Police: 5-year-old dies after falling from 4th-floor window

Police in Massachusetts say a 5-year-old girl has died after falling more than 30 feet from the fourth-floor window of an apartment building and landing on concrete.

Brookline Police say the girl had been playing with friends in the suburban Boston apartment when she fell Monday afternoon. Authorities say adults were in the apartment at the time of the fall and the window had a screen.

The girl was taken to Children's Hospital in Boston with critical injuries.

Police said late Monday that she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Lt. Philip Harrington says there's no indication of foul play. - AP

Ex-Mexican governor accepts extradition from Guatemala

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A former Mexican governor captured in Guatemala has agreed to his extradition for a second time in two weeks, but it was not immediately clear how soon that could happen.

Javier Duarte was captured in April, six months after resigning as governor of Veracruz.

The two hearings covered distinct charges he faces in Mexico, including allegations of embezzlement and ties to organized crime.

Duarte said Tuesday he did not commit those crimes and would return to Mexico to clear his name.

Duarte's lawyer, Carlos Vasquez, said Tuesday that the Mexican government had not proven that his client was the leader of a criminal enterprise.

Duarte's time as governor of the Gulf state was marked by drug violence, growing state debt and the murder of journalists. 

'Lacazette may persuade Sanchez'

A deal for Alexandre Lacazette to join Arsenal may persuade Alexis Sanchez to stay at the club, according to Nigel Winterburn.
Lacazette completed a medical ahead of a £52 million switch from Lyon on Tuesday, according to Sky sources.

Sanchez has yet to reveal whether he will extend his Arsenal contract which expires next summer, and Winterburn believes it is crucial that Arsene Wenger retains his attacking players.
"I think it was obvious to Arsenal fans and to Arsene Wenger that one of those areas to strengthen is the centre forward position", Winterburn told Sky Sports  News HQ.

"I am hoping Giroud will stay, I still feel he is valuable to the team as well. Arsenal know they need quality to help them challenge for the title."
Winterburn added: "I hope the Lacazette deal leaves [Sanchez] at the club. He can play on the left, up front or in the hole.

"Arsenal cannot afford to bring in Lacazette then two weeks later Sanchez leaves.
"I am hoping Wenger can persuade him to stay for another season, see what happens with the team then sign a new contract."
Giroud played down talk of a summer transfer away from Arsenal by insisting he wants to "carry on his good journey" at the club.

Arsenal won the FA Cup last year but finished in fifth place in the Premier League, the first time they have failed to qualify for the Champions League since 1997.
And Winterburn, who played for the club from 1987 to 2000, believes they need at least two more signings to challenge for the title.

"I am hoping they will back that up with a couple more major signings," he said. "If you look at the end of last season Wenger said he thought the team was strong enough to challenge for the title.
"Over the last two seasons that hasn't proven to be the case.

"There becomes a point when you have to start mixing it up, maybe one or two players will move on and you bring in fresh faces and set new challenges."
Arsenal begin their Premier League campaign against Leicester City.

'He is the man they need' - Guardiola backs Valverde to succeed at Barcelona

Pep Guardiola believes Ernesto Valverde is exactly the type of coach Barcelona needed to reinstall the club as the dominant force in La Liga.
Barca had to settle for a runners-up spot to Real Madrid last season as Luis Enrique's tenure ended in a campaign that yielded a second consecutive Champions League quarter-final exit.

The Catalan giants had won six of the previous eight league titles up for grabs, with three of them coming during Guardiola's reign, which also produced two European crowns.

Valverde, a former Camp Nou team-mate of the Manchester City manager, will be expected to bring similar success to the club and Guardiola is convinced it is a match made in heaven.
"I think Barcelona needed a coach like Ernesto," he told L'Esportiu of the former Athletic Bilbao boss.

"A squad like this one, which has won everything, needs a guy who wants them.

"You need someone that understands the club, and Ernesto is that person. Also, he is a coach with a lot of knowledge.
"It will go well, as I knew that it would with Luis Enrique."
Valverde will be blessed with an array of talent to pick from as he attempts to plot a course to glory, with no player more lauded than Argentina star Lionel Messi.

Guardiola remains a staunch fan of the 30-year-old, with Messi's easy-on-the-eye approach particularly appealing to the ex-Bayern Munich coach.
"He is the best player I have ever seen," added Guardiola. 

"The best thing about him is not what he does, but how simple he makes everything look.

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"He is not just the best player because he can dribble past three or four players, it is because he does it better than anyone else in the world." - Goal

U.S. government seeks to intervene in Apple's EU tax appeal: source

The U.S. government has sought to intervene in Apple's <AAPL.O> appeal against an EU order to pay back up to 13 billion euros ($14.8 billion) in Irish taxes, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

iPhone maker Apple took its case to the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second-highest, in December after the European Commission issued the record tax demand saying the U.S. company won sweetheart tax deals from the Irish government which amounted to illegal subsidies.

The decision was criticized by the Obama administration which said the European Union was helping itself to cash that should have ended up in the United States.

The Trump administration, which has tentatively proposed a tax break on $2.6 trillion in corporate profits being held offshore as part of its tax reform, has not said anything in public about the case.

"I can confirm the United States filed an application with the European Union General Court to intervene in the case involving the retroactive application of state aid rules to Apple," said the source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The General Court is expected to hear the case in late 2018, another source with knowledge of the matter said.

Apple has said it was a convenient target for the EU and that the EU competition enforcer used an "absurd theory" to come up with a punitive figure.

Amazon <AMZN.O> and McDonald's <MCD.N> are also in the EU crosshairs over their tax deals with Luxembourg.

Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Starbucks <SBUX.O>, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles <FCHA.MI> and several other companies that were also ordered to pay back taxes to other EU countries have similarly challenged their EU rulings. - Reuters

Photo : South African pastor forces church members to eat flowers

The controversial South African pastor, Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries at Garankuwa TUT campus at Pretoria, allegedly asked his church members to eat flower during deliverance.

Recall that the pastor had sometimes in 2014 fed his members with grasses after baptizing.

The latest pictures trending online showed Mr Daniel instructing one of his church members to eat decorative flowers used on the podium in his church.

The pastor first made headlines when he made the congregants eat grass and followed it up with petrol, comparing drinking petrol to Holy Communion.

He was quoted as telling them that eating the flowers is part of a healing process as some photos were posted on Facebook.

Seriously ? Nigeria deports ‘450 illegal immigrants’

The Nigeria immigration service says it arrested and repatriated 450 illegal immigrants from Edo state in the first quarter of the year.

David Adi, the state comptroller of immigration, disclosed this on Tuesday at the presentation of a refurbished Hilux van by the management of Okomu oil palm company plc to the command in Benin, the state capital.
Adi said those repatriated were mainly from Niger Republic, Mali and Ghana.

He said the affected foreigners had no regular travel documents and credible means of livelihood.
Adi also commended the company for the vehicle, saying that the gesture would help the command in achieving its statutory duties.

He said the successful arrest of the illegal immigrants was due to logistics support by some companies in the state, including Okomu oil palm company.
“The company had sunk a borehole at our outpost station at Iguobazuwa in Ovia south west local government area of Edo,” he said.

“The command additionally requested for the company’s assistance in refurbishing the van and the managing director agreed.
“We appreciate the long-standing relationship between the company and the command.
“I will definitely pass on this gesture to the comptroller-general of immigration service and I hope other stakeholders will emulate this good gesture.”

Graham Heifer, managing director of the company, earlier said the gesture was “the company’s way of fulfilling part of its corporate social responsibility to the service.”
“Immigration service has always assisted us in the area of educating our expatriates to ensure that they do the right thing with regard to immigration laws,’’ Heifer said.

“We ensured they came into the country following approved protocol.
“It is our obligation as part of our corporate social responsibility, to assist Immigration Service to enhance its operational efficiency.
“Our company hopes that this refurbished van will improve the service ’ s operational efficiency.” - NAN

150 Killed In Cross River Clash

At least, 150 people were killed last week in the clash between Wanikade and Wanihem communities in Yala LGA of Cross River State.

The Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), John Inaku, who confirmed the figure in a statement yesterday, said 1,233 houses were destroyed and 14,000 people displaced at Ukele North in the same Yala LGA following the communal clash.

The SEMA boss said the communal clash erupted as a result of a land dispute, adding that it had created an upheaval which led to the fleeing of the inhabitants of about 41 villages to neighbouring communities in Yala and Oju LGAs in Benue State.

Four Internally Displaces Persons (IDP) camps established in Oju LGA  by the Benue State Government have been swarmed by unprecedented refuge-seeking victims from the affected communities, according to Mr Samuel Oko, secretary of the LGA, who said some of them were camped in churches, schools, and community halls.

Some of the IDPs said they arrived Oju on June 27 when the crisis escalated and had been hosted by the communities who had provided them with food and shelter.

The Cross River State SEMA and the state Food Bank Commission have however relieved them of the trauma by distributing food and non-food items to the victims of the camp, sources said. - Daily Trust

Seventy-nine guns recovered from vehicle preparing to enter Britain

A massive guns haul has been recovered from a vehicle on the French side of the Channel Tunnel as it prepared to enter Britain, police said.
Seventy-nine “viable” weapons were recovered from the trailer of the vehicle stopped at Coquelles on Saturday by Border Force officers.

Two men – a Pole and a Czech national – have been arrested in connection with the raid, which was part of a joint operation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and detectives from Scotland Yard’s organised crime unit.

Graham Gardner, the NCA’s deputy director of investigations, said: “Our recent threat assessment highlights that handguns are still commonly favoured by some criminal groups in the UK.
“They may not be the largest firearm, but they are easily concealable and lethal in the hands of anyone prepared to use them.”

The 4mm and 6mm weapons and ammunition were found hidden in specially-adapted engine blocks, the NCA said.

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Six other Poles – four men and two women – who were arrested at the scene will face no further action. - PA

Devon town becomes 'magnet for begging tourists earning up to £35k a year'

A mayor has complained that her prosperous Devon town has become a magnet for "begging tourists" who police claim could be earning up to £35,000 a year.

Rosie Adams, the mayor of Totnes, said that "people are coming from other places" to beg.

"I hate to say it but we have begging tourists," she said. "They are coming in from other places and actually spoiling it for our local people.

"There is no need in Totnes for anyone to go hungry. They should not feel in any way scared. It's obviously an ideal place for beggars to come to."

Police have confirmed that aggressive beggars have been harassing passersby in the town.

They said that beggars in the town raise up to £100 a day - the equivalent of up to £35,000 a year.

The local police said in a statement: "Historically we have taken a fairly relaxed approach to persons begging on Fore Street and High Street.

"As you know begging is an offence under the Vagrancy Act, however we have shown a degree of discretion due to the very low level, friendly, passive begging style.

"Typically, beggars in Totnes are raising between £50 and £100 a day. I heard one individual bragging that he raised £139 a few days ago.

"Our approach in maintaining the status quo coupled with how attractive it has become to beg in Totnes, has drawn others from further afield who have brought with them their own begging style.

"We have received reports of shoppers being aggressively harassed for money, followed up the road, abused, threatened with violence and intimidated at cash machines. We will not tolerate this and our stance has now changed." 

The police say money given away to beggars might not be spent in the way it was intended to be.

The police continued: "A lot of the beggars in Totnes battle with some form of addiction. Also, many may appear homeless. They are not.

"Most choose to live as they do and often return to their accommodation at night. Readily having money to buy heroin does nothing to encourage an addict to change their lifestyle."

Police denied this was a "begging crackdown" but said they will enforce the law to stop aggressive begging. - The Telegraph

Manchester United set to net £7.5m from Michael Keane's move to Everton

Manchester United may have missed out on defensive target Michael Keane, but the Red Devils are set to bag £7.5 million on the back of the Burnley star's transfer to Everton.
The England international was confirmed as a Toffees player on Monday, completing a switch worth around £30m to the Clarets.

United sold Keane in January 2015 to Burnley folllowing a successful loan spell with the club, inserting a 25% sell-on clause into the 24-year-old's contract.
Reports suggested that they were also able to trigger a buy-back clause should they wish to reclaim the England man, something which Jose Mourinho looked interested in doing earlier in the year.

Keane made 35 Premier League starts for Sean Dyche's Burnley last term and broke into the senior England squad as a result of his outstanding performances.
Mourinho has previously been open about his plans to strengthen his defensive options, with Keane's improved standing making him a prime target.

Keane, though, has expressed his delight in his move to Goodison Park, where he has signed a five-year deal.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be at Everton, a fantastic football club with passionate fans and a great tradition and I can’t wait to come into training tomorrow to meet all the lads,” He said.

“I watched a lot of Everton last season and I believe I really suit how the team likes to play. I feel like this is a great place to come and continue my development as a player. - Goal

Alexandre Lacazette undergoing medical at Arsenal’s training ground ahead of £52m move from Lyon

Alexandre Lacazette is at Arsenal's training ground to complete a £52m move from Lyon.
France striker Lacazette has agreed personal terms and is undergoing a medical at the club’s London Colney HQ.

The announcement is likely within the next 24 hours as Arsenal close in on their first big summer deal with Lacazette poised to sign a five year deal.
Lacazette could go on the club’s tour of Australia and China depending on his fitness levels.
Arsenal are still in the market for more players with Monaco’s Thomas Lemar their first choice but they could go for Riyad Mahrez if that falls down.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been confident for some time of completing the move that will surpass - exclusive of bonuses - the £42.5million spent to land Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid in 2013.
Lacazette could make his Arsenal debut in Sydney as early as next week. The Gunners take on Sydney FC on July 13 at the ANZ Stadium.

Arsene Wenger's squad were back in pre-season training on Monday with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott in action.
Lacazette scored 28 times in Ligue 1 last season - only Edinson Cavani managed more with 35.
Lacazette has also netted 100 league goals in 203 appearances in the French top flight for Lyon.
He could take the No.9 shirt at the Emirates, previously worn by Lucas Perez who wants to leave the club.
His arrival could see Olivier Giroud leave the club, with Everton and West Ham both keen.

f he is not deemed ready for action in Australia, Arsenal travel to the Far East where they challenge Bayern Munich at the Shanghai Stadium on July 19.
Fans will see him at the Emirates for the Emirates Cup at the end on the month - where their rivals will be Benfica and Sevilla.
Lacazette's first competitive match could see him win his first piece of silverware in England as the Gunners tackle Chelsea in the Community Shield on August 6.

Man United boss Jose Mourinho is "the bravest person in football," claims former Liverpool star Alvaro Arbeloa

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is "the bravest person in football," that's according to former Real Madrid and Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa.

The Red Devils manager signed the Spanish full-back from the Reds during his time at the Bernabeu.

Arbeloa, speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, heaped praise on the Portuguese and insists he will be pleased with his first year in charge at Old Trafford.
"I think the bravest person I've met in football is Mourinho. He has to be happy with the year he's had at [Manchester] United," Arbeloa told AS.

Now retired, the 34-year-old admits regret in the way he hung up his boots after a year with West Ham back in the Premier League.
"I'm not retiring from football in the manner I'd have liked to," Arbeloa admitted.

"I'd have liked to hang up my boots in the way Xabi Alonso did, for example." - Mirror

Why am I facing 75 years in prison?

On January 20th, during the inauguration of Donald Trump, the DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) violently and indiscriminately attacked scores of protesters, journalists, legal observers, medics, and bystanders in the vicinity of an anti-fascist/anti-capitalist march.

The MPD trapped, or "kettled", more than 200 people, arresting them on a single felony riot charge with a boilerplate affidavit.
The march was an act of resistance against both Trump and the system that gives him power. As a part of this march, I was also kettled and arrested alongside scores of others.

Nearly six months later, I and more than 200 other people have been re-indicted on eight felonies each. We all currently face the potential of 75 years in federal prison.
Certain memories of the day of my arrest stand most vividly in my mind: zip-ties cutting into my wrist and the taste of pepper spray; losing count of the roaches that crawled over me in my sleep; the constant horror of not knowing where my partner was.

According to a report issued in February by the DC Office of Police Complaints, the MPD unleashed a variety of "less-than-lethal" weapons against protesters - without warning or direct provocation - as a general crowd control tactic.
"Less-than-lethal" is a very broad euphemism. Thinking about the violence of the police that day, I remember the footage of an elderly woman brutalised by a river of pepper spray and saved from a phalanx of riot police by a black-clad protester.

I recall a fellow arrestee in my cell unit with an eye bulging out of its socket like a tomato - the offspring of pepper spray and contact lenses - and how we had to demand they receive medical attention. 
Watching the footage from the arrest made me relive the concussion grenades that exploded in the streets. I am reminded of the mutilation of Sophia Wilansky's arm at Standing Rock by a similar "stinger", while the police dowsed hundreds of water protectors with water cannon in below freezing temperatures.

I remember the blood-soaked pavement outside the Omni Hotel when the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department murdered Justin Carr with a rubber bullet to the head during the Charlotte uprising last September.
These tactics are not new in Washington, DC. In 2002, then Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham ordered the mass arrest of over 400 people in Pershing Park during protests against the World Bank. The mass arrest ultimately cost the city more than $8m in a civil suit that ruled it an unlawful act of police misconduct.

As acting police chief, Newsham also issued the order for the inauguration day mass arrest. Despite the spectre of yet another brutal mass arrest, Newsham was appointed police chief by DC Mayor Muriel E Bowser and the DC Council in May.

With a pending lawsuit challenging Newsham's abusive practices, it remains to be seen what he will cost the working people of DC this time. A civil suit has already been initiated by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the current investigation into police conduct will cost approximately $150,000, which is $50,000 more than the estimated damage of the alleged events on Inauguration Day.

To understand the extremity of the charges brought against us in this case, the arrests need to be viewed through the lens of political repression. Across the country, thousands of people are engaged in resistance against the daily operations of the capital and the state, fighting to survive the crises that this system constantly produces.

Almost immediately after our arrests, thousands of people occupied and shut down airports to reject what has become known as the Muslim Ban. Camps have formed in Florida and Pennsylvania to blockade the development of the Sabal Trail Pipeline and Mariner 2 Pipeline.

An encampment has formed outside of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA, to support undocumented immigrants that have been resisting forced prison labour through hunger strikes.
In major towns across the country, from Portland to Olympia to Houston, marginalised communities have disrupted fascist/white-nationalist rallies in self-defence amid an astronomical spike in hate crimes and right-wing violence.

None of this resistance can be tolerated. The state's main social function is specifically to suppress public outrage, either by redirecting it into preconfigured campaigns or through political repression.

The prosecutor would like to depoliticise the charges we are facing, but the reality is that this case is not about so-called "criminal behaviour": This case is about turning protesters into felons, and the criminalisation of resistance.

The state is perfectly willing to permit thousands of people to wear safety pins and pussyhats, march along well-policed parade routes, and powerlessly petition their authorities for change - so long as they do not shatter the illusion of everyday politics or disrupt the constant flow of capital.

But what Standing Rock and Black Lives Matter have taught us all is that if a community's resistance is perceived as effective then the full measure of state violence will be used to neutralise it. Standing Rock prevented the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline for months before its eviction by legions of police.

The executions of Mike Brown and Freddie Gray produced demonstrations of such tremendous pain and outcry that they seized Ferguson and Baltimore, and were stomped out by the National Guard.

The events of January 20 represented a similar disruption: The march shut down the roads of DC, and the magnitude of the MPD's violent response shattered the fragile spectacle of the inauguration.

Business-as-usual was put on hold, and the consequence is that everyone rounded-up and arrested must now be made an example of. The superseding indictment and its additional felony charges are a means to coerce defendants into accepting plea deals against their will.

The goal is not to convict people to 75 years in prison. The severity of the threat is intended to extract as many guilty pleas as possible, while sending a clear message to potential protesters that the consequences of opposition will be grave.

These pleas are needed to vindicate the state's narrative and legitimise their repression. The intention is to set a legal precedent for mass arrests in the era of constant crisis, so that future social movements can be smothered in the cradle.
Regardless, we're six months into this case and hundreds of defendants have committed to pursuing trials in a round of status hearings this month.

A growing number of defendants have committed to rejecting pleas that aren't universally offered to all co-defendants, and over 100 have agreed to reject any cooperation with the state.
Fundraisers have been organised by defendants and defence committees to gather the funds for legal and travel costs. The Mid-Atlantic General Defense Committee has initiated a support campaign to drop the charges.

When repression strikes our communities, solidarity becomes our strongest defence. While this process has been traumatic, it has produced countless beautiful relationships of support among co-defendants, supporters, and our communities.
Those relationships and bonds of trust have the power to resist this political persecution, and we will continue to organise a collective defence together. - Al Jazeera

How I was lured, raped, defrauded by two brothers – Unilag graduate

A 22-years-old graduate of the University of Lagos, UniLag, has told an Ikeja High Court, Lagos State of how she was lured, raped and defrauded by two brothers, identified as Bright Nwachukwu and Chijindu Nwachukwu, earlier in the year.

The defendants, 31-year-old Bright Nwachukwu, and Chijindu Nwachukwu, 23, are both standing trial before Justice Josephine Oyefeso on a two-count charge of rape and obtaining money by false pretence, brought against them by the Lagos State Government.

The prosecution said that the offence contradicted the provision of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The two brothers pleaded not guilty to the charges, when they were arraigned.

The victim, a graduate of the Department of Biology Education, who was led in evidence before the court by the prosecutor, Mrs C. K. Tunji-Carrena, explained that she met the first defendant at Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos State, on her way to school on February 12.

She told the court, “I wanted to be on my way, but the other man that was with Bright pleaded with me to help him and Bright handed him some foreign currencies and he held my hand that we should follow him.
“At that moment, I didn’t know what I was doing again; I just followed them and we crossed to the other side of the road at Iyana-Ipaja and boarded a bus towards Sango.

“I paid the transport fare for the three of us and we later alighted at a bus stop, which I didn’t know.
“We took a tricycle to another place, where we met the second defendant, Chijindu, who disguised as a storekeeper.

“He later brought out something that looks like a photo-film and washed it in a liquid and it turned into a N1,000 note.

“He folded the money and asked me to take a bite in an oath that if I tell anyone of what is going to take place, I will die.
“I became so scared and I started crying and pleaded with him that I don’t want to die. Bright then told me that the only option to avoid death was to have sex with him. I started begging him again not to have sex with me, but he eventually had his way.

“When Chijindu came from where he had gone to withdraw the N19,000 that I had in my bank account, he ordered me to delete the alert message sent by my bank. He also came back with another man, who claimed to be a pastor.
“He brought in a bucket of water and after looking through it, he said my mother has some money in her drawer and I should go home and bring it, while he instructed me not to talk to anyone until I accomplished the mission.”

She also told the court that when she got home, she met her mother and her brother, who later told her that she was acting strange and restless.
She continued, “My mother later came to me and held me, seeking to know what happened to me and I told her I don’t want to die. She was shocked and we were both crying.
“She told me that God is the owner of my life and I came back to my senses and told her all that happened.”

The victim said the matter was reported at Area ‘G’ Police Station in Ogba and she was also referred to another hospital for check-up and counseling.
During cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Ikenna Okoli, the witness maintained that she gave her ATM to the second defendant and money was withdrawn from her bank account. She also insisted that the first defendant had sex with her without her consent.

The matter was, thereafter, adjourned till October 10 for continuation of trial. - Daily Post

Well educated, single women in their late 20s are called “leftover women” in China

In a taxi in the UAE, the driver–a warm-hearted Bangladeshi man–eagerly showed me several wedding pictures on his mobile phone. The bride was his 13-year-old daughter. When I told him that I was 28 and single, he didn’t even bother to hide his surprise. “You must be old for an unmarried woman in China, right? Hurry up, find a man and get married!” he said.

He was right, I have become an official member of China’s “Leftover Women Club.” But I’m not going to take the taxi driver’s advice. Maybe girls in China were destined to be housewives only in ancient times, which defined their success. But now we have the right to choose whether to marry or not. Raising a family is no longer the only option for a woman.

According to Baidu Baike, “Leftover Women,” or “Sheng Nu” in Chinese, was one of 171 new Chinese terms included in Report on the Language Situation in China (2006), which was published by the Chinese Ministry of Education in 2007. It refers to single women at or beyond the socially-recognized marriageable age of around 27. However, among people born in the 1980s, the ratio between men and women meeting the age requirement for “Leftover Women” is 136:100. Therefore, it is men, not women, who are the leftovers.

At present, there are nearly 200 million single people in China, and men outnumber women by 33.66 million. Therefore, more men than women are being forced to remain single due to circumstance. A detailed geographic analysis has revealed that there are more “Leftover Men” in rural areas than “Leftover Women” in urban areas. However, when it comes to cities alone (especially big cities), there are more unmarried women than single men. The more developed a city is, the more unmarried women it has, as the urban development level is inversely proportional to the ratio between unmarried men and women. In Shanghai, for example, the number of unmarried men is only a quarter of the number of unmarried women, most of whom are between 30 and 35 years old.

The “Leftover Women” in cities are usually highly educated and high earners. This is typical of China, where women are equal to men in terms of educational rights thanks to the women’s liberation movement. Since 2006, female university registrations have surpassed male, despite the larger population base of men than that of women. Meanwhile, the employment-to-population ratio of women in China stands at 73%. That means, in economic terms, that the gap between men and women in China is the narrowest in the world.

Not long ago, we interviewed Anna Qvennerstedt, the Swedish director behind the controversial advertising film Marriage Market Takeover. The film, once aired, got over 400,000 hits on social media, because it mirrors the experience of most “Leftover Women” with their parents. In the film, parents pester their daughters relentlessly about marriage, fearing that they might become “leftover”. However, the high-achieving daughters refuse to compromise. In the end, the parents take their daughters to a “matchmaking corner” where they see bold announcements from women who are proud to be single. They finally come to understand and support their daughters’ decisions. 

It is expected that increasing numbers of people will follow suit, allowing these so-called “Leftover Women” to live the way they want instead of shackling them with traditional marriage concepts.
In this regard, I believe that “Leftover Women” with academic degrees and high incomes are quite able to remain independent, confident, and free. 

They have comprehensive knowledge, successful careers, and superb social status. The famous Chinese writer Qian Zhongshu once compared marriage to a “besieged fortress, where those outside want to get in, and those inside want to get out”. In 2017, the divorce rate in Tier1 and Tier2 Chinese cities has risen above 30%. Therefore, staying single shouldn’t necessarily be a passive decision. We should encourage women to raise their self-awareness rather than blindly getting married, so that they can define their own happiness and pursue the lifestyles they favor. We study hard and work hard to win the right to live happily. “Leftover Women” should be able to decide their own destiny instead of being controlled by the social critique of public opinion. -Quartz

Mexican mayor weds crocodile called 'The Princess' (Video)

Video : This Team of 80-Year-Old Female Basketball Players Proves Age Is Just a Number

The San Diego Splash senior women's basketball team plays three-on-three in 30-minute half-court games - look at their track record (and the scoreboard) and it doesn't take long to realize that there's nothing "senior" about these athletes.

The Splash may be the the oldest team under the San Diego Senior Women's Basketball Association (players must be 80 or over to join), but they play to win and have two titles at the National Senior Games to show for it. Nine women are on the roster, including Meg Skinner and Grace Larson - both of whom are 91.



Born in the 1920s and '30s, Larson and the rest of her teammates are making up for lost time and missed opportunities. "I was 78 when I got my first basketball shoes, so that was a thrill," Larson told ESPNW. "Growing up, we didn't have sports like the girls do today. We didn't have the opportunity to play."

Players on the Splash, though, didn't just wake up on their 80th birthdays and decide to lace up - despite women's delayed access to sports (Title IX was signed into effect by President Nixon in 1972), many of them have been shooting hoops for several decades, both as players in the San Diego Senior Women's Basketball Association and external leagues. Team member Fran Styles, 87, has been on the court for 20 years - Skinner, for 24 years. Despite four career injuries, including two broken wrists and four fractured fingers, Skinner returns to the gym every time with her jersey on her back.

Since it's now medically proven that seniors' social connectedness leads to longer, more fulfilling lives, it comes as no surprise that many Splash players have outlived their significant others, siblings and life-long friends. "A lot of my childhood friends thought I was crazy at 66 to be playing basketball. They said, 'You'll break an arm, you'll break a leg,'" explained 87-year-old Marge Carl. "You know, I'm the only one surviving of my childhood friends. They're all gone, every one of them."

"You've got to get engaged," Carl told the San Diego Tribune in 2016. "You can't sit in a room watching TV. That's a death knell."

With over 6 million views, ESPNW's viral and moving video on the Splash is saliently titled "Splash Sisters" - that's what these teammates are, plain and simple. "Friendship, a sisterhood, a family" is how Larson describes her team: "It's the nicest group of people from all walks of life." - Good Housekeeping