THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch motivational speaker Emile Ratelband may feel like a 49-year-old but according to Dutch law he is still 69.

A Dutch court on Monday rejected Ratelband’s request to shave 20 years off his age in a case that drew worldwide attention.

“Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly,” Arnhem court said in a press statement. “But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.”

Ratelband went to court last month, arguing that he didn’t feel 69 and saying his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation which are gaining acceptance in the Netherlands and around the world, such as the ability to change one’s name or gender.

But in a written ruling, the court said Dutch law assigns rights and obligations based on age “such ..

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s president has taken the extraordinary step of denying rumors that he died and was replaced by a body double, assuring the country that he is alive and well.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Sunday in Poland “It is the real me, I assure you,” adding he is “going strong.”

Buhari, 76, was elected in 2015 and will seek re-election in February. He has been in ill health throughout his presidency.

Rumors of his death started in 2017 when Buhari spent seven weeks in London for medical treatment. They abated when he returned to Nigeria, but increased again last month when opposition leaders and separatists claimed he had been long dead.

Most recently, rumors have been widely shared online that a lookalike from Sudan, called Jubril, was representing Buhari.

Chinese authorities are trying to put a end to the country’s increasingly extravagant wedding culture, saying it goes against “socialist core values” and reflects “declining morality.”

Chinese weddings have featured elaborate rituals and traditions for thousands of years. But officials say modern ceremonies have gotten out of control, with competition between couples prompting ever-more lavish celebrations, expensive gifts and extreme rituals for “hazing” the bride and groom.

The tradition of hazing, originally seen as a way to drive away evil spirits, has grown particularly extreme in recent years, with grooms, brides and bridesmaids subjected to sometimes violent pranks.

In November, a man in southern China was hospitalized after being hit by a car as he tried to escape his friends’ hazing ritual. The South China Morning Post reported that he had been tied to an electric pole and beaten with a strip of bamboo.

Families in rural areas have also been setting massive “bride prices” ..