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Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against a right-wing US podcaster who claimed the spouse of the French president used to be a man.The 218-page complaint against Candace Owens, who has millions of followers on X and YouTube, was filed by the Macrons in Delaware Superior Court and seeks a jury trial and unspecified punitive damages.In a statement released by their lawyer, the Macrons said they filed the lawsuit after Owens repeatedly ignored requests to retract false and defamatory statements made on an eight-part YouTube and podcast series called “Becoming Brigitte.””Owens’ campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety,” they said.”We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused.”It is our earnest hope that this lawsuit will set the record straight and end this campaign of defamation once and for all.”The suit accuses Owens of using her popular podcast to spread “verifiably false and devastating lies” about the Macrons including that Brigitte Macron was born a man, that they are blood relatives and that Macron was chosen to be France’s president as part of a CIA-operated mind control program.”If ever there was a clear-cut case of defamation, this is it,” Tom Clare, a lawyer for the Macrons, said in a statement.”Owens both promoted and expanded on those falsehoods and invented new ones, all designed to cause maximum harm to the Macrons and maximize attention and financial gain for herself.”Brigitte Macron, 72, has also taken to the courts in France to combat claims she was born a man.Two women were convicted in September of last year of spreading false claims after they posted a YouTube video in December 2021 alleging that Brigitte Macron had once been a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux — who is actually her brother.The ruling was overturned by a Paris appeals court and Macron appealed to the highest appeals court, the Court de Cassation, earlier this month.

US President Donald Trump has announced a “massive” trade deal with Japan, as China said it would send its vice premier to US trade talks next week to secure its own agreement ahead of a looming deadline.In an attempt to slash his country’s trade deficits, the US president has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariff hikes if they do not hammer out a pact with Washington by August 1.The Japan agreement, along with another pact with the Philippines also announced Tuesday, means Trump has now secured five agreements since his administration promised “90 deals in 90 days” from April’s tariff delay.The others are with Britain, Vietnam and Indonesia, which the White House said Tuesday would ease critical mineral export restrictions.Negotiations are still ongoing with much larger US trading partners China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union.Representatives from China and the United States will meet next week in the Swedish capital Stockholm to try and hammer out a deal before an August 12 deadline agreed in May.As the clock ticks down, China said Wednesday it would seek to “strengthen cooperation” with Washington at the talks, and confirmed vice premier He Lifeng would attend.- Japan deal -“We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. He said that under the deal, “Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits”.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday that Japan received a 15 percent tariff rate, down from the 25 percent threatened, as “they were willing to provide this innovative financing mechanism.””They are going to provide equity credit guarantees and funding for major projects in the US,” Bessent added.Japanese exports to the United States were already subject to a 10 percent tariff, and this would have spiked to 25 percent come August 1 without a deal.Duties of 25 percent on Japanese autos — an industry accounting for eight percent of Japanese jobs — were also already in place, plus 50 percent on steel and aluminum.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the autos levy had now been cut to 15 percent, sending Japanese car stocks soaring, with Toyota and Mitsubishi up around 14 percent each. The Nikkei rose 3.5 percent.”We are the first (country) in the world to reduce tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, with no limits on volume,” he told reporters.- Rice imports -Japan’s trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa, who secured the deal on his eighth visit to Washington, said the 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum would remain. Akazawa also said increased defense spending by Japan — something Trump has pressed for — was not part of the agreement.Trump said Tuesday Japan has also agreed to “open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things.”Rice imports are a sensitive issue in Japan, and Ishiba’s government — which lost its upper house majority in elections on Sunday — had previously ruled out any concessions. Japan currently imports 770,000 tons of rice tariff-free under its World Trade Organization commitments, and Ishiba said it would import more US grain within this.Ishiba said Wednesday that the deal does not “sacrifice” Japan’s agricultural sector.Tatsuo Yasunaga, the chair of Japan Foreign Trade Council, welcomed the trade deal announcement but said the business community needed to see details to assess its impact.”I highly commend the fact that this major milestone has been achieved and dispelled the uncertainty that private companies had been concerned about,” Yasunaga said.Naomi Omura, an 80-year-old voter, said it was “disappointing that Japan cannot act more strongly” towards the United States.Tetsuo Momiyama, 81, said that Ishiba “is finished… It’s good timing for him to go.”- Eyes on the prize -Other major US trading partners are watching closely as the end of the month approaches. The Philippines’ deal also announced Tuesday only saw levies cut by one percentage point, to 19 percent, after Trump hosted President Ferdinand Marcos.  China on Wednesday said it supported “equal dialogue” following the announcement of the Japan-US deal.Beijing and Washington imposed escalating, tit-for-tat levies on each other’s exports earlier this year, reaching triple-digit levels.But in talks in Geneva in May they agreed to lower them temporarily until August 12.burs-reb-bys/aha

The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives on Wednesday sent lawmakers home early for a six-week summer break, to avoid being forced into awkward votes on the probe into the late, politically connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The furor around the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking minors, is still roiling Donald Trump’s administration two weeks after his Justice Department effectively closed the case, announcing there was no more information to share.Democrats in the House — keen to capitalize on the simmering controversy — have been trying to force a vote that would compel the publication of the full Epstein case files. Desperate to avert the effort and unable to bring up anything but the most non-controversial bills, the Republican leadership canceled votes scheduled for Thursday — sending lawmakers home for the August recess a day early.House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump loyalist who was under pressure from the president not to allow any Epstein votes, voiced hopes that the break would provide “space” for a resolution. But Democrats accused the majority Republicans of running scared of their own voters, many of whom have been demanding more transparency.”Donald Trump, for quite a while now, has been exaggerating and exploiting this case and making a big deal out of it,” Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the powerful Rules Committee, told MSNBC. “He wins the presidency, the Republicans control both chambers and, all of a sudden, we’re told forget about it.”In a July 7 memo, the Justice Department said the Epstein “client list” that Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed to have been reviewing did not in fact exist, and reaffirmed that he died by suicide in his prison cell. It sparked a furious backlash from Trump’s “MAGA” support base, who have for years been told by their leaders that a “deep state” cover-up was protecting figures in the Democratic Party whom they accuse of being Epstein’s clients.- ‘Dirtbags’ -Trump’s MAGA lieutenants — including two allies who have since been hired to run the FBI — made careers of fanning the conspiracy theories, including that Epstein’s suicide was actually a murder ordered by his powerful clients.Prominent online influencers and media figures in the movement — as well as ordinary voters — have spoken of feeling betrayed after Trump began publicly castigating them for wanting answers. Trump’s ties to Epstein are extensive. The pair were pictured partying together during a 15-year friendship before they fell out in 2004 over a property deal, and when Trump subsequently denounced his former ally.The White House has been furiously pushing back against a Wall Street Journal report that said Trump had contributed a “bawdy” letter with his signature for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Under perhaps the biggest political pressure of his career, Trump has authorized Bondi to release “credible” information and has asked courts to unseal grand jury transcripts in the case. Bondi’s deputy Todd Blanche said this week he was seeking a meeting with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, 63, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes. With a Republican rebellion in the House in full swing, the Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee had already voted to subpoena Maxwell to talk with lawmakers at her Florida prison. “We’ve got to send a message to these dirtbags that do this that this is not acceptable behavior,” said Republican Tim Burchett, who introduced the motion.Epstein admitted two state felony prostitution charges in 2008 as part of a plea deal — arranged by a prosecutor who would go on to serve in Trump’s cabinet — that was widely criticized as being too lenient. 

Ozzy Osbourne was a pioneering musician but the Black Sabbath frontman was perhaps best known in the mainstream for his antics — including offending all of Texas when he drunkenly urinated on the US state’s monument to its fallen Alamo heroes.The stunt earned him a years-long ban from playing in San Antonio but after repeated apologies, the organization behind the Alamo site paid homage to Osbourne’s journey “from regret to reconciliation” in light of his death on Tuesday.”We at the Alamo are saddened to hear of the passing of legendary musician Ozzy Osbourne. His relationship with the Alamo was marked initially by a deeply disrespectful incident in 1982,” the institution posted on social media. “However, redemption and reconciliation eventually became part of his history as well.”The incident saw the self-styled “Prince of Darkness” — who was wearing his wife Sharon’s dress, in defiance of her bid to prevent him from going out by hiding his own clothes — relieve himself on the 60-foot cenotaph that stands as a Texas war memorial.The Alamo was the setting of a much-mythologized battle between Mexican and Texan troops in 1836.Osbourne was arrested and barred for years from performing in San Antonio.But a decade later, he personally apologized to the then-mayor “and expressed genuine remorse for his actions,” including donating $10,000 to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.In 2015 he revisited the Alamo grounds “to learn and appreciate the site’s history,” said the institution, which added that Osbourne “openly demonstrated humility and understanding.”That visit was filmed for a television show on The History Channel.”At the Alamo, we honor history in all its complexities,” read the statement.”Today, we acknowledge Ozzy Osbourne’s journey from regret to reconciliation at the historic site, and we extend our condolences to his family, friends, and fans around the world. May he rest in peace.”The British metal trailblazer died Tuesday at age 76, mere weeks after he played his final show in his home city of Birmingham.

Sales of previously-owned homes in the United States hit their lowest rate in nine months, according to industry data released Wednesday, as high home prices and mortgage rates weighed on the market.Existing home sales dropped by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.9 million, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR).A consensus forecast of analysts had expected a smaller pullback to a 4.0 million rate, according to Briefing.com.There was no change in sales on a year-on-year basis, the NAR said.But the median home price jumped by two percent from a year ago to $435,300, a record high for the month of June, the association added.”Multiple years of undersupply are driving the record-high home price,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun in a statement. “Home construction continues to lag population growth. This is holding back first-time home buyers from entering the market,” he added.High mortgage rates were also fueling the gloom in home sales, he said.”If the average mortgage rates were to decline to six percent, our scenario analysis suggests an additional 160,000 renters becoming first-time homeowners and elevated sales activity from existing homeowners,” Yun said.The popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged around 6.8 percent in the second half of June, according to Freddie Mac data.This was similar to the level in mid-May and mid-April, data showed.Mortgage rates were significantly lower a few years ago.The higher mortgage rates come as the US Federal Reserve has held the benchmark lending rate steady this year, with policymakers closely monitoring the economic effects of President Donald Trump’s fresh tariffs.But Trump has repeatedly criticized this approach — despite economists’ warnings that tariffs could fuel inflation over time and bog down growth.Early Wednesday, Trump wrote in a social media post that “Housing in our Country is lagging” as the Fed “refuses to lower Interest Rates.”He reiterated his call for interest rates to be three percentage points lower than they currently stand.While lower interest rates can be a boost to the economy, they can also be associated with higher consumer prices.

Germany needs firm US assurances that it will quickly receive replacement Patriot anti-missile systems if it sends two of its own units to Ukraine, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Wednesday.In comments to Der Spiegel news magazine, Pistorius said European NATO members needed “watertight” guarantees that any American-made Patriot air-defence systems sent to Ukraine would be replaced within about six to eight months.US President Donald Trump last week announced a deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte for European alliance members to buy US weaponry — particularly Patriot systems — for Kyiv to help it in its war against Russia.The move marked a pivot for Trump as his patience has worn thin with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for frustrating efforts to halt the war in Ukraine.Germany has offered to finance two of the Patriot systems, while several other NATO allies have expressed willingness to pay for three more.But concern has grown as Washington wants European allies to first send Patriot systems from their own stocks to Ukraine and then wait for replacements from the United States.Pistorius told Der Spiegel it was important that “the countries transferring systems can continue to meet their NATO requirements and that no security gaps arise for NATO”.Countries including Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands had declared their willingness to finance Patriot systems, but Pistorius said that “no decision has been made as to which country could supply Patriot systems to Ukraine”.Speaking later at a Berlin news conference, he said talks were ongoing on the question of “which countries in Europe and beyond currently have Patriots, and in what quantities are they willing to hand them over?”He added: “There is money for these Patriots. Now we just need the Patriots.”Germany formerly had 12 Patriot systems but has sent three to Ukraine and two to Poland. Another Patriot battery is dedicated to training, leaving Germany with six active units.

US President Donald Trump agreed Tuesday to reduce threatened tariffs on the Philippines, but only by one percentage point, after what he termed a successful meeting with his counterpart Ferdinand Marcos.Welcoming Marcos to the White House, Trump called him a “very tough negotiator” and said: “We’re very close to finishing a trade deal — a big trade deal, actually.”In a social media post shortly afterward, Trump said that while the Philippines would open up completely to US goods, he would still impose a 19 percent tariff on products from the Southeast Asian country, a major exporter of high-tech items and apparel.”It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.The Philippines was among two dozen economies confronted by Trump with letters this month warning of 20 percent tariffs on all goods coming into the United States as of August 1.The 19 percent rate is still above the 17 percent threatened by Trump in April, when he threatened sweeping global tariffs.Speaking at a press briefing Wednesday in Manila, Marcos’s press secretary Claire Castro said the Philippine president had confirmed Trump’s zero tariffs statement but only for “certain markets,” without elaborating.She also downplayed the potential effects of a tariff regime, noting that just 16 percent of the country’s exports go to the United States, with about two-thirds being electronic components not subject to the levies.”To put it plainly, it has an impact on the country, but not that much,” she told reporters.Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Marcos described the tariff situation as a “living thing” that could potentially be revisited as global markets adjusted.The trade rift comes despite increasingly close defense relations between the United States and the Philippines, a former US colony and treaty-bound ally that has seen high tensions with China.The United States deployed ground-launched missiles in the Philippines last year, and has also eyed ammunition manufacturing there, despite the closure in 1992 of the US naval base at Subic Bay due to heavy public pressure.”All of what we consider part of the modernization of the Philippine military is really a response to the circumstances that surround the situation in the South China Sea,” Marcos said next to Trump.”We are essentially concerned with the defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereign rights,” said Marcos.”Our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States.”- Trump eyes China visit -China and the Philippines have engaged in a series of confrontations in the contested waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.Trump has frequently questioned allies in Europe over their military spending, but voiced fewer doubts about the Philippines. Both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in meetings with Marcos on Monday vowed to honor the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Southeast Asian nation.The Trump administration has identified China as the top US adversary but the president has also boasted of his relationship with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.Speaking alongside Marcos, Trump said he would “probably” visit China at Xi’s invitation “in the not-too-distant future.”He said of Marcos: “I don’t mind if he gets along with China very well, because we’re getting along with China very well.”Trump added the Philippines had been “maybe tilting toward China” and “we untilted it very, very quickly.””I just don’t think that would have been good for you,” Trump said.He credited himself with the shift, although the turn towards Washington began after the 2022 election of Marcos, before Trump returned to power.Marcos’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte had flirted with closer relations with China and bristled at US criticism over human rights under Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

The United States is looking to send asylum seekers to the sparsely populated volcanic isles of Palau, the small South Pacific nation said Wednesday. Scattered about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the Philippines, tropical Palau has long been one of the United States’ closest allies in the Pacific. Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr last week received a request from Washington to accept “third-country nationals seeking asylum in the United States”, his office said in a statement. Whipps’ office told AFP on Wednesday the proposal was still under consideration by the nation’s powerful Council of Chiefs, an advisory body of traditional leaders. “A meeting was held last week. So far no decision has come out of that meeting,” a spokesman said. US President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants, saying the country had been “inundated” by unwanted arrivals. He signed an executive order in January — titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” — that suspended admissions for countless refugees seeking haven in the United States. Key details of the proposed deal between Palau and the United States were not immediately clear, such as how many asylum seekers it would cover, or what Palau may get in return. “Based on the most recent draft agreement, Palau would have full discretion to decide whether or not to accept any individuals, and all actions would be consistent with our constitution and laws,” the Palau president’s office said in a statement.US Ambassador Joel Ehrendreich was present at a meeting of senior officials to discuss the request, according to photos published last week by the Palau president’s office. The United States has reportedly considered dispatching asylum seekers to the likes of El Salvador, Libya and Rwanda.With some 20,000 people spread across hundreds of volcanic isles and coral atolls, Palau is by population one of the smallest countries in the world. – A tricky ask -The Pacific microstate could find it difficult to deny Washington’s request. Palau gained independence in 1994 but allows the US military to use its territory under a longstanding “Compact of Free Association” agreement. In return, the United States gives Palau hundreds of millions of dollars in budgetary support and assumes responsibility for its national defence. The United States Embassy in Palau did not respond to an AFP request for comment. Since coming to power in 2021, Whipps has overseen the expansion of US military interests in Palau. This has included the ongoing construction of a long-range US radar outpost, a crucial early warning system as China ramps up military manuevers in the Taiwan Strait.Palau is one of the few remaining countries to recognise Taiwan’s claim to statehood. 

US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a “massive” trade deal with Japan, cutting a threatened 25-percent tariff to 15 percent ahead of an August 1 deadline.Trump has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariffs if they don’t strike a deal with the United States by next month.So far, Trump has only announced pacts with Japan, Britain, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, while talks continue with other trade partners. “We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. Trump said that under the deal, “Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits.”He did not provide further details on the unusual investment plan, but said the deal “will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs.”Japanese imports into the United States were already subject to a 10-percent tariff, which would have risen to 25 percent on August 1 without a deal.Duties of 25 percent on Japanese autos — an industry accounting for eight percent of Japanese jobs — were also already in place, as well as 50 percent on steel and aluminum.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Wednesday in Tokyo that the autos levy was cut to 15 percent.”We are the first (country) in the world to reduce tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, with no limits on volume,” he told reporters.”We think it is a great achievement that we were able to get the largest cut (in tariffs) among countries which have trade surpluses with the US,” he said.This sent Japanese auto stocks soaring on Wednesday, including Toyota which rocketed more than 12 percent.US-bound shipments of Japanese cars tumbled 26.7 percent in June, stoking fears that Japan could fall into a technical recession.Last year vehicles accounted for around 28 percent of Japan’s 21.3 trillion yen ($142 billion) of exports to the world’s biggest economy.To Trump’s annoyance, US-made cars sell poorly in Japan, with only hundreds sold annually for the likes of General Motors, compared to millions of Toyotas bought by US motorists.The US president also wanted Japan to increase imports of rice, the price of which has soared in recent months in the Asian giant, and of US oil and gas.- Rice imports? -But Trump said Tuesday that Japan has agreed to “open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things.”Rice imports are a sensitive issue in Japan, and Ishiba’s government — which lost its upper house majority in elections on Sunday — had previously ruled out any concessions.Ishiba, whose future is uncertain following the election, said on Wednesday that the deal does not sacrifice Japan’s agricultural sector.Trump has been under pressure to wrap up trade pacts after promising a flurry of deals ahead of his August 1 tariff deadline.Earlier on Tuesday, he announced a deal had been reached with the Philippines which would see the country face 19 percent tariffs on its exports.The White House also laid out details of a deal with Indonesia, which would see it ease critical mineral export restrictions and also face a 19 percent tariff, down from a threatened 32 percent.Indonesian goods deemed to have been transshipped to avoid higher duties elsewhere, however, will be tariffed at 40 percent, a US official told reporters Tuesday.After an escalatory tit-for-tat with China, the two major economies agreed to a temporary lowering of tariffs, with another round of negotiations expected next week in Stockholm.Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff on allies and competitors alike, alongside steeper levels on steel, aluminum and autos.Legal challenges to Trump’s non-sectoral tariffs are ongoing.

Acrobatics, fortune tellers, opulent gowns and palace intrigue: the New York debut of the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra was a performance befitting the era it recalls.Monday’s immersive show “Versailles in Printemps: The Affair of the Poisons” centered on France’s 17th-century period of excess and seediness that its creator, Andrew Ousley, told AFP has parallels to the present day.At the evening staged in Manhattan’s new Printemps luxury emporium, guests and performers alike donned velvet waistcoats, silky corsets, feathered headdresses and powdered makeup.Core to the performance’s tale was the discovery of arsenic, Ousley said — the first “untraceable, untasteable poison.””Everybody was just poisoning everybody.”And at the web’s center? A midwife and fortune teller named La Voisin, he said, a “shadowy-like person who basically would peddle poison, peddle solutions, peddle snake oil.””She was the nexus,” Ousley continued, in a scheme that “extended up to Louis XIV, his favorite mistresses” — inner circles rife with backstabbing and murder plots.The poisoning scandal resulted in a tribunal that resulted in dozens of death sentences — until the king called it off when it “got a little too close to home,” Ousley said with a smile.”To me, it speaks to the present moment — that this rot can fester underneath luxury and wealth when it’s divorced from empathy, from humanity.”Along with a program of classical music, the performance included elaborately costumed dancers, including one who tip-toed atop a line of wine bottles in sparkling platform heels.The drag opera artist Creatine Price was the celebrant of the evening’s so-called “Black Mass,” and told AFP that the night was “a beautiful way to sort of incorporate the ridiculousness, the campness, the farce of Versailles with a modern edge.”Drag is “resistance,” she said, adding that her act is “the essence of speaking truth to power, because it really flies in the face of everything in the opera that is standard, whether it’s about gender or voice type.”- Period instruments -The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra formed in 2019, and its first stateside tour is underway: the series of shows kicked off at Festival Napa Valley in California before heading to New York.On Wednesday it will play another, more traditional show at L’Alliance New York, a French cultural center in Manhattan.The orchestra aims to champion repertoire primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries, and plays on period instruments.”Playing a historical instrument really gives me a feeling of being in contact with the era in which the music was composed,” said Alexandre Fauroux, who plays the natural horn, a predecessor to the French horn distinguished by its lack of valves.Ousley runs the organization Death of Classical, an arts non-profit that puts on classical shows in unexpected places, including the catacombs of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery and crypts in Manhattan.Monday’s spectacle included over-the-top performance, but Ousley emphasized that the evening was ultimately a celebration of classical artists.”These are players who play with such energy, to me it’s more like a rock band than an orchestra,” he said. And the mission of putting on such shows is about something bigger, Ousley said: “How do you fight against the darkness that seems to be winning in the world?””When you can sit and feel, with a group of strangers, something that you know you feel together — that’s why I work, because of that shared connection, experience and transcendence.”