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The father of a man struck and seriously injured by a city bus is sounding the alarm about pedestrian road safety.

One of two men charged in the vicious attack of a Calgary Transit bus driver last May has pleaded guilty to two of the six charges against him.

Seton Hall Prep extended its remarkable dynasty at the Essex County Swim Championships, capturing its 27th consecutive title with 277 points. Columbia finished second with 215 points, while Livingston took third with 182 points.

By HUIZHONG WU BANGKOK (AP) — How do you persuade a population to have more babies after generations of limiting families to just one? Related Articles Hackers disrupt Iran state TV to support exiled crown prince as deaths from crackdown exceed 4,000 Analysts warn that Iran crisis carries potential nuclear risks Chile fights wildfires that killed 19 and left 1,500 homeless Valentino, fashion designer to the jet set, dies aged 93 in Rome Prince Harry says Daily Mail scoops made him ‘paranoid beyond belief’ A decade after ending China’s longtime one-child policy, the country’s authorities are pushing a range of ideas and policies to try to encourage more births — tactics that range from cash subsidies to taxing condoms to eliminating a tax on matchmakers and day care centers. The efforts haven’t paid off yet. At least, that’s what population figures released Monday show for what is now the world’s second-most populous nation. China’s population of 1.4 billion continued to shrink, marking the fourth straight year of decrease, new government statistics show. The total population in 2025 stood at 1.404 billion, which was 3 million less than the previous year. Measured another way, the birth rate in 2025 — 5.63 per 1,000 people — is the lowest on record since 1949, the year that Mao Zedong’s Communists overthrew the Nationalists and began running China. Figures before that, under the previous Nationalist government, were not available. China was long the world’s most populous nation until 2023, when it was surpassed by regional neighbor and sometime rival India. Monday’s statistics illustrate the stark demographic pressures faced by the country as it tries to pivot from a problem it is working hard to overcome: status as a nation with a growing but transitional economy that, as is often said, is “getting old before it gets rich.” Is a snake involved? The number of new babies born was just 7.92 million in 2025, a decline of 1.62 million, or 17%, from the previous year. The latest birth numbers show that the slight tick upward in 2024 was not a lasting trend. Births declined for seven years in a row through 2023. People catch a sight of the snow-covered Forbidden City from a pavilion with lantern decorations at the Jingshan Park a day after the snow fall, in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Most families cite the costs and pressure of raising a child in a highly competitive society as significant hurdles that now loom larger in the face of an economic downturn that has impacted households struggling to meet their living costs. Across the region, “it’s these big structural issues which are much harder to tackle, whether it’s housing, and work and getting a job and getting started in life and expectations around education…,” said Stuart Gietel-Basten, director of the Center for Aging Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “It’s gonna be difficult to make a major change in those number of births until those are addressed.” Another potential factor in the numbers, at least for 2025: Last year in China was the year of the snake, considered one of the least favored years for having a child under the Chinese zodiac. The government’s official Xinhua News Agency, however, did say early last year — perhaps optimistically — that the snake “is shaking off its negative connotations.” Like many other countries in Asia, China has faced a declining fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. While the government does not regularly publish a fertility rate, last saying it was 1.3 in 2020, experts have estimated it is now around 1. Both figures are far below the 2.1 rate that would maintain the size of China’s population. For decades, the Chinese government barred people from having more than one baby and often sanctioned those who did — a policy that produced more than two generations of only children. In 2015, the government raised the permitted amount of…