Russia: Russia, which has one of the heaviest cigarette-smoking populations in the world, has acted to restrict smoking in public places.
A bill adopted by parliament will ban lighting up in the workplace and in hospitals, restrict smoking to specified places in state-run buildings and ban tobacco sales in health, sports and cultural centres.
The State Duma lower house of parliament yesterday unanimously adopted the bill in a third and final reading, and passed it to the upper house for confirmation.
According to the latest figures on the World Health Organisation's website, Russia is the fourth-highest smoking country, going through 258 billion cigarettes in 1998.
At least 60 per cent of men over the age of 15 smoke.
The bill which went through the lower house of parliament was the latest in a series adopted to protect the health of Russians, but it was not certain to pass into law.
Although both houses are dominated by pro- Kremlin parties, a similar law restricting beer consumption and sales on the street was blocked by the upper house on Wednesday, despite being adopted by the State Duma.
The upper house is also amending a Duma-adopted law banning beer advertising.
The law however may also not affect the smoking habits of Russians, since the current smoking ban on public transport is rarely observed.