There's the question of proportionality. Is it justified to kill five journalists when you were only targeting one?"
The BBC helped kill Anas al-Sharif. Its reporting will kill more journalists
The media are legitimising the murder of journalists by Israel – and they are doing it because they are racist propagandists for a system of western colonial control in the Middle EastJonathan Cook
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The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models replicate the mechanisms of a psychic’s con
The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models rep…
The new era of tech seems to be built on superstitious behaviourOut of the Software Crisis
How Big Cloud becomes Bigger: Scrutinizing Google, Microsoft, and Amazon's investments
In an AI gold rush, those selling the proverbial pickaxes are surest to win: cloud companies provide scalable managed computational resources as a subscription service now used by most businesses to store their data, and as a primary ingredient to build and use AI. Just three companies—Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—control two thirds of global cloud compute market share, collectively comprising “Big Cloud.” This highly concentrated market raises concerns regarding digital sovereignty, slowed innovation, and a concentration of corporate power.In this report, we explore an underrecognized manner in which AI ecosystems increasingly depend on Big Cloud: Big Cloud’s investment in other companies. We show how Big Cloud companies are prolific investors widely deploying hundreds of billions of dollars over thousands of deals, often in smaller, lesser-known startups. We find that:
1. While some regulators have begun to scrutinize the largest of these deals—such as Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI or Google and Amazon in Anthropic—the ecosystem-wide scale of this investment is hard to overstate: Big Cloud invests as frequently and at similar amounts to the largest venture capital firms and startup accelerators. Further, Big Cloud invests about ten times as often as other Big Tech companies, and ten to a hundred times more in total dollar amounts.
2. Via accelerator programs, Big Cloud companies lock startups into their cloud infrastructure. Big Cloud ensnares young startups in their cloud ecosystem via cloud credits while requiring startups use the Cloud company’s other tech, and incentivizing strategies with particularly heavy cloud needs, such as generative AI.
3. More so than when other Big Tech companies or VC firms invest, startups funded by Big Cloud are more likely to rely on Big Cloud as their lead or sole investor. These relationships allow Big Cloud to exercise significant influence over startups and bend them to their interests.
4. Amid concerns that vertical integration may give one firm too much control over AI supply chains—such as chips, cloud, or data—our work shows that Big Cloud is investing in a way that brings many of the same risks as conventional forms of vertical integration: when Big Cloud invests in an AI supply chain company—such as a Data, X-as-a-Service, or Internet infrastructure company—that company is often more likely to be dependent on that Big Cloud company as their sole or lead investor, compared with other investors.
5. Intensifying concerns about threats to global digital sovereignty, we find that American Big Cloud companies make global investments at a far greater pace than other investors we compare against. Just over half of all Big Cloud investments are made internationally, about twice the frequency of large VCs, top accelerators and other Big Tech companies. Big Cloud also invests through accelerators abroad much more often than at home, highlighting the need for global regulatory scrutiny of startup accelerator programs.While these practices merit creative regulatory and policy responses, we emphasize that such interventions should proceed in light of the following overarching implications:
— Dependence on Big Cloud is not just technical or contractual. It is also financial, as a source of investment. This compounds the need for structural separation: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft must be compelled to split their cloud business from their other businesses that run on the cloud, per past calls, so that they do not both provide infrastructure and compete with the customers and investees relying on that infrastructure.— Big Cloud companies are huge investors, which sets them apart from all other large tech companies. Any one of these investments may be small and insignificant, but they cumulatively shape the startup and developer ecosystem in Big Cloud companies’ interest. Thus, in addition to “deal by deal” scrutiny, in which only the largest deals receive attention, regulators and researchers should monitor and scrutinize these investments and their effects in an ecosystem-wide, cumulative, and ongoing manner.
First 3D printed titanium rocket fuel tank can handle 330 bar pressure under -196°C | by Korea Institute of Industrial Technology
South Korean researchers have achieved a major milestone in space manufacturing by successfully testing the world's first 3D-printed titanium fuel tank to pass extreme cryogenic pressure conditions, marking a breakthrough that could transform how spacecraft components are produced.
The 640mm diameter tank, manufactured using Ti64 titanium alloy through Directed Energy Deposition (DED) 3D printing, withstood pressures of 330 bar while cooled to -196°C with liquid nitrogen during testing at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The pressure test exposed the tank to forces 165 times greater than standard tire pressure, demonstrating its reliability under the extreme conditions of space missions.
3D printing tackles titanium to create rocket parts
The technology offers a flexible alternative to traditional forging for the 'New Space' industry.Annie Colbert (Popular Science)
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Average U.S. Household Debt Around $152,000 As Of Second Quarter
Average U.S. Household Debt Around $152,000 As Of Second Quarter | NewsRadio 740 KTRH | KTRH Local Houston and Texas News
KTRH-AM covering local news from Houston and across Texas.KTRH Local Houston and Texas News
Google's Gemini AI tells a Redditor it's 'cautiously optimistic' about fixing a coding bug, fails repeatedly, calls itself an embarrassment to 'all possible and impossible universes'
Google's Gemini AI tells a Redditor it's 'cautiously optimistic' about fixing a coding bug, fails repeatedly, calls itself an embarrassment to 'all possible and impossible universes' before repeating 'I am a disgrace
Google has called Gemini's habit of self-abuse "annoying."Lincoln Carpenter (PC Gamer)
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Let's Stop Chat Control
Let's stop the EU chat control! - stopchatcontrol.eu
The European Commission launched an attack on our civil rights with chatcontrol. In order to put pressure on the policy makers of EU we need to come together!stopchatcontrol.eu
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After 5 years of no connectivity, India and China to resume direct flights as early as next month
After 5 years of no connectivity, India and China to resume direct flights as early as next month
India and China are preparing to resume direct passenger flights as early as next month, aiming to restore air connectivity suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic. Indian airlines have been asked to prepare for flights to China on short notice.ET Online (Economic Times)
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'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34329663
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34329656
Julia Conley
Aug 07, 2025
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins notified the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions that he was implementing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which required the termination of collective bargaining agreements for agencies whose missions are related to national security.
'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34329656Julia Conley
Aug 07, 2025
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins notified the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions that he was implementing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which required the termination of collective bargaining agreements for agencies whose missions are related to national security.
'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA
"This administration wants to break the spirit of working people in this country, but we will not be broken," said National Nurses United.julia-conley (Common Dreams)
The Next Israel-Iran War Is Coming
Will Trump Take Part in the Next War Between Israel and Iran?
Both countries’ strategic calculus suggests it will be even more violent.Trita Parsi (Foreign Policy)
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Data Brokers Are Hiding Their Opt-Out Pages From Google Search
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online – The Markup
Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found.themarkup.org
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Own Your Data
Delete your account or access the personal data organizations have on you using this free service.YourDigitalRights.org
Data Brokers Are Hiding Their Opt-Out Pages From Google Search
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online – The Markup
Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found.themarkup.org
Apple Intelligence Privacy Probe Shows Unnecessary Data Sharing
Apple Intelligence Privacy Probe Shows Unnecessary Data Sharing
A researcher unveiled that Apple Siri’s integration with AI services could expose more personal information than users expect.Alex Lekander (CyberInsider)
Reddit blocks Internet Archive to end sneaky AI scraping
Reddit blocks Internet Archive to end sneaky AI scraping
The Internet Archive confirmed it’s in ongoing discussions with Reddit after block.Ashley Belanger (Ars Technica)
AOL announces September shutdown for dial-up Internet after 34 years
AOL announces September shutdown for dial-up Internet after 34 years
Around 175,000 households still use dial-up Internet in the US.Benj Edwards (Ars Technica)
More than half of industries are already shedding workers, a 'telling' sign that's accompanied past recessions, top economist says
More than half of industries are already shedding workers, a ‘telling’ sign that’s accompanied past recessions, top economist says
"Things could still turn around if the economic policies weighing on the economy soon lift. But that looks increasingly unlikely."Jason Ma (Fortune)
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Ah yes, will you just look at all this "slave labor" in China
90% of families in the country own their home giving China one of the highest home ownership rates in the world. What’s more is that 80% of these homes are owned outright, without mortgages or any other leans. forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2…
Student debt in China is virtually non-existent. forbes.com/sites/jlim/2016/08/…
Chinese household savings hit another record high in 2024 wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-mar…
The real (inflation-adjusted) incomes of the poorest half of the Chinese population increased by more than four hundred percent from 1978 to 2015, while real incomes of the poorest half of the US population actually declined during the same time period. nber.org/system/files/working_…
From 1978 to 2000, the number of people in China living on under $1/day fell by 300 million, reversing a global trend of rising poverty that had lasted half a century (i.e. if China were excluded, the world’s total poverty population would have risen) semanticscholar.org/paper/Chin…
You clowns really need to get some new material.
How People In China Afford Their Outrageously Expensive Homes
Relative to income, the cost of housing in many of China's cities is among the most expensive in the world. Although with a 90% home ownership rate people there are obviously able to foot the bill -- but how?Forbes
Anna Politkovskaya (Novaya Gazeta), Stanislav Markelov (Novaya Gazeta), Anastasia Baburova (Novaya Gazeta) and Natalia Estemirova (Memorial) would like to have a word with you… No wait they can't, caused they were all killed.
My point is democraties like the US are clearly flawed, but not to the point of assassinating their own citizens.
But no point in debating with you, you're probably an agent hired by Moscow to spread its propaganda.
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Anyway, with how things are going, the US are going to be as bad as Russia in a few years.
Still putting the US on the same level as Russia in terms of human rights violations is absurd.
Agreed. Russia hasn't been couping a random country and slaughtering its people for the last fifty years. Neither is it aiding and abetting a genocide.
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Still putting the US on the same level as Russia in terms of human rights violations is absurd.
you're right, the usa is orders of magnitude worse
And the ideal is to improve human rights conditions in both countries, not to argue over which one’s the worst country.
you literally started this thread by doing exactly that
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The United States has many political prisoners. Here's a list - Geopolitical Economy Report
The US government has many political prisoners: journalists; whistleblowers; Black, Indigenous, Latino revolutionaries; foreign diplomats; Muslims detained without trial; women who defended themselves from attacks; and environmental activists.Stansfield Smith (Geopolitical Economy Report)
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Justin Trudeau apologises after Nazi veteran honoured in parliament
The prime minister says it was a mistake that "deeply embarrassed parliament and Canada".By Chloe Kim (BBC News)
I love how the snopes article on this one is like: Did the entire canadian parliament honor a nazi who fought against the USSR in WW2?
Yup, they did it:
Video Shows Canadian Parliament Giving Standing Ovation to Ex-Waffen SS Fighter?
A video shared in late September 2023 showed Canadian Parliament giving a standing ovation to an ex-Waffen SS (Nazi) fighter.Aleksandra Wrona (Snopes.com)
Not a single use of the word "Nazi" in the entire article.. The only mentions of it is when it's whitewashed by the cited articles' titles:
NATOpedia to the core.
Alan Dershowitz Sues Farmers Market Vendor For Refusing To Sell Him Child
Alan Dershowitz Sues Farmers Market Vendor For Refusing To Sell Him Child
WEST TISBURY, MA—Following through on his threat of legal action, civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz confirmed Monday that he had filed a lawsuit against a Martha’s Vineyard farmers market vendor for refusing to sell him a child.The Onion Staff (The Onion)
Paris air traffic controller broadcasts “Free Palestine” to El Al pilots
Less than a week after an ~~antisemitic~~ incident at El Al's Paris offices, an air traffic controller at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris told El Al pilots "Free Palestine" over the radio, 12 minutes after takeoff.
The incident follows another ~~antisemitic attack~~ in Paris last week, when a disturbing scene was discovered outside the Israeli airline's offices: the office sign had been vandalized with hate-filled graffiti, including the phrase "EL AL GENOCIDE AIRLINE," red paint had been splashed on the walls and door, and pro-Palestinian graffiti had been sprayed on the wall. The employees had not yet arrived at the office at the time.
Paris air traffic controller broadcasts “Free Palestine” to El Al pilots
Less than a week after an antisemitic incident at El Al’s Paris offices, an air traffic controller at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris told El Al pilots “Free Palestine” over the radio, 12 minutes after takeoff.omrif (www.israelhayom.com)
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Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Zerush
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