A new report by the United Nations says that Russia\'s demographic crisis is being exacerbated by an extraordinarily high death rate among male teens, \"The Moscow Times\" reported on 8 December. The UNICEF report blames alcoholism, stress, a culture that places little value on human rights, and widespread disregard for basic safety rules for the dismal statistics. According to the report, one in 30 Russian males aged 15 to 19 dies each year of accidents, poisoning, suicide, or violence. The rate is one in 120 among women. The combined total of one in 99 was the highest death rate in this category among the 27 Eastern European and former Soviet countries surveyed. Russia topped the ranking for teen suicides, with an annual rate of about 45 per 100,000 teens, and teen homicides, which occurred at a rate about 20 times greater than in Western European countries. (RFE/RL)