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Scholz says that Germany needs to expand deportations of rejected asylum-seekers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany needs to start deporting “on a large scale” migrants who don’t have the right to stay in the country, adding to increasingly tough talk on migration since his coalition performed badly in two state elections earlier this month.Scholz’s comments in an interview with weekly Der Spiegel were published Friday, as a leading German opposition figure called for the center-left chancellor to dump his quarrelsome coalition partners and instead form a government with conservatives to deal with migration issues.Scholz has signaled an increased desire to take personal charge of migration over the past two weeks, following a pair of regional elections in which voters punished his three-party coalition, which has squabbled publicly on a wide range of subjects. Mainstream conservatives won both votes and the far-right Alternative for Germany made significant gains. Last week, Scholz announced legislation to ease deportations of unsucces...

India defends actions after Ottawa’s alleges precedent-setting diplomatic move

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

OTTAWA — India is defending its diplomatic actions a day after Ottawa announced it had pulled most of its envoys from the country over what it called a precedent-setting diplomatic threat.  India’s Ministry of External Affairs says its move to reduce the number of Canadian diplomats in India, who it says outnumber India’s staffing in Canada, was in line with diplomatic convention. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday that Canada had removed most of its diplomatic presence from India after New Delhi threatened to strip diplomatic immunities from them and their families.She said a unilateral revocation of the special rights and protections is contrary to international law, labelling it a precedent-setting threat. Relations with New Delhi have hit a deep freeze since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a month ago that Canadian intelligence services were investigating “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing of a Sikh lead...

Can the new film ‘Uncharitable’ change people’s minds about “overhead” at nonprofits?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — All Hands and Hearts makes a promise in big letters on the front page of its website: “95 cents of every dollar is spent on our programs.”The Massachusetts-based disaster relief nonprofit, like so many charitable organizations have for decades, feels the pressure to operate as leanly as possible. Izzy Smith, chief information officer for All Hands and Hearts, which mobilizes volunteers to respond to natural disasters, called it an “enduring challenge for nonprofits” to explain to donors and the public about the need to invest in operations and shared services. “Financial instability as a nonprofit actually reduces our effectiveness and efficiency,” Smith said.A new documentary “Uncharitable,” from “Paris Trout” and “Losing Isaiah” director Stephen Gyllenhaal, wants to change that. It tells the story of longtime advocate Dan Pallotta, who pioneered the idea of fundraising through bike rides and road races initially to raise money for AIDS and cancer research and...

Church parking near stadiums scores big in a win-win for faith congregations and sports fans

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — The Eagles and the NFL might still be the sports favorites at Calvary Baptist Church, just outside Philadelphia. But many here are also rooting for their neighbors who last year reached the championship game of Major League Soccer.Their new-found fandom is all about location: the Philadelphia Union plays at Subaru Park, a stadium beside the Delaware River just a few blocks from Calvary.As the Union continues to attract loyal fans and reach new heights, so have the blessings bestowed on this historic church where Martin Luther King Jr. attended as a seminarian.It has been crucial. Like many other Black Protestant churches, Calvary Baptist struggled economically during the coronavirus pandemic. Attendance numbers fell, and along with it, funding. But the church has transformed its parking lot to accommodate game-day fundraisers, with volunteers from the congregation staffing the lots and selling spaces for $15 per vehicle.These days, the church raises up to $3,000 ...

Inside the hilarious, secretive and petty world of book blurbs

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

We’ve all been told not to judge a book by its cover. So why do so many people—from readers, to retailers, to publishers and reviewers—judge them by one little name, next to a little generic quote, that appears on that cover?Sophie Vershbow wrote about book blurbs for Esquire. She says that for writers, sourcing blurbs for their books is a process that is universally reviled. “Being asked to do it, having to keep asking to do it, is something that everyone seems to really dread,” says Vershbow.If you’ve ever chosen your next read because the book came with a kind word from your favourite author, or if you’ve ever read some of those effusive blurbs, then read the book and wondered, “Did that person even read this thing?!” Well, welcome to the publishing industry’s weirdest little secret world.It’s “an amazing episode of The Big Story, one of the best for sure!” — Producer Joe FishYou can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on&...

Aimia board recommends shareholders reject takeover offer from Mithaq Capital

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

TORONTO — The board of directors of Aimia Inc. is recommending shareholders reject a takeover offer from Mithaq Capital SPC because it says it undervalues the company and is not compelling.The board says the hostile offer does not reflect some of the potential growth opportunities that the company is pursuing and cautioned it contains some 20 conditions that must be satisfied or waived.Mithaq, a segregated portfolio company and affiliate of Mithaq Holding Co., a family office based in Saudi Arabia, is the largest shareholder in Aimia.It has offered $3.66 per share in cash for the stake in Aimia it does not already own. Aimia, which sold its flagship Aeroplan loyalty program to Air Canada in 2019 and reinvented itself as an investment holding company, announced a deal last week to raise up to $32.5 million in a private placement of shares and warrants.It says that its directors and officers, as well as the investors in the private placement, intend to reject the Mithaq offer.This rep...

Dove Cameron drops new spiky banger, ‘Lethal Woman,’ ahead of debut album ‘Alchemical: Volume 1’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Dove Cameron’s latest single starts with the sound of maniacal laughter and then a piano riff that could have been swiped from “The Phantom of the Opera.” She’s just getting started.“Lethal Woman” is a club banger about a woman “sharp as a knife under the table” that includes sounds of banging on a door, a gun being cocked and heavy production elements. The lyrics include the playful rhyme: “Game recognizes game/By the way, what’s your name?”“We threw everything including the kitchen sink into that song,” Cameron tells The Associated Press ahead of its release, the latest track from her debut album due Dec. 1, “Alchemical: Volume 1.”“I think my favorite thing about the song actually is that we switch keys like six times and you hardly really notice,” she says, laughing. “It just adds this kind of unhinged quality that to me just really takes us over the top.”“Alchemical: Volume 1” contains six new songs and two previous hits, “Boyfriend” and “Breakfast.” ...

US state official resigns over Biden's arms transfer to Israel

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

CHICAGO -- A US state department official in the bureau that oversees arms transfers resigned Thursday in protest of the Biden administration's decision in sending weapons to Israel amid the war that has claimed over 4,000 Palestinian lives and leaving over 13,000 wounded in consistent bombings and airstrikes. More than 1,400 people in Israel are reported dead from the initial attack and that families of 203 people are believed to have been captured by Hamas. Josh Paul, who had served with the Bureau of Political-Miliary Affairs for over 11 years was fascinated with the complexity of the job, but said in a LinkedIn post, he is unable to work in support of rushing major policy decisions and sending more arms to one side of a conflict. "I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more deeper suffering for both the Israel and the Palestinian peop...

Dean's 'Weekender' features a few pre-Halloween events

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

CHICAGO — With each passing day, we're getting a little bit closer to Halloween. That means a number of events in celebration of October 31 are starting to creep up around the Chicagoland area, and that includes this week. Hence the "Weekender" on Friday's WGN Morning News from Dean Richards featured a couple of these events that are going on in the city and suburbs to get people in the Halloween spirit. Along with those events, we also spotlighted concerts by Steep Canyon Rangers, Pretty Lights, Tommy James & The Shondells, Enhypen, performances of "Sanctuary City," "A View From The Bridge," the Sweetest Day Comedy Jam, Aries Spears, and more during the segment.You can watch this edition of Dean's "Weekender" from the October 20 WGN Morning News in the video above. Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Maryland circuit court judge fatally shot in own driveway, police say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:04:13 GMT

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Md. (WDVM) – A Maryland circuit court judge was fatally shot at his home Thursday night, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.Police said deputies responded to a Hagerstown residence at around 8:00 p.m. Thursday after reports of a shooting.Deputies found Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, in the driveway of his home with apparent gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital where he died. DC police officer shot during gunfire exchange, suspect killed Police said they were searching for suspects.State troopers were deployed overnight as a precaution to protect judges who live in Washington County, state police spokesperson Elena Russo said. Wilkinson was sworn in as a circuit court judge in 2020. The 1994 University of North Carolina graduate received his law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1997 and then became a circuit court law clerk in Washington County.In Maryland, circuit courts in each ...