Sunday,  April 6, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 262 • 21 of 25

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of miles off the Mexican coast and was preparing Sunday to complete the rescue of a sick 1-year-old girl.
• The transfer of the child from the 36-foot boat to the ship was expected to start around dawn, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena said Sunday.
• "Sometime this morning as soon as they get some light they are going to take the child off the boat and bring her aboard the naval vessel," Bena told The Associated Press.
• A small boat will be used to carry out the operation and it will be safer during daylight, especially since the child's condition has stabilized, the spokesman said.
• The girl's family -- parents and a 3-year-old sister -- were about 900 miles off Mexico on a cruise around the world when they sent a satellite ping for help to the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday about her illness.
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Germans who marry foreigners separated from beloved by strict German language requirements

• BERLIN (AP) -- Michael Guhle met the love of his life on the beach of a little fishing village in Vietnam. Thi An Nguyen was selling freshly cooked mussels and fruit to the German tourist and they immediately clicked. Soon the Berlin nursing home worker was saving up all of his money and vacation days to visit Nguyen.
• Marriage was supposed to bring them together. Instead, it was the beginning of a long ordeal apart. Germany blocked Nguyen from entering the country after she flunked the language test that Germany requires aspiring immigrants to pass -- even those married to Germans.
• "I thought marrying the person you love and living together was a human right," Guhle said in his modest two-room apartment on the outskirts of Berlin. "Apparently this is not the case in Germany."
• Germany adopted German language regulations for prospective immigrants in 2007. Most EU countries -- including France, Italy, Spain and Sweden -- do not require foreign spouses to pass mandatory language tests before they join their partners in Europe. Austria, Britain and the Netherlands are among countries that require language tests before foreign spouses can enter the country, but experts say Germany's test is the toughest.
• The European Commission has criticized the law in Germany, saying it may violate European treaties. And a legal challenge to the European Court of Justice is expected to be heard this month. As things stand, however, binational couples like Guhle and his wife face costly and daunting challenges.

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