Passions of the heart rather than financial woes account for a growing number of suicides in Southern African nations as diverse and as prosperous and well-developed as South Africa and small, traditional such as Swaziland. Teenage suicide is on the upswing, doubling since 1990 for children between the ages 10 and 14, according to the South African Depression and Anxiety Support Group.
A commercial helicopter was shot down by missile fire north of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing nine people, the Bulgarian defence ministry said. Also, the country’s most feared terror group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility on Thursday for a suicide car bombing that targeted interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s convoy.
Patients are mimicking the illnesses suffered by their favourite soap and television stars, a British survey suggested on Thursday. More than nine out of 10 doctors claimed to have seen patients reporting symptoms based on what they had seen on TV or read in newspapers, the research claimed.
Spain’s Lower House of Parliament approved the Socialist government’s gay marriage Bill on Thursday, a major step toward making Spain the third European country to legalise same-sex marriages. Belgium and The Netherlands are the only two other European countries that have legalised gay marriages.
Zimbabwean police on Thursday charged a second journalist from a privately owned weekly with publishing false information in an article alleging a scandal over ballot boxes and papers from last month’s elections, a lawyer said. The Standard‘s editor was charged on Wednesday in connection with the same article.
The economic crisis in Zimbabwe could affect South Africa as the country’s major trading partner on the continent, the South African Reserve Bank cautioned on Thursday. "The continued economic meltdown in Zimbabwe may have wider economic implications," the Reserve Bank said.
World number six gold-miner Harmony on Thursday announced the appointment of former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano to its board of directors, with effect from Friday. Harmony chief executive Bernard Swanepoel said: "We are extremely pleased former president Chissano has agreed to become a non-executive director."
Children want to see more drama on television, they are interested in news and current affairs and watch television at times when only soap operas are broadcast. These are some of the findings from a study called What Children Want, conducted by the Media Monitoring Project in South Africa.
Former Ecuadorean president Lucio Gutierrez was waiting on Thursday for permission to leave for political asylum in Brazil, after Congress sacked him for violently crushing a demonstration and swore in Vice-President Alfredo Palacio to replace him as head of state.
After an outbreak of African horse sickness in KwaZulu-Natal, horses may not be moved into or out of the province, the provincial agriculture department announced on Thursday. ”The outbreak is concentrated in the Midlands right up to northern KwaZulu-Natal,” said the department’s spokesperson Vusi Zuma.