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Urios Magazine Volume 1 Issue 1 January 2016
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CURIOUS
ISSUE NO. 1URIOS.ORG
U R I O S M A G A Z I N E
The legal positions of American Governerswho refuse to accept Syrian refugees
A report on the recent Climate Changesymposium
Remembering the founding of the tribunaland its milestones throughout history.
THE SYRIANREFUGEE CRISIS
NEW BEGINNINGSCLIMATE CHANGE
SYMPOSIUMTHE ICTR
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introducing the committee
Article
Strasbourg study trip
UJIEL article
Hamburg MUN
Symposium Lecture
Column
10 things to look forward to in 2016
Member's page
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URIOS MAGAZINE
Ingeborg LeijtensC H A I R 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6
Dear reader,
It is with great pleasure that I present to you the newest version of the UriosMagazine: Curious! After a calm period, the Urios magazine is back in full
swing and has even undergone a small face-lift. Our highly motivatedMagazine Committee is ready for the year to come, and I am certain they
will produce educative and at the same time highly entertaining issues.
The theme of this edition is ‘New Beginnings’. While most of you willprobably be thinking about their 2016 resolutions – ranging from finallyrunning that half marathon, travelling to India for a spiritual journey or
simply eating more veggies at dinner – we secretly all know that 2016 won’tbe much different from the year before when it comes to sticking to those
well meant but often improbable initiatives to change our lives for the better.So let’s approach things a bit differently and think of 2016 as the start of
another year to be filled with interesting encounters, exciting challenges andtime spent with new and old friends. We all know too well that it will also be
filled with rainy bike rides, nights spent at the library and long days at work –but perhaps, for now, let’s pretend like that won’t be the case so we can stillenjoy the beautiful feeling of a new beginning. I hope you will all start thenew year with the intention to make it a very good one. On behalf of the
Urios board and Magazine Committee I would like to wish all a wonderful,exciting and loving 2016! Enjoy the brand new edition of Curious.
URIOS MAGAZINE
PREFACE
PAGE 5 PREFACE
INTRODUCING THECOMMITTEE
Roos Bos
I’m Roos, 21 Years old and in my 3th year of
my law bachelor. I just came back from a
semester abroad in South Africa. The most
important thing I learned from spending six
months at a University in a country
recovering from decades of race
segregation is that creating an informative
platform for young people to share and
discuss ideas, can bring about great
change. So I am very excited to keep Urios
up to date on everything that is happening
within the association and in the field of
international law.
Natasha McArdle-Ismaguilova
My name is Natasha, I'm 21 and studying
my Masters in Law and Economics here in
Utrecht, I'm really interested in law and
how it intersects with social justice. In my
spare time you'll find me ranting about
feminism, legal theory, politics and
technology on my various social media
accounts.. I'm really looking forward to
being a part of Urios in 2016!
.
PAGE 6 COMMITTEEURIOS MAGAZINE
Judith Bel
My name is Judith Bel, I’m in my first year of
studying Law at the Utrecht University. I’m
passionate about travelling, different cultures and
making a change in the world. In my free time I
like to read, write, do yoga and attend lectures
every now and then. I also like plants and drinking
beer with friends.
When it comes to the magazine, I have tons of
ideas and like to brainstorm a lot, but I’m also very
interested in how a magazine is actually put
together, since I don’t have much experience with
the process. So far, it seems like a very interesting
and informative project to work on!
Sofia van Dijk
My name is Sofia van Dijk and it is a great
pleasure to have been given the task to
supervise the magazine committee.
Together with my committee we will strive
to make the Urios Magazine one of the
indispensable elements of our association.
I am a very curious person and if I were able
to, I would want to spend my life long
traveling. I can be quite the chaotic person,
but a perfectionist at the same time.
URIOS MAGAZINEPAGE 7 COMMITTEE
By Roos Bos
N O M A D I C | 2 4
THE LEGALPOSITION OFAMERICAN
GOVERNORS WHOREFUSE TO ACCEPTSYRIAN REFUGEESWHO SEEK A NEWBEGINNING.
PAGE 8 URIOS MAGAZINE ARTICLE
THE STATESREFUSINGSYRIANREFUGEES
PAGE 9 ARTICLEURIOS MAGAZINE
‘’Refugees could be one of the greatTrojan horses’’ (Donald Trump) ‘’Texascannot participate in any program thatwill result in Syrian refugees (…) beingsettled in Texas.’’ (Greg Abbott) ‘’I will doeverything ‘’humanly possible’’ to stopmore Syrian refugees to be placed in thisstate.’’ (Phil Bryant) ‘’I will take every lawfulmeasure in my power to prevent resettlingrefugees in Maine. ‘’ (Paul LePage)
More than four million Syrians have lefttheir homes looking for a new beginningin a safer place. John Kerry, the Americansecretary of state, announced inSeptember that the United States willincrease the number of worldwiderefugees they each year accept to 100,000in 2017. But not all the states of ‘’themelting pot of cultures’’ are happy withObama’s policy on resettling more Syriansin America. Thirty-one states in the U.Shave stated that they oppose letting inmore immigrants from Syria, but thequestion is whether the states have anylegal authority to close their borders forrefugees. According to immigration-lawexperts, the American constitutioncommits the legal power to refuse orallow people into the country to thefederal government.President Obama has the authority, underthe Refugee Act of 1980, to accept foreignrefugees who face: ’’Persecution or a wellfounded fear of persecution on account ofrace, religion, nationality, membership in aparticular group, or political opinion’’.
In the most recent immigration case ofthe supreme court of the United States,the judges confirmed the presidentialauthority on immigration. Furthermorethey stated that it is of utmost importancethat all executive branches ensure thattheir policies are consistent with theforeign policy of the federal governmentbecause of the dynamic nature of therelations with other countries.Immigration policy can provoke strongreactions and international controversy, soonly the federal government should setpolicy regarding refugees. When refugeesare resettled, states do have an assistingrole in working with the federalgovernment. This facilitating role of thestates specifies that states can directfederal money to organisations that assistin resettling refugees. The Obamaadministration reminded the states that ifa state refuses to direct money to theappointed organizations, they could besubject to an enforcement action. Butwithout cooperation of the states thesettlement of refugees can be made moredifficult, due to the fact that States candeny investing their own resources intoresettling refugees. Most importantly theycan make the states a very unwelcomingplace.
STRASBOURGBy So f i a van Di j k
S H O R T S T U D Y T R I P Traditionally Urios organizes studytrips each year in the theme of bothinternational as European law. This
year's European trip went toStrasbourg in France. The EuropeanCourt of Justice, the EuropeanParliament and the Council of
Europe are just a few examples ofthe many European institutionsseated in Strasbourg. It is not fornothing that this city is known asone of the European capitals, andtherefore it is a perfect destination
for a Urios study trip.
PAGE 10 REPORTURIOS MAGAZINE
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With a group of 22 people, amongst which were bothDutch as international students, we travelled toFrance with the bus. At 7 in the morning allparticipants were expected at Utrecht Central Stationfrom where we were supposed to depart at 7.30 am.
However due to some complications we had quite abig delay and so we arrived much later and moretired than planned. Luckily our awesome bus driverRob got us through this journey with a lot of patienceand lots of fun. After having checked in at our hotel, avery tasty dinner was arranged for the group in thebeautiful historical city center. As the holiday seasonwould almost be upon us, all streets were alreadydecorated in Christmas and winter theme, whichgave us the feeling we were walking around inDisneyland. A very pleasant way to start this great tripand a good compensation for the stress of thejourney.
The second day started off with a great Frenchbreakfast with fresh breads, fruits, yoghurt and muchmore good stuff. This was a great fuel for the excitingday that was ahead of us. Our first scheduled visit wasan encounter with a Dutch EU Parliamentarian. Wewere very lucky to be visiting the EU Parliament onthe day of an official debate on the current situationof refugees and terrorism. We had the chance to seethe Italian president speech for all parliamentarianson those topics. The second visit that day went to theInternational Institute of Human Rights, which is aresearch and education institute. Although thelocation was beautiful, the visit itself was not veryinteresting and quite short. That evening a big part ofour group went to explore the nightlife of Strasbourg,
with which we ended up crashing a private party of aRed Cross team.
The last day we visited Eurocorps, where we watcheda presentation on the institution and where we wereinvited to have lunch together with the residingcorps. A short visit, but definitely a very fun one. Afterthat everyone finally ahd some free time to do somesouvenir shopping and to grab some food to eat onthe way home. Around 5 pm we returned to Rob’sbus to drive back to the Netherlands. Rob once againgave us an entertaining trip home and made sure weall arrived in Utrecht safe. I can say for myself I arrivedin Utrecht quite tired, but nevertheless very satisfiedwith this studytrip and I am pretty certain manyshare the same feeling. The board is already lookingforward to the next study trip, which is going to theever exciting Israël.
PAGE 11 REPORT
THE ICTR
BY ANDREA MARILYNUTRECHT JOURNAL BOARD
In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide which
claimed over a million lives in a very short span of
time, the international community and Rwanda had
to decide how to bring justice, peace and healing to
the Rwandan society. This led to the establishment
of an international criminal tribunal, the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
with the mandate of “prosecuting persons
responsible for genocide and other serious violations
of international humanitarian law committed in the
territory of Rwanda and Rwandan
citizens responsible for genocide and other such
violations”. Twenty years after its establishment, the
ICTR has finally decided to wrap up its work and the
closing events were held in the beginning of
December 2015.
In all, the Tribunal has sentenced 61 individuals after
indicting 93 of them including high ranking officials,
government officials, businessmen and religious
militia. In prosecuting such high ranking leaders, the
Tribunal has focused on one of the reasons behind
establishing international criminal tribunals in
general namely symbolic justice to the
victims. Nevertheless, one cannot conclusively say
that the ICTR has achieved such justice by
prosecuting individuals since the Tribunal itself was
established outside Rwanda, in Arusha, Tanzania.
This meant that victims could not always identify
with the justice laid down by the Tribunal.
Furthermore, it is pertinent to note that the ICTR is
concluding its work twenty years after the Rwandan
genocide, which in effect, is delayed justice to the
victims.
PAGE 12 UJIEL ARTICLEURIOS MAGAZINE
A Walk Down Memory Lane
In examining the work of the ICTR, one cannot ignore
the fact that the ICTR was one of the first international
criminal tribunals established after the Nuremberg
Tribunal and other national military tribunals. At the
moment of its establishment, international criminal
law and practice were mere infants. In fact, the
International Criminal Court (ICC), the permanent
body to try international crimes, they modelled the
ICC on the flaws and the successes of the ad hoc
tribunals. In light of this, the work of the ICTR is
commendable. For instance, the ICTR was the first
international criminal tribunal to prosecute individuals
for the crime of genocide although the Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide has been in existence since 1948.
Furthermore, the ICTR has laid down the law in
prosecuting genocide perpetrated through sexual
violence so much so that in 2014 the Tribunal
launched a best practices manual on the prosecution
of sexual violence crimes in post-conflict regions.
Another milestone in the work of the ICTR is its
prosecution of the media in instigating genocide. Such
rulings of the Tribunal have contributed to the
development of international criminal law and
practice.
The ICTR was established to achieve lofty ideals such
as maintenance of peace, national reconciliation and
deterrence. However, it is questionable if the ICTR did
actually achieve these aims. Peace in Rwanda cannot
be said to be a result of the establishment of the
Tribunal and if anything, the Tribunal was one of the
peace offerings to the victims. National reconciliation
in an ethnic conflict such as that in Rwanda is vital in
order to bring together the warring factions so as to
enable them to live together as a society. However, the
ICTR system could not achieve this by simply
prosecuting offenders. In fact, it would be well to
remember that the national systems of Rwanda are so
different from international criminal justice system
that one cannot conclusively state that the victims
viewed the ICTR as proper institution of justice sans
bias. An international criminal tribunal cannot by itself
be the solution to prevent and deter genocide since
genocides do not occur simply because of a feeling of
impunity. That said, one cannot conclude that the
ICTR was a futile institution. It was an essential
stepping stone in the peace process in Rwanda, in
upholding the rule of law within the international
community since international crimes are essentially
crimes against humanity as a whole and a guide to
future tribunals in the development of international
criminal law.
PAGE 13 UJIEL ARTICLEURIOS MAGAZINE
URIOS MAGAZINE REPORTPAGE 14
HAMBURGMUN
From the 3rd till the 6th of December the Urios MUNSociety participated in HamMUN, a Model UnitedNations conference in Hamburg. Our very own MUNCommissioner Maxime Voorbraak tells about theexperiences of the Urios delegation at this conference.
From the 3rd till the 6th of December the Urios MUN Societyparticipated in HamMUN, a Model United Nations conferencein Hamburg. We got of to a bit of a rocky start since the trainswere delayed and so we arrived an hour late in Hamburg. Aftera quick change of clothes, we went to the University for theopening ceremony and the first committee sessions, and fordelicious Subway sandwiches which they had as a welcomesnack.
After a first brief session it was time for the first social, a PubCrawl! Although most of us were tired and went to the hostelquite early, three of our delegates made it to the last bar. Afterwhich our delegate Eamonn o'Keeffe delighted many aparticipant with his lively interpretation of Gold Digger in akaraoke bar.
Next morning we had to get up early for our first day ofconference, it was an eventful day in which one of ourdelegates, who impersonated the Head of State of Mexico, gotkilled by one of the other delegates in the Joint CrisisCommittee simulation. Which he didn't like at first but luckilyhe got a new persona as Commander of the Mexican marinesso everyone was happy again.
The lunches were far from excellent in the weekend but onfriday we got to eat at the university cafeteria, which wasconsiderably better, so we got quite lucky there. The overallquality of the food was not superb that weekend. Since wedidn't have much time in between the committee sessions andthe socials we had dinner in the Mcdonalds at the trainstation 3nights in a row. We were not the only ones so it probably madequite a sight, all these students in formal suites eating big macsat the station.
Our delegation was spread over multiple committees andthere were some interesting positions, for example thepeople´s republic of China in the ECOSOC committee andthe Russian Federation in the Human rights council. TheHamMUN staff chose several very interesting topic like theextreme censorship of journalists in the Human rightscouncil and the increasing use of Drones in internationalconflicts in the DISEC committee. This topic focused inparticular on the use of Drones in the Northwest Pakistan,
which was interesting because one of our delegates wasthe Islamic Republic of Pakistan in DISEC. And he did agood job too, because our delegate Taco Brinkman got anhonourable mention, which is even more impressiveconsidering that he was a first- time MUN´er.
On saturday we dressed up for our last social, the Delegate´s ball. The ball was in a beautiful old venue in a district inHamburg which is well known for its outrageous partying.
Around the venue there were many stripclubs and bars.They opened with slow dancing but after a few beers theychanged the to pop and more fast paced music. After afun night of dancing a beers we had a rough andhangover last conference day. Many resolutions passed inthe last hours and although we were hungover, it was apretty successful day. After the closing ceremony it wastime to take the train back to Utrecht, which took about 5hours and most of us spend this time sleeping.
I think it was a very successful conference, it was wellorganised (apart from the lunches) and we had anespecially fun group of delegate´s. Everybody had a goodtime and I think we created some new MUN´ers. I hope totake many of them with me at MUN´s in the future since Ithink they acquired a taste for it now!
On the 14th of December, the Climate Change Lecture was held in the Oude
Raadszaal. The room was packed with Urios members and nonmembers,
and the list of speakers was very promising. Subjects to be discussed
included, amongst others, the recent developments at the Paris Summit
COP21, political developments and the Urgenda climate case.
Before diving into the more legal and politic subjects, Pier Vellinga (professor
at Wageningen university) gave us a geographical explanation of how the
greenhouse effect actually works. He also explained why it is almost certain
that humans are the cause of the global warming, and not natural shifts. This
is important, because it is the reason that finally some action has been taken
to improve the situation.
After these explanations, Michel Rentenaar (climate envoy of the
netherlands) was able to give us a very detailed report of the Paris Summit
COP21. He was able to explain very clearly how it all took place, and how
chaotic it could be at the same time. It is after all an intense event, but they
luckily achieved a lot this time!
The last speaker was Dennis van Berkel (climate change lawyer for Urgenda).
He explained the Urgenda case against the government, which should
eventually cause the government to take more action to protect us against
climate change. So far, they have been doing pretty well and this was a very
interesting subject to hear about as well.
We hope you liked the Symposium Lecture as much as we did! And of course
we would like to see you next time at any other activities that will be
organised!
Climate Change Symposium
PAGE 15 URIOS MAGAZINE SYMPOSIUM
THELEGALITY OFAIRSTRIKESIN THE WAKE OF THE CHARLIE HEBDO KILLINGS AND THE MOST RECENTPARIS ATTACKS, AN INTERESTING PHENOMENA IS HAPPENING: IT FEELSTHAT NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVERAL YEARS, THE WESTERNWORLD HAS ENTERED A STATE OF EMERGENCY WHERE ALL FOCUSNOW IS FIRST AND FOREMOST ON THE PROTECTION OF ITS CITIZENSAGAINST ISLAMIC TERROR.
BY NATASHA MCARDLE
URIOS MAGAZINE COLUMNPAGE 16
The recent Paris attacks where 130 people lost their
lives were a tragedy, but they have also acted as a
catalyst: just days after the tragedy happened, a
motion was hurriedly passed in the UK calling for the
use of drones to drop bombs on Syria. Just one hour
after the vote passed with an overwhelming majority,
on December 3rd Britain joined forces with the United
States, France and Russia and officially launched
airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria. British
drones were seen leaving the airbase in Cyprus.
Reminiscent of UK intervention in Iraq in 2003, the UK
once again finds itself on the cusp of yet another war
that will leave Syria desolate and poverty-stricken. The
measure has already been widely criticised for being
an inefficient method in countering terrorism, failing
to consider the deaths and human rights abuses it will
entail and being extremely costly endeavour whilst
simultaneously widespread cuts to disability, child and
family welfare in the UK are being made. At the same
time, perhaps the most important aspect of the
airstrikes has barely been touched upon: is it legal?
It therefore quickly becomes evident that when world conflicts arise, they can be simultaneously legal or illegal
depending on which country or part of the world you are in. The West, who feel threatened and fear for the
safety of their citizens believe self-defence is a sufficient legal basis for enacting such brutal measures. As for the
innocent Syrian citizens these measures will affect? They will be too busy mourning the deaths of their relatives
and fleeing their war-stricken country to consider nuanced legal debates.
To put it flatly, it depends on who you ask. UK and US
military action in Iraq in 2003 was widely decried to be
illegal, due to the United Nations providing no
resolution calling for intervention. In a 2004 interview
with the BBC, the United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan stated that"[F]rom our point of view and
from the Charter point of view [the war] was illegal.”
Contrast that with a UN resolution passed in
November this year which implicitly supports the
necessity to “take all necessary measures” to further
prevent terror. However, it does not strictly approve
the use of force and cannot in itself be seen as
providing a legal basis for intervention in Syria. This
has not however stopped David Cameron, the British
prime minister, from relying on the provision. As well
as this, he has stated that the main legal basis
allowing airstrikes in Syria is the “self-defence” of both
the UK and its allies, as per Article 51 of the UN charter
which allows countries the use of military force for
individual or collective self-defence. Keir Starmer,
writing for The Guardian, has expressed the opinion
that in the face of terror, this is a sufficient legal basis
for military intervention.On the flipside, Syrian
President Bashar Assad has said that Britain’s airstrikes
in Syria are “illegal” and will help spread terrorism.
Leading legal scholars in the UK have agreed with this
position, arguing that the move is based not on legal
but rather political considerations. There is no doubt
Iraq and Syria are different. Yet similarities are obvious:
we do not know yet whether the UK’s military
intervention in Syria is legal. What we do know is that
bombs will fall on innocent citizens and tear the
country apart as it did in Iraq. Is this not a human
rights abuse on the grandest scale imaginable?
URIOS MAGAZINE COLUMNPAGE 17
10 THINGS WE'RELOOKING FORWARDTO IN
1 E X C H A N G E T O I S R A E LThis year's long exchange is to Israel, andit's great. Israel is said to have everythingthere is, yet very small. There are cities,beaches, deserts and mountains... all justvery small. Small, but not less exciting. Wecan't wait.
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O U R U N I V E R S I T Y ' S B I R T H D A Y
Many of you maybe already attended oursymposium lecture on climate change, butthat's not all! There are more things tocome, so keep an eye out!
3 E U F A E U R O 2 0 1 6 Many of you might be pissed since theDutch team didn't make it to the EuropeanChampionship, but that doesn't mean itwon't be a fun happening! Let's take it as anopportunity to become better friends withour neighbors and cheer for them.
4 G E E N P E I L R E F E R E N D U MGeenpeil made a statement and got us areferendum, so let's use it! There arediffernt things to say about this trade treatywith Ukraine, but the referendum itself sureis an interesting political development!
5 O P E N I N G O F J A N S K E R H O F 3On January 28th the new building for theLaw department will be opened! Our officeis alread there and it's really beautiful, socome and take a look!
Sometimes it's crazy how fast time moves. 2016 is comingalready, but don't worry! There are lots of small andbig things to look forward to. We are excited, are you?
G O O D N E W S A F G H A N I S T A NIt might seem like a far future still, but onthe last day of 2016, it is said that the lastremaining American, British and Australiantroops will withdraw from Afghanistan. Yay!
A H O T E L I N S P A C E ?Yes, you heard it! Apparently OrbitalTechnologies, a Russian private spaceflightcompany, plans to launch a space hotel forwealthy tourists in 2016. Are you savingalready?
N E W Y E A R , N E W C H A N C E SDon't you love the idea of new chances, anew blank page to write on. It is proven thatit is easier to make life changes at the startof something new (like a new year), so takethe chance!
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7N E W M U S I C I S T O C O M E !Some famous and less famous artists likeKanye West, Red Hot Chili Peppers,Gorillaz, Rihanna, The xx and many more arescheduled to release their albums in 2016!It's going to be a good year for music!
S Y M P O S I U M A C T I V I T I E S
Not only Urios is celebrating in 2016, it'salso our University's 380th birthday! Let'shope that this 76th lustrum will give us lotsof opportunities to celebrate!
2016
URIOS MAGAZINE 2016PAGE 18
In every Curious issue an interview is held with one of the many activeUrios members. In the very first issue of Curious no one less than JulieAlbers will be presented to you. Julie is member of the SymposiumCommittee, which was the committee responsible for the successfulsymposium on Climate Change (see p. 16).
Julie has only been a member from the beginning of this academicyear and already has she done so much for the association. Not onlyis she doing a great job in her committee, but she has also been a bighelp for the current board assisting them in taking photographs,helping out with logistical problems during the Strasbourg study tripand many more other things. With this we would very much like tothank her for being such an awesome person.
About her membership she says that she’s quite enjoying it so far. Asa friend and roommate of our treasurer Janneke Feenstra, she saysit’s really fun to hear all the inside stories of the association. At thesame time it can be kind of difficult to be in an in-between position ascommittee member and at the same time a good friend. Juliesambitions in her career are to specialize in international law andhuman rights and to combine that with climate change andenvironmental issues. A job at the UN would not be a major problemshe says. Also besides Urios and the UCU double-degree program,she is editor-in-chief of the “duurzame student”, a magazine onsustainability; thus a very busy lady. In her free time, she enjoysdrinking coffee, going to the movies and playing the saxophone andclarinet. Also she loves to travel, but she does not get to do it veryoften. One of her biggest dream is to live some day in an apartmentin New York City with some cats and a dog.
FEATURED INCURIOUS: JULIEALBERS
PAGE 19 URIOS MAGAZINE MEMBER 'S PAGE
Curious - Urios magazine Vol. 1 Issue 1
January 2016
Editors
Sofia van Dijk, Natasha Mcardie-ismaguilova, Judith Bel, Roos Bos
Address
Janskerkhof 3 (Room M1.07) 3512BK UtrechtThe Netherlandsmagazine@urios.org
Copyright
The copyright of the articles, photographsand pictures are reserved to the authorsand artists. nothing in this issue may inany way be duplicated or made publicwithout permission from the authors.
Published every six weeks © All rights reserved, Curios – Urios magazine
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