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Congo plane crash death toll lowered

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 15 (UPI) -- A jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 18 people, a government official said.

However, it appears as many as 66 people, including five crew members, survived, CNN reported. Earlier, a government official had told the network dozens more had died. It was unclear whether the fatalities included people on the ground, CNN said

A foreign ministry spokesman said the twin-engine aircraft crashed as it left the Goma airport, smashing into a neighborhood near the runway, shearing roofs off homes, the network reported. The Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 was traveling to Kisangani in the central portion of the country.

Hewa Bora Airways is a private airline Belgian aviation authorities recently suspended for safety violations, Congolese lawmaker and former foreign minister Antoine Ghonda said. The airline is based in Kinshasa.

Ghonda said the cause of Tuesday's crash was being investigated, but initial reports indicated the cabin was overloaded. Weather, he said, wasn't a factor.

The United Nations and Red Cross were assisting in the rescue effort, hampered by "basic, if non-existent" equipment in the country, U.N. spokesman Kemal Saiki said.

Report: Single parents, divorce cost $112B

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) -- The high rate of divorce and unwed parenthood is costing U.S. taxpayers a minimum of $112 billion annually, a study in these areas indicated Tuesday.

"This study documents for the first time, that divorce and unwed childbearing ... are also costing taxpayers a ton of money," David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, said in a news release.

Four policy and research groups -- Institute for American Values, Georgia Family Council, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and Families Northwest -- collaborated on "The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and all 50 States," presented at the National Press Club.

Several factors contributed to the costs, including anti-poverty, criminal justice and education programs, and lower taxes paid by adults "negatively affected by increased childhood poverty caused by family fragmentation," said investigator Ben Scafidi, economics professor at Georgia College & State University.

"This report now provides the basis for a national consensus that strengthening marriage is a legitimate policy concern," Blankenhorn said. "The report's numbers represent an extremely cautious estimate ... and have been vetted by a group of distinguished scholars and economists who have attached their names as advisers to this report."

France tackles 'anorexic lifestyle'

PARIS, April 15 (UPI) -- French lawmakers acted against anorexia Tuesday, trying to ban Internet sites and print publications glamorizing extreme thinness that jeopardizes girls' lives.

The measure would make it illegal "to encourage another person to seek excessive thinness ... which could expose them to a risk of death or endanger their health," The Independent reported. The bill, which would inflict prison terms of up to two years and fines up to $48,000, was approved by Parliament's National Assembly and is expected to be approved by the Senate, the British newspaper said.

Speaking to lawmakers, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said advising girls how to go about purging food they've eaten, "lie to their doctors" and "encouraging them to torture themselves" is not a matter of freedom of expression.

"The messages sent out here are messages of death," Bachelot said.

Chief author of the legislation, Valerie Boyer, said between 30,000 and 40,000 people in France have anorexia, mostly females ages 12-19. The affliction kills more people in France annually than any other mental disorder, Boyer said.

Report: 1,252 people executed worldwide

LONDON, April 15 (UPI) -- At least 1,200 people were executed in 2007, and many more were killed by the state in secret, a Tuesday report by London-based Amnesty International said.

The figures indicate at least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries, and at least 3,347 were sentenced to death in 51 countries, the organization's Death Sentences and Executions Report in 2007. Up to 27,500 people worldwide were estimated to be on death row.

The figures show an increase in executions in several countries. Amnesty International said Iran executed at least 317 people, Saudi Arabia, 143; and Pakistan 135, compared to 177 executions, 39 executions and 82 executions, respectively, in 2006.

Five countries -- China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States -- were responsible for 81 percent of known executions, the organization said.

China, which Amnesty International said was the world's leading executioner, classifies the death penalty as a state secret.

"The secretive use of the death penalty must stop; the veil of secrecy surrounding the death penalty must be lifted," Amnesty International said in the report. "Many governments claim that executions take place with public support. People therefore have a right to know what is being done in their name."