BEIJING: Fewer people are getting married in China in addition to the falling birth rates, hastening the demographic crisis in the world’s most populous country, according to an official data.

A total of 5.87 million couples got married in China in the first three quarters of 2021, down slightly from the same period of last year, according to the data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

It is expected that the number of marriage registrations in China will continue to decline in 2021, state-run China Daily reported on Wednesday.

This is in addition to the falling birth rates.

The birth-rate in China last year was 0.852 percent, falling below one percent for the first time since 1978, figures from the China Statistical Yearbook 2021 book revealed.

As the demographic crisis deepened, China has permitted all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping the draconian decades-old one-child policy and revised it this year permitting three children, which however drew a poor response.

The decision to permit the third child came after the latest once-in-a-decade census showed that China’s population grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion amid official projections that the decline may begin as early as next year.

Outlining the reasons for the falling marriage registrations, He Yafu, a demographic expert identified decline in the number of young people in China as one of the reasons.

The population of the post-80s, post-90s and post-2000s in China has been on the decline, he said, citing the National Bureau of Statistics.

Also, the desire of young people to get married has generally fallen due to reasons such as high work pressure and great improvement in women’s education level and economic independence, he told the China Daily.

Another major reason is the unbalanced ratio of male and female population.

In China, men outnumber women by 34.9 million as per the seventh National Census.

Among them, there are 17.52 million more men in their 20s than women of marriageable age.

In addition, the high cost of living, including soaring housing prices, is also a big obstacle to young people wanting to get married and have children, he said.

In China, marriage and childbirth are closely linked, and the proportion of children born out of wedlock is low, He said.

So the decline in marriage registration is bound to have a negative impact on the birth rate, he said.

Thus, remedial measures should be stepped up, He said.

Local governments’ reduction of housing costs for the young is one example.

To encourage young people to get married and have children, marriage and maternity leave should also be extended, He said.

The falling fertility rate, relatively early retirement age and the three-child policy have become a major concern for China as the country is greying faster than earlier predictions.

The number of people aged 60 or above has already touched 264 million, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total population.

The average annual elderly population growth has been about 6.3 million for 21 years, according to the latest census.

China will see even more rapid growth of its greying population and a significant transition in the population age structure from 2023, as about 10 million people will join the elderly population every year.

In fact, senior citizens are likely to account for 29.1 percent of China’s total population in 2036, the China Daily report said.

Waukesha (US)(AP): A joyous scene of marching bands and children dancing in Santa hats and waving pompoms turned deadly in an instant, as an SUV sped through barricades and into a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 others.

One video showed a woman screaming, Oh my God! repeatedly as a group of young dancers was struck Sunday. A father talked of going from one crumpled body to the other in search of his daughter. Members of a Dancing Grannies club were among those hit.

The city of Waukesha posted on its social media accounts late Sunday that it could confirm at least five died and more than 40 were injured, while noting that it was still collecting information. The city’s statement also noted that many people took themselves to hospitals. The city did not release any additional information about those who died.

A person of interest was in custody, Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said, but he gave no details about the person or any possible motive. The investigation was ongoing, with assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

What took place in Waukesha today is sickening, and I have every confidence that those responsible will be brought to justice, Attorney General Josh Kaul, the state’s top law enforcement officer, tweeted.

The horror was recorded by the city’s livestream and onlookers’ cellphones.

One video shows the moment the SUV broke through the barricades and the sound of what appears to be several gunshots. Thompson said a Waukesha police officer fired his gun to try to stop the vehicle. No bystanders were injured by the gunfire, and Thompson said he did not know if the driver was struck by the officer’s bullets.

Another video shows a young child dancing in the street as the SUV speeds by, just a few feet from her, before it hurtles into parade participants a few hundred feet ahead. One video, of dancers with pompoms, ends with a group of people tending to a girl on the ground.

There were pompoms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere. I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter, Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school district board member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.

The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies posted on its Facebook page that members of the group and volunteers were impacted and we are waiting for word on their conditions . The group’s profile describes them as a group of grannies that meet once a week to practice routines for summer and winter parades .

A Catholic priest, multiple parishioners and Waukesha Catholic schoolchildren were among those injured, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee spokeswoman Sandra Peterson said.

Chris Germain, co-owner of the Aspire Dance Centre studio, had about 70 people in the parade ranging from as young as 2 being pulled in wagons to age 18. Germain, whose 3-year-old daughter was in the parade, said he was driving at the head of their entry when he saw a maroon SUV that just blazed right past us .

A police officer ran past in chase. Germain said he jumped out of his own SUV and gathered the girls who were with him to safety.

Then he walked forward to see the damage.

There were small children laying all over the road, there were police officers and EMTs doing CPR on multiple members of the parade,” he said.

Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, said he was watching the parade with his family when they saw the SUV come speeding into the area.

Then we heard a loud bang, Tenorio said. And after that, we just heard deafening cries and screams from the crowd, from the people at the parade. And people started rushing, running away with tears in their eyes, crying.

The Waukesha school district cancelled classes Monday and said in a notice on its website that extra counsellors would be on hand for students and staff. The parade’s list of entries included cheer, dance and band entries associated with district schools.

Governor Tony Evers said he and his wife, Kathy, were praying for Waukesha tonight and all the kids, families, and community members affected by this senseless act .

The parade, held each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, is sponsored by the city’s Chamber of Commerce. This year’s, the 59th, had the theme of comfort and joy .

Waukesha is a western suburb of Milwaukee, and about 55 miles (90 km) north of Kenosha, where Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of charges stemming from the shooting of three men during unrest in that city in August 2020.

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a 13-member task force, headed by a hardline Buddhist monk known for his anti-Muslim stance, for the establishment of the ‘One Country One Law’ concept in the island nation.

The ‘One Country One Law’ was an election slogan of Rajapaksa in 2019 when he was elected president with an overwhelming support from the country’s Buddhist majority.

The task force, appointed by President Rajapaksa through a special gazette for the establishment of the ‘One Country One Law’ concept, is headed by Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, the hardline Buddhist monk who became a symbol of anti-Muslim hatred in the country.

Gnanasara’s Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or the Forces of Buddhist Power, was implicated in the anti-Muslim riots in 2013.

The task force also has four Muslim scholars as members but no representation has been allowed for the minority Tamils.

It has been entrusted with the job of preparing a draft for the implementation of the ‘One Country One Law’ concept, according to the gazette released on Tuesday.

The final report is to be submitted by February 28, 2022 after monthly reports to President Rajapaksa on its progress.

The ‘One Country One Law’ concept was promoted by the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to win the support of the Sinhala majority as a counter to the rising Islamic extremism.

The attempt to practice the Sharia law in the country was opposed by the nationalist groups, saying it promoted Muslim extremism.

The campaign gained added impetus after the 2019 Easter suicide attack in which over 270 people, including 11 Indians, were killed.

The attack was blamed on the extremist Islamic group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ).

Nine suicide bombers, belonging to local Islamist extremist group NTJ linked to ISIS, carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing over 270 people and injuring more than 500 people on April 21, 2019.

The Buddhist-majority nation was about to mark a decade since ending a 37-year-long Tamil separatist war in May 2009 when the bombings in 2019 rocked the country.

Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Sunday that certain quarters with vested interests were disseminating propaganda to create communal divide and tarnish the image of Bangladesh, as the country recovers from a slew of violence against Hindus and mob attacks on temples during Durga Puja festivities, according to a media report.

Attacks on Hindu temples intensified in Bangladesh since October 13 after an alleged blasphemous post surfaced on social media during the Durga Puja celebrations. On the night of October 17, a mob damaged 66 houses and set on fire at least 20 homes of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Speaking during the inauguration of the Payra bridge in southern Bangladesh, Hasina said that certain quarters with vested interests are disseminating propaganda aimed at creating a communal divide. She, however, did not name any one.

“No matter how much good work we do, there is a quarter that is occupied with discrediting Bangladesh. What do they want? They don’t want the normal democratic process to continue in this country,” she said, urging people to be wary of the attempts to destabilise the country.

Eight people died as communal violence spread to several other districts amid the festivities, the report said.

The Durga Puja celebrations, considered to be the biggest festival of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, concluded without the traditional Bijoya Dashami procession.

Bangladesh’s security agencies on Saturday arrested Shaikat Mandal, who is believed to be the second key suspect behind the recent violence. His arrest came a day after police had nabbed Iqbal Hossain, 35, the key suspect from Cox Bazar area.

So far, police have arrested nearly 600 people from various parts of the country for inciting violence against the Hindus during the Durga Puja festivities.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hasina instructed her home minister to initiate immediate action against those who incited violence using religion as she asked the people not to trust anything on social media without fact-checking.

The Foreign Ministry in a statement underlined that the Government of Bangladesh “unequivocally condemned those incidents and took serious note of the reactions from within and outside the Hindu community.”

The violence has been widely condemned by the United Nations.

UN’s resident coordinator in Bangladesh Mia Seppo said that the attacks on Hindus are against the values of the country’s Constitution and need to stop.

Hindus constitute around 10 per cent of the Muslim-majority Bangladesh’s 169 million population.