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Watching the World

Angry Mind, Weak Heart

“Men prone to angry tantrums or sulky hostility are more likely to develop an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation,” reports the Daily News of New York. Researchers found that men who say they are hotheaded or quick-tempered or who lash out at others when frustrated or become furious when criticized are 30 percent more likely to develop an irregular heart rhythm. The director of the study, Elaine Eaker, says: “There has been a perception that you can dissipate the negative health effects of anger by letting it out instead of bottling it up. . . . But that is definitely not the case in the men in this study—they were at higher risk not only of atrial fibrillation, but of death from all causes.”

Marriage and Divorce in Britain

In Britain, “a third of the unmarried people say it is ‘extremely unlikely’ that they will get married,” reports London’s Daily Telegraph. Jenny Catlin, an analyst for Mintel International Group, says: “This clearly shows the changes in attitudes towards marriage.” She adds: “It is now much more acceptable to live with your partner and to have children, without ever tying the knot.” For those who do wish to marry, the soaring cost—now an average of $28,600—makes the option of holding the wedding abroad increasingly popular. More than 10 percent of British couples now choose exotic locations for their wedding. With fewer guests and cheaper catering, this can cost about a third of the price at home. While weddings are decreasing, divorce rates are soaring. “There are now five times as many elderly divorcées as there were 30 years ago, and it is feared that the figure will continue to rise,” says the Telegraph.

Child Abuse in Mexico

According to Mexico City’s justice department, “1 in every 8 girls and 1 in every 10 boys are victims of sexual abuse in Mexico City,” reports El Universal newspaper. The justice department is distributing pamphlets that warn parents about sexual abuse and recommend the course of action that should be taken in the event of actual abuse. The recommendations include the following: (1) Believe and support your child when he or she reports being sexually abused. (2) Explain to the child that he or she is not responsible for what happened. (3) Inform the child that what happened is against the law and that it is necessary to report it to the police so that it will not happen again.

Tattoo Removal

“Some surveys show that 80 to 90 per cent of people with tattoos want them removed at some point in their lives,” says Canada’s Vancouver Sun. “Because there’s been an increase in the number of tattoos people are getting, there has been a coinciding increase in the desire for removal,” notes one dermatologist. A typical example is 27-year-old Dan, who had a bright-green emblem removed from his arm. He says: “It just doesn’t represent who I am any more.” But even with modern laser treatment, tattoo removal can be painful, expensive, and time-consuming. “Removal of even a small tattoo can cost up to $1,400,” says the paper. It adds: “More modern, multicoloured tattoos, especially if they are large, are almost impossible to remove.”

Deadly Fuel

“Smoke from indoor cooking fires kills one person every 20 seconds in the developing world,” reports Down to Earth magazine of New Delhi, India. “The figure is much more than the number of people killed by malaria, and [the] same as deaths due to unsafe water and lack of sanitation.” The use of coal and biomass fuel, combined with poorly ventilated rooms, often exposes households to 100 times the suggested tolerable levels of pollutants. These contaminants have also been linked to lung cancer, asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic bronchitis. Experts from the Intermediate Technology Development Group, a research organization, claim that people who are too poor to afford cleaner fuels could still reduce their exposure to dangerous fumes by as much as 80 percent by using well-designed chimney stoves or smoke hoods. Of the 1.6 million people who die every year of indoor air pollution, nearly a million are children.

Working Seniors

A growing number of Canadians over 65 years of age—the common age of retirement in Canada—are remaining in the work force, reports The Globe and Mail. The number of senior citizens has increased by 11 percent over five years, but the number of working seniors has grown by almost 20 percent. Why are so many postponing retirement? “People are healthier today,” says Statistics Canada analyst Doreen Duchesne. “They live longer.” Financial needs and boredom are also cited as reasons for the trend. According to the report, 6 percent of people over 80 years of age continue to work, with farming ranked as the most common occupation for seniors, followed by clerical and sales-related jobs.

Europe in a Cloud of Smoke

The number of people smoking in the European Union has now reached 40 percent of the population, reports the Spanish newspaper El País. The European country with the highest percentage of smokers is Greece, where 44 percent of the population smoke. Greece’s annual production of 40,000 tons of tobacco also makes it the largest tobacco producer in Europe. Among European countries with the lowest percentage of smokers, including occasional smokers, is Portugal, with just over 29 percent. Yet, tobacco prices in Portugal are the cheapest in the European Union. One possible cause of this low percentage of smokers is that since 1982, Portuguese law has banned tobacco advertisements as well as smoking in public places.

The Most Translated Book

The Bible continues to be the most translated book in the world. It is found in its entirety or in part in 2,355 of the approximately 6,500 languages that exist. The Bible is now available in 665 languages in Africa, followed by 585 in Asia, 414 in Oceania, 404 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 209 in Europe, and 75 in North America. The United Bible Societies are presently assisting in Bible-translation projects in some 600 languages.