Karl Landsteiner, discovered the ABO blood group system. However, the ABO subgroups and other weaker variants create problems in blood grouping. The A1 and A2 phenotypes account for about 99% of all A or AB blood group individuals and the rest are the weaker subgroups. They are usually suspected in cases of blood group discrepancies. Meticulous serological testing with technical expertise will help to differentiate these subgroups. We describe a case of a healthy Blood donor with blood group discrepancy due to a weak subgroup of ‘A’ in the ‘A’ blood group.

Suicide as a cause of death is a tragic consequence. This study aim to show the suicide cases in Basrah during the period from 1990-2001. Cases were collected from the Autopsy reports of medicolegal cases. 144 cases were enrolled in this study based on diagnosis of suicide cases during this period. The incidence rate of suicide in Basrah was about 1 per 100,000 population over the twelve years period of 1990 -2001. No constant trend or change in suicide rate was observed apart from minor fluctuations. The majority of suicide cases were adolescents and young Adults with predominant male cases (male to female ratio was 4:1) most of them committed their act in home. High proportion of suicide cases were committed by military personnel. The main methods used for suicide were firearms followed by poisoning and hanging.