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ufabet777 Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) BERLIN: Alice Weidel , the chancellor candidate of the Alternative for Germany ( AfD ), is an unlikely public face for a male-dominated, anti-immigration far-right party that depicts itself as a defender of traditional family values and ordinary people. The 45-year-old is raising two sons with a Sri Lankan-born woman, a filmmaker, and speaks fluent Mandarin, having done a doctorate in economics in China. A west German leading a party that is strongest in the former communist East, she worked for Goldman Sachs and Allianz Global Investors and as a freelance business consultant before entering politics. Weidel's unusual profile, however, is precisely what makes her an asset to the AfD, say political analysts, lending a party that is suspected by authorities of being antidemocratic a veneer of well-heeled liberal respectability. She comes across as more poised and competent on various topics than some of her colleagues, they say. Her critics call her a ruthless opportunist and a "wolf in sheep's clothing". "Weidel is someone who can appeal to a broader public than the typical AfD constituency, to the middle class bourgeoisie", said Oliver Lembcke, political scientist at the University of Bochum. "She seems like the adult in the room among all these lunatics and extremists." As AfD co-leader, Weidel has overseen a surge in support for the party in recent years, benefiting from frustration with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious coalition whose collapse is set to result in a Feb. 23 snap election. The party is polling in second place on around 17%, after the conservatives on 33% but well ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats on 15%, the Greens on 14% and the pro-market Free Democrats (FDP) on 4%. This is the first time the AfD has nominated a chancellor candidate and Weidel has already acknowledged it is unlikely to enter government for now, given other parties refuse to work with it. Weidel expects this firewall to crumble by the 2029 election as voters clearly want a right-wing coalition, she told German outlet Compact. "That will be the decisive year for the AfD," said Weidel, sporting her trademark dark suit, white shirt and pearls, with her blonde hair tied back in a bun. NAZI GRANDFATHER Weidel describes her upbringing as "highly political", although her parents did not belong to any party. Her paternal grandfather had been a prominent Nazi judge, Die Welt newspaper reported last month, and the family was expelled from Silesia, now in Poland, after World War Two. The youngest of three, she recalls getting into trouble at school for being too argumentative as well as having uncomfortable encounters with Middle Eastern immigrants living in social housing in her west German town. "You don't enjoy going to the outdoor pool anymore as a teenager when people are always calling you "slut" or somesuch," she told WeltWoche. After getting two university studies in parallel, in business and economics, she joined Goldman Sachs, grew bored and moved to China to do a doctorate on the Chinese pension system while working as a business consultant. Weidel joined the AfD in 2013 over her opposition to bailouts during the euro zone crisis - before the party shifted rightwards to focus more on fighting immigration. Her status in the party cost Weidel her friendship circle, prompting the family to move towns, she told Weltwoche. An economic liberal, Weidel claims late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her role model and wants Germany to push for a Brexit-style referendum on EU membership if it is unable to sufficiently reform the bloc to fix its "democratic deficit". A climate change sceptic, she wants to lower taxes, end the minimum wage, slim down the state and end the costly shift to a carbon neutral economy. She has also called for much tighter restrictions on immigration, tapping into a well of discontent in Germany with the large-scale arrivals from the Middle East in recent years. "Burqas, girls in headscarves, knife-wielding men on government benefits and other good-for-nothing people are not going to ensure our prosperity," Weidel told parliament in 2018 in a speech that also referenced "The Great Replacement" conspiracy theory popular among white nationalists. Versatility Her strength lies in her versatility, said Hans Vorlaender, a political scientist at Dresden University of Technology. She acts as a "moderating, well-mannered bourgeois politician" for established media, but then knows exactly how to reach her more extremist clientele elsewhere, in particular on social media. Weidel has acknowledged some friction over her personal lifestyle in a party that opposes gay marriage and expanding laws to allow same-sex couples to adopt. But she mostly does not focus on the issue of her identity - refusing to be called queer - and is adept at dealing with different wings of the party in order to maintain her position of power, tolerating rather than reining in the more extremist factions, said Lembcke. When same-sex marriage became law in Germany in 2017, she dismissed the matter as trivial compared to issues like mass migration. That same year Weidel said she was in the AfD "not despite her homosexuality but because of it" as it was the only party to address the issue of Muslim immigrants' hostility towards homosexuals, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.

Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Halifax Courier, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. Margaret ‘Maggie’ Hackney received an exchange blood transfusion as a newborn to treat Rhesus disease, and starred in a 1966 blood donation film ‘The Givers’ as a 17-year-old - but she had never seen the film! Watch the video above (click to play) as NHS Blood and Transplant show her the footage for the first time since it aired 60 years ago - in a fresh Christmas appeal for blood donations. Maggie, now aged 76, from Hitchin in Hertfordshire, said: “Watching the Look at Life film after nearly 60 years was amazing, including seeing my mum. I watched it with my family and we had a giggle!” Advertisement Advertisement She remembers filming the campaign, which can be seen within the above video, at a local swimming pool and feeling ‘nervous’, and also recalls watching herself on screen at the cinema afterwards. When she was born, Maggie had been so ill hospital nurses urgently baptised her because they thought she wouldn’t survive. Her mother’s blood had passed through the placenta and was destroying her own blood. “After the blood exchange, I was monitored regularly until I was five years old, at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in Hackney,” said Maggie. Advertisement Advertisement “I was told I was one of the first recipients of an exchange blood transfusion. I was told it was revolutionary at the time. Even today, you can still see the scars on my wrists and ankles.” Maggie was born and treated in the 1948, the year the NHS was created. She went on to work as a dental surgery assistant for 14 years then as a fitness instructor for 40 years. She promoted blood donation throughout her life, attending donor recognition events and giving talks in schools and colleges as a voluntary ambassador for the National Blood Service. She was awarded an MBE for Services to Health and Families in Hertfordshire. Maggie is now supporting the call for people to donate blood this Christmas - in a campaign video, which can be seen above. Advertisement Advertisement She said: “I will never be able to thank the NHS blood service enough for giving me a chance of survival as a newborn baby. I’d like to give a huge thank you to all the blood donors past and present. “I know that this winter will be difficult for blood stocks so please give blood if you can. People take it for granted that there will always be a supply of blood if any of their loved ones might need it. But it’s only there if people choose to give.” Dr Lise Estcourt, NHSBT’s medical director for blood transfusion, said: “It was an honour to show Maggie this film again after nearly 60 years. While many things have changed, two things haven’t – the generosity of people who donate blood and the fact that it saves lives. You could even help someone young grow up to live a full life, just like Maggie.” NHSBT has warned it remains in an Amber Alert on blood stocks. Donor centres in towns and cities have many unfilled appointments between now and the new year. To register or book an appointment to give blood, please visit our website, use the GiveBlood app or call 0300 123 23 23.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras will be out for six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Zegras had surgery Thursday, the team announced. Zegras was injured last week on a fairly innocent-looking play during the Ducks’ 4-1 loss to Vegas in Anaheim. Zegras and William Karlsson only briefly got their skates and stick blades entangled, but Zegras needed help to get off the ice after taking a fall. Zegras’ torn meniscus is his third major injury in just over a year, although a torn meniscus is likely a fortunate outcome for a knee injury that could have been much worse. He was limited to 31 games last season by two injury setbacks, including a broken ankle that required surgery. Zegras has four goals and six assists in 24 games this season for Anaheim, which had lost four straight heading into its road game against Toronto on Thursday night. The Ducks surprisingly activated forward Robby Fabbri from injured reserve before they faced the Maple Leafs. Fabbri had arthroscopic knee surgery on Nov. 15 and is progressing much faster than his initial predicted timeline of six to eight weeks. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHLAs 2025 approaches, thoughts are naturally turning to the future. For me, building a growing passive income stream is top of mind, with dividend shares making up an important part of my overall portfolio. Here, I’ll outline my simple three-step dividend plan in 2025. Obey the Before allocating money to investments in the New Year, it’s essential I’m doing so on a firm financial footing. How much can I afford to invest without impacting my living expenses or emergency savings? I ask this because it’s easy to get carried away in this age of ultra-high in the UK stock market. For example, I notice the forward yield on insurer ( ) has crept back up towards 10%. That means I could be looking at nearly £200 in passive income next year from a £2,000 investment. A near-10% yield tempts me to dip into my savings right now and buy more shares for my portfolio! But I have to stay disciplined. Christmas is coming, which always works out more expensive than planned (at least for me). And my car’s got its MOT in December, and you never know what problem could be found lurking under the bonnet. There’s no point buying shares if I have to sell them again a few months later because an emergency crops up. A good rule of thumb is to only invest money one doesn’t need for the next five years (i.e., the five-year rule). This is sufficient time to ride out and benefit from compounding growth. Invest in blue-chip dividend shares Dividends are never guaranteed to be paid by companies, while share prices can fall as well as go up. However, I hope to minimise these risks by focusing on high-quality, blue-chip dividend stocks. Returning to Legal & General, this stock has what I’m looking for. The insurance and asset management stalwart has decades of experience growing its dividend. I value this solid track record. In H1 2024, we learned that the firm’s Solvency II coverage ratio was 223%, with surplus of £8.8bn. This indicates the company’s capital position is very robust. Admittedly, the share price has been disappointing this year, falling around 11%. And the UK economy isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders. Were a downturn to occur, that could lead to reduced consumer spending, potentially impacting the firm’s insurance and savings businesses. So that’s a risk to consider. Longer term, I still believe the company is well placed to capitalise on the UK’s ageing population. This should lead to increased demand for pension and retirement products. With the forward yield approaching 10%, and management committed to modest increases in future, this is one I can see myself adding to in 2025. Stay diversified While I’m bullish on the stock, I have to accept that it could turn out to be a disappointment long term. Therefore, diversification is crucial. My portfolio contains dividend stocks, a handful of investment trusts, and growth shares (some of which also pay dividends). It might be tempting to go all-in when I see a massive yielder like Legal & General. However, I also like to sleep well at night. Making sure my portfolio is well-rounded will therefore remain very important in 2025.

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